Rune Stones

Rune Stones are magical foci used in the casting of runic magic. They appear in Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II.

Description
The exact origins of rune stones are not known, as the magical system which utilizes them does not appear to be native to Britannia. The first known examples of rune stones were found in the Stygian Abyss by Cabirus' colonists, who eventually intuited their use in runic magic and crafted appropriate containers for housing them. Later, following Nystul's research into inter-dimensional spellcraft, several of these rune stones were imported to Castle Britannia, where the Avatar was able to make use of them during the disaster of the blackrock dome.

Rune stones are each etched with one of twenty-four symbols that correspond to the magical Words of Power (although there are no rune stones for Xen or Zu). A magician may use up to three of these stones to craft a runic spell, holding them between the fingers of the casting hand, and will frequently be limited in their spell-casting by the number of different stones they possess.

The Trinket
In the original release of Ultima Underworld I, a pouch with six metal rune stones was included as a trinket. These rune stones are supposedly the same as the ones in the game, as they do fit between the fingers exactly as intended and described. The six rune stones included are "Bet", "In", "Jux", "Lor", "Ort" and "Sanct".