Lebbinowik and the Flower Maiden

The legend: A human girl, the flower maiden (sometimes called Paradenia) is held captive by an ogre. The ogre turns her to stone each morning and at nightfall, when she returns to human flesh, he taunts her with tales of the world around of which she can never be part. A durgan (a mountain gnome in some legends) named Lebbinowik, sees her as a stone statue and falls in love with her. He visits her each evening and tries to coax her into human form. He begins to bring her gifts of precious stones and gems he finds in the mines. Each night the ogre torments the flower maiden, repeating to her Lebbinowik's words. The girl weeps over the gifted stones for the durgan who shows her such love and devotion and who the ogre says he will kill. Finally a day comes when the durgan comes with no gifts. He says he is going away on a dangerous quest and probably will not return. He too weeps over his gifted stones. When the ogre returns the following morning to turn the maiden back into stone, one of the durgan's stones grows into a plant that shields her from him. The flower maiden, no longer bound as a statue, goes out to find her durgan and to return to him the stones. Legends vary on the details of what follows but agree that each of the stones helps her in a different way on her quest. At the end of her long journey she finds they durgan and, when the ogre tries to kill them, the seventh gifted stone turns into a mighty sword which can pierce the skin of the ogre. The durgan slays the monster and they are finally free to be together. The eighth and final stone turns into a rose that symbolizes their love which the flower maiden gifts back to the durgan.
However the details have been muddled over the years, their legend continues to live on. The majority of the original stones are scattered and lost. The first stone was ground into a powder that was mixed with other ingredients to create a protective powder against ogre stares which can otherwise have a paralysis effect. This powder has been made into a "mother" or "chief" which never runs out so long as it is fed the proper ingredients and can be used to make more of the same. The king of the Western Kingdom currently seeks the seventh stone to protect his realm from ogres who are growing in number and becoming a threat to his kingdom.