Brian backed up time a bit to launch the game.  Most of the players were having dinner at the hotel, discussing what we’d seen.  (Andy did not play.)  But the main topic of conversation was what we were going to do about Slim being arrested.  A couple noticed that their mash potatoes were in the shape of the Coffin Rock but then a second look, they did not.  There was also a strong flower scent downstairs, as if some odor was being masked.  Both of those turned Virgil off the meal.  About then, Slim showed up with the Marshall who joined us.  That curtailed some of the discussion.  Meanwhile, Phoebe-Ann passed by the graveyard and thought she heard moaning.  As she got closer, it was revealed that Big John was in one of the newly dug graves.  He did not remember leaving the theater/brothel or why he was wearing a dress.  Once Phoebe stopped laughing, she went back to the hotel to get him some clothes and a rope.  She sped by the dinner crowd, grabbed the stuff, and climbed out the window to avoid any questions.  Unfortunately, that climb wasn’t very good a several heard something.  But nothing came of it.  Big John had gotten out of the grave and removed the dress.  Phoebe didn’t like the sight of him in his long johns and pushed him back in.  They returned to the hotel, washed up, and joined the dinner.  As the Marshall was leaving, Phoebe started asking questions.  Brian player his “spill the beans” card which should have gotten him to spill his guts.  But Brian couldn’t reveal the entire plot so she pretty much got what we’d already known.

After dinner, we spilt up again.  Virgil went back to the church with Thomas and Slim.  They found the church doors locked which flabbergasted Virgil.  Thomas went around to a window and found that there were 12-20 people in there.  Virgil attempted to kick the doors open but they were too tough.  Soon enough the door was opened.  We more or less burst in and found the people getting ready to bed down for the night.  Since these were people from out of town, drawn in by the church, they had nowhere else to stay.  Basically, Jon was playing up his righteous preacher paladin, making accusations and demanding answers.  He got none.  Once again, no one in this town thinks anything is wrong.  Dave played up his mean investigator, checking out the church and pretty much ignoring the confused church folk.  Dave was left trying to play his mild-mannered, trying in vain to keep things from getting out of hand.  Slim noticed that one of the stain glass windows depicted the final judgment and casting into the fiery pits.  Those being cast looked much like our party.  Thomas confirmed and chalked it up to yet another weird vision but when Virgil noticed the part of Jesus had been replaced by who we assumed to be the preacher in the middle of all this, he declared to be blasphemous.  To everyone’s surprise, he pulled his gun and shot the preacher image right out of the window.  Pause here.

Meanwhile, Big John went back to the theater to get his gear back, bringing Phoebe and Buster as his (persuasion skilled) backup.  That went easy enough.  Phoebe stayed at the bar and knock back some whiskey while talking to the madame.  But she had no new information.  The other two talked to one of the girls and got his stuff back.  Buster attempted to ascertain if this sort of thing happened all the time.  She seemed to think he had just had too much to drink and went loco.  We put it on the list of strange things and moved on.  On their way back, they heard the shot at the church.  They raced towards it.  Meanwhile, Slim drew on Virgil and ordered him to put down the gun.  Virgil was certain he was in the right.  But then the church folk who weren’t even important enough to be on the map, started acting.  Most of the men charged Virgil.  He had a good parry but each new foe gave them bonuses to hit and once they got 4-5 around him, he was brought down.  Slim tried to sell it as temporary insanity brought on by the train attack but they didn’t buy it any better when Phoebe tried it to save Slim the day before.  Like before, Virgil was arrested and put in a cell for the night.  Again, he played a card, this time to acquire a skill (thievery) temporarily.  With some rolls and some fate dice, he managed to get away.     

So, Virgil went back to the church and waited as far in the woods as he could and still watch the church.  The Marshall woke the rest of the group and asked questions about the jailbreak.  We could honestly say we had no idea where he was.  They almost got him, figuring he’d been watching the church, but he managed to elude them.  The next morning Phoebe was up early since she was not awoken by the Marshal, went next door to check out the school.  It was I ruins, the windows all blown out from the inside.  The area was extra cold.  She was attacked by a whirlwind of debris that didn’t do any real damage.  Undeterred, she continued until she was confronted by the ghost of a child.  A brief conversation ended with Phoebe trying to get away.  She won initiative the first round and avoided her touch but lost the second.  She got two streaks of gray in her hair for her troubles.  She ran past Thomas on the way to her room.  When she told him what had happened, Thomas was unsurprised.  With all we’ve seen, of course, there’s a ghost.

So, the plan was to meet with Miss Pearl.  Buster figured since everyone in this town seemed unconcerned about the strangeness, maybe the unhappy Miss Pearl would be more informative.  Or at least more willing to talk.  Virgil met with us outside of town.  He had had a rough night of little sleep but he did have a dream/vision about the Coffin Rock.  Miss Pearl was still mainly concerned about her deeds.  When we told her that we’d seen deeds in her name in the mayor’s office, she was eager to retrieve them.  On the list.  However, until we could put them in front of a law above the Marshall, I don’t think they are going to do any good.  She also said that the mines had all run dry about the same time.  All the miners and most of the residents had left town.  It made us wonder why she was so eager to own a piece of this town.  She said it wasn’t too hard to get up to the rock.  She’d done it as a kid.  Other than that, she really didn’t have much new information.

So, we went through town and headed up the trail.  Virgil managed to go around and met us.  At the rock, we met an Indian by the name of Laughs at Darkness.  He said we had been chosen to end the great evil in the area.  Tell us more.  We participated in a ceremony.  First, there was a Vigor roll that Slim missed so he had to bow out.  Then a Spirit roll.  Our spirits flew to the nearby mine at the bottom of which was a trapped spirit.  It said that it had been protecting this land for thousands of years but recently the miners had dug too deep and it had lost its connection to the land and its power was reduced.  Then a white man with knowledge of dark magic managed to tap its power for his own purposes.  The Preacher, we assume.  It wanted us to go to the mine to help it and restore balance to the land.  Finally, a task.  So, the plan is to go directly to the mine next time.  Even though it was late afternoon, we didn’t want to risk getting waylaid in town.  Luckily the vision had left us well-rested, even Virgil who had been up all night.  (Slim is unfortunately fatigued.)  There is still some doubt as to whether helping this spirit is the right thing to do but at least we can check it out.  Another advancement was granted.  The next game is planned for 2 weeks.