Shivering:Retaking The Fringe

Defend The Fringe and stop the attackers. Quest Giver: Sheogorath in New Sheoth Location(s): The Fringe, Xeddefen Prerequisite Quest: Ritual Of Mania or Ritual Of Dementia Next Quest: Rebuilding the Gatekeeper Reward: none ID: SE08

Golden Saints helping to retake the Fringe

Quick Walkthrough

1. Travel to The Fringe.
2. Speak with the commander of Sheogorath's forces.
3. Defend Passwall from the Knights of Order.
4. Enter Xeddefen and deactivate the Obelisk.
5. Escape and return to Sheogorath.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Fall of the Fringe

The Fringe after it has been overrun by the Forces of Order

Travel to The Fringe to discover that it has been completely overwhelmed by the Forces of Order. The general architecture is untouched, but the color of the surrounding area is bleak, the vegetation is dead, and large Order Crystals have burst from the ground. As such, you will have to rediscover all the locations in the area, such as the gate to Cyrodiil. This does not mean these areas are inaccessible, only that they are no longer automatically available on your map.

Make your way to Passwall and speak with either the Golden Saints or the Dark Seducers, depending on your choice during the Ritual of Accession.

Defending Passwall

Talk to either the Saints' commander, Aurig Desha, or the Seducers', Grakendo Udico, to be informed of the events prior to your arrival. Despite their best efforts, the forces of Sheogorath are all but exhausted, and the Forces of Order continue their unrelenting assault. The majority of the female warriors are dead, and you are offered command of what troops remain. You have two options for the upcoming order of battle:

• Take control of the forces and give them command directly.
• Trust your commander and allow her to position the forces as she sees fit. (This is the easiest option)

Commander in Chief

Dark Seducers defending the Fringe

If you choose to control your troops, talk to each of your four soldiers and tell them where they should position themselves. If your allies are Dark Seducers, two are by default equipped with Worn Dark Maces and two with Worn Dark Shortswords. If you are commanding Golden Saints, one has a Worn Golden Shortsword and three wield Worn Golden Maces. However, when you give any soldier his orders for the battle, his equipment is adjusted depending upon the orders and all equipment other than what is specified by the orders is removed from the soldier. Your options for each of the four soldiers are:

• Ready your bow and head to the rear: Soldier is equipped with a bow (Worn Dark Bow or Worn Golden Bow) and arrows (30 Dark Arrows or 30 Golden Arrows). Fighting style is set to "archer". According to the commander: "Those who you assign as archers will head to the rear and keep their distance when the enemy draws close."
• Ready a sword and outflank them: Soldier is equipped with a longsword (Worn Dark Longsword or Worn Golden Longsword) and shield. Fighting style is set to "flank". As the commander will say: "Those with blades and shields will hold the flank. When the enemy draws near, they will close in and attack."
• Ready an axe and hold your ground: Soldier is equipped with a waraxe (Worn Dark Waraxe or Worn Golden Waraxe). Fighting style is set to "heavy". In the words of the commander: "The front line will arm themselves with axes of war. They will hold the line against the enemy's charge."

A Trustworthy Lieutenant

If you delegate leadership to your commander, she will position her troops as follows:

• Three are told to position themselves in the front line and equip themselves with axes.
• One is told to be an archer and equip himself with a bow.

You can subsequently talk to any of the soldiers and override her orders if you prefer.

Once you are prepared for battle, speak with your commander again. Several waves of Knights will enter Passwall from the northeast. Defeat them and speak with your commander once more. She will propose a plan to retake Passwall: you are to infiltrate the ruins of Xeddefen while she stays on the surface and performs a holding action against the Knights. You will need to deactivate the Obelisk within Xeddefen to cut power to the Order Spire.

Xeddefen

Head southwest from Passwall to the ruins of Xeddefen. There will be about four Knights among the ruins exterior, spaced out wide since the exterior is large. The entrance will be at the far southwest side of the ruin. Upon entering the ruin, you may either turn left or right from there. A Priest of Order carrying the Xeddefen key will be waiting to the right. Turning left yields no enemies. Regardless, you will end up in a room with two doors, both locked (Very Hard): you can choose to use the Xeddefen key or not.

The next part of the ruin isn't particularly big, but be prepared for some serious fighting, as there are pockets of multiple enemies. The Summon Golden Saint/Dark Seducer Greater Power received during the previous quest will come in handy. Knights of Order will come running through the corridors every so often, and you're likely to encounter them coming at you as you come to the door leading to Xeddefen Fane. Get through the door to find a few more Knights of Order. Entering this zone will again open up two paths to the left and right. Turn left and take the first right for the only path to the next chamber and then the final level: Xeddefen Great Chamber.

