Today's #MinCup23 vote is between cinnabar and quartz. This is a tough one! Going on folklore, both have a whole lot to offer.
I'll make this a thread and share some stories.
There is a Japanese folktale about two brothers who go out to gather cinnabar every day from a pond.
The cruel younger brother decides he wants to keep all the valuable cinnabar to himself. He constructs a fake dragon from lacquered bowls to scare his elder brother away from the pond.
However, one day as he goes to collect cinnabar again, the dragon comes to life and swallows him.
There is an Oroqen folktale about a hero named Silteken, who goes out to avenge his father's death on a 100-eyed monster. He loses the first fight and dies.
However, his clever horse goes on a quest to kidnap a (willing) princess from her wedding along with her dowry of cinnabar, which can be used to bring the dead back to life.
Revived with cinnabar by his beloved, Silteken defeats the monster.
Cinnabar in Chinese folklore was associated with the Vermilion Bird of the South, and one of the main ingredients of immortality pills in Chinese alchemy (ironically, since it's toxic, and if you eat it you'll get the opposite of immortal...)
As for quartz, here is a Mansi legend about the origin of rock crystals in the Urals. It tells of a chief who built a tower of clear crystal, which a horde of giants shattered, trying to kidnap the chief's daughter. With the help of spirits, the attackers were turned into pillars of stone.
I blogged about the story here
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2022/04/q-is-for-quartz-crystals-gemstone.html?m=1