Beacon Grove Chapel
21 Old Village Way
Built for the first settlers of the village of Shadowsgarde, the Beacon Grove Chapel is in fact the only structure that survived the fire responsible for the original settlement's destruction. It's not all that much to look at, of course -- a fairly small, one-room brick structure with a humble white steeple, small square windows and a plain wooden door -- but it's a connection to Shadowgard's distant past and it continues to stand the test of time admirably.
Today, the chapel serves as a free museum dedicated to Shadowgard's history in general and the story of the original village in particular. The pews have long since been moved out and replaced with display cases holding various artifacts and surviving documents relating to the land, the settlement, the decision to reincorporate after the fire, and more. As tourist attractions go, it's not the most popular. Sure, it's free, but the exhibit isn't particularly interesting and leaves out many of the more colorful aspects of Shadowgard's actual history. Still, the chapel usually attracts a few college students suckered into coming by their professors' glowing recommendation as well as families in search of an educational experience. There are usually at least a few people drifting out during its operating hours, which currently stand between 10 am and 6 pm every day of the week.
Interestingly, despite its status as a city-owned, fairly secular museum, the Beacon Grove Chapel remains consecrated ground; curiously, each and every mayor of Shadowgard has even been known to quietly bring in a priest to sanctify it once again whenever the chapel is desecrated. To those in the know regarding occult matters, this means one thing: the chapel is a safe haven from vampires and from many demons; it's so strongly sanctified that those with an aversion to holy objects can't even enter.
The same does not apply to the cemetery just outside the chapel, which is given over to the dead and the undead. Though no one has been buried in the small graveyard for two hundred years, it seems to draw the ire of the forces of evil; it is frequently vandalized, and those foolish enough to linger overlong after dark are often slaughtered by one of the many things that stalk the night. The holy chapel is an island of calm in a small but swiftly churning sea of violence and chaos, and while it may be a safe haven, its very holiness seems to draw the forces of evil to the immediate vicinity like moths to a flame.
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