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Table of Contents
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| Home » Deities » Gatekeeper |
Compiled from the Octavian Texts1, the Muralist's Frescoes, Temple Ledgers of Hoofstad, and miscellaneous apocryphal sources recovered from Level 51. Translated and annotated by the Cygnus Archive, with assistance from surviving members of The Lost.
| Clavis Apertis | |
|---|---|
| God of Access, Passage and Egress. | |
| Member of the Pantheon | |
 |
|
| A portrait of Clavis in The Hall of Murals. | |
| Titles | Gatekeeper, Warder of Thresholds, Master of Ways, Father of All Keys |
| Status | Dead (possibly reincarnated as The Keymaster) |
| Abode | The Tower |
| Animal | Hermit Crab |
| Flower | Rose (white) |
| Personal Information | |
| Relations | The Pantheon (member of) |
| Champions | Unknown |
Description
Clavis Apertis — better known by his divine title, Gatekeeper (ˈɡātˌkēpər) — was a Liminal deity. His domain was the between — the moments of transition, the spaces between rooms, the breath between life and death. He was both guardian and guide, ensuring safe passage for the worthy and barring the way to the unworthy.
Of all the gods in our pantheon, he had one of the most devout followings — as indicated by the many shrines, prayers, and other forms of worship in his honor.
Physical Description
Gatekeeper was depicted in a variety of forms — both literal and metaphorical. They were rarely consistent, if ever. According to worshipers, this was because "he existed in all the spaces between, so his shape was whatever was absent". However, there does indeed appear to be a noticeable evolution in the nature of his depictions over time.
Early Lost Era:
Early representations of Gatekeeper in The Lost's iconography are notably much more abstract, reflecting a more incomprehensible side of the deity before later depictions rendered him anthropomorphic. The Muralist's earliest frescoes depict Gatekeeper as a constellation of interlocking key-shapes and lock-shapes suspended in doorways, their teeth etched with geometries of unrealized realms.
Mid Lost Era:
When the Daethos was firmly established, portrayals of Clavis became less abstract and more humanoid, though nonetheless remained inconsistent. Notable depictions include:
- A towering figure shrouded in a heavy cloak of rippling liquid metal. Where a face should be, there is often a void, or a complex keyhole. He is rarely shown holding a weapon; instead, he holds a lantern that shines darkness instead of light, revealing hidden paths.
- An androgynous figure with a face half-shadowed by a deep hood. His fingers and toes elongate into skeletal-distant keys when in motion. A Crossroads Glyph is branded upon his brow, sometimes bleeding black ink. He wears a cloak woven from shadow, its colors shifting depending on the observer’s perception. His eyes, if shown, are keyholes reflecting the viewer's gaze back distorted— a mirror of intent.
- A colossal figure wrought from interlocking bronze gears and iron keyblanks, his form a humanoid silhouette of perpetual motion—arms extended into infinite chains of wards and tumblers, torso a vaulted archway flanked by weeping locks that drip black ink. Statues from Hoofstad's outer labyrinth depict him thrice: as sentinel (spear tipped with a master key), architect (compass drafting unseen doors), and judge (scales balanced upon pivot hinges). In murals, he stands at nexus-points, one hand extended with a gleaming key, the other barring a shadowed arch.
Late Lost Era:
In this era, depictions of Clavis were most uniform and consistent, with his most recognizable one being attributed to him during this time.
He is portrayed as a young male figure with flowing silver hair that covers his eyes, wearing a black coat with golden trim. His head is crowned by a rotating keyring-halo of impossible loops that pierce dimensions—forged from "starmetal" and arranged in the geometry of a clock-face2. From his left hip hangs the Grand Skein, a ring of keys said to open not just doors, but "minds, realms, and the futures of those who turn them." A sheathed blade rests upon his right hip.
This representation is the most common in surviving temple art.
Personality and Temperament
The theological texts of The Lost describe Gatekeeper's personality with notable consistency across sources, suggesting either accurate divine revelation or extremely effective clerical propaganda.
