Shadowkey:Shadow Gate

In their simplest form, Shadow Gates are doors opened by Shadowkeys. Usually, all the gates in a zone are opened by keys found in the same zone, but there are a few exceptions. The denizens behind shadow gates are implied to have undergone some form of corruption.

In total there are 18 Shadow Gates:

Location	Key Used	Reward
Broken Wing II (Northeast)	Perosius' Shadowkey	Shadow Gloves
Broken Wing II (Southwest)	Perosius' Shadowkey	Skeleton Key
Crypt of Hearts I †	Any three keys	Shadowweave or Shadowring or Shadowplate
Crypt of Hearts II	Any key	Racial advantages improve
Delfran's Hideout	Delfran's Shadowkey	Dusk Dagger
Dragonstar West (Geldwyr Manor)	Porliss Caith's Shadowkey	Penumbric Throwing Knife and Geldwyr Shield
Dragonstar West (East)	Porliss Caith's Shadowkey	+5 Strength
Dragonstar West (South Gate)	Porliss Caith's Shadowkey	+5 Speed or +5 Endurance
Dragonstar East	Tanyin's Shadowkey	+5 Intelligence or +5 Willpower
Earthtear Caverns ‡	Spider's Shadowkey	Azra's Bandage
Glacier Crawl	Chieftain's Shadowkey	Snowray Powder
Lakvan's Stronghold	Lakvan's Shadowkey	Shadow Gloves
Loth' Na Caverns	Duvais' Shadowkey	Shadow Stabber or Attribute increases (+5 Personality, +5 Intelligence, +20 Health, and +15 Luck.)
Raider's Nest	Eglar's Shadowkey	Magicka-Edge Axe or Spell Jewel
Raider's Nest	Eglar's Shadowkey	Unlocks the rest of Raider's Nest
Twilight Temple	Twilight Shadowkey	Shaman Headdress, Twilight Gloves and Nightleather.

† — Requires three keys to open. See the Crypt of Hearts I page for more information.
‡ — this isn't a typical gate, as it is invisible.

In addition, the large crystal found in Fearfrost II can also be thought of as a kind of Shadow Gate, as it is opened by the key found in the previous zone, Fearfrost Caverns.

Descriptions

When opening a gate, each one has a different message.

^(?)

Broken Wing II

As you approach the teleporter for the southwest:

"The thrumming from the gate increases as you approach."

When opening the chest:

"Your shadow recedes into your body; your hands grow cold for a moment. Your shadow returns, and within your shadow lies a pair of shadow gloves."

As you approach the teleporter for the northeast:

"The thrumming from the gate increases as you approach."

When opening the chest:

"Your shadow extends and falls over the corpses of the fallen; you hear popping, grinding. A Skeleton Key appears."

Crypt of Hearts I

When opening the gate:

"The gate opens quietly, as silent as fog and twice as cold"

Crypt of Hearts II

When the gate is approached:

"This Shadow Gate has a lock which keeps shifting slighting in shape. After careful observation you decide the lock is meant to take any Shadowkey."

When interacting with the brazier:

"The braziers' flames warm you, but do not burn. As the flames caress your body, you feel your heritage strengthening; your racial advantage improves."

Delfran's Hideout

When you approach the door:

"Use your shadowkey to open gate?"

When entering the room:

"These rats look darker, blurrier, wrong in some way. Even their squeaks don't seem quite right, almost an echo of what's right. But their intent is unmistakably ferocious."

Dragonstar East

"The room darkens as you enter it. Shadows lengthen, then race along the floor to your feet and up your body to enter your nose and ears. You sense you can use your Shadowkey to unlock one of two possibilities in the shadows."

Increase my Intelligence.

"Thoughts collide with one another, and briefly you feel as though you are outside your body. Your Intelligence has increased by 5."

Increase my Willpower.

"Shadows assault your senses, filling your sight with dark shapes, hearing with dull sounds, and your skin briefly dries and wrinkles as if mummified. Your Willpower has increased by 5."

