THE DEMON SPEAR OF YAO YUN SESSION TWO: INTO THE BELLY OF THE TOAD

This was the second session of the Demon Spear of Yao Yun. While the first session focused on Zhaofeng Yu's mission to Heiping, this one occurred during that time, focusing on Wandering Owl and Feng Yaochun). 

CHARACTERS
Zhaofeng Yu: A junior disciple of Mount Zun Sect.
Wandering Owl: Daughter of Feng Yaochun and an initiate into Mount Zun Sect.
Feng Yaochun (Hardened Bull): Father of Wandering Owl and an artisan who joined Mount Zun Sect. 

SESSION
Yaochun and Wandering Owl were summoned before Master Gaozi who asked them to head north to Li Fan, going to the city of Siyu to investigate reports of people rising from the dead. He informed them that he had similar reports from other regions and wanted them to be cautious as Siyu was within Celestial Heart Sect territory. If they found anything notable, they should report it to Celestial Heart Sect as well. 

The two set out, taking flight on a Shadow Owl summoned that Wandering Owl summoned. This cut their travel time to 3-4 days, but they still needed to camp. One night, camping in the Badlands of Yao. They were ambushed by a group of men and a hulking figure hiding in the darkness. The men looked like they came from the south (which was odd given they were so far north). The men attacked, Feng Yaochun speared two with his sword, then Wandering Owl used Kick of the Swan to drop the remaining men (seven in total). The hulking figure approached revealing itself to be a Demon Toad. It lashed out with its tongue and sucked Yaochun into its belly where he began to suffer from the burning acids of its stomach. Yaochun started carving his way out from the Toad Demon as Wandering Owl kicked it and protected herself from its attacks with Deflecting Canopy. 

It took some time, but eventually Yaochun sliced his way from the body of the Toad after Wandering Owl killed it with one of her kicks. 

They then continued on to Fan (the capital of Li Fan, about one day east of Siyu). There they investigated and learned there were rumors of ghosts on the outskirts of the town. There were also rumors that something terrible occurred in Siyu. 

They went to a gambling hall where men were betting on Cricket Matches (the match was between Iron Greeny and Blackened Champion). Yaochun spotted a man on a winning streak and placed bets on the same cricket, winning several thousand spades. He went back to drink with the man, who introduced himself as Golden Han. Golden Han was also an artisan (he made lucky golden bracelets) and confirmed rumors of ghosts. 

After the conversation, Yaochun went to another table where a group of men who had lost their money on the match were sitting. He noticed they were all eyeing Golden Han so he struck up a conversation. They were a group of scholars and they believed Golden Han had slipped a poison onto the losing cricket during the match. The leader of the group was Li Chun (Iron Scholar) and one of his companions, Fei Wu, has made a point of watching Golden Han. Fei Wu claimed to have seen Golden Han poison the cricket with his own eyes. 

The mood at the table was dark and tense, and Yaochun believed they meant to harm Golden Han. He asked about the ghosts, but the scholars dismissed them as exaggerations by overly imaginative locals. They also accused Golden Han of capitalizing on the hysteria by marketing his bracelets as protective against spirits. 

They were about to leave the gambling hall when Wandering Owl went to Golden Han and asked about his bracelets. He told her they could protect her against any evil in the world and that he would sell them to her for 100 spades because she was friends with his new pal, Feng Yaochun. She agreed. He returned with two and offered to sell them both for a total of 150 spades. She bought them, saw they had the characters for Happy Luck on them and returned to her father. 

The party sent a message to Mount Zun, and this is where the session ended.