Texts describe his voice as "the grind of bolt in socket," his gaze "piercing as a pick in cipher", and his presence "humming with clicks of aligning tumblers, like the universe exhaling its secrets."
Clavis embodied the inexorable logic of entry and egress. He was neither benevolent nor cruel—merely stern yet equitable, granting passage to the resolute while sealing the profane. He had no patience for fools, but neither malice for the desperate. To begging worshippers, he was known to say:
"I can open any door… but only if you can prove that you understand what awaits on the other side…"
From the Octavian Texts, Scroll VII:
"He speaks little, but what words he offers fall like tumblers in a lock — precise, inevitable, sufficient. He does not waste breath on flattery nor squander syllables on comfort. If you seek passage, state your purpose. If your purpose is true, the way shall open. If false, you shall find only walls where once were doors."
From Brother Bartholomew's Canon:3
"I have witnessed the Warder-of-Thresholds thrice in my service. Thrice he appeared as if from nowhere — simply present where a moment before there was only air. Thrice he departed likewise. He does not explain. He does not apologize. He is weariness given form, confusion crystallized into purpose. He acts, and we interpret."
Appearance in Texts
Gatekeeper appears in a wide range of ancient scriptures, in which many fantastical feats are ascribed to him. Among them are his clashes with other gods, smiting of beasts, guiding of travelers, and opening of realms.
Forging of the First Key
Clavis was said to have crafted the very first doorway in Daedos, a link between the void and the first room.
Source: Octavian Texts, Scroll III
In the before-time, when the Void knew no corner and the dark no edge, the Warder-of-Thresholds beheld the realm-to-be and found it lacking. "A house of many mansions," he declared, "must have its doorways."
And so he reached into the substance of his own divine will and drew forth a thread of pure intent. This thread he bent and twisted, cut and folded, until it became a thing of teeth and bow — the First Key, which fit no lock because no lock yet existed.
With this key, he touched the heart of the unfolding world and cut from it a wound in the shape of a keyhole. And through this opening, all realms-to-be glimpsed each other for the first time.
"The Crossroads" he named this wound, and from it he forged all other keys, each one a syllable of his divine will, each one a permission given form.
When Kirai sowed false paths, Clavis locked them, decreeing: "No way without warrant."The First Key he locked away in a chest with no keyhole, for a key that opens everything must itself be kept closed.
The First Key represents divine authority over access itself. The chest with no keyhole symbolizes the paradox of absolute power — that which controls all passage must itself be inaccessible, lest the controlled become the controller.
Theft of the Twilight Key
A myth explaining the existence of unstable, glitching no-clip points. It is said a cunning mortal hero, seeking escape from a divine punishment, tricked Clavis and stole a key forged from "twilight matter". Before Clavis could reclaim it, the hero broke it. Clavis pursued the hero through veils, sealing the breach but stranding the thief in endless antechambers. The key's fragments, scattering through the lower levels, became unstable thresholds that opened to The Void.
Gatekeeper's Folly
A darker, cautionary tale. It recounts how Clavis, in his pride, built a perfect, absolutely impregnable vault to contain "Treachery." He declared that not even his siblings could open it. The goddess4 of Chaos, Kirai, took this as a challenge of wit. Rather than attempt to pick the lock, she instead "convinced the vault that it did not exist". The vault, adhering to the absolute logic of its own creation, simply winked out of reality, releasing its contents into the world. Clavis is said to have not spoken to Kirai for a century after, and the myth is cited as the reason his later works always contained subtle, hidden flaws.
Canticle of the Horned Sun
Perhaps the most infamous cycle of tales concerns Clavis’ rivalry with Asterion, the bull-deity of labyrinths. While both deities dealt with thresholds and in-between spaces, their approaches were fundamentally opposed; Clavis sought to regulate passage, while Asterion sought to destabilize it, reveling in the twisting of paths.
This particular legend recounts the legendary battle between the two deities. Herein, Gatekeeper and Asterion turned their conceptual domains against each other. Gatekeeper sealed doorways Asterion opened; Asterion dissolved boundaries Gatekeeper established. The conflict tore through multiple realms.
