A Tenuous Alliance

Braeden (Dayna) accepted a contract to "facilitate" a trip by Adrienne (Drew) and Skhug (Melissa) from the artificing wing at the Wizards' College in Ferrabula.
 
I had a hard time finding the cave, if I'm honest. The horse made the journey easy, and since we arrived late at night I camped at the entrance 'til morning. Then, the party started.
 
I left the horse and mule out front, and dealt with whatever was inside. They didn't live long enough for me to care. I lit a lantern against the dark, entering the cave and descending the stairs before me (then around a bend). But I couldn't find anything past the next chamber, with a busted-in door (that I kicked to try and open). Suddenly, an arrow dinged around the bend, but I didn't notice until they showed up. A group of girls -- thank the gods -- but the big one tried to intimidate me with a wicked-looking glaive. Fuck that. I ordered her to open the door and help her, with the gods' help of course. It worked (of course), and she pulled out a warmaul to smash one of the jade statuettes. It took a few hits, but she managed to get the door open. The scholarly one, who checked out one of the empty rooms, called to me about "a secret door". I ignored her.
 
After the big one god the door down, I got into the next room. A carved warning was on one wall. The next door had two more busts, stone this time. The wall between the two had a hole carved into it, from raiders or something. We -- I -- continued onwards.
 
(On the side, Adrienne discovered a pair of hidden rooms full of treasure)
 
The next room held a stone statue, that though I reached out to touch, the big one and I took care of. I pressed forward while they hung back, though when one of the book-types screamed... I ran back to help. Their group was being attacked by strange ooze creatures, and thanks to me they crawled out alive.
 
And then, in "thanks" the tricky one locked me in that damn stone room. They wouldn't let me go alone, and when I accidentally dropped the "crown" business they locked me in.
 
I couldn't get the door open. Next time I'm in down, I'm getting a maul for my trouble.
 
It took them a while to pass through the dungeon as a party.
 
And then they came back. There was a back and forth, but their hearts broke with time. The tricky one let me out again, and we walked back out to leave the cave.