Going to the Chapel

* We enter the church, it’s heckin huge and the stone is worn but cared for. 
** The church is big enough to hold around 100 people. . . much more than the population of Grindstone
** Reminiscent of the Old World settlers who first came from Europe. 
** The record book goes back 100 years, and we can tell there is more than one volume of this book.
** The handwriting changes after 30 years
** The last entry is Geoffrey Hammerstrum
* Signe looks back in the records to find Kayden Keegan
** 16 years ago, death listed as accidental
** Willa was born 2 years before his death
* We take in the architecture of the church and we notice the iconography looks medieval, predates the Puritans
** Anglo-Saxon, predates the Mayflower
* Alec suggests taking some of the holy water. . . we take 2 viles and William puts them in his medical bag.
* Inside the tabernacle we find wine, anointing oil, a wooden goblet, an empty bowl.
* We search the perimeter of the church, find nothing out of the ordinary along the walls (no hidden spaces)
* On the floor William sees two stones that stand out to him
** A partial paw print about the size of a dinner plate
* While we are are searching and being shady, Alec knocks on the door to the side of the main hall, and we are introduced to Pastor O’Gowan
** General conversation, nothing out of the ordinary, very mundane info.
** He said Geoff was a nice man, and that he wrote his name in the record book so they could hold a prayer service for him.
** He also mentions they searched the surrounding area for him but didn’t find him
** A nice and pleasant older gentleman
* Up until Alec asks him about the paw print we found. . . O’Gowan gets very offended!
** Thinks we’re accusing him of keeping his church in a bad way, like it’s an affront to God. 
** He accuses Alec of planting the paw print! This angers Alec.
** Signe turns on some manipulation, pretending to be a devout religious fuzzy-wuzzy, and eases his frustrations. . . we don’t mean offense, we’re just trying to solve the mystery, etc. 
* Martha comes to defend O’Gowan from Alec’s anger. . . they have a little spat and Alec leaves in a huff
* O’Gowan heard the church bells ring at midnight the night before James fled.
* The Chamberlains are the oldest family in Grindstone & would be the one to talk to about the ancient history of the area. 
* Regarding the church bells, he tells us there’s a ladder to the roof to get access to the bell tower.
* After Alec leaves the church they head to the graveyard and skulk around with their cane. 
** Finds another paw print!!
** It leads away from the church towards the forest
** Outside the cemetary walls Alec sees a murder of crows sitting in a tree
* The group reconvenes and Alec shows them the print and the crows.
* We leave the graveyard and go into the woods
** Immediately the smell of death is in the air. . . old, rancid, at least a week old.
** We made a smell mask for Martha who is grossed out
* We find a dead, mangled corpse!
* This is the worst William has ever seen, he kneels down to investigate (Alec joins him)
** The body is torn to shreds in a gruesome fashion
** Legs are bent at odd angles
** Something akin to a bear
** No bites, only claws, the body has defensive wounds
** Time of death would suggest it was around Geoff’s disappearance. 
** A mere 30 ft from the cemetery walls (SUS).
* Alec searches the body: finds a note requesting an after dark meeting signed by O’Gowan
** Signe notices the note is forged to look like O’Gowan’s handwriting!
* Martha is very distraught and wants to go tell the preacher right away that he’s being framed. Alec is still suspicious. Signe also doesn’t want to jump the gun until they’ve had a chance to put all the puzzle pieces together.
* The group minus Martha want to leave the body where it is so they can do some more investigating. Martha does not like this at all. 
* Signe convinces Martha to wait an hour before mentioning it to O’Gowan
** Something is not adding up. . . while O’Gowan didn’t lead Geoff to the church the night of his death, he clearly lied about searching the area and finding nothing. . . who else is in on it?!
** Signe also makes a pagan reference about the crows and that puts Martha off, her mood souring slightly towards Signe.
* They decide to leave to go talk to Dorothy Keegan.
* On their way they are met by one of the loggers. He explains that Mary Chamberlain wants to talk to them.
** Signe very much wants to talk to Mary, while Alec wants to talk with Dorothy first. 
** Alec concedes and the group makes their way to the Chamberlain house.