Touchstone
* 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | touchstone |
| Appearance | gray stone |
| Damage vs. small | 1d3 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d3 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | sling |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 45 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 10 |
| Material | mineral |
Touchstones are used to identify gems by rubbing the gem on the stone. Rubbing an iron item on the touchstone will produce a signature "scritch, scritch" noise, which is the most reliable means of identifying the stone.
A blessed touchstone will immediately identify the gem, as will an uncursed touchstone in the hands of an archeologist or gnome.[1] An uncursed touchstone will merely distinguish glass from gems, whereas a cursed touchstone will normally shatter gems that are rubbed on it.
Using a Touchstone
If the touchstone is blessed or you can use it as blessed, all tested gems will be formally identified, allowing you to sell them for full price and get the full luck bonus for throwing them to unicorns. Other gray stones and glass can also be identified this way.
If the touchstone is used as uncursed, valuable gems will leave colored streaks (the exact color depending on the gem's color), while glass will leave (colorless) scratch marks. You may then use your scrolls of identify to formally identify the valuable gems without wasting any on glass. Type-name the glass before discarding it to avoid the need for redundant testing. Uncursed testing will not distinguish gray stones from each other.
