Lore:Liminal Barriers

The statue of Akatosh right after sealing the Liminal Barriers forever during the Oblivion Crisis

The Liminal Barriers, sometimes singularized as the Liminal Barrier, are the dimensional barriers between the Mundus and Oblivion. These barriers were powered by the Dragonfires, mystical fires maintained by Akatosh as part of his covenant with Saint Alessia. However, after the events of the Oblivion Crisis, the barriers have been permanently shut forever by Akatosh, making the Dragonfires obsolete. The liminal barriers serve to prevent Daedric invasions and to keep the Mundus safe. Despite this, the liminal barriers are not impenetrable, and have weakened numerous times. Usually, this weakening occurs when the pact between Akatosh and mortals is violated, and the Dragonfires are extinguished. Besides these instances, the liminal barriers are also known to have varying strength, which can affect how long transliminal portals can remain open.

Invasions

Numerous Daedric invasions have occurred over the course of Tamrielic history, due to the pact between Akatosh and mortals being temporarily broken. These include:

The Planemeld

Dark Anchors surrounding the Imperial City

The Planemeld was a monumental Daedric invasion of Tamriel that took place in 2E 582, during the Interregnum. The Daedric Prince Molag Bal used Dark Anchors, huge Daedric interplanar machines of his own design, in an attempt to drag Nirn, which had been "set adrift" and become "unmoored from the fabric of the multiverse" as a result of the Soulburst, out of Mundus and into his realm of Coldharbour. Rifts of darkness that lead from Tamriel directly to Coldharbour appeared across the continent. Each death in Tamriel weakened the barriers between Nirn and the realms beyond, and the concurrent Three Banners War only accelerated the Planemeld. The scale of the Planemeld is comparable to that of the Oblivion Crisis. The Planemeld was ultimately stopped by the Vestige with Meridia's assistance.

The Oblivion Crisis

Mehrunes Dagon on Nirn during the Oblivion Crisis

The Oblivion Crisis, also known as the Great Anguish, was a total war between Mehrunes Dagon's Daedra hordes and the population of Tamriel. It began with the assassination of Uriel Septim VII and all of his known heirs in 3E 433 at the hands of a fanatical cult of worshippers known as the Mythic Dawn.

Shortly afterward, Oblivion Gates to the Deadlands began opening, unleashing Daedra across Tamriel. With each Gate that opened, the barriers between Nirn and Oblivion weakened further. This phenomenon, likened to cracks gradually developing in the Firmament, would have eventually resulted in the barriers between worlds collapsing completely and Nirn and Oblivion becoming joined. Widespread devastation and casualties resulted across entire provinces. The Daedra besieged Skyrim, and laid waste to the Old Holds. In Black Marsh, the Hist called back many Argonians to fight off the Daedra. According to the An-Xileel, the Daedra were forced to close the Gates in Black Marsh due to an Argonian counter invasion. In Cyrodiil, the city of Kvatch was entirely destroyed.

Martin's Sacrifice

The Oblivion Crisis was ended when Martin Septim shattered the Amulet of Kings and turned into the Avatar of Akatosh, defeating Dagon in a final battle in the Imperial City's Temple of the One. This sealed the liminal barriers permanently, preventing any future invasion. The new barrier was noted to be too powerful for even a Sigil Stone, an object in the presence of which it was said even "a thousand soul gems would likely dissolve", to breach for more than fleeting moments.

Martin's sacrifice did not prevent portals to Oblivion from being opened, provided they posed no danger to Mundus. This was evidenced when Sheogorath opened a portal in Niben Bay that same year, to serve as an invitation rather than an invasion.

Circa 4E 201, the Mythic Dawn cultist Vonos devised a profane ritual which would shatter the liminal barrier and bypass Martin's sacrifice. Vonos managed to open a permanent Oblivion Gate in Skyrim by tricking the Last Dragonborn into killing him while holding a Great Welkynd Stone. The Dragonborn thereby inadvertently participated in the ritual, with Vonos' death serving as a mortal sacrifice. By destroying the Gate's Sigil Stone in advance, Vonos ensured that the portal could not be closed. Despite this, the planned Daedric invasion was foiled when the Dragonborn ventured into the Gate and slew Dagon's generals, Valkyn Methats and Valkyn Gatanas. The Vigil of Stendarr subsequently seized control of the Gate from the remaining cultists.

Invitations

Although the liminal barriers prevent Daedric invasions, they do not altogether prevent Daedric presence on Nirn. This is because mortals may invite Daedra into the Mundus by summoning them or opening portals.

• Despite the strength of the liminal barriers, practitioners of Conjuration magic regularly crack open the doors of Oblivion to summon lesser Daedra to do their bidding. However, summoning greater Daedra runs the risk of making the crack impossibly difficult to shut.

• Oblivion Gates are portals opened between Nirn and Oblivion using Sigil Stones. These are gates that connect to Daedric realms based on the realm of origin of the Sigil Stone, and may last for minutes at a time.

• Additionally, while Daedric invasions are prevented by the liminal barriers, this does not mean the Daedra can't be summoned en masse by mortals. One such attempted instance is the Culling by Lord Naarifin.

• In the year 1E 2920, both Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon were directly summoned to Nirn to destroy cities. Molag Bal destroyed the town of Gil-Var-Delle upon request of the then mad King of Senchal, Dro'Zel. Similarly, Mehrunes Dagon destroyed Old Mournhold upon the request of Turala, a witch of the Skeffington Coven. These Princely summonings were banned by the Coldharbour Compact, a deal between multiple Daedric Princes and the Tribunal god Sotha Sil.

Gallery

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  Dark Anchors from the Planemeld

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  A Siege Crawler destroying a city during the Oblivion Crisis

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  Valkyn Methats, one of the leaders of Vonos' planned Daedric invasion

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  A Storm Atronach being summoned through the use of Conjuration magic

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  A Gate to Oblivion

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  Lord Naarifin attempting to begin The Culling

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  The Moonlight Blade cutting through realms

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  The Battlespire Academy, which exists in a Slipstream realm between the liminal barriers

Notes

• The Moonlight Blade had the ability to cut through the liminal barriers.
• According to Demiprince Fa-Nuit-Hen, Slipstream Realms are transitional realms between Mundus and Oblivion where "transliminal forces balance in standing waves", with the Battlespire Academy being within one of these realms.
• Some sources also speak of the aurora or "Kyne's lights", and the Lunar Lattice, also serving as boundaries that protect Nirn from harmful influence from beyond. Some sources describe the Lunar Lattice as burning spirits that touch it with moonlight fire, causing even Molag Bal to be set aflame and fall into the darkness below when pressed against it. It is said by those sources that no spirit had ever managed to damage it until Merrunz, released to serve as a weapon against the Lattice, cracked it with his axe.
• Those Daedric Princes that were signatories of the Coldharbour Compact also had certain restrictions placed upon the interactions of their realms with Nirn by the agreement. The Compact seemingly placed certain restrictions on how mortals could interact with the realms of those Princes as well.

See Also

• Dragonfires
• Oblivion Gate
• Moonlight Blade