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Many of those from Sistrine had migrated further south, where the weather grew warmer and the vegetation grew more lush. When they reached a great expanse of sand, they settled on the border. These people specialised in fishing and herbalism. Derlinderry would have been fated to remain a little fishing village, had it not been for the discovery of a little blue stone on the beach, not too far from the settlement.
According to the local story, the stone was found by a little boy. It was only when the boy had to be rescued from his cabin through having accidentally set fire to it, that the rest of the community found out about it. The boy's father went with his son (his son refused to let go of the stone) to the town mayor. The mayor of course recognised the stone as a shard of the stone of Sistrina.
Those who had migrated to Derlinderry had left Sistrine due to the repression and terrorism of the reign of Scelarus. When the mayor discovered that the stone had simply been 'found' on the beach, without any visions of Gods or Goddesses, he felt himself confirmed in his belief that the legend about the stones was merely a story invented by clerics to maintain their hold over society. He was ready to dismiss the whole thing, if people were fool enough to think that a stone had powers, then that was their problem, when something odd happened. He wanted to look closer at the stone out of curiosity. He took hold of the boy's hand, which was still ferociously clenching the stone, and tried to persuade him gently to relax his grip, when he felt a searing pain in his hand. He pulled his hand away from the stone - the stone had burnt it. The boy looked scared and dropped the stone.
"I hear your house burnt down?" said the mayor to the hapless father, who was staring at his son in disbelief. Gingerly, the mayor picked up the stone on the floor, his hand still smarting from the heat. The stone was cool to the touch and as he touched it the pain in his hand receded and the skin smoothed itself again.
"Strange - it seems these stones really do have power." Turning to the boy he asked 'How did you make fire?' The boy merely hid behind his father's legs. So the mayor struck a deal with the boy's father - he paid for the rebuilding of his house, in order to spend some time with his son, to find out how his son made the stone work.
The mayor got the boy to show him where he found the stone, asked him lots of questions, and asked him to make fire with the stone. It turned out that sometimes the boy could make fire, and other times he couldn't. Sometimes, when the boy was angry, little flashes of lightening would appear in the air, or fire would be released, but only sometimes could he control it. The mayor kept a note of all that happened, and came to the conclusion that it was through the force of will that the stone could be manipulated, that strong emotions created uncontrolled reactions in the stone, but the power of the emotions, if channelled should be able to control the stone's reactions.
Slowly but surely, more stones turned up. People brought them straight to the mayor - they were a bit afraid of the stones. They had heard about the experiments, and were still in their hearts scared to displease Sistrina. After a year of frustration and many mishaps, the mayor was at last capable of controlling fire. He discovered that certain words could focus the power of the stone more accurately. The boy was much quicker, but they worked together, The mayor painstakingly recording all of their experiments and their results, and the boy through his affinity with the stone discovering constantly new talents and sharing them with the mayor. The mayor was so excited by their progress, that he believed that everybody could use this talent. He had all the stones that people had brought him made into amulets and called a town meeting, where he gave each family a necklace.
"You remember why we left Sistrine - Persecutions, disappearances, in a town apparently protected by Sistrina's blessing? That was just because a few power hungry individuals passing themselves off as clerics wanted to monopolise power for their own gain. These stones are useful ? they can help you in your everyday lives. They are not presents of Sistrina ? you have found them yourselves, littered upon the shore. They can give us light in the dark, and heat without wood or flint, and heal small wounds - and you can do this - not just some cleric - we all have the capability to do this. The stones connect with our thoughts, our will power, somehow."
The mayor and the boy demonstrated how to use the stones, and urged the people to practice. It so developed that Derlinderry became known as the city of light. The stones proved useful - light meant that work, such as repairing nets which could usually only be done during the day, could be done after night fall, that those lost in the desert could be found more quickly through light signals. Not everybody who had the stone could use it to the same extent - some were more and others less talented. But it created a little revolution in Derlinderry.
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