The Gatekeepers

Two generations tend an old ward among the plants of a Sharn rooftop garden.

The Gatekeepers are a druidic tradition with ancient roots among the orcs of the Shadow Marches. Their central responsibility is to protect the natural world from dangerous influences beyond it. Their traditions remember conflict with the daelkyr, alien beings associated with Xoriat, the plane of madness. They tell of ancient conflicts and safeguards whose preservation matters long after the original danger has faded from ordinary memory.

Keeping the old ways

Gatekeeper heritage includes stories, oaths, songs, and customs as well as active druidic practice. A family can preserve those customs without every member becoming a guardian or understanding the magic behind them. An old storyteller and a trained practitioner may share much of the same language while having very different responsibilities.

The tradition is associated with seals holding back extraplanar threats. Accounts differ about the seals' forms and the meaning of particular sites or rituals. The knowledge is old, dispersed, and incomplete; a familiar story need not be a literal map to a particular object.

A different view of preservation

The Gatekeepers' concern is more specific than a general preference for wilderness. Maintaining a boundary or passing on a ritual can be an act of protection even when nothing dramatic happens. The result of successful work may be that ordinary life continues without interruption.

Not every orc follows the Gatekeepers, and not every druid belongs to their tradition. A person's ancestry cannot establish either their beliefs or their knowledge. The order is one part of the wider religious landscape described in faiths and everyday belief.

Beyond Sharn introduces the continent outside the city's towers.

Sources: Keith Baker, The Gatekeepers.