Primal Obelisk

Primal Obelisks are an exploration mechanic in the Great Red Sand, Sumeru, found in the ruins of King Deshret.
Each Obelisk can be restored using six Sacred Seals scattered across the Great Red Sand. Selecting the Mark Sacred Seals dialogue option at an Obelisk will mark the map with the locations of nearby Seals near that Obelisk that the player has yet to collect, or display a message stating that all nearby Seals have already been collected. If a Primal Obelisk's Mark Sacred Seals mechanic is activated while another Obelisk is already marking Sacred Seals, the first Obelisk's Sacred Seals will no longer be marked on the World Map.
When the player possesses all six Seals required by an Obelisk, stand next to it and select Restore to use them and spawn a Precious Chest containing:
This also unlocks Vaguely-Readable Inscriptions which document the history of various city-states that arose after the fall of King Deshret's civilization.
==Tutorial==
==Locations==
See the Teyvat Interactive Map for specific locations.
*Valley of Dahri: Located to the west of the Valley of Dahri, accessible via the Thutmose's Secret Base at Lamb-Devourer Rock.
**Uses 2 Valley, 1 Thunderstrike, 1 Right to Rule, 1 Crocodile Head, 1 Dune
*Sobek Oasis: Located to the East of the Sobek Oasis, south of Abdju Pit.
**Uses 2 Valley, 1 Bird Head, 1 Right to Rule, 1 Sheep Head, 1 Giant Serpent
*Khaj-Nisut: Located below the southern ruins in Khaj-Nisut, at the very bottom of the pit.
**Uses 2 Valley, 1 Thunderstrike, 1 Right to Rule, 1 Crocodile Head, 1 Ceremony
*Mausoleum of King Deshret, North: Located at the top of the transparent ruins north of the Mausoleum of King Deshret.
**Uses 2 Valley, 2 Thunderstrike, 1 Bird Head, 1 Chisel Hammer
*Mausoleum of King Deshret, Center: Located inside the Mausoleum of King Deshret, down the elevator just inside the entrance.
**Uses 2 Valley, 1 Sheep Head, 1 Crocodile Head, 1 Giant Serpent, 1 Ceremony
*Mausoleum of King Deshret, North (Underground): Located beneath the Mausoleum of King Deshret, accessible from the underground teleport waypoint to the north of it deep underground.
**Uses 1 Valley, 1 Thunderstrike, 1 Danger, 1 Sunrise, 2 Crocodile Head
*Mausoleum of King Deshret, East (Underground): Underground, east of the southeast corner of the Mausoleum of King Deshret. Accessible from the ruins entrance at Khemenu Temple.
**Uses 2 Valley, 1 Raised Arm, 1 Forest, 1 Sheep Head, 1 Giant Serpent
*Mausoleum of King Deshret, East: Near the southeast corner outside the Mausoleum of King Deshret.
**Uses 1 Valley, 1 Raised Arm, 2 Thunderstrike, 1 Sunrise, 1 Dune
*Mausoleum of King Deshret, West (Underground): West of the Mausoleum of King Deshret, underground. Accessible by the Mausoleum's southwest teleport waypoint. Requires 5 Glinting Components to access.
**Uses 1 Valley, 1 Sandstorm, 1 Auricle, 1 Forest, 1 Thunderstrike, 1 Right to Rule
*Duat Hall: Accessible from the underground teleport waypoint by Duat Hall.
**Uses 2 Valley, 1 Raised Arm, 1 Thunderstrike, 1 Ceremony, 1 Labor
*The Sands of Three Canals, South: Overground, accessible from the easternmost teleport waypoint of The Sands of Three Canals.
**Uses 1 Sheep Head, 2 Ceremony, 1 Dune, 1 Crocodile Head, 1 Right to Rule
*Debris of Panjvahe: Accessible from the underground teleport waypoint in the Debris of Panjvahe.
