Life for the first dwarves was a mystery, but also deadly. They blinked ience from nothingness, just like every raude, curious, and adventurous!

  Such a mi is leads to growth. Except for the fact that they were doing it in the middle of an unknown, potentially dangerous forest.

  The first dwarves were very peaceful by nature, quickly finding their pce as they began chopping down trees with sharpened rocks.

  As is typical with dwarves, they had an unusual attra to rocks. They quickly advao the stone age, sharpening tools and actally disc flint after one of their beards caught fire.

  Har Firebeard became the name of the one who's beard caught fire. A simple name born from ughter and his beard catg fire. His hair was ginger, so it ironically matched the new niame.

  Within a few months, the dwarves had discovered both stonew and fire.

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  "Har har har! Behold, my stick of fire!" Har waved a stick with a flickering fme, surrounded by cheering dwarves. "My name be Firebeard!"

  "Har Firebeard!" someoaunted from the crowd.

  Har's face turned as red as his beard as he waved his stick forward, "Show yourself, coward!"

  "Har har har," A female dwarf stepped forward, covered in leaves. To Har's eyes, she was absolutely stunning! More beautiful than any other dwarf in their gathering!

  Her lusciously ginger, well-trimmed beard glistened in the firelight. Her bulging muscur arms, hairy and strong, and her calloused hands- what dwarf wouldn't want her?

  His shade of red deepened into full blown embarrassment. "Ah- Riverlily, I'm sorry for raising my voice..." He trailed off, l his torch.

  L his head with a determined breath, he gripped the torch with both hands and k before her. "Riverlily, will you take this and be mine alone?"

  Riverlily's eyes examihe torch before scoffing. "A wooden stick? You think so little of me."

  Har Firebeard rose sharply to his feet.

  "No, my Riverlily! Ighis! I will show you that you meahing to me!"

  Turning sharply, Har disappeared into the forest.

  Days ter, he returned holding a smooth stoaff with a ball of dried leaves and twigs burning atop. He beamed with pride and fidence.

  "Behold, I have you a stick of stohat burns! Tis it not enough to win your heart?" Har boasted fidently, puffing out his toned chest and flexing his muscles.

  Sighing, she shook her head. "It is merely stoh twigs on top."

  Har refused to be disheartened aured bato the fn nds, apahis time with several other determined dwarves.

  Each of them found women that were precious to them, but none of the females were satisfied.

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  "I've tried everything," one dwarf grumbled. "I created a wreath of the most beautiful flowers! She refused it because they made her itch."

  "That is nothing!" another snapped. "When I heard mine pin about dirty feet, I carved wooden covers for her to walk in. She said they were too hard!"

  "Pah! All of you pale in parison to what I did!" a third interjected. "When she said she was tired of the weather, I built her shelter made of wood and stone. But refused to stay because the interior was 'b and unimaginative!'"

  Har turned, raising his hands and bellowing. "Do not be disheartened! We've been among the greenery for too long. Even my Riverlily wants something that glitters more beautifully than the jeweled stars in the night sky!"

  The other dwarves cast him doubtful looks, but Har turned fidently toward the t mountain that loomed before them. He squi the strange flying creatures cirg its peak.

  "We will venture forth! While other dwarves settle for lesser women, and will return with only the most beautiful stones!"

  One dwarf hesitated. "What about the beasts up there, Har?"

  "Hornfinger, do you have spare stoools?"

  "Aye, why?" Hornfinger grumbled.

  "The beasts that howled and took your finger- we may meet worse." Har poi his missing fiub repced with a rabbit's horn. "We must be ready! Beasts fly above!"

  Hornfinger sighed, pulling out two sticks with jagged stotached. "You should've said something before we left. Yer lucky I always carry my strong stone. Find good stones and sticks, and I'll craft us more."

  Har grinned, his fiery beard catg the light. "Then onward! To the mountain and to glory!"

  The dwarves roared in agreement as they marched toward the unknown, dreams of shimmering stones and hard-won affe driving them forward.

  -----------------

  The dwarves climbed relentlessly, braving the rocky terrain and sharp winds as they pressed onward. Along the way, they designated roles to keep their expeditianized.

  Some carried tools fed from Hornfinger for both fighting and hitting stohers carried leaf-woven bags strapped to their backs with twigs, ready to haul supplies. A few were tasked with fing for food, sc the unfamiliar ndscape for anything edible.

  When night fell, the dwarves found shelter in a nearby cave at the base of the mountain. But what they didn't expect to find were glistening purple crystal rocks dotting the cave, their surface refleg the torchlight into a spectrum of colors.

  Delving deeper, the crystals grew in size ay. The crystals shimmered and refracted light, casting mesmerizing shades of purple, blue, and silver—hues that no fme alone could produce.

  Eager and wide eyed, the dwarves set to work immediately and used their sharpeoo chip away at the walls. Large cascades of glowing crystal ks fell, sending waves of glittering dust into the air.

  Binding together a series of fallen wooden logs, they created a makeshift ptform and loaded a rge crystal the size of three of them. It took the bined effort of all the dwarves to hoist the crystal onto the ptform, and several grueling days t it back to their camp.

  When they finally arrived, the dwarven women gathered around, their eyes widening at the dazzling treasure. The male dwarves who refused to join the expedition, hung their heads in shame with their women casting disapproving gres upon them.

  "With this crystal," Har said, being at the enormous crystal. "I shall craft you a crystal neckd rings. You will be the most beautiful dy in all the nds!"

  "Me and every other dy here?" she scoffed, gesturing toward the group of women as they admired the treasure. The other dwarves were making simir promises, eae eager to impress except it was w for them.

  Har's fidence wavered for a split sed, but he quickly inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, tering himself. Disheartened? No. His resolve was as firm as the stones he worked with.

  "We found such beauties at the base of the mountain..." Har said slowly, his voice steady. "Undoubtedly, there is more to discover. And the most beautiful, the rarest of them all- I shall deliver it to you!"

  Riverlily's expression softened, her lips curving into a gentle smile. She stepped forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Har's face flushed deep red, his cheeks burning like embers.

  "I'm sure you will," she whispered, meeting his gaze for a moment before turning away.

  Har stood frozen in pce, his heart pounding in his chest, but with a wide grin slowly spreading across his face. That mountain had not see of him!

  -----------------

  Ats pressed pause on the repy button, breathing out slowly.

  "Wow... That's... romantic?" Ats shivered, however, his thoughts resting on the females' desires for more. "Their bravery was driven by love but that dy just wants more..."

  Wisp chirped ily, "She is greedy. But if not for Riverlily's greed and Har's determination to win her love, they wouldn't have advanced so quickly."

  "There's more?"

  "Yes. Because you slept, you missed many opportuo alter their fate- and perhaps make it easier for poor Har Firebeard."

  Ats felt a little guilty and his gaze returo the determined, love-struck dwarf. He wouldn't be able to alter Firebeard's fate either as dwarves lived for only 300 years and over 400 had passed.

  "I didn't know just going to sleep would skip all of this..."

  "I tried to warn you," Wisp said without mercy. "But luckily for you, the dwarves have thrived. The urgency, after you've finished catg up here, is with the elves on the eastern ti.

  Frowning, Ats gnced across the globe at the ti. Elves in a desert? Yeah, that probably wasn't going well. But then again, dwarves spawning above ground?

  Pressing the repy on his CDIM s, the summarized video with key events tio py on his s with walls of text giving further details runnio it.