Obelisk

Obelisks are large pillars of basalt similar to the hexagonal stones of Blackstone Isle. When interacting with an obelisk, the following text is displayed.

The player has the option to lay their hand on the stone. Normally this results in no further dialogue.

However, when interacting with the obelisks while having high Panic, crimson runes glow upon their front face. When interacted upon, the dialogue displayed by each obelisk is unique. While each text is quite cryptic, they all seem to detail past events or potential futures.

Locations

I8, Greater Marrow

The town of Greater Marrow burns. The lighthouse lies collapsed, its light extinguished.

A red glow fills the sky behind a cyclone that drains the world.

K7, Blackstone Isle

Dark rocks erupt from the earth, piercing through buildings and trees. Through sand and crashing waves. Through the basalt pillars of this island. The newborn structures crackle with an unknown energy, crimson lightning arcing between them.

The earth shifts once more and the stones lie still.

M10, Behind the Steel Point islands

A ship, tossed by waves in the night. Fog unfolds like a blanket from the deck, spilling across the ocean and crashing against the land. A distant lighthouse flickers a signal.

N15, Devil's Spine

A leviathan raises its vast grey head, stretching up, up until it sits level with a bright flame cradled at the top of the ancient lighthouse.

It watches the fire for a while, tilting its head and calling softly to it with a guttural song.

Appearing satisfied, the beast slinks down into the water, gliding back to the depths.

P14, Devil's Spine

Blackness.

A crimson rift opens in the void.

Dreadful silhouettes drift through in a procession of teeth and tentacles.

After the last grotesque figure emerges, a membrane spreads over the fissure.

A distant groan emanates from the space beyond.

F12, Twisted Strand

A parasite burrows into a large snakelike carcass. It feeds, growing fat and multiplying. Tendrils sprout from the head of the body and sense the water around it. The host corpse shudders reluctantly. With a cry that resounds through the forest, it rises once again.

E14, Twisted Strand (Behind the camp)

A man flees through the trees, bloodshot eyes wide with terror. He runs into a dead end; cornered by the murky waters and his pursuer, he turns. A wooden spear flies and finds its mark.

E5, Stellar Basin (inside edge)

A spore floats in the water, adrift in the current. Fish feast in a frenzy above, devouring its kin. The spore lands in the thick silt of the sea floor. Its roots stretch down into the seabed, growing - extending towards what lies beneath.

F2, Stellar Basin (Abandoned Resort)

The green glimmer of an aurora blooms in the night sky above the resort. A distant boom shakes the thatched rooves and rouses dreamers from their sleep.

The waters withdraw, exposing the coral to the warm air. Confused creatures chitter and seek out their hiding places. Moments later the waters return; crashing, seething, sweeping souls out to sea.

P2, Gale Cliffs

A blustery wind screams through the cliffs, diving and turning. It passes over a large wooden ship at anchor, all flags filling suddenly. A skinless face appears on the fluttering fabric. A wail of terror rises from the crew.

M3, Gale Cliffs

A heart of stone wrapped in a twisting tail. A serpentine body uncoils, teeth rasping at its earthen shell. Larger now. Bursting through the cliffs, sending rocks tumbling into the water. An eye opens to this new world.

Trivia

• There is a Mimic Crab behind Stellar Basin that disguises itself as an Obelisk.
• SPECULATION: All the obelisks describe a part of the backstory or lore of the game. The I8 obelisk describes the 'bad ending'; the M10 obelisk, the beginning cutscene; N15, the Leviathan looking at the Ancient Lighthouse; P14, the source and origin of the Aberrations; the Twisted Strand obelisks, the origin of the Mind Sucker(s) and the Airman killing one respectively; the Stellar Basin obelisks, how the tentacled creature arrived and nestled itself in the area; the M3 obelisk, the birth of the Serpent, and P2 seemingly simply the eponymous Gale of the eponymous Cliffs.
• With the introduction of the Aurous Anchor in the The Pale Reach DLC, it became much easier to activate an obelisk. The player can drop anchor next to any obelisk, teleport twice, and be back where they were almost instantly, but now with full Panic.