Scry stones are conduits to communication on the mental plane. any stone that gives the illusion of depth, tricking the eye into seeing yet not seeing, or seeing beyond the surface, can function as a scry stone, though the truly adept can use any sort of a surface (water is most common, fire is rare) in which the eye can be tricked, signalling "hidden space" to the brain, which is then receptive to image.

Scrying is best described as shaped imagination. Those who can imagine and hold an image can usually scry. The simplest use is for communications between mages. Mage A looks into the stone, tricking the eye into the scry state, and thinks of the image of the person to be contacted. If that person is also scrying, there is immediate contact.

However, it takes more skill to keep one's contact private. In essence one must shape two images: one of the person, and one of a wall surrounding oneself and the person. Once contact is made, the mages do not have to maintain the image of the other as the contact supplies that for most mages, but the wall still has to be imagined and maintained.

Scrying creates a kind of signal on the mental plane. Most mages perceive it as a light. Each individual has a distinctive light pattern, if one is adept enough to perceive the many patterns, and so one can go searching for the presence of a specific person who might be using the scry state. Thus one can spy, unless the wall is up . . . and powerful mages can attack the wall (in other words try to distract the targets so they drop the wall) or even "hear" past it, if one is powerful enough.

There is thus a lot of mental trickery involved. Scrying can be dangerous, as there is nothing physical to be grabbed, and certain kinds of magic can be send "through" the scry state. This method is not very popular due to its dangers.

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