**Uses 2 Crocodile Head, 1 Sunrise, 1 Giant Serpent, 1 Valley, 1 Forest
*Passage of Ghouls (Overground):
**Uses 1 Giant Serpent, 2 Valley, 1 Forest, 1 Dune, 1 Crocodile Head
*The Sands of Al-Azif:
**Uses 1 Labor, 1 Ceremony, 2 Valley, 2 Crocodile Head
*The Sands of Three Canals, North:
**Uses 1 Giant Serpent, 1 Forest, 2 Thunderstrike, 1 Crocodile Head, 1 Right to Rule
*Safhe Shatranj:
**Uses 1 Sunrise, 1 Valley, 2 Raised Arm, 1 Crocodile Head, 1 Ceremony
*Wadi Al-Majuj:
**Uses 1 Danger, 1 Raised Arm, 1 Bird Head, 1 Valley, 1 Right to Rule, 1 Grand Door
*Passage of Ghouls (Underground):
**Uses 1 Precipice, 1 Forest, 1 Giant Serpent, 1 Right to Rule, 1 Thunderstrike, 1 Auricle
==Achievements==
==Vaguely-Readable Inscriptions==
Restoring each Primal Obelisk reveals a Vaguely-Readable Inscription. For reader convenience, the inscriptions have been arranged into an approximate chronological order.
===Debris of Panjvahe===
...Ormazd of Gurabad... aid... His Majesty King Deshret... with the Jinn...
...To build a mausoleum for the mistress of flowers, who slumbers eternally... Mt. Damavand...
...His Majesty King Deshret in His infinite mercy permits... by the power of the Jinn... shining Gurabad and its surrounding areas... provided endless flowing waters...
===The Sands of Three Canals, South===
...King Deshret's envoy, Parvezravan son of Ormazd declares: Slavery shall no longer be practiced in the capital, Gurabad...
...Henceforth, the subjects of King Deshret, the émigrés from the Goddess of Flowers'...
...Shall bathe under the same sunlight, and be free to pursue labor and profit equally... honest gain...
===Passage of Ghouls (Overground)===
...After His Majesty King Deshret's mighty form faded from mortal eye, the human king Parvezravan... an age like gold...
...No longer was there slavery or war, and the scattered tribes and nations paid homage...
...The miracle of Gurabad shall be open for all to see...
===The Sands of Al-Azif===
...Tulaytullah, the City of the Moon Maiden, the City... Saleh, sent envoys to pay the annual tribute...
...Honoring His Majesty Parvezravan, King of Gurabad... as the rightful envoy of the king over all desert kings...
...The only rightful king of mortals...
===The Sands of Three Canals, North===
...Queen Shirin... held for the people of the capital...
...Great festival day... gold fell like rain...
...Noble or commoner... All rejoiced for the blessing of the Sabzeruz Festival...
===Wadi Al-Majuj===
...As a result of the Brass Mask revolts, the worship of the Goddess of Flowers that grows ever more fervent amongst the people each day has been outlawed...
...These followers were questioned and admonished by the orthodox priests of the mistress of flowers, and those found heterodox were... punishment...
...The Demon Queen Shirin, though she has gone into hiding, will receive her just deserts...
===Passage of Ghouls (Underground)===
...The gilded sea first drowned the slaves, then their masters howled and cried out as they floated on the ocean of night...
===Safhe Shatranj===
...His Majesty King Deshret... return... enraged by the fate of Gurabad...
... Split... the Jinn-Mother... divine spirit... parts...
... The seven sages... hid them separately...
...To her was given infinite time... the hope of salvation...
===Mausoleum of King Deshret, East (Underground)===
...Years after the destruction of Gurabad, the great master of the desert... hidden away for many long years, the rightful heir of the Masked Hermit-King Khorramdin, Kavusbay, has returned from exile... Shah Ramshahr, accursed be his name forever and ever in the name of... mar. If Al-Ahmar were yet here, he would not permit the pestilent spread of such disorder.
Great king... slaughter... ruined the countless chambers... burned out... all buried alongside...
...And plundered the citizenry to enrich the capital, and built seven great towers, each atop a mound...
Taking the seven elements for spatial reference, the towers were set up in seven places along the gilded sands, with seven great sages within... thrones were erected... ruled the people separately, and were all called kings... and so Ramshahr was made the king of kings.
...The Cities of the Seven Towers were: Tulaytullah the Sapphire City, ruled by King Humayun; Saleh the Electrum City of Warriors, over whom Turan Khagan was master; the Amphitheater City Ay-Khanoum under the thumb of Garshāsp...; ...City of... by...
(The words inscribed below are either unclear or have been weathered into oblivion...)
(There are a few more lines inscribed on this tablet, seemingly left by even more ancient craftsmanship.)
"The cold light of the stars pleases me more than having the eye of the people. They shall neither dull nor die."
