A cart crashes into a signpost reading: Gully Hill, guards find a body (young Mikhael Embergrave) and 3 people are taken. Jacob finds himself in a prison cell, his gun holster is empty. On the left is Ravenar and on his right is Thaldin. Jacob is picked up from his cell for questioning, inside the room are 2 people (an older man who is called captain Delk, and a lady of mid 20s who is called the sister). The sister, named Halvine is an aasimar (human-like race, touched by a celestial being). She is the inquisitor of the Godqueen herself. Next up is Ravanar, the name Embergrave rings a bell to him. He is part of the noble house that oversees Gully Hill and the coal mines. His father is Hieran Embergrave. Thaldin is last and get’s into a staring and toughness battle with the sister. In the end she wins and puts on a magical bracelet, which she then also gives to Ravnar and Jacob. This binds them to the Embergrave family, only to be broken when they find the true killer. Thaldin wants to walk towards the capital but Jacob persuades him to stay for 1 day to help with the investigation. They head for the Inn and Jacob and Ravanar start conducting a neigbourhood survey. Ravanar learns that the coachdriver who is probably the murderer was last seen at the church. Someone tells him that House Embergraves loaned money from the Tiressian Railway Company (TRC) to modernize the mines. The inkeeper tells them that the mine has been closed for a few days because of monsters. The heroes make way for the church to speak to the priestess Veyra. At that moment they see 3 thieves running with 6 bags of gold. They stop the thieves and show restraint, because the thieves are local boys this leads to approval of the townfolk. They each get 50GP from Berrick Flint as a reward. The heroes head to the church, there are not many people around the church, only a red tiefling. Veyra recollects seeing the coach driver wearing a strange cloak, a visits more often and usually heads north afterwards (towards the mines and the Embergrave Manor). She talks about the sister, and that she has been sent by the Godqueen herself to check on the debt of the Embergraves. Veyra tells them to look into Ferdinant Embergrave, he might be consolidating his position when his father will be punished. They head to the manor, are led in by a guard and meet with Ferdinand, the lordling tiefling with piercing golden eyes. Thing heat up and the lordling is blaming them for killing his brother. Then suddenly: “FIRE!!!!”, a guard comes running in telling them that the church is in flames. The whole manor charges to the church to extinguish the flames, the heroes use the time to break into the personal quarters of Ferdinand. They find a love letter from his brother Mikhael, the heroes are now convinced that Ferdinand did not kill his brother. In the church fire Veyra is killed and Ferdinand apologizes to the heroes, he believes them now and claims that his family is targeted by the TRC because of the debt of his father. Jacob examines the body of Mikhael and finds out that is has been feasted on by some monstrous creature. Seeing that their only remaining lead now is the fact that the coach driver went north, towards the mines. First they head to the church finding nothing of interest en then head to the inn to find themselves a guide in the mines and get a good night’s sleep. The taverner points them in the direction of Raskin Drude, an ex-miner and “old crank” Jabin. They tell them that the monsters are on the upper levels and that the heroes should visit the shimmerstone. Jabin tells them that the supports of the tunnels in the upper section of the mines are weak.