Lore:Gatekeeper of the Fringe

The Gatekeeper

"Have ye met me Gatekeeper? He's a lovely fellow. Never met a head he wouldn't smash."
—Sheogorath

The Gatekeeper of the Fringe (or simply the Gatekeeper) is a term used to describe a series of powerful giant Flesh Atronachs created via flesh magic by for the purpose of protecting the Gates of Madness in the Shivering Isles. Relmyna Verenim is credited with their creation, although the concept of a Gatekeeper is older than her creations.

History

Early Gatekeepers

Although most closely associated with Relmyna Verenim's research into flesh magic, the Shivering Isles was home to at least one other Gatekeeper predating her efforts. Circa 2E 582, a Telvanni portal mage named Dreynis was gifted the Prism of Moribund Sapience by Sheogorath. Although the prism helped Dreynis expand his understanding of portal magic greatly, it came at the cost of his sanity. While living in an asylum for insane mages on the island of Gorne, Dreynis opened portals to the Shivering Isles, allowing two warring legions of Daedra to cross over into Tamriel. The Aureal and Mazken armies overran the entire island with their Daedric minions, and Gorne became the site of a great battle. During this battle, a Flesh Atronach named Gatekeeper Gruzo was summoned to Tamriel, but he was ultimately defeated by the Vestige. Despite his title, Gruzo bore a closer resemblance to Flesh Atronachs created via necromantic ritual than the later Gatekeepers created by Relmyna.

Relmyna's Children

Relmyna Verenim created her first Gatekeeper after many failed attempts by using the mystical ingredients she had grown in the Gardens of Flesh and Bone. They gave life to several enchanted body parts stitched together to form a body. Using Sheogorath's divine madness as the seed, Relmyna birthed the creature. Her tears and the bones of a previous Gatekeeper were thought to have been used to slay the creature in 3E 433.

After the death of her "child" at the hands of the Hero of Kvatch in 3E 433, Relmyna and her apprentice Nanette Don retired to her home, the ruins of Xaselm. There she resumed her study on the nature of Pain. Later that year, the Fringe was invaded by the Forces of Order. Sheogorath's Champion was sent to help Relmyna construct another Gatekeeper. The sorceress was hesitant at first due to the Hero's direct involvement with the death of the original. Relmyna and the Hero created the new Gatekeeper using a Daedric binding ritual, which helped to contain the Order which had taken over the Fringe.

Sometime in the Fourth Era, Talym Rend, a former agent to the Third Empire, sought a solution to his guilt with his involvement of his son's death. To make the pain go away, he traveled to the Shivering Isles to risk bargaining with Sheogorath. The Gatekeeper guarded the Gates of Madness that led past the Fringe, and to defeat him, Talym is said to have visited the nearby Garden of Swords, an absurd place in the Isles where weapons grow from the ground. He found his solution there: the Gateslayer Axe, a weapon which grew from soil fertilized by the body of the last Gatekeeper. His new weapon was of great use, and he was able to defeat the Gatekeeper, giving him access to the rest of the Shivering Isles.

Gallery

• 

  The Gatekeeper (Oblivion)

• 

  The Gatekeeper's might (Oblivion)

• 

  The Gatekeeper (Legends)

• 

  The Gatekeeper's creation (Oblivion)

• 

  Gatekeeper Gruzo (ESO)

• 

  The remains of a dead Gatekeeper in the Gardens of Flesh and Bone (Oblivion)

• 

  A Gatekeeper's arm on display in the Museum of Oddities in Crucible (Oblivion)

• 

  The Gateslayer Axe (Legends)

Notes

• Talym meets Dyus in his journey through the Shivering Isles. Dyus' dialogue in Oblivion's expansion, Shivering Isles, states that the Hero of Kvatch is the first person he has seen since he was first confined in Knifepoint Hollow, suggesting that Talym's journey took place after the events of Shivering Isles.
• The arm of a previous Gatekeeper was on display in Una Armina's Museum of Oddities in 3E 433, although whether the arm came from the same Gatekeeper killed by the Hero of Kvatch is left ambiguous.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see his Shivering Isles and Legends articles.