The Obelisk

## A World in Itself

The Obelisk is an anomalous object at the bottom of the world, in the desert island of the Melei. It is a black pillar that stretches for a day's walk in either direction, and goes up further than anyone has been able to see.

The Obelisk is home to all sorts of wonders and horrors. It is full of inexplicable technology, indiscernible from magic. It messes with devices from outside, rendering electronics useless. Inside the Obelisk, Climbers explore in search of these Artifacts, hoping to make a profit off of them.

There are currently over 60 floors officially documented. Many of the floors past 30 have little documentation themselves, and no two are the same. The strange thing about these floors is that, judging from the outside size of the Obelisk, they should be about half as large as they actually are, and there should only be 40 floors. This proves that the Obelisk itself is non-Euclidean in nature, and is just as irreverent to the laws of reality as the objects, locations, and beings inside it.

## The Floors of the Obelisk

### The Foothills

Collectively labeled the "Foothills", the first ten Floors of the Obelisk are relatively easy, highly travelled, and have a high human population. Climbers of Yesod and below can exclusively be found here, as when they reach Hod, they can often explore the next few Floors with supervision.

1: Purgatory. A relatively normal countryside with forests, streams, rolling hills, and small mountains. This is home to the city of Purgatory, where it gets its namesake.

2: The First Climb: A series of large, vertical shafts hewn into a strange, brown, featureless substance. It is as hard as perfectly smooth rock to human touch, but when pressure is applied, it can be easily malleable. This, added with the various ledges and cave systems found in the shafts, makes it an easy, if vertical, climb.

3: The Fall: A countryside similar to Purgatory, but strangely colored. The foliage is red, the stones are blue, and the water is purple. However, the most notable feature in the Fall is its gravity. One would have to look straight up to see the actual layer. With a simple jump, however, one will fly across the gap and land safely on the other side. Another jump would do likewise in the inverse.

4: The Ice Slopes: Known for its inhospitable climate and hostile fauna, the Ice Slopes are a bitter land where many new Climbers meet their end. Considered the first "real challenge", Climbers emerge at the base of a large, circular valley with mountains on all sides. They must journey up the looming mountains and across the vast, frozen lakes to reach the entrance to the next floor.

5: The Silklands: A massive, comfortable palace, decorated with cushions, silk, and velvet. The first of the "Interior Floors", Climbers can often rest here. Treasure can be found in the libraries and upper sections, but one must watch out for the high population of creatures stalking the halls. By the time a Climber can confidently take on such creatures, the treasure is considered of middling value at best, simply not worth the risk. Most Climbers often breeze through the layer, and many establish camps and storage caches in the plush bedrooms.

6: [WIP]