...I shall forsake this barren and chaotic world. The everlasting stars shall be my guide in bringing the light of truth to the nations, divided in error...
===Mausoleum of King Deshret, North (Underground)===
"In three days I shall die, and the kingdom shall be plunged into unending chaos."
(The other inscriptions on this slate are very unclear and hard to read. It seems that inscriptions from different periods and in different styles have been layered over each other, altering one another in the process.)
(The words inscribed here are fragmented, their content a mess.)
...After Shah Ramshahr... death, his young son Artaxir took the throne as... Artaxir died... and Minister (here "Traitor" has been appended on top) Turan Khagan ruled as regent...
...The bandit Turan Khagan was destroyed, and his three sons were... by... executed... Humayun and Shah Ramshahr's princess... married... and so was known as King Humayun Gurkan.
...In the... year... Humayun Gurkan was slain in the Jinn Uprising, and was decapitated at Saleh... Within a short time, thirty kings came to be allies across the land, and within a few years, they had all perished...
...Garshāsp destroyed all the bandits, and thus did the kings bow to him, naming him Muazzam Khagan, Khagan of Khagans. He abandoned Gurabad, and set up... as the capital...
...Garshāsp Khagan fell, and the capital burned for seven days, destroy... the people... fled to Tulaytullah the Sapphire City. Some became servants, others craftsmen, and others entertainers...
...
May the lord of the blazing sands save these mortal realms, and may his favor restore us to... those years.
===Mausoleum of King Deshret, East===
(The inscription on this stone tablet has been split into two. The top half is ancient and meandering but is scarred with chip marks made by blades. The lower half is very messy and cannot be attributed to anyone in particular.)
Tulaytullah... Goudarz was at... with the rebels who falsely fly the flag of a Khagan... three days, the victor could not be decided, but the mirage suddenly arose and aided Goudarz in repelling the traitors...
... who lived in Gurabad heard the news and fled to the ends of the earth, where even the wind might not reach, to evade the pursuit of... elder brother...
...Goudarz left Tulaytullah the Sapphire City with great pomp... entered Gurabad, where the winds of lamentation had long howled,
And bade the people of the Cities of the Seven Towers return.
...The false Khagan... years came to an end. Goudarz once again... name, and was now declared to be King Saleb Dowleh.
...Al-Ahmar himself manifested before King Saleb Dowleh, gifting the king an illusion and bolstering his royal claim...
...decided to declare great public works, spreading statues of Al-Ahmar far and wide...
...The ten years following that victory would be good times indeed, and would be named the years of "fine rain at sunset"...
...in that year, the City of the Twenty Nine Deys brought tribute from afar, and made a solemn pact to cease raiding the lands of King Saleb Dowleh and signed a treaty of lasting amity... the generous King Saleb Dowleh in turn no longer pillaged their lands of goods and people...
===Mausoleum of King Deshret, North===
(The writings on this Obelisk are rough and messy, a far cry from the elegant writing earlier.)
This Obelisk was established to celebrate the great deeds of Muzaffar Dey.
Hail Muzaffar Dey, overlord of the great harbor-city Orghana, kin-uncle to the beasts of the sea, explorer of the gilded rivers, Sandworm-Conqueror!
He set forth from Orghana to pillage the cities, and he slew many, and hundreds of thousands he enslaved, and thus did the savage tribes of the gilded sands and the cowering ilk of the feeble cities acknowledge his mastery.
...He took the famed city Beit Raha and tore down its walls and towers... presented the head of Nasrul, the master of the city, before his brothers and comrades. They made mockery of it, and their joy was equal in greatness to its stench.
...Three thousand were taken and sold... ten thousand silver bars...
...Nasrul's daughter Nazira was made ruler of Beit Raha... may the distant seas guide her to rule her realm well.
===Mausoleum of King Deshret, West (Underground)===
(The inscription on this tablet has been changed many times, with the content at the top only being finalized after many revisions. All instances of the king's name have been chiseled away. It seems that someone bore this ruler great hatred.)
Alas, alas! Prince Hojir consumed... and lovely wine, before suddenly passing away.
King ███ was greatly grieved and ordered... thousand slaves to be buried alongside the prince, and... hundred nobles were overborne with grief themselves and drank of the poisoned wine, thus passing...
(These words have been carved in large letters over the aforementioned lines: Butcher! Fraud! You devilish filicide!)
