As the monsters slept, Cwvym Purh decided to do some mining. After a perilous trip she reached one of the mining areas. Hard at work were Einnol, a stonebreaker she had met, and others. Once she had found a place to work, and got into the rhytm of it, she decided to tell a tale in between the swings of her rock pick.
Cwvym says: Einnol, have you heard the tale of the stonebreaker who could sing the jewels out of the stone?
Erakur is having a remarkable stroke of luck!
Einnol says: No, I have not. Sounds like a good tale.
Cwvym says: His name was Bered, if I recall.
Einnol says: I think if I sung, the diamonds would squirm further back.
Cwvym says: As he learned to mine from his father, they would sing together
Erakur sings to his bit of rock
Erakur sings to his bit of rock
Einnol says: Hmmm...
Cwvym says: Eventually his father noticed that he brought back more jewels when he took his son with him
Cwvym says: So Bered\'s talent was discovered in time
Einnol says: That is quite a good story indeed.
Cwvym says: He listened to passing bards, and gathered all the songs he could, when he was not busy mining
Cwvym says: One day his songs became so good, that the jewels came out in the shape he imagined
Keop says with a smile: Going to sell. Try to bring some beer back with me.
Cwvym says: oh please, I am parched
Einnol says: Telling of tales will make one quite thirsty.
Cwvym says: In the normal way, he courted a stonebreaker wife
Einnol moves closer to hear better.
Cwvym says: Because he loved her so, he sung from the rock a tiara of great beauty and intricacy
Cwvym says: She loved it
Cwvym says: She could not bear to part with it
Cwvym says: And one day while in town looking for some special weybread,
Cwvym says: She was stopped by a call from a carriage
Cwvym says: Humbly, she obeyed the call, the piercing gaze of the driver nearly freezing her
Cwvym says: A dainty hand moved aside the curtain in the carriage window
Cwvym says: \'Where did you get that?\' came the haughty question
Cwvym says: And so the Queen of the land learned of Bered, and was jealous of his wife,
Cwvym says: For all her finery paled in comparison to the Tiara
Cwvym says: She ordered the driver to head for the castle at once, and Bered\'s wife was left with the taste of grit
Cwvym says: And not solely from the dust cloud the horses left behind
Cwvym says: And so it came to be, that the King\'s men found Bered on his way home from work
Cwvym says: \"The King demands your presence\" was all they would say
Cwvym says: Exausted and nervous, Bered was finally brought before the King
Cwvym says: I am told you make items of unsurpassed beauty\" the King intoned
Cwvym says: \'Yes Sire\'
Cwvym says: \'Then I do charge thee to make jewelry fit for the Queen\'
Cwvym says: With increasing dread, Bered was led to the royal mines
Cwvym thanks the stone
Cwvym says: He was astounded at the bedraggled workers, obviously ill kept starving and thirsty
Cwvym says: This was not a proper stonebreaker mine
Cwvym thanks the stone
Einnol says: How sad.
Cwvym says: And so it came to be that he sung long hours making jewelry for the Queen
Cwvym says: Though of startling quality, none would satisfy here
Cwvym says: The Queen had yet to see a piece as lovely as that of Bered\'s wife.
Cwvym thanks the stone
Cwvym says: Day after day Bered sung wondrous items, and never was the Queen satisfied
Cwvym says: In time, Bered lost his voice
Cwvym says: He pleaded for good ale to quench his aching throat, but by now,
Cwvym says: The Royals no longer perceived him as alive, merely as a tool
Cwvym says: And since they can always get more tools, he was neglected
Cwvym says: Eventually a mine Overseer gave him a pick to work with
Cwvym says: And though the Queen would have him whipped, he could not sing even if he had wanted to
Cwvym says: The last \'inducement\' session proved too much, when the Queen said:
Cwvym says: \'Very well, find his wife and bring me her Tiara, with or without her head\'
Cwvym says: Bered was led with tears in his eyes back to the mine
Einnol says: Oh no.
Cwvym says: He stared at the stone, trying to croak out a song,
Cwvym says: but it was no use. He swung his pick in fury, until blood flew from his hands
Cwvym says: By reflex, he sucked at his aching fingers
Cwvym says: and felt a soothing warmth in his throat
Cwvym says: Desperate now, he bit at his arms trying to draw more blood
Cwvym says: and indeed, he found he could at least hum
Cwvym says: So he sang in this fashion to the stone, and it fell away
Cwvym says: leaving him a passage to the surface
Cwvym says: He ran until he reached his house
Cwvym says: and saw the King\'s men approaching
Cwvym says: But he took his wife away from there
Cwvym says: And hid in the mountains of his cousins
Cwvym says: Though he could never speak again, he was happy
Cwvym says: For it was not merely his work that made the Tiara beautiful, but his love for his wife.
Einnol nods.
Einnol says: That is a fascinating tale.
Keop says: Phew
Cwvym says: it has made me thirsty
Einnol wipes away a single tear from his eye.
Keop says: Sorry I forget the beer. I was mobbed by townsfolk wanting to show them how to get here.
Keop chuckles and says: There is a mob at the wall up there all falling down
Einnol says: I will buy you an ale at the tavern, Cwvym. With that story, you have earned it.
Cwvym says: Ah many thanks