Dragonstar West

Manor:

"You need a Shadowkey to open this door. There is a familiarity here, not in the building, not in the landscape. It's more akin to a taste. You are surprised to discover that this taste occurs whenever you stand in the shadow of Geldwyr Manor. The doors to the Geldwyr Manor will not open without the proper Shadowkey."

When opening the northeast chest in the manor:

"You find an exquisitely balanced weapon, the Penumbric Throwing Knife"

East Gate when interacting with the brazier:

"The shadows in the room twist up from the floor and gently glance across your legs.The power of the shadow enters you, infusing you with Strength. Your Strength increases by 5."

South Gate:

"The Shadows in the room expand, brush you, and then contract. Your Shadowkey glows fiercely. You sense you can use your Shadowkey to unlock one of two possibilities in the shadows."

Increase my Speed.

"Shadows flit along the nape of your neck, then caress the side of your face, like the flutter of a butterfly. Your Speed has increased by 5."

Increase my Endurance.

"Shadows wrap around your arms and legs, making you hardier. Your Endurance has increased by 5."

Earthtear Caverns

If you approach the gate without the key:

"Your shadow distorts and twists on the floor. You feel as if someone stabs your neck with an icicle. "You have neither my permission, nor the key," rasps a voice. "You may not enter." An unseen force blocks your way."

If you have the key:

"Your way is blocked by an unseen force. A whispery voice says, "You...," then disappears in a shrill shriek. You may now enter the room"

Once inside you will have to fight two undead:

"A desiccated pair of undead bar your path. One speaks, with a voice like leather being torn, "Pergan."
The other says, "No, not him. Hum of blood, warm, this one."
Get Ready To Fight."

As you approach the crystal:

"Shadows slide and slip over the surface of one crystal. As you approach it cracks, pieces fall away to reveal an item. "Interloper, neither key nor Azra's handiwork are for you. What you take from him today, later I shall take from you thricefold." The voice fades, leaving you alone in the cavern."

Glacier Crawl

"You hear a slow hum as your Shadowkey begins to vibrate. As you examine the ice wall, you notice a small hole in the middle of it, just large enough for a key. Place your key in the hole?"

When you use the key:

"Shadows bend and twist as you touch the key to the wall. As you pull the key away from it, you hear a high-pitched, shrieking sound. The ice wall shatters, and a path is cleared."

Lakvan's Stronghold

When the gate is approached:

"Use your Shadowkey on the gate?"

Okay.

Not right now.

When Pergan is killed:

"With Asuul's disappearance you find a pair of Shadow Gloves."

Loth' Na Caverns

"The orb glows with a light far more intense than that from the lava below. Beyond you see a shadow."

Touch the orb.

"You reach out and touch the shadows flittering around the orb. They recoil. Swiftly you grab the shadow form. It quickly coalesces into the Shadow Stabber."

Leave it be.

"The shadows eventually flow across the ground to join with your own. You feel a consciousness fade as it merges its lifeforce with yours. The shadow's energy invigorates, energizes you in a permanent way. Your Personality and Intelligence each increase by 5. Your maximum Health increases by 20, and your Luck increases by 15. Curled in your mind the shadow form is content, almost purring."

Raider's Nest

"The chest is filled with a roiling darkness, many shadows intertwining."

An axe.

"Shadows from the chest weave with your own. An axe coalesces in your shadow. Good hits with the Magicka-Edge Axe convert some of your Magicka into extra Damage."

A spellcast enhancement.

"Shadows from the chest weave with your own. Your spells now cost six fewer Magicka to cast."

Twilight Temple

When you interact with the statue of the Umbra' Keth.

"The statue before you is not stone, but shaped darkness. As you look at it you sense it is looking back, calmly, waiting."

When opening the chest that contains Nightleather and Twilight Gloves:

"Inside are smooth, gray gloves and a dark, supple shirt of armor."

Gallery

• 

  One type of Shadow Gate. This one is in Dragonstar West

• 

  A type of Shadow Gate.

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  Another type of Shadow Gate. This one is from Loth' Na Caverns

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  An invisible Shadow Gate. This one is from Earthtear Caverns