His Dark Materials
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His Dark Materials

The General Oblation Board was part of the Magisterium. The leader of the board was Marisa Coulter. Children called them the Gobblers, although they were unaware of who was running it and what their intentions were. They were also unaware that it was part of the Magisterium. Many children claimed to have witnessed them, one being the gyptian Charlie.

The Gobblers took children from multiple areas across Brytain including Cowley, Limehouse, Manchester, Northampton, Norwich, Sheffield and Stratford.

Purpose[]

One of the principal activities of the General Oblation Board was intercision, separating children from their dæmons to prevent them from attracting Dust.[1] They believed that what they were doing was reversing original sin and making the world perfect again while in reality they were removing the children's souls.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Intercision is strongly similar to castration. It's also similar to the early psychosurgical procedure of lobotomy, which involved severing the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain to produce effects akin to those of intercision.

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. Northern Lights, Chapter 5
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