Excerpt recovered from the Hall of Murals, Level 57:
And came the day the ground did split, and the Bull-God Asterion tread upon the geometry of paradise. Where he stepped, the straight lines curved, the doors screamed, and the Veil wore thin. Doors opened that should remain closed, and paths formed between places that should never meet. The Other wormed through the thinning, and the Wormed corrupted what they touched. In a fit of pique, He willed the corridors of Hoofstad to warp and shift, trapping pilgrims in endless loops.
The Warder-of-Thresholds, who held the keys to the silence, sought to bar the path. He spoke thus: "Brother, you mistake freedom for chaos. A door without lock is not freedom — it is a wound."
But the Bull laughs at locks. For a maze has no doors, only walls. He answered thus: "And you mistake control for wisdom. A lock without a key is not order — it is a prison."Neither would yield.
They clashed upon the precipices of all realms. Asterion gored the heavens with horns of bone; Clavis turned the tides with a word of iron.
At the last, the Warder-of-Thresholds drew the blade of his purpose. He cut the idea of Asterion's victory, and excised the future in which the Horned One triumphed.
Asterion fell. His blood was not red but labyrinthine — each drop a maze, each maze a prison.
The Warder-of-Thresholds knelt beside his fallen brother. "You will remember," he said, "that I did not want this." He sheathed his blade and drew it forth coated in the void-fluid of the Minotaur. He tasted it, and in that taste he understood.
Tail between his legs, Asterion fled into the deeper recesses of Daedos, where he constructed a labyrinth of his own design.
Later, Clavis joined his siblings in turning the Minotaur's own labyrinth against him, sealing the god within a realm that had no exit.
This myth is the foundational evidence of the rivalry between Clavis and Asterion. It implies that the labyrinthine nature of Level 611 was not entirely intended by Asterion, but was actually a curse imposed by Clavis—a prison constructed from the idea of "being lost." The image of Clavis tasting the blood is significant; it suggests he absorbed a fraction of Asterion's domain, explaining his later ability to manipulate space and no-clip at will.
The Secret Love
This myth exists only in fragments, the original tablets seemingly destroyed on purpose to obscure the original text. What remains suggests a romantic relationship between Gatekeeper and an unknown goddess in the Pantheon.
From the Octavian Texts, Scroll XI (Heavily Fragmented):
[…] and where her light touched his shadow, neither flinched. She who stretched space found in him the keeper of its passages. He who measured distance found in her the maker of all distances worth measuring.
They met at the threshold between what is and what might be. She brought the fire of far suns. He brought the silence of unopened doors.
What passed between them, the stars do not say. But the doors of his heart, ever locked, opened for her alone.
[TEXT DESTROYED]
…and the children born of such union would be…
[TEXT DESTROYED]
The seemingly deliberate destruction of this text suggests it was considered heretical or dangerous. Some scholars speculate the relationship was either:
- Forbidden due to divine hierarchy
- Hidden because it produced offspring (which would complicate divine succession)
- Censored to maintain Gatekeeper's image of emotional detachment
Worship
Records indicate that our ancient brothers deeply venerated Gatekeeper. They believed that every transition—from birth to death, from waking to sleeping, from one room to another—required his sanction. To move without his blessing was to invite a spiritual state of stagnancy, where one would become trapped between walls neither here nor there. Worship of Clavis centered on thresholds, conducted at liminal sites: doorframes, archways, and no-clip fissures.
The priesthood of Clavis, known as the Ostium Order, acted as spiritual locksmiths. Its members, called Threshwardens or Wayfarers, dressed in heavy robes woven from grey wool, weighted down by iron chains from which hung hundreds of useless keys. Their heads were shaved, and many wore blindfolds during rituals — symbolizing trust in the paths they could not see.
Initiates were sworn to silence for their first decade. Their duties involved the ritual locking and unlocking of every door in Hoofstad at dawn and dusk, a practice believed to "reset the world's thresholds" and keep malignant liminality at bay. They also served as the city's primary locksmiths and guardians of its archives. Beyond this, Threshwardens were responsible for maintaining temple labyrinths, overseeing rites of passage, granting or denying access to sacred spaces, and officiating transitions (births, deaths, marriages, coming-of-age).
