Black obelisk

The black obelisks were a series of magical artifacts originating from ancient Netheril that possessed various forms of incredible power, including the potential for time travel.
==Description==
The obelisks were said to be otherworldly in appearance, described as being formed from either obsidian, a polished rune-covered black stone, or a type of unidentified black metal.The discrepancies in appearance may be attributed to a distinction between obelisks created by the Weavers and those crafted by the arcanists of Netheril. From an out-of-universe perspective, this may simply be different creative choices made in books that were published several years apart from one another. The monolithic devices were formed to gradually narrow from a wide base, to a pyramid-shaped peak in a range of different heights. Different obelisks were created in a variety of sizes, anywhere from to even and tall.
At least in one instance, it was observed that any shard broken off from an obelisk would be somehow "absorbed" back into the whole by merely touching it to the surface.
==Powers==
The most notable and powerful power associated with the obelisks was the ability to alter time and reality. An individual could merely reverse the age of every nearby being by a decade's time, or even go so far as to transport an entire world thousands of years in the past within their timeline. Full activation of these powers required another powerful artifact with magical charges that seemingly had to be keyed into an obelisk, as was the instance with the staff of power belonging to the arcanist Iriolarthas.
The obelisks radiated auras of arcane energy, often in the form of abjuration magic. A spellcaster could readily tap into this energy to teleport themself and anyone else touching the device to a random location. These teleportation powers were known to have been linked to an "ebon pool" of black ooze and small, corresponding black marbles.
More than one obelisk was known to harbor a powerful extra-planar creature within its form, including a nalfeshnee, and even a couatl called Tezca-Zyanya.
They were seemingly unaffected by energies from the Far Realm, and were observed to elicit some form of reaction from the faerzress that permeated the caverns of the Underdark.
==History==
The predecessor of the Netherese obelisks were those created by an enigmatic group of spellcasters known as the Weavers. These were capable of altering time and reality on a grand scale, effectively working as a safeguard in the case a truly catastrophic event was brought upon their place of origin. At some point in time the Oerthian being Vecna procured one of these obelisks, along with the specifications of their creation, and used it to remove the artifacts creators from existence. 
The information regarding the obelisks' creation eventually found its way to Netherese arcanists, who built the Faerûnian variety that could still be found millennia after their empire's demise. While the obelisks ultimately failed to save Netheril in the known world, several of them were stolen or otherwise recovered, and hidden away in remote locations throughout the Realms. 
Some time after the , cloud giants from a floating castle stole the obelisk from its namesake town of Nightstone on the Sword Coast North, believing it to be a relic of ancient Ostoria.According to page 79 of Monster Mythology the holy symbol of the giant deity Memnor was a black obelisk.
==Reputation==
Knowledge of the obelisks, along with their function and creation were wholly lost to time on the planet of Toril.
==Notable Obelisks==
The obelisks known to have appeared throughout the Realms included those in the following locations:
* Nightstone. The great megalith was the landmark around which the walled town was built.
* Shadowdusk Hold. An intact obelisk was recovered in Undermountain by the disgraced Shadowdusk family and later held within their subterranean domain.
* Tomb of the Nine Gods. A moss-covered obelisk defaced by the lich Acererak marked the entrance to the deadly dungeon in Chult.
* Whorlstone Tunnels. A broken obelisk could be found in the labyrinthine tunnels beneath Gracklstugh in the Underdark.
* Ythryn. One fully-functioning obelisk remained embedded within the ground of the fallen enclave Ythryn, stuck deep beneath the ice of the Reghed Glacier.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===Appearances===
:;Adventures
:: Out of the Abyss • Tomb of Annihilation • Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage • Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
===References===
Category:Items
Category:Magic items
Category:Artifacts
Category:Obsidian items
Category:Stone items
Category:Metal items
Category:Items from Shadowdusk Hold
Category:Items from Undermountain
Category:Items from Waterdeep
Category:Items from Nightstone
Category:Items from the Sword Coast North
Category:Items from Ythryn
Category:Items from the Reghed Glacier
Category:Items from the Frozenfar
Category:Items from Northwest Faerûn
Category:Items from Netheril
Category:Items from North Faerûn
Category:Items from the Tomb of the Nine Gods
Category:Items from Omu
Category:Items from Chult
Category:Items from the Chultan Peninsula
Category:Items from Southwest Faerûn
Category:Items from the Whorlstone Tunnels
Category:Items from Gracklstugh
Category:Items from the Underdark
Category:Items from Faerûn
Category:Items from Toril