A crappy birthday turns around.

What had been just about the crummiest birthday I’ve ever had turned into something fantastic a day afterward. Staci gave me this: one of the Dwarven Rings of Power. Crafted by the dark lord Sauron in order to deceive the races of Middle-Earth, it was gifted to the dwarf lords under the mountain. Most were thought to have been consumed by dragon breath, yet apparently some survived.

The runes read as follows:

Axe That Never Dulls, Hammer That Never Breaks
Halls Under The Mountains, Filled With Gold And Treasure