Vows of the Threshwarden (fragmentary):
"I shall not bar the worthy. I shall not open for the wicked. I shall measure distance without pity. I shall forge syllables of my own will. I shall be the door that others seek and the lock that none may pick."
Temples
Temples dedicated to Gatekeeper were architecturally distinct from those of other deities. Where the Mausoleum of Philia was round and doorless, welcoming all, Gatekeeper's temples were labyrinthine by design.
The primary seat of Gatekeeper’s worship was a tower within The Crossroads, known today as The Hub. The Tower was known to not only have been his personal abode, but also a temple. An imposing marble statue erected in the likeness of Clavis stood in the main hall, in which our ancient brothers congregated to conduct worship of him. Wayfarers maintained this labyrinth as a sacred space where one could petition the god for passage or protection.
Unlike the open mausoleum of Philia or the towering Panopticon, temples to Clavis were often labyrinthine annexes attached to major civic structures. They contained countless doors—real, false, locked, open, leading to rooms, to closets, or simply to blank walls. Navigating the temple was itself a form of meditation and test of faith. Within these temples were Rows of empty doorframes through which worshippers processed, a central altar shaped like a keyhole, a collection vessel for key offerings, and a locked chest — never opened, intended to symbolize "the first key".
From the Temple Ledgers of Hoofstad:
The House of Thresholds shall be built thus: seven doors to enter, but only one shall be true. The seeker must prove worthiness through navigation. The unworthy will find themselves returned to the start. The worthy will reach the inner sanctum, where the God awaits.
Lesser temples were often small, unassuming chambers off main thoroughfares—places where travelers could stop to give thanks. These were marked with a single locked door, always shut, always watched by the Silent Keepers—priests who never spoke, only observed.
Prayers
Petition of the Lost Traveler
Master of Ways, open the path before me.
Warder of Thresholds, close the path behind.
I do not ask for ease. I ask for passage.
I do not ask for safety. I ask for access.
Let my purpose be true. Let my purpose be enough.
And if I am unworthy, let me find only walls —
So that I may learn to become worthy.
The Threshwarden's Oath
I am the door that others seek.
I am the lock that none may pick.
I measure distance without pity.
I forge syllables of my own will.
I do not bar the worthy.
I do not open for the wicked.
I serve the Key. I am the Key.
Until the last door closes.
The Wayfarers’ Credo
Inscribed above every locked door:
He is the key, he is the lock. He is the path you seek, and the hand that stops you.
Rites and Rituals
The Rite of the Unsealed: Performed at the birth of a child, a priest of Clavis would touch a key to the infant’s forehead. This was believed to "unlock" the child's potential for growth and movement within Daedos. Failure to perform the ritual was thought to curse the child with a life of stagnation.
The Rite of First Passage: Performed when a child reached maturity. The child would be blindfolded and led through a temple labyrinth. If they found the sanctum unaided, Gatekeeper was said to have "opened their future." If they failed, they would attempt again the following year.
The Turning: Monthly, under crimson moons, Threshwardens assembled at a sealed portal. An initiate offered a personal relic (locket, diary shard) into a key-shaped brazier. A master Threshwarden inscribed the relic's "shape" onto a wax blank, forging a provisional key. Chanting "Limen aperi, nox intret" ("Threshold open, night enter"), they attempted the lock. Success granted visions of adjacent realms; failure consigned the key (and relic) to entombment.
The Vigil of the Threshold: A solitary, silent vigil conducted by threshwardens. They would stand at the intersection of two hallways for days, refusing to let anyone pass until they received a "sign." This sign was usually interpreted as a change in the air pressure, a sudden draft, or the sound of a distant latch clicking. It is believed this ritual is the origin of the modern "wait for the door to unlock" superstition amongst wanderers.
The Knotting of Ways: The most sacred ritual, performed during an equinox or solstice. Pilgrims would walk The Crossroads blindfolded, guided by the Wayfarers’ hands and "the light of their faith". At the center stood a door bound with black rope. Each supplicant would unravel a single knot while reciting the names of places they had lost or could not return to. The door would then be opened—and whatever stood beyond was Clavis' judgment on their plea.