Deactivating the Obelisk

Upon entering, the Obelisk of Order will be on the other side of a grate in a massive room, which is powering the Spire on the surface. Shelden, who was previously hiding inside a room concealed behind a fake wall, will appear and inform you that Felas Sarandas has defected to the Forces of Order. He requests that you escort him to safety, which you can do or tell him to find his own way back. If you escort him, he will follow you and fight alongside you. He is marked as essential, so don't worry about him dying, and he will pick up nearby spare weapons upon encountering new enemies. If you tell him to find his own way back, he will scoff and run for the exit you came through. Picking this option will cause Shelden to die a scripted death.

The Obelisk may appear different just because it is bigger, but it can be shut down just like any other Obelisk. If there, Shelden may cover your back. While there, you can take the chance to unlock the boss-level Crystal Chest for some valuable treasure, situated along the wall to the left as you come down the stairs.

The Great Escape

As soon as the Obelisk is deactivated, Xeddefen begins to collapse. The falling rubble and pillars are considerably dangerous, to both you and Shelden: it can hurt you just trying to walk over the rubble, so using some low-strength area-effect Destruction spells, preset or custom, may be used to clear a path. You will encounter Knights running towards you as you try to escape, but they are, by default, the lowest-leveled version and are killed by falling rubble. The route you used to arrive here is now blocked; however, opposite that is a new route, Xeddefen, Felles, full of falling rubble and broken Hunger traps that shoot off spells everywhere. You'll eventually come to a room with a locked gate. The button to open the gate is in the room on the left, guarded by one Knight of Order (up to 4 Knights if you're not sneaking). Once the gate is open, head through and it will close behind you, trapping Shelden, who will then complain about you being a terrible escort and make his own way out. Leave the mayor to his fate and continue to Xeddefen, Fales, where there is some opposition from Knights of Order. As you cross the long hallway, rubble will fall down behind you as well as in front of you, so be wary. Shelden will now meet his fate. If previously escorted, he will alert you to his presence behind a locked gate (inaccessible) and proceeds to leave completely, reappearing when you yourself have left the ruins. If you did not escort him, he will be dead on the floor. Opposite that gate will be your way back out into the Fringe.

Victory at Last

Return to Passwall and speak with either Desha or Udico. She will thank you for your assistance in liberating Passwall and send you back to report the success to Sheogorath while her forces remain in The Fringe to eliminate any remaining Knights. Shelden and the other remaining denizens of Passwall will reappear shortly after.

Return to New Sheoth and report to Sheogorath. Pleased with your progress, he will assign you a rather interesting task.

Notes

• The various weapons used by the Golden Saints and Dark Seducers are unique to this quest. If you are interested in collecting certain weapons, you may wish to deploy your troops in a way that will allow you to claim their fallen weapons.
• When you agree to escort him, Shelden will pick up any nearby weapon to use against the Knights.
• When you return to Passwall, any Knights of Order that you didn't kill in the ruin will be fighting what's left of your Saints or Seducers. Sneaking through Xeddefen means you may be faced with twenty or more knights at once.
• Once this quest starts, the entire Fringe is replaced with a new, "Ordered" version. This version remains in place until the main questline is completed. You will need to once again re-explore the Fringe in order to make the various map markers reappear. One minor difference between the two versions of the Fringe is that the map symbol for the Door to Cyrodiil changes from the "landmark" symbol to the "Ayleid Ruin" symbol.
  • The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch fixes this bug.
• It is possible to lead Shelden out of the trap door if you tell him to wait next to it and push him through before yourself. He does not have the scripting to follow you past here. For all intents and purposes, forcing him to safety is useless.
• To open the two metal gates that you cannot open in Xeddefen Fane, you can lure the Priest of Order or any of the Knights of Order towards them, and they will open as soon as one is near.
• Upon successfully completing the quest, a trophy of a Knight of Order helmet will appear on a platform in Sheogorath's Palace.
• There is not actually a time limit during the falling rocks sequence. The rocks are triggered by getting close enough, and there is no penalty for standing somewhere for a long time. Therefore, you can simply avoid taking damage from falling rocks by getting close enough to trigger their fall, and then moving away.

Bugs

• Occasionally after completing the quest, Sheogorath disappears.
  • The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch fixes this bug.
  • Enter the following into the console while in front of his throne to get him back:

PRID 13641

enable

If he's still not there: moveto player

If he's finally back but invisible: saa 1

• The priest in Xeddefen Fane will resurrect as though he were an obelisk priest, but there is no obelisk to deactivate to kill him.
• If you decide to take control of the forces of Dark Seducers, the subtitles of Grakendo Udico's response read "Very well, Your Grace. I hope for all of our sakes that your experience is greater than my own", but she actually says "Very well, my Lord. I hope for all of our sakes that your experience is greater than my own."
  • The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch, version 1.5.0, fixes this bug.

