Not everyone in the Endstone world can “rock” the over-stones and have special powers.  In fact most can’t.  Only a select few are born with the ability to be “stoners.”  Also the ability tends to run in families.  Herrik is not a stoner so he can handle the Banestone like it were an ordinary rock.  It actually makes Herrik angry that he is not a stoner…. but that’s another story that may come up later.  On the other hand, if Kyri  were to touch the Banestone the power would drive her insane.

Also, I wanted to give a shout-out of thanks to the person who entered Endstone into the Belfry Comics List.  I noticed I was getting some hits from that site so I checked it out.  Great description of the Endstone plot, by the way.  I suck when trying to sum up the story briefly so I was mightily impressed.  Thanks!