Gharib: You know me as The Stranger.
Gharib: Seven Disciplines, your ancestors wrote about...
Gharib: But the disciplies of one discipline are perhaps the most smug.
Gharib: I'm talking of course, of those that fancy themselves Architects.
Gharib: Nearly three million bricks, sitting in chests across the land. Are you expecting The Test of the Obelisk?
Gharib: If I were to tour our Universities of Architecture at this moment, would I find crowds gathered at each, waiting to be the first in the door to apply for that Test?
Gharib: Oh, I'll give you the Test of the Obelisk!
Gharib: but...
Gharib: I suspect some architects may also believe themselves to be students of History.
Gharib: Perhaps you have read of this Test from the days of your grandfathers...
Gharib: You should have studied a bit further back. We will conduct this Test under the rules that *their* grandfathers labored under!
Gharib: Build any obelisk of at least size 7...
Gharib: And at least 1 unit higher than the previous record in your area of Egypt...
Gharib: Not 1/7th higher, just a single unit higher! What could be easier?
Gharib: But, your Obelisk must not be surpassed for 24 hours.
11-22-2004-18:22:00 (Note on the Test of the Obelisk: If your Obelisk's size is surpassed before 24 hours are up, you then have 7 days to salvage it at 100% efficiency.)
Players who have signed up for the Test of the Obelisk have the ability to construct a Standard Obelisk of any size (measured in cubits). The taller the obelisk, the more materials are required to build it. To pass the test, you must build an obelisk that is taller than any previously built in your area, and it must remain the tallest obelisk in the area for 24 hours. (Note: An "area" means one of the eight districts into which the map is divided for purposes of this test. The Size Tracking page includes a map that shows the boundaries of the eight obelisk districts.)
At any time, a player who is signed up for the test may select an option from their "Tests" menu to meditate on the size of the largest obelisk in their area. This makes it a simple task to see what size obelisk is needed to pass.
Naturally, as the game progresses and Egypt's obelisk builders continue to surpass each other, passing this test becomes more and more expensive. In Tale 1, this trend was partially mitigated by the introduction of new obelisk types later in the game (it was usually cheaper to build an 11-cubit marble obelisk than a 400-cubit brick one!). However, no similar development has taken place in Tale 2 -- at least not yet.
Currently only one type of obelisk is possible: the Standard Obelisk. Our ancestors in Tale 1 eventually learned to build obelisks of cut stone, treated boards, or marble; but none of those other types are available to us at present.
Constructing a Standard Obelisk requires a Small Construction Site and the following materials:
The exact needed amount of these resources depends on the size of the obelisk. As the planned size of the obelisk increases, the requirement for all materials increases exponentially. See the Standard Obelisk article for more detail on material costs.
Non-scientific tracking of sizes needed at various times and locations can be found here.