...And so... brothers, heirs, and nephews would begin to do battle, and thus did the time of the "fine rain at sunset" end...
...For after the sunset comes the night...
...The aging King ███ invited... Dey, with whom he had treaties, to Gurabad... But Muzaffar pillaged his way there, enacting much slaughter...
...King ███, worried and furious, would make an alliance with his young brother once more, and they drew up their forces...
(The words below appear to have been written by a different person, and the penmanship here is rougher and harder to decipher.)
In that year, Muzaffar Dey won a great triumph over King Saleb Dowleh, for "a hundred brothers may yet triumph over a million with different aspirations"... King Saleb Dowleh, his brothers, sons, and nephews were all put to the sword... Muzaffar Dey ordered... the king's eyes...
...That he may once again witness Gurabad burning...
...And Gurabad, that city of ill omen, he abandoned, nor did he return to Orghana to sit in council with the other Dey, but instead chose to build his city elsewhere...
===Duat Hall===
(The name of the king in the opening line of this inscription was once inlaid with green gems, but a few of them have been dug out.)
In the second year of the Verdant Lord Zumurud, child of Muzaffar the Dey Malik, a dream came to the Verdant Lord, which shall be recorded faithfully here.
Zumurud saw the following in a dream last night. He dreamed that in the darkness, the sun arose from his... swallowing the light of the stars and the moon.
The sun shone over the land that was filled with yellow sand, and not even the slightest trace of a bird could be found there.
The Verdant Lord sighed at the sight of this vision, determining that... should become like the forest, a paradise of green. As he breathed, out of the desert... vast, clear springs, and a boundless... trees that touched the very skies.
He saw a thousand ships, ten thousand roses, a hundred... caravans without number, woven into gold across the desert...
Just as... about to put on those golden robes, he awoke to see an arrow of sunlight piercing the summit of a mountain.
The Verdant Lord was raised in the forest and knows not the language of the desert, and so the greatest of scholars have been instructed to pen his dream down into prose, to be thus carved here.
===Valley of Dahri===
(The perimeter of this Obelisk is adorned with gold leaf. Only a notable nation could have left such a relic behind.)
Muzaffar Dey once instructed the Verdant Lord Zumurud to leave as many heirs as a pomegranate tree bears fruits, so as to not have a repeat of the power vacuum that had followed the tragedy of King Saleb Dowleh.
And so the Verdant Lord had 99 sons and daughters, and there was not one realm throughout the land that had such great fortune as he.
Fifty of these were princes, and each wore a golden crown, and each was as valiant as a lion. Of them, the wisest was Muzzudin, whose stature was like that of a giant. In the name of the Verdant Lord's grand dream, he and his equally mighty brother Badanah, born as they were of the same mother, drove their slaves before them with sword and plow, planting trees in the desert and turning the barren soil into thriving forest.
The other 49 were princesses, each as lovely as the flowers beneath the moon, and each wore a garland made of green leaves. Each time even a single leaf should wither, a servant would pluck a new leaf and replace the wilted one, such that they should always appear as gentle and elegant as the vines. Of these princesses, the most lovely was Hanzada Sultan, whose nose was as high-flown as the sand dunes, and whose hair was as rich as the forest — indeed, her face seemed as if it were touched by the glory of moonlight itself.
They were skilled and elegant in speech, as if they were nobles under the rule of Al-Ahmar himself, and ordinary servants could never comprehend. As such, only the sons and daughters of the most loyal retainers could serve them.
The children of the Verdant Lord walked the land like gods, and the Verdant Lord's realm was as indestructible as the Mausoleum of King Deshret.
===Sobek Oasis===
(This obelisk was buried deep underground, and so its inscription is very well-preserved.)
Praise Badanah our king, for before him even the myriad schemes of Muzzudin appear to be but folly!
His virtues are above the other rulers, and besides food and drink he desires nothing.
His bloodline is noble and pure, and his father is most beloved of the Verdant Lord.
His mighty hand stretches out and subdues the sands, and the claws of his hunting eagles are like swords and spears.
His brothers are befuddled and feeble, and so shall the ninety-nine kingdoms fall under one ruler once more.
Come then, raise your glasses!
Let the refreshing wine reflect our king's glorious visage, and let the balms from afar send forth their fragrance.
Even should the sandstorms invade the oases, and the trees wither forever,
Our king shall rule forever, golden crown'd, and to the ends of the earth shall his great name ring.
