Shiral

[DoctorM]

A question... A shiral crystal--- it detects the presence or use of Deryni powers, but...can it be used to detect the presence of Deryni who aren't using their powers? Can one be used to identify or track a particular Deryni? Does each Deryni's set of abilities have any kind of signature?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Laurna]

The Zipper Sister's did two very good articles on Shiral Crystals that can be found here on the forum:

Melissa wrote:
The Uses of Shiral Crystals
https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php?topic=1946.0

and  Susan wrote:
Shiral Crystals
https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php?topic=1945.0

These two articles go into great detail and are good to read.  My personal belief is that the shiral is a stone that can focus and retain magical powers and it glows when it does so. (Why do the five power stones from Indian Jones come to my mind as I write this?  ) The larger and clearer the  Shiral crystal, the better it can focus a magic users energy. Think Crystal ball. Alaric's was priceless and he could likely only afford it, even at the huge sum that he paid, because someone wanted to use it to spy on him. Otherwise it likely would never have been sold. So we know the shiral can be used for spying and for scrying in both directions, and holding spells.
However, I don't think if would detect Deryni powers in a person who does not know they are Deryni, unless the user of the stone knows precisely what to look for, like the genome that makes a person Deryni. And that might be too advanced for Kelson's era. Although I might be wrong, as some Deryni are trained well enough to tell if a person is Deryni by doing a Mind See, which needs to be done with physical touch. Would a large Shiral Cyrstal make that physical touch unnecessary? I can not say.

[DoctorM]

Thanks, Laurna! These are very helpful. It's information I'll be using shortly.

[ReikiDeryni]

Shiral in the Deryni world seems to be used liked clear quartz is in the real world, it has multiple psychic/magical uses. Shiral "finding" Deryni seems to be the crystal picking up on the energy of the "blood." This aspect is why it glows for Cinhil, the Haldane line, Derry, Bran, the Orsal line, etc. This is probably due to los/forgottent Deryni heritage and the offspring of the turned off Deryni.

[DoctorM]

It's going to be important in an upcoming Two Kingdoms fanfic piece for shiral crystals to be used to detect Deryni in some unexpected places.