Journal Entries

Retaking The Fringe (SE08)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0		(Disables Syl)
1		(Disables Thadon)
4		(Acts as the entry point to the quest from SE07A/B)
5		(One of these two options will appear depending on whether the player is the ruler of Mania or Dementia) Angry over Thadon's replacement as the Duke of Mania, Syl has betrayed Sheogorath and joined with the forces of Order. According to Syl, Order has already taken the Fringe. I should travel to the Fringe and investigate her claims. or Angry over Syl's replacement as the Duchess of Dementia, Thadon has betrayed Sheogorath and joined with the forces of Order. According to Thadon, Order has already taken the Fringe. I should travel to the Fringe and investigate his claims.
10		I've arrived in the Fringe to find that it has been completely conquered by the forces of Order. Passwall may have been attacked. I should take a closer look.
20		(Used to control the timing of the battle)
25		(One of these four options will appear depending on whether the player is the ruler of Dementia or Mania and whether he chose to place the guards personally or not) I've talked to Grakendo Udico about what has happened in Passwall. Order has been attacking the town non-stop. She's asked for my help in protecting the Passwall. I must place the Dark Seducers in the best positions possible to prepare for the attack. When I am satisfied, I should speak to the Grekendo. or I've talked to Grakendo Udico about what has happened in Passwall. Order has been attacking the town non-stop. She's asked for my help in protecting the Passwall. I should provide what aid I can and speak to her when I'm ready. or I've talked to Aurig Desha about what has happened in Passwall. Order has been attacking the town non-stop. She's asked for my help in protecting the Passwall. I must place the Golden Saints in the best positions possible to prepare for the attack. When I am satisfied, I should speak to the Aurig. or I've talked to Aurig Desha about what has happened in Passwall. Order has been attacking the town non-stop. She's asked for my help in protecting the Passwall. I should provide what aid I can and speak to her when I'm ready.
26		The forces of Order are advancing on Passwall. We must defeat them all.
30		(One of these two options will appear depending on whether the player is the ruler of Mania or Dementia) The force of Knights attacking Passwall have been eliminated. I should speak to Grakendo Udico about the situation. or The force of Knights attacking Passwall have been eliminated. I should speak to Aurig Desha about the situation.
35		(One of these two options will appear depending on whether the player is the ruler of Mania or Dementia) The Dark Seducer commander Grakendo Udico has a plan to retake Passwall. I need to slip through the gate into the ruins of Xeddefen while her Dark Seducers distract the knights. They will continue to hold the line at Passwall. I have to use this opportunity to slip into Xeddefen and find Order's source of power. or The Golden Saint commander Aurig Desha has a plan to retake Passwall. I need to slip through the gate into the ruins of Xeddefen while her Golden Saints distract the knights. They will continue to hold the line at Passwall. I have to use this opportunity to slip into Xeddefen and find Order's source of power.
40		(One of these two options will appear depending on whether the player is the ruler of Mania or Dementia) The counterattack on Xeddefen has begun. Kiskella [sic] Udico and her Dark Seducers will distract the knights. While the Dark Seducers fight, I need to slip past the gates of Xeddefen and locate the source of the Spire's power. or The counterattack on Xeddefen has begun. Aureg [sic] Desha and her Golden Saints will distract the knights. While the Golden Saints fight, I need to slip past the gates of Xeddefen and locate the source of the Spire's power.
45		I've made my way into the ruins of Xeddefen. I must seek out the spire's source of power and find a way to deactivate it.
50		I've discovered the source of Order's power -- an obelisk is having its power amplified by the spire that leads to the center of Passwall. I must find a way to shut down the obelisk.
60		(Set once the player has talked to Shelden)
70		I've overloaded the obelisk and collapsed the spire. The caverns are now coming down around me and I must escape before I'm trapped.
80		(One of these two options will appear depending on whether the player is the ruler of Mania or Dementia) I've survived the collapsing ruins of Xeddefen. I should seek out Grakendo Udico and ask her how the battle above ground went. or I've survived the collapsing ruins of Xeddefen. I should seek out Aurig Desha and ask her how the battle above ground went.
90		(Seems to be unused)
100		Passwall has been liberated and the forces of Order have been defeated. I should speak with Sheogorath.
200	Finishes quest	(Makes Saint/Seducer captain unessential; other cleanup)

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage SE08 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.

Prev: Ritual Of Mania or Ritual Of Dementia

Up: Main Quest

Next: Rebuilding the Gatekeeper