"News of your success in the Fringe precedes you," Sheogorath said when I entered the throne room. Before I could relay the Mazken's question about protecting the Isles, he went on, "To further cement the victory I have an important task for you to perform. You will seek the assistance of Relmyna Verenim in Xaselm to Rebuild the Gatekeeper. You remember the creature you killed to get in here?"
"Vividly." Well, there was her answer.
He drummed his fingers against his cane. "Good. With the Gatekeeper restored and Xedilian in operation, we won't have to worry about anything getting in. Things already here are another matter. You'll need to speak with Relmyna. She'll help you with your task. Strange woman. Has some unusual tastes. Tell her you're working for Me." The Daedric Prince let out a low chuckle. "She'd do anything for Me, that little minx."
"Relmyna…" I frowned. "Who is she, exactly?"
"A powerful Sorceress," he explained. "Maybe a genius. And a complete lunatic. All in all, my kind of person."
Of course.
"I brought her to My Realm so she could continue to study her "sixth element." Honestly, I didn't know there were five already. She's a bit obsessed with it. And with Me. Makes dealing with her difficult. You shouldn't have any problems, though. No one likes you that much."
Giving him a curt nod, I turned on my heel and marched toward the palace's doors. Angry tears stung in my eyes. No, there wasn't anyone who liked me that much. Everyone who had was either dead or couldn't remember me.
Xaselm sat halfway between the Mania and Dementia parts of the Isles, near the gate leading back into the Fringe. Climbing over the hill, I looked down at the ruin in the settling twilight. It consisted of a walled compound of several moss-covered stone buildings. Sliding down, I approached cautiously.
The courtyard was lit by several torches. In the firelight I saw what looked like several zombies milling about. I drew back an arrow. One turned, seeming to hear the sound, and growled. I quickly shot it down, along with the others nearby.
Ahead, a set of stairs led up to a massive door set into the side of the hill. Tugging it open, I slipped inside.
Statues of daedra lined the tunnels beyond. As I passed by, one spat out a fireball in my direction. I jumped aside and barely avoided being roasted alive by it. Ducking to the side, I slipped down another passageway.
The halls I found myself in were lit by large, iron braziers that hung down from the ceiling. The walls were covered with old, purple tapestries. Another one of the zombies blocked the passage ahead. I shot it and gingerly stepped over the body. As I did, I noticed that it wasn't really a zombie at all. It wasn't rotting. An iron collar was fastened around its neck and there were strange designs carved into its skin. It more resembled the Gatekeeper, only smaller. Relmyna had created them to guard her ruin, then.
The further down in the ruin I got, the more I gradually began to realize what Sheogorath had meant by "unusual tastes." One of the side rooms had several bodies hanging from the ceiling, the corpses cut in strategic places so that the blood collected in bowls that had been placed on the floor below. Another held a zombie hound fighting some kind of enormous, shambling bone creature. As I passed, I heard the creature rip the dog in half.
Passing through a door, I heard an agonized scream. I crouched low, drawing back an arrow, and crept along the hall. The screams continued, along with broken, desperate pleas for mercy. As I got closer to the source of the cries, I heard another voice.
"Does this hurt more or less than last time?" The voice asked. All I heard were sobs in response. Rounding the corner, I froze at what I saw.
A Dunmer woman dressed all in black stood before a cage set into the wall. She seemed to be writing something on a piece of paper. Beyond the bars, a naked woman writhed on the floor.
"Hey!" I shouted, hurrying forward. "What is this?"
The mer, who was obviously Relmyna, whirled around. Her blood-red eyes narrowed at the sight of me.
"You! I remember you. You're the adventurer who slew my Gatekeeper, are you not?"
"You're damn right I am. I needed to get into the Isles," I snapped at her.
"The ends justify the means, do they?" She sneered. "You'll pay for that, one day. Now, by all means, come right in. Walk in here as if you own the place. By what authority do you disturb me?"
"Sheogorath wants you to do something for him."
She sniffed haughtily. "I see. Sheogorath is too important to come on his own account? He sends his mortal lackey?"
"I'm no one's lackey," I snarled.
"Well, then. I trust my servants didn't give you too hard a time getting in here." She laughed coldly. "What is it Lord Sheogorath requires of me?"
"He wants you to make a new Gatekeeper," I said.
Her brows shot up in response. "Oh? Does he now?"
"Yes. He does."
"Fine. If it be my Lord's will, then it is also my own." Her eyes grew hard and bitter. "But I am too distraught over the death of my child to return to his womb. This you must do."
I stared at her. She wanted me to do what?
Sighing, she told me, "You will travel to the Gardens of Flesh and Bone. There you will gather mystical components needed for the ceremony. Go fetch me Blood Liqueur, Osseous Marrow, Dermis Membrane, and Essence of breath."
