stopping time stones

They say that an object with sufficient numinous charge can stop time. There is no reason that such a thing should not be possible. The savvy scientist in you may say, “because it’s clay.” But this is no answer; you have simply stated the medium of the object, as if that is somehow a substantive claim as to its inability to function. In reality, you have said nothing at all.

I may as well ask you, can I start a fire with two stones?

The premise of the idea is equally insane, but we accept the reality because we have seen it work. Why then should another idea with an equally sound premise bear the derision of the rational?

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Rational has nothing to do with it. The only substantive difference between those fire-starting stones and my time-stopping stones of clay is that my results are harder to accept. And the fact that there is no real reason why such a thing is not possible means there’s a wide space to explore. Beyond the literality of time-stopping, beyond conceptions of art that are presented with a grain of salt, a wink, and in a pile of metaphor in the face of science’s scrutiny, these objects contain power as a matter of course.

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“Is the object used for something?” Yes.
“What is that something?” A ritual to stop time.
“Is the ritual true?” How can anyone presume to answer such a question?
“How are the implements of the ritual used?” This, also, is difficult to say.
“But is the object used?” Yes, the object is used.

And that’s where the power of the object is.