The Rite of Entry: Before entering a new home or temple, a citizen of The Lost would never simply walk in. They would knock three times on the frame—once for the room they were leaving, once for the room they were entering, and once for Clavis, to ask permission to exist in the space between.
Offerings
Worshipers lucky enough to bow before the feet of Gatekeeper would recite prayers and provide offerings directly to him — most often to receive blessings and protection in long travels, or to be provided a key to a certain realm. However, Clavis was most revered for his apparent ability to "unlock" beings — bringing forth one's true power and potential. There were those who worshipped him in hopes of having their own capabilities unlocked by him.
An ancient relief carving in the temple of Hoofstad, depicting Gatekeeper providing a key to worshippers.
Clavis demanded no food, nor gold or jewels, for these meant nothing to him. His altars—usually stone doorframes set up in the middle of public squares with no walls attached—were piled with obstacles. Devotees would offer up broken locks, barred cages, or sealed boxes, symbolizing their willingness to overcome barriers. Ironically, the most pious act was to leave a door unlocked, a symbol of absolute trust in the Gatekeeper's protection5. Additionally, followers left offerings of:
- First Keys: The earliest key a person owned, be it to home or hearth or heart.
- lockpicks of warpberry resin
- Bovine blood (commemorating Asterion's defeat)
- Maps (especially incomplete or deliberately misleading ones) etched on vellum, thin as veil-fabric
- Written petitions sealed with wax
- Filed keyblanks
- Threshold lint
- Symbolic Yielding—volunteers locked in sensory-deprived cells for days, emerging with "threshold wisdom" (likely a state of hysteria).
Unacceptable offerings:
- Anything stolen
- Anything freely given by another (offerings must be one's own to give)
- Doors (considered blasphemous — "You do not offer the domain to the lord of the domain")
Such offerings invoked "Clavis' Rebuke"—hallucinated barricades and looping corridors.
Neglect of offerings instead invited "Clavis' Silence"—doors jamming en masse.
Following the massacre and the uprising, Gatekeeper was said to have turned cold and cruel, his heart hardening. During this period, worship of him became more militarized. Keybearers patrolled Hoofstad's gates, invoking Clavis against "unworthy crossings".
The final era of Gatekeeper's worship is marked by paranoia, isolation, and eventual tragedy. Sometime during or after the collapse of the pantheon, he isolated himself within his abode, surrounded only by his most devout followers.
One myth, "The Sealing of The Tower", is found only in fragmentary sources and is not corroborated by other sources, leading some scholars to question its authenticity. However, its themes align closely with documented historical events:
When the age of trust ended and the Iron rose against the Divine, the Warder-of-Thresholds looked upon his worshippers and saw among them shadows of betrayal.
"I have given keys to those who would use them against us," he said. "I have opened doors through which our enemies march."
He climbed to his highest tower and sealed every door behind him. Not one key remained that could open them — not even his own.
Within the tower, his most faithful continued to worship. He accepted their offerings but gave nothing in return. He listened to their prayers but did not answer. He watched them wither but did not save them.
When they asked why he had abandoned them, he said: "I have not abandoned you. You are here. I simply refuse to let you leave."
This myth is deeply troubling to modern scholars and surviving members of The Lost alike. It appears to describe a period in which Gatekeeper became paranoid and tyrannical, imprisoning his own worshippers out of fear of betrayal. Some interpret this as a corrupted myth inserted by enemies of the faith. Others, a truthful account of divine fallibility. And yet others read this as a metaphorical description of spiritual isolation rather than literal imprisonment.
From the Temple Ledgers (Final Entries):
The Master of Ways speaks less each moon. The doors of his tower remain sealed. We bring offerings and leave them at the threshold. Sometimes they are taken. Sometimes they rot.
Yesterday, Brother Marius attempted to climb the tower exterior. He fell. When we recovered his body, we found it locked — joints fused, eyes sealed shut. A warning.
We continue to worship. What else is there?