"I have no idea what those things even are, let alone how to collect them. You're going to have to be more specific than that."
"Are you not the exalted Duchess?" Relmyna snapped at me. "Slayer of the great Gatekeeper? Champion of our mighty Lord Sheogorath? I'm sure you'll be able to find these things. If not, perhaps Sheogorath's faith in you is misplaced."
When I continued to stare at her wordlessly, she gritted her teeth and hastily scribbled something down onto a piece of paper. Shoving it into my hands, she said, "Go now. You try my patience. And take this key. It will allow entry into the Gardens and give you direct access to my Sanctum."
The gates into the Gardens were still unlocked when I arrived. Jayred and I must have been the last ones to enter before I killed the first Gatekeeper. I passed through the courtyard and unlocked the door on the other side using the key Relmyna gave me.
At first the ruin beyond the door resembled Xaselm. Similar tapestries draped the walls. Soon I entered a large chamber. Before I could take more than a few steps I heard a crack above me. I hastily jumped back just as part of the ceiling fell right where I had been standing. I coughed and waved my hand to try to dissipate the resulting cloud of dust. Grumbling, I climbed over the rubble and kept going, more cautious than before.
There was a door at the chamber's right side. Beyond was a small room. Part of the wall had caved in, revealing a tunnel lit by glowing mushrooms. I climbed up to it and stepped inside.
Torches lit my way as I walked along the twisting, root-lined tunnels. I pushed some vines aside and was suddenly grateful that my hands were covered. The likelihood that anything and everything in the place was dangerous was very high. As I walked along a thick root, I looked down to see a patch of large flowers below. They seemed to glow from within. The petals were translucent and lined with red veins. Relmyna had mentioned them in the note as the Dermis Membrane.
Gripping the roots, I swung down and dropped to the floor. Kneeling before the plants, I retrieved several of the petals. Then I got back to my feet and kept walking.
Retrieving the Osseous Marrow was easy enough. It grew in some kind of tree-like set of bones in one of the tunnels. But as I walked into the next set, I knew there was a problem. There were several different passages leading off from where I stood. I looked at each, unsure of which way to go.
That was when I heard a sound, like a soft sigh. Turning, I saw a wisp of green light floating up the tunnel. I followed the light, listening to the sound of the sighing breaths that accompanied it.
Soon I was so turned around that I wasn't sure which way I'd come from anymore. I had no idea how deep into the tunnels I was. Other passages turned off of the one I followed. I kept following the light at a hurried pace, running at times to keep up with it. If I lost it, I wasn't sure if I could ever find my way back out.
Turning a corner, I saw a swirling vortex of green light ahead. The center of the labyrinth. The breath I had followed merged with it. When it did, I heard it let out a long, gasping sound. Stepping forward, I pulled out a small vial and collected some of the light. It swirled around inside as I pocketed it.
Now I just had to find my way out.
I climbed up a nearby tunnel and prayed I was going in the right direction. At the top, I saw a door. Relief flooded through me and I hurried to open it. On the other side were more of the tunnels that quickly led back out into the ruin proper again. In the distance, I heard what seemed to be a sluggish, dripping noise. The sound sent cold shivers down my spine.
To my left another wall crumbled. I dodged the falling pieces. As I descended a set of stairs and pushed a button to open the next door, I rolled my eyes. Surely Relmyna could stand to keep the place in some kind of decent condition.
As the door opened I was hit with the overwhelming scent of blood. I staggered back, gagging, and covered my mouth. The small chamber on the other side of the doorway was filled with a deep pool of blood. On the other side I saw the fountain that Relmyna had written about. She said she wanted the fresh stuff… and that meant I had to get over to the fountain itself.
Grimacing, I stepped into the pool. The blood came up to my knees. The Raiment completely covered my legs, at least, and I was sure it wouldn't seep through. I held my breath and waded through to the fountain. Unstoppering another vial, I took some of the blood that trickled out.
That was the last ingredient. Climbing out of the blood-filled room, I made my way toward the exit.
Relmyna was in a small chamber deep in her work area of Xaselm when I returned. Two of the stiched-together bodies lay on tables at the back of the room. Beside her was another table covered in various sharp implements. Once again, she was taking notes.
I cleared my throat. The incessant scratching of her quill abruptly stopped.
"You have returned with all the components?" She asked me.
"Yes." The blood had almost refused to come out of the Raiment. Luckily the smell was gone. Mostly.
"Excellent. All that remains is to choose the body parts." Snapping her fingers, she indicated the hall and I followed her out of the room.
"… Body parts?" I asked, feeling uneasy.