===Khaj-Nisut===
(The inscription here has been divided into two very different sections. The first is neat and dignified, but the other has been changed many times over, to the point where its contents can no longer be understood.)
The tower that caused the death of the previous king Badanah has been destroyed, and the hunting falcons were all buried alongside him. Sing in praise of the coronation of Faramarz the new king, and may the brothers of the previous king and queen stand behind him like beams and pillars, upholding his rule. With the aid of such wise relatives, the royal seal shall not be stamped upon any flawed documents.
(The next section is a complete mess, and only a few fragments are comprehensible.)
...Due to the new king's youth, the queen regent of Tulaytullah, Makhaira, would gather the retainers to discuss affairs of state...
...abdicated to... uncle — minister Balash, master of Tulaytullah... Faramarz was moved to the Emerald Palace...
The imperial uncle Goraz would raise an army to restore Faramarz... Faramarz was moved to the Emerald Palace, while Grand Tutor Goraz and Makhaira ruled as co-regents...
...Goraz claims the throne and takes Makhaira as his queen. Faramarz was exiled...
...
...The nobles of Tulaytullah rebelled, vengeance for Balash on their lips... Goraz was slain, and Makhaira gave his head over to the rebellious throng to appease them... King Faramarz was welcomed back...
...
...The city of Saleh rebelled once again, claiming to establish a Khagan... the queen regent would pacify...
...twelve uncles... rose... tradition... many claims to the throne... war... barren... the farmers became wanderers, and wanderers became slave-soldiers...
...The war ended, and King Faramarz was returned to power once more... Queen Makhaira... viper's deadly venom... passed on the third day...
...The slave-warriors conspired with the city dwellers... Faramarz... exiled to the rainforest...
===Mausoleum of King Deshret, Center===
(This inscription has been made with very deep cuts, as if made using very rudimentary tools. The author seems to have had a very good education, but the awkwardness apparent throughout the writing tells of this person's difficult living conditions.)
The furthest east and the furthest west are too far from one another, that there should be several thousand and several hundred fools between the two poles to claim kingship.
The furthest west and the furthest east are too close to one another, and yet not even one wise person might rule it all.
None now know how much time has passed since Gurabad's great Spirit of Victory was slain, and now naught but blood and tears weave the lines of kings.
The cemeteries of sand were once high walls built by the king's uncles on either side, and more barren still are the lands where trees were forcibly planted.
My king is in exile, hidden in the rainforest realm, and I know not where he dwells — the gods' favor and gaze are now forgotten things of the past.
The blind heir worn down by agonies swears this here; the pitiable father, who was blinded by one king, and who took in another after, makes this vow:
Never again to make oaths of fealty to one mortal — and may all those who call themselves kings be like their ancestors! May they go down into the dust, buried beneath the sands!
We desert folk shall leave the ruins and palaces we have grown used to living in. We shall make a new home for ourselves at the edge of this land.
That place we shall name Aaru, after the ancient dream of the gods, and there we shall quietly wait for Al-Ahmar's revival.
==Trivia==
*Several phrases and descriptions in the inscription at Khaj-Nisut aligns with the description of the Deepwood Memories artifact Lamp of the Lost, which focuses on — and is partially narrated by — an unnamed prince. The similarities between the inscription and the artifact suggest that the unnamed prince was Faramarz.
===Etymology===
*Several of the figures named in the Vaguely-Readable Inscriptions are named after characters in the , an epic about Persian mythological history. Beyond their names, however, they bear little resemblance to their Shahnameh counterparts.
** is the last Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty and an ancestor of the hero Rostam.
***In the title Muazzam Khagan, means "exalted." The title of Khagan is an imperial rank in Turkic and Mongolic cultures, and is sometimes translated as "Khan of Khans."
** is one of the heroes in the Shahnameh and the progenitor of one of its most prominent bloodlines. One of his four sons is .
***The title Saleb Dowleh is of unknown etymology but may be derived from , a suffix used as part of a title and roughly translates to "of the State."
** is the son of the hero Rostam, and is slain by Kay Bahman.
**Goraz is likely derived from , who is one of two characters based on the historical figure .
* means "emerald." The Arabic and Persian words are themselves derived from the Ancient Greek word .
==Gallery==
Primal Obelisk Restored.png|Restored
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
==Navigation==
fr:Obélisque primal
ja:プライマルオベリスク