Lore:Gambolpuddy

Gambolpuddy

"Yes, I know it is a strange name, but all Sheogorath's creations have the touch of madness."
—Tholer Saryoni

Gambolpuddy, also known as the Ambiguous Glove, is an extravagant right glove belonging to Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of madness and one of the Daedric Princes seen as the Bad Daedra by the Dunmer. It fortifies abilities (Agility, Intelligence, Personality, Luck) at the cost of draining others (Endurance, Speed, Strength, Willpower). Its main role is ceremonial, and is to be used as a sacrificial offering to Sheogorath's shrine in Ald Daedroth, in order renew a pact with Sheogorath to limit his influence on the Dunmeri people. Gambolpuddy is not limited to the confines of Ald Daedroth, and is known to be a recurring artifact.

History

At an unknown time, the Tribunal god Vivec made an ancient pact with the Four Corners of the House of Troubles that limits their influence over the Dunmer. Sheogorath is the Fourth Corner, and the pact involves offering the glove Gambolpuddy to him in Ald Daedroth in order to limit him tormenting the Dunmer with madness, and has since then become a pilgrimage for the Tribunal Temple to renew this pact. Upon offering the glove, the pilgrim recite's Vivec's Four Corners, which goes "Once like a Great House founded on sand, Stood our Temple whose pillars on troubles were based. Now mischievous spirits, bound, in dim corners stand, Rotted columns, but with iron-bound bands embraced. Cracked, crumbling marble, tempered on every hand, By strong steel forged in fire and faith. Shackled, these wayward servants serve the land, The Temple secured by the Builder's grace."

As the threat from Dagoth Ur began to grow in the late Third Era, the Ordinators were no longer able to guard the isolated Daedric ruins. Led by Hlireni Indavel, worshippers of Sheogorath flocked to Ald Daedroth. In 3E 427, a contingent of Ordinators were sent to the ruins to clear out the worshippers and their Daedric servants. The insane worshippers viewed this assault as a dance and resisted violently. Amid this chaos, a pilgrim of the Tribunal Temple snuck into the ruin's antechamber, and met an Orc cultist by the name of Ra'Gruzgob that identified as a Khajiit. The cultist exchanged a secret in exchange for moon sugar; he had hidden the glove underneath his bed pillow for the "sugar-fairy". After obtaining the glove, the pilgrim offered it to Sheogorath's shrine, successfully renewing the pact, and with that Gambolpuddy vanished.

Notes

• The glove is a reference to Johann Gambolputty, a fictional composer with an excessively long full name who is featured in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch. For more details, please see the Easter eggs page.