She nodded. As we walked, she explained, "Fearing one day someone might manage to kill my child, I have been preparing a new body. I've created versions of each appendage, with various enhancements. You must choose one of each."
"Does it matter which?"
"No. I am attached to them all. Artist's prerogative."
She led me into another small room. As she'd said, there were several versions of each portion of the Gatekeeper's body. Most of the parts, such as the arms and heads, hung from the chamber's walls. The legs were stretched out on slabs in the center of the room.
"Select one pair of legs, one left arm, right arm, torso, head, and heart. Tell me when you have made your selections."
Wrinkling my nose, I walked around and examined all the parts. Some of the pieces had obvious differences, such as the head with the metal plates bolted in as opposed to the one with odd designs carved into the skin, or the arm that was really just a sword versus the ones that were a spiked mace or an axe. Others I wasn't so sure about. I didn't ask Relmyna about them. I wasn't in the mood for a confrontation at the moment. Besides, I was certain the damn thing would work just fine no matter what I picked.
"Don't take all day making your choices," she snapped from behind me.
Angrily blowing a strand of hair out of my face, I indicated the parts I wanted. Relmyna whistled, and several of the zombie-creatures marched down the stairs and grabbed the pieces.
Clapping her hands together, she said, "Now, we travel to the statue of our Lord in the Fringe. There we will perform the ceremony. Make haste!"
Relmyna and I soon arrived at the Fringe. We stopped before the statue between Mania's and Dementia's gates. She glanced over at me.
"Shall we start the ceremony?" She asked me.
I took a deep breath. "Do it."
Relmyna waved her hand and a circle at the center of the area, in a burst of light, turned into a pool of swirling blue-green liquid.
"First, place the Gatekeeper's body into the Cistern of Substantiation." She snapped her fingers and the construct servants dumped the pieces into the cistern. She then looked skyward. "At the beginning of the worlds were five. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Light. Darkness turned into day, the void took form."
Thunder rumbled overhead. I started at the sudden sound and looked up at the sky as well. Clouds rolled in, blocking the sky and turning everything an eerie shade of purple.
"Hidden away by virtue of its own self-awareness was the sixth," Relmyna continued, "containing within it the five which birthed it. Flesh! Meat with the desire to consume like Fire..."
Lightning cracked again, reflected in the whirling surface of the pool.
"Place the Dermis Membrane into the cistern," she commanded.
Cautiously stepping forward, I fished the petals out and dropped them in. The instant they made contact with the surface, the liquid flashed with light again. As she went on with the ceremony, I put the different ingredients in when she called for them.
"And last, the light of Flesh, the illumination of Soul – perception, thought, memory, imagination…" Waving her hand again, a strange creature appeared at Relmyna's side. It looked almost human, but… wrong. Pointing to the Cistern, she continued, "I summon thee, walker in Flesh! Flesh of true Flesh! From those waters of Oblivion which sire thy kind. Come to this altar. Join with this body. Quintessence of Flesh joined with Essence of Flesh. Absolute in mortal. Immortal bound to contingent."
The atronach, and I was fairly sure that's what it was, stepped into the pool and vanished beneath the surface. Thunder boomed, louder than ever. Relmyna gestured toward me.
"Stand clear of the Cistern. Over here by me."
I did, watching the Cistern with some apprehension. The wind whipped violently around us, bitingly cold. It tugged my hair into my face, and I brushed back the strands. What would happen now?
"Honored Daedra," Relmyna shouted, "fear not they abasement! Thou shalt be the Holy in this Temple. I bind thee, Atronach, to this body, henceforth Gatekeeper of the Shivering Isles!"
An explosion of light and blue fire erupted from the Cistern, knocking me off my feet. Wincing, I looked up to see the new Gatekeeper rise up from the pool. It seemed to stare down at us, even though it had no eyes.
"My child," Relmyna breathed. "It is time to fulfill your destiny. Stand guard in this land against all those who seek entry not bearing the mark of Sheogorath's favor. You shall know them by the coldness in their minds. A darkness of spirit."
Beneath the sound of the thunder and the roar of the wind I heard what sounded like marching feet. I looked back over my shoulder. Knights.
"Relmyna…"
She looked back as well and saw what I did.
"My child, they are coming. Destroy them!" She cried out to the Gatekeeper. "Show them your true power!"
The Gatekeeper stomped forward and swung his arm, the blade taking out a whole row of the Knights. Relmyna watched proudly for a moment before saying to me, "Watch my child destroy the interlopers, or run to Sheogorath. Either way, tell Him of our doings here. Send Him my tribute… and my affections."
I cringed at the thought. Shooting one last glance at the fight, one the Gatekeeper was clearly winning, I ran back toward the gates.