I got a decent oak pool table off of Craig's List and wanted to refinish it. Currently, it has several scratches and some magic marker on it. The rails have mother of pearl inlay dots. Do I need to mask or otherwise protect the inlays from the stain or will they repel the stain naturally?

I was looking to do a light sanding and then apply a gel stain. However, I will wipe off the excess stain. I've had good results refinishing an oak cabinet in that manner. It darkened the wood just enough and left the wood grain visible.