25.8 The ancient sands of time.

The sands of time are used fairly regularly in gem quests, and, most importantly, they are used to determine the two final contenders for an Ordination. Quests involving the sands of time usually require two individuals, or two groups competing over possession of the sands of time over a certain length of time. The team or individual holding the sands when the time runs out is declared the winner. The difficulty with holding the sands of time is that they cannot be taken above the clouds, or out of cover of the skies, or into fields. They cannot be cursed, or trapped, or have runes placed on them. They cannot be placed inside backpacks or in the saddlebags of a steed. The sands must be held in one's hands, at all times, out in the open. The sands cannot be held by tree-formed, or cat-formed folk, or mists or ghosts or light-forms.