?I?ve brought ye something,? Elminster
said. ?But ye won?t even see it if I don?t
have your solemn oath first that ye won?t
touch it ? at all ? or keep me from taking
it away again. Dost hear??

?Dost,? I agreed, solemnly. ?I agree to all
those conditions and I can probably even
muster up a few oaths, if you insist . . .
any preferences? No, never mind . . .
you?ve captured my attention with your
not-very-subtle mysterious act, so tell me:
Have you brought along someone?s crown
jewels, then? Or just the talisman of Asmodeus?
?

?Do not jest about such things,? the sage
said, staring at me crossly. ?Such irreverence
for great learning. Tut, tut! I have
indeed brought a jewel? ? he produced a
small, stoppered bottle of crystal, which
he held up to the light ? ?as you can see.
This? ? he paused for dramatic effect; I
spoiled it by handing him a glass of sherry,
and turning on my tape recorder ? ?is a
Rogue Stone!?

The stone Elminster showed me was
small, about the size of a dime, faceted,
and displaying a rainbow of shifting, fluid
colors; pretty, even exquisite if properly
displayed, but nothing to stand out when
placed with other gemstones. These are
very rare and not easy to identify, Elminster
told me (and a search through my
library failed to turn up anything of our
Home Plane that matched them exactly),
but there are over sixty known to exist in
the Realms. None are known to have been
turned up or mined; all have been found
as cut, finished gemstones, and their precise
origin is a mystery.

The name ?Rogue Stone? is an example
of that sense of humor prevalent amongst
sages of the Realms ? it is derived from
the use of such gemstones by rogues:
rogue magic users, to be more exact. By
the use of a certain spell of great antiquity
(whose origin has been lost with time), it
can be used as a means of precise transport
from place to place, even from plane
to plane (a process known as ?gemjumping,
? or sometimes ?gemwalking? or ?gemsending
?). Only with this type of gem does
the magic work. Due to their rarity, there
is no set price for such stones, but Elminster
tells me that he cannot believe a mage
would knowingly part with one for less
than a powerful magic item, much training,
or the knowledge of a dozen or so
spells. Here follows the necessary transportation
spell:

Gemjump (Alteration) 
Level: 6
Range: 0
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Saving Throw: None

Explanation/Description: A very rare
jewel, of the type known as a "rogue
stone," is required as the material component.
The spell-caster must hold this in
one hand, and with the other one make
the gestures required. At any time after
casting is completed (even centuries later),
the spell-caster (even in another incarnation,
i.e., lichdom or after receiving a
reincarnation) can, by an act of will, be
transported to the location of the gem ?
regardless of the distance between the
two, separation on different planes, or
restraints upon the gem (in a setting or
chest) or spell-caster (chains, bonds, imprisonment,
paralyzation, petrification,
and magical entrapments such as forcecage,
trap the soul, imprisonment, sink).
Transportation by means of this spell is
instantaneous, and if the gem is in a confined
area too small for the spell-caster?s
upright form to appear, he will appear in
the nearest suitable open space instead. It
is a one-way trip; the spell-caster cannot
later ?jump back? to the first location by
means of the gem.

The gem is not consumed in either spellcasting
or transportation, and is not
moved or affected in any way by the spell.
Since transportation is by act of will, the
spell-caster cannot be feebleminded, berserk
or maniacally insane, sleeping, delirious,
or unconscious. Casting a gemjump
on a rogue stone does not negate or alter
any previous gemjumps cast upon the
stone (but not yet used for transportation)
by others. Once cast, gemjumps cannot be
dispelled by any magics worked upon the
stone; only the utter (physical) destruction
of the gem will do that.
 

Elminster recounted several famous uses
of gemjumping in the Realms. I have set a
few down briefly, as examples of the
spell?s multiple uses:

Glemmora, mage of Rallyhorn, escaped
from manacles in the Dungeons of Torment
after her capture by King Urgiathus
of Dulgund, and appeared in the ruined
city of Myth Drannor, where she had
hidden her rogue stone and a spare spell
book.

Gulthas, the Black Mage, fled from
Avernus after an attempt to plunder
Tiamat?s hoard had failed, eluding three of
her consorts, and returned safely to his
seacoast citadel near Baldur?s Gate.

Brammas, Lord of Sulmarin, regained
his crown of office through the services of
his mage-of-court, Durlyn, who had previously
enspelled a rogue stone and affixed
it in the gem-work of the crown ? and
used it to appear with the stolen crown in
a cave not far from Sulmarin, where he
defeated the thieves by magic, and preserved
the crown.

Urthos ?Greencloak? slew his mortal
enemy, the mage Umpral, by jumping via a
rogue stone into the latter?s treasure vaults
and taking him unawares.

Laeral, a famous mage, destroyed the
demon lord Arlgolcheir with the aid of the
archmage Khelben ?Blackstaff? Arunsun
and the mage Alduth of Neverwinter ?
when Laeral found the demon?s amulet,
she was wearing a belt containing two
rogue stones, previously enspelled by
Khelben and Alduth, and she called on the
two by means of sending spells to aid her,
so that all three were ready to battle the
demon when it appeared.

The mage Faeros gained much magic
when a rogue stone he had sold to an
agent of the Red Wizards of Thay was
conveyed to them and placed in their
citadel; he appeared beside it, despite its
imprisonment in an enspelled chest, plundered
the spell books he found there, and
escaped via a fly spell, pocketing the rogue
stones. The Red Wizards are currently
seeking him.

Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun is known
to use a rogue stone as an infallible, safe
return teleport when adventuring; it is
kept in a secret room of his tower in Waterdeep
and guarded in his absence by
two apprentices who know not the details
of its use.

Heladar of Procampur won a bride by
sending a rogue stone as a gift to the princess
Lustra, Royal Lady of Innarlith ? and
gemjumping into her boudoir one night,
much to the distress of her handmaidens.
He slept them all and had a long night of
dalliance ere being discovered ? time
enough for him to fascinate the sheltered
princess and win her affection. Thus he
began an ardent and ultimately successful
courtship.

One note for all who find such gems:
there is no known way of identifying the
presence of extant gemjump spells cast
upon a rogue stone, nor of determining
the identity of the mages who cast them.
Even a wish will not remove such magics.
Elminster warns me that rogue stones may
well be found here and not to go monkey
ing about with such things. I have assured
him that DRAGON readers are far too
sensible and prudent to unleash dire consequences
upon themselves or their plane
by keeping such stones. Besides, we have a
foolproof way of losing unwanted items,
forever ? we just address them to ourselves
and pop them into the mail. . . .