Stone tell

Stone tell was a divination spell that allowed the caster to speak with stones. It was one of the spells available from the Balance of Belaros, a holy relic of Tyr.

Effects
This spell operated on any type of stone or rock, natural or worked. Early versions of this spell required the caster to touch the stones to be questioned,  while later versions of this spell worked on the caster, allowing conversation with any stone addressed. In either case, the stones were able to answer questions about who or what touched them in the past, and what the stone might be concealing. However, the stones had particularly limited knowledge and understanding. For example, a rock might have revealed that a snake was hiding beneath it, but could not tell if it was a poisonous snake.

Components
Old versions of the spell required verbal, somatic and material components, including a drop of mercury and a pinch of clay. Newer versions of the spell worked with the caster's holy symbol or divine focus as the material component. The arcane version of this spell required a piece of chalk as the material component. The caster used this chalk to draw a face on the stone, with eyes, ears, mouth and nose.