The story opens in a mining town called Stonet ale, just west of the city of Nashville. It's five years ago, and the town is home to a mysterious monastery. A team of archeologists has been looking for the monastery's origins, but they've found nothing. They've also found one of their own, who's murdered all of the other archeologists. Apparently, he's the one who killed his own father. The narrator explains that his father's death is the key to the mystery of the monastery. He's been trying to find out what's in the inscriptions on the stone, but nothing has come of it.