So Solokov that comment made me look back through the pages and I noticed something.
This is Reynir's first encounter with the church.
http://www.sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=506That was 68 pages ago. And in comic time, that was "several weeks ago''.
Now we don't exactly know where and how far they have been, but they somehow stayed within "radio" distance of that particular spirit/dream space. Perhaps it was even the lady herself asking who was there in that panel.
Now, the reason this could be sinisiter is that I noticed a second thing while going through the pages of that chapter.
The monster in the water, the sjodraug, attacked before it was introduced.
http://www.sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=477It could be a psychic attack, a first round meant to disable the preys. And/or lure them toward their lair. It seems that monster like this one can, like mages, have their souls wander. In fact, it seems to be an integral part to their hunting tactic - they find you and attack you in the Dreaming first, and then move in for the kill with their physical bodies. The Saw-Train Troll had the same approach. Of all the people knocked out we had all the non-mage except Tuuri (who is from a family of mages - might have some of it herself, or protections from her cousin and brother), suggesting that they had only minimal psychic protection. The other way to cut it would be that it's those who aren't immune who were unaffected.
It's unclear the role the other wraiths have in relationship to the sjodraug - are they just independently attacking the crew, all of them driven by their hunger, or are they being directed as foot soldiers by the monster?
What's suspicious is that immediately after that fight Reynir lands in the church domain. Why? Where they just suddenly spiritually close to it?
Or is it just the first layer of a troll psychic attack? A lure? Using a trapped soul as bait for wayward mages trying to save a soul?
The glowing eyes of the sheeps are especially threatening, to me anyway. Does it mean Reynir was being watched? Perhaps by something else? There was an obvious relationship to Reynir because he was a shepherd himself and his dog his a shepherd dog - making him, eventually, a literal shepperd of lost souls - but what if, what if that's not what was being hint at here?
What if, instead, we have a powerfull troll who's psychic strategy is to shepherd souls to itself, ensnaring them with cake and tiny spoons?
Other detail. Reynir doesn't break the little stained glass christian design earlier. It explodes in his hand.
It's almost like a jumpscare from a horror movie. Pastor lady herself would probably not know - she wanders lonely her old church. If it's the church lady herself, than it might be a sort of multiple personality set up.
