One thing I like about the main questline of ‘The Shivering Isles’ is that the character’s progress feels earned.
With Jyggalag freed from this curse, the Greymarch is averted and the Isles left seemingly without a ruler, but by the power vested in him, Jyggalag declares the PC the new Sheogorath, and madness is restored. Sheogorath’s Champion defeats Jyggalag, who reveals the real truth: he is the ‘true’ Prince, and Sheogorath the result of a curse cast upon him by the other Daedra to curb his tyranny. In his absence, the PC recovers articles of the Madgod, purifies his Tree and then, just as Sheogorath planned, impersonates the Madgod and does battle with the crystalline giant Jyggalag in New Sheoth’s palace grounds. The PC narrowly saves Passwall from attack by the forces of Order, and returns to New Sheoth to terrible news: Sheogorath is dead. Sheogorath then reveals the truth: his arch-nemesis Jyggalag is in fact his own alter ego, into whom he is cursed to transform at the end of every age. He now seeks a Champion to help him avoid this apocalyptic event, and has the PC reactivate Xedilian, the old proving ground of the Isles, help the Duke and Duchess who govern the two halves of the realm, and then pick a side between his Saint and Seducer guards to end a feud between them.Įvents take a darker turn, however, as the PC is made to kill one of the rulers, and help to build a new Gatekeeper from mortal remains as the Greymarch approaches. The PC journeys across the Isles to the capital of New Sheoth, where Lord Sheogorath explains his predicament: every age in the Isles, his rival Jyggalag, Daedric Prince of Order, brings the apocalyptic Greymarch, destroying the realm and forcing Sheogorath to rebuild. Before they can be admitted to the Isles proper, the PC must first meet with Sheogorath’s chamberlain, Haskill, and then find a way to destroy the hulking Gatekeeper, which keeps the people of Passwall contained. The player character (PC) investigates a Strange Door that has suddenly appeared in the Nibenay Bay, and discovers that it leads into the Shivering Isles, realm of the Madgod Sheogorath. For a refresher, here is the storyline briefly summarised:
‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – The Shivering Isles’ is, as well as being quite a mouthful of a title, a unique and memorable game, and here I’d like to celebrate its brilliance.