The Obsidian Crown
Rising from the cliffs above the storm-lashed coast of Valoria is the Obsidian Crown, an unfinished fortress-temple that has stood in partial construction for over three decades. Originally commissioned by the Valorian High Council, it was intended to be both a stronghold against draconic raids and a monument to their mastery over magecraft. Its design was ambitious: jagged black spires shaped like a crown, channeling leyline energy to power both defensive wards and devastating arcane weaponry.
Construction began in 472 HE, but progress slowed as magical instability plagued the site. Workers reported strange whispers echoing from the cliffs, tools vanishing or warping, and storms gathering unnaturally above the rising structure. Several collapses killed dozens of workers, and attempts to stabilize the foundations only worsened the problem, ley currents in the region are volatile, bending around the unfinished structure like water around a rock.
Despite these setbacks, the Valorian leadership refuses to abandon the project. Each decade, new crews arrive, reinforced with better enchantments and protections, only to meet the same eerie resistance. Superstition has grown among the laborers, who now refer to the site as “The Crown That Bites”, claiming it does not wish to be completed.
Today, the Obsidian Crown stands as a half-finished silhouette: jagged spires reach toward the sky, their tips cut off by scaffolding, and incomplete wards hum faintly with unstable energy. While officially a military project, some scholars whisper that it was never meant to be finished—that the structure itself might serve a purpose only in its incomplete state, acting as a massive anchor or seal against something buried deep beneath the cliffs.
Few dare to work there now, yet the scaffolding remains, waiting for the day someone is either bold—or foolish—enough to finish what was started.
Purpose / Function
The Obsidian Crown is intended to serve as Valoria’s ultimate arcane fortress-temple, a fusion of military power and magical mastery. Once completed, it would channel the volatile ley currents running through the cliffs into a network of wards and arcane weapons capable of repelling even the most devastating draconic assaults. The spires were designed to act as leyline conductors, amplifying the city’s magical defenses while also functioning as a sacred site honoring Valoria’s dominance over the arcane arts. Politically, it was also meant to stand as a declaration of Valoria’s supremacy—an indestructible monument visible for miles along the coast.
However, the original reason for constructing the Obsidian Crown may have been far different. According to older records and fragments of early architectural notes, the first plans, commissioned in secret by Valoria’s High Council, describe the structure not as a fortress, but as a binding anchor. Scholars believe it was originally meant to seal or stabilize something buried deep within the cliffs, perhaps a fragment of draconic magic, a planar rift, or even a dormant primordial entity. The volatile magical surges and unexplained resistance to construction suggest the site itself may still be actively resisting completion.
Over time, the political narrative shifted to frame the Crown as a bold military project, but among workers and arcane historians, a persistent rumor remains: the fortress doesn’t want to be finished because it’s holding something back.
Thanks I hate it xD As a construction worker the very idea of a job site that actively fights back against completion is heinous and evil. I love it but I hate it. We already have to fight architects who have no concept of the real world in their drawings and 'plans' as well as the bureaucratic hellscape that is permitting and inspection documentation. But you tell me the actual region itself is actively resisting the construction via magick and making dead bodies? Nah nope, no bueno, no dice, *** that all the way to hell. But then we have the conspiracy theory, the sort of 'what if' and I love how plausible it sounds. Perhaps that is the point. Perhaps it is the lesser of two evils to keep sending people to get hurt or die trying to 'finish' this structure every decade or so because in truth its the focal point of some sort of prison or warding to keep something buried beneath from awakening or some other such eldritch reason. That potential does throw a spanner in the works as they say. A great answer to this prompt. I have so many questions, so many
Damn it keyboard and brain I wasn't finished. I have so many questions so many. You invoke the curiosity so strongly, set the tone so well. Well written :)