E6: week 1, Bonding

After our classes let out we were tasked with retrieving whatever we need to preform the bonding ritual with our miniature dragons.
 
NOTES
Items Needed:
- fresh spring water
- magic focus
- iron thorn fern leaves: a nasty plant with poison on it's thorns that stops blood clotting
- miner's delight: a mushroom with golden dust that is found in mineral rich areas
- gemstone, shifts colors: should be found in an area where strong magic was used
 
We were all ushered though the teleportation gate and arrived at an old outpost.
 
Again we were assigned a group and I ended up with Chirp, Ara, Taegen, and Vesryn who we appointed as our leader.
 
We bid everyone else goodbye and picked a random direction. It's kind of fitting that the first thing we did was encounter a drake. We decided it best to avoid the sleeping creature and go deeper into the swamp where we, of course found ourselves beset by skeletons. We made quick work of the brittle creatures and while everyone else was rummaging around amongst the bones I found one with a rune had been carved into it. I can feel a pull from it. Could I use this as a magic focus?
 
[item 1 / 5 acquired]
 
We didn't get far before Chirp found something else we would need. An iron thorn fern. We were very careful while we extracted the plant to bring back.
 
[item 2 / 5 acquired]
 
It turns out Chirp is very perceptive. A little while later they again found a cave that we could explore to hopefully find some of the other items on our list. It was dark and dank, but after a small fork in the path we ended up in a decent sized cavern and near one of the walls was a carved statue. It didn't seem like there was anything alive in the cave. No signs of habitation at all and when Taegen and Chirp examined the statue we found out why. That 'statue' came alive and launched itself at us. I activated my crimson rite, and managed to hit it but it didn't seem to do anything. Even though it was moving I don't think it's actually alive. I fear the only reason we survived was because Ara lured it over to where the drake was sleeping. The thing got pulverized and Ara came back with the gemstones that were in it's chest after the drake wandered off.
 
[item 3 / 5 acquired]
 
We were all pretty tired after that so we set up camp in front of the cave entrance.
 
While Vesryn and Ara were flirting over the camp fire, I set up some traps around our campsite. While at it I saw Taegen and Chirp playing around in the mud. I think they found some things but I didn't ask what. They seemed to be having fun though.
 
The next day I found a cockatrice in one of my traps. We added it to our breakfast. No rations this morning.
 
Leaving the camp still set up we wondered back into the cave, intent on getting one more thing out of it before moving on. Going deeper into the cave we discovered another cavern, this one more extensive and with a split level. We grappled down to the lower level and discovered something foul. Frozen in horror within the walls were the bodies of other humanoid creatures. Blood magic was used here. The whole place reeks of it.
 
With Chirps help we made extensive notes on the wall. I will send what information I can find back to my master.
 
We still hadn't found what we needed so farther in we go.