"Those who would dare to delve deep into the earth's bones are few, their faith the foundation of sacred rock itself."

-First of the Stone Psalms 

I bore a weighty burden across my back, its uneven mass making each inch of progress tenuous. My fingers dug desperately to each iota of purchase to keep my suspended form from falling. Beneath my toes was an eternal chasm of stone and rock, infested with a universe of writhing cave systems. I laid a trembling foot on a substantial ledge and gratefully dropped to the ground.

A sigh of relief echoed through this particular chamber, bouncing through a myriad of tunnels before replying with a distorted mimicry. I slung the bag from my shoulders and checked its contents once more, a crowns worth of gems, jewels, and exotic ore stared back at me. 

I was going to escape this place...eventually. I began a circuitous route through various tunnels and chambers searching for any indication of direction or escape. The walls were all manners of hues, geometries, and textures. One minute a black tidal wave frozen in gritty detail, the next a blunt intrusive giants fist blocking the way. 

Every sandy crevice or crumbling nook there were treasures. Diamond storm clouds painted on the ceiling crashing into gemstone caverns of teeth grinning through the floor. The earths veins pumped silver and gold through its bedrock arteries. Its coal dust lungs inhaling sapphire mist and emerald smog.

The more I saw the more I began to believe. It hit me like an earthquake finally releasing a million years of tension. I traversed the body, mind, and soul of an ancient thing. This ancestor rock was the manifestation of root knowledge lain bare to reality. I continued on my new path though the primordial passageways to find the core.

It was many years of pilgrimage before I found another lost soul on my same journey. They told me of their glimpse of enlightenment and we continued onwards with a new vision. More and more foundlings were added to our numbers and before long we had a crystalline clergy.

Our search for the StoneHaeme continues eternally so that one day its children may rest in the birthplace of earth absolute. For now the Stonekin pass faithfully onwards through the hallowed minehalls, ever vigilant.