Oni wrote this for Stonebreakers
There once was a very old stonebreaker named Earenn. You could still see a tiny bit of red hair intermixed with the thick white locks all over his head but there was little color left in the piercing gray eyes. He sat on a big cushion that he carried in his pack and chewed the end of his tobacco pipe. His great white beard gave a quiver and he scratched underneath, lost in thought.
Earenn had amassed quite a fortune during his life and had stashed it all in a deep hole under his cave. He worked so much during his long long life that he never took the time to marry or have any children. Now that he was old it was too late to start all of that.
"But what should I do with my treasure?" he wondered.
Leaning on his thick twisted cane, he began to pace from his cushion to the cave entrance and back. He twisted his beard with his fingers as he paced. His beard was in great long curls from hours of twisting when he tired of pacing and sat back down. He pulled a piece of dried fish from his pack and ate. Still pondering his predicament he fell into a deep and dreamy slumber.
He saw in his dream a great mountainside full of trees. Within a dense array of tree trunks laid a small stone box that reminded him of something he had carved for his mother as a boy. He woke from the dream with an insatiable desire to find that box. Unable to physically make the trip, he sent his young friend Mikara the menki.
Mikara searched the wilderness every day and especially around the many trees surrounding the area. All he ever found was a big brown rock. He noticed it because it was smooth all over as if it had been in a river but there was no river there. He carefully searched again and finding nothing else he took the rock to Earenn.
Earenn took the large heavy rock into his hands. Although his hands were wrinkled and deeply scarred from the years of mining, they were still strong and nimble. He turned the great thing over and felt the cool smooth surface. The weight of it seemed somehow "off" and he shook it near his ear. Something was inside! He studied its surface once again, taking more time to feel for the slightest inconsistency. Mikara looked closely at it too and couldn't find anything like an opening.
Finally Earenn announced to everyone of the clan that whoever could open the mysterious rock would receive a great reward. Curious and determined, each member came to see the stone and try their hand at finding the opening. For many days dwarves of every persuasion came and went but none could do the task.
One day a very small daughter of Earenn's third brother came to try. She was barely bigger than the stone itself so he set it down on the floor beside her. Before he realized what she was doing she pulled out a hammer and gave it a big >whack!<
Earenn and his neice looked down at the rock on the floor. It was now laid open in two separate pieces. Inside was a bright red jewel. It shone so bright that the whole cave seemed to glow. Earenn picked up the glittering gem and studied it with delight. He looked down at little Weranna Vox and shook his head. The wit of this child had confirmed his own dream as a vision.
Earenn left his whole fortune to that little girl. Much older now, she still works with hammers and her father wears the glittering jewel in his beard to this day.
