_“At the heart of the mind lies the fang that remembers.”_ --- **Overview:** The Core Obelisk is the central anchor of the **[[The Bloodmind|Bloodmind]]**, an arcane-psychic network used to monitor, influence, and reinforce vampiric society in [[Hexa Landing]]. Located deep beneath the Black Castle, the obelisk is said to be a semi-sentient artifact forged during Queen [[Callidora]]’s early reign. It is not worshiped—but feared. It does not rule—but it remembers. --- ### **Physical Description:** - Height: 30 feet - Material: Unknown obsidian-crimson alloy, pulsing with faint bloodlight veins - Inscribed with runes that shift subtly depending on who observes it - Emits low, rhythmic psychic vibrations—inaudible to mortals, disorienting to non-vampires --- ### **Purpose & Function:** **1. [[The Bloodmind|Bloodmind]] Anchor:** The obelisk is the heart of [[the Bloodmind]] lattice. All sanctioned vampiric bloodlines are psychically tethered through it. It enables: - Psychic communication within factional hierarchies - Ritual resurrection for nobles (via blood echoes) - Dream seeding, loyalty tests, and memory storage **2. Historical Record:** - Absorbs fragments of high-level Conclave trials, executions, and royal pacts - Stores encoded bloodline histories and erased names - Used in formal Ascension Protocols to judge legitimacy **3. Ritual Power Source:** - Powers certain city-wide effects: fog enchantments, alarm glyphs, and arcane borders - Acts as a planar stabilizer against divine interference --- ### **Access & Control:** - **Queen [[Callidora]]** is psychically linked to the Obelisk through the Sanguine Sigil ring - **Ebonclaw Elders** have limited access via sanctioned rites - **Unauthorized access** triggers blood-ward backlash (psychic burn, blood boil, or loss of memory) Only once in recent history has the obelisk gone dark—during the [[Crimson Sigil]] Rebellion. It pulsed black for thirteen hours, and five Conclave members were never the same again. --- ### **Cultural Role:** - **Feared** as the true source of vampiric continuity - **Respected** by Ebonclaw Loyalists as the root of order - **Distrusted** by Whisper Court and radical lowbloods as a tool of memory policing Some whisper that the obelisk itself is sentient. That it judges. That it _remembers all betrayals,_ even the ones its creators forgot. --- ### **Player Knowledge & Hooks:** **PCs may learn about the Core Obelisk if they:** - Infiltrate the Black Castle's lower sanctums - Study advanced ritual law under [[Eldrion]] the Pale Flame - Are selected as executioners, recorders, or champions in a Vein Trial - Use a shard of corrupted [[The Bloodmind|Bloodmind]] glyphwork from the Black Market **Potential Hooks:** - A vision reveals the obelisk is… dreaming - A rogue [[Crimson Sigil]] agent is trying to copy its imprint - A divine relic causes the obelisk to “reject” one of the PCs—and erase them from the Vein Registry