From the introduction:
Welcome to the layered worlds behind the gates. Welcome to the tunnel worlds drilled through the palimpset creation. Welcome to worlds of eternal champions and cosmic misunderstanding. Welcome to travelers in time and space. Welcome ill-conceived creators and accidental destroyers of worlds.
Is this document-in-writing the UVG2? Yes, no, sort of, maybe. It ramifies from the UVG. It explicitly builds on the same madcap anti-canon mythology.
But its origins are older and darker. I conceived of the Voyages of the Black Obelisk a year or two before I began writing the UVG. It was a dark time for me, when I struggled to make sense of workplace harassment. The original notes and structures of VotBO were grim, dark, and laced with despair. As I recovered, I found it harder to continue in that vein. Less and less did I want to plumb the shallows of sociopathology. More and more was I tempted by the absurdity of Zardoz and Barbarella and the Incal.
And yet, a fragment of that alien madness should remain, a reminder that curiosity yet kills cats.
User summary:
The document is a blend of in-setting fiction and game resources.