Eventually, all worship of Gatekeeper abruptly ceased after the point he is believed to have been slain. While there is no firsthand account of the event, the leading theory is that Gatekeeper was assassinated by one of his followers, who was in fact an agent of the Iron Fist. This is supported by one myth stating that he was “struck down by a fist of iron”.
Symbols
There are numerous symbols associated with Gatekeeper, the most prominent of which detailed below:
- The Key — New beginnings, mystery, initiation, hidden talent.
- The Lock — Protection, secrecy, ownership, romantic union.
- The Door — Transition, metamorphosis.
- The White Rose — Purity, respect, youth.
- The Hermit Crab — Self-sufficiency, solitude.
- The Crossroads Glyph — a circle bisected by two perpendicular lines, representing the intersection of all paths.
Relationships with Other Deities
Augustus
A strained brotherhood. Augustus created the life that filled the rooms; Clavis created the rooms that contained the life. They respected each other’s craft, but Clavis often found Augustus’ creations "messy" and prone to wandering where they shouldn't.
Gudang
Gatekeeper was known to have often confided in Gudang with his troubles, and she would help put his worries at ease. Legends speak of them having created several levels together.
Barsil Barag
One legend recounts that Barsil stole a key from the crossroads' vaults, using it to aid in his founding of The Iron Fist. Clavis and Barsil are known to have fought in an intense duel, in which the former only narrowly escaped with his "life".
Claudius
Clavis and Claudius appeared allied in civic security; patrol routes, outpost gates, escort permissions.
However, ancient myths also note friction. Claudius’s nsistence on immediate intervention clashed with Clavis’ insistence on jurisdiction. One carved argument in Hoofstad’s meeting hall shows them facing opposite directions, their weapons lowered but not sheathed.
The Allseer
Gatekeeper would often go to the Allseer for her wisdom and insight. He was said to have questioned her on the loyalty of his worshipers, though the answer he received is unknown.
Philia
Gatekeeper was perhaps one of the Gods that Philia cherished the most, having had a special and playful friendship with him. She was often described to enjoy his knowledgeable and wise nature. Our ancestors claim that they were often together, and that Gatekeeper would accompany Philia all over this reality and support her grand plans and hobbies. One text describes Philia as "the only God who could argue with him and win". Gatekeeper's assassination crushed the Goddess' heart, and she never truly moved on from it.
Tlamelahuacachinaliztli
By all accounts, Gatekeeper initially had a strong relationship with the god of Justice. However, a series of letters exchanged between the two towards the end of Gatekeeper's life indicate that a rift eventually opened between them, driving them apart. Argos viewed Clavis as an enabler of chaos—by creating backdoors and shortcuts, Clavis made it harder for Justice to track sinners.
Divus
Clavis' and Divus' partnership was characterized by the synergy between Time and Access. Clavis' doors could lead to different wheres; Divus' mechanisms could access different whens. It is recorded they collaborated on "Chronothresholds"—doors that opened to a specific location, but only during a specific window in time. Their relationship was professional and devoid of recorded conflict.
A popular proverb among The Lost was “Divus makes the appointment; Clavis decides if you arrive”.
Volyx
A relationship of mutual, respectful necessity. Volyx built the walls, and Clavis placed the doors. They are described as speaking rarely, but with total understanding. Clavis was one of the few who could openly question the Sovereign's structural edicts without reprisal, as the functionality of the whole depended on their collaboration.
Cygnus
Gatekeeper is said to have often visited her library to read books and engage in thought-provoking discussions with her at length. However, ancient records indicate an estrangement between them prior to his self-isolation.
Modern Day
Evidence suggests that Gatekeeper possibly persists in a new reincarnated form, as an entity called The Keymaster. This entity demonstrates behaviors, abilities, and aesthetic qualities consistent with Clavis. However, some key differences exist. The Keymaster does not claim divinity nor accept worship. He also appears to be unaware of his true nature, lacking memories of his previous life and appearing to be unfamiliar with other surviving members of our pantheon.
Whether this represents:
- A diminished god
- A reincarnation with amnesia
- A mortal host imbued with fragments of divine power
- Or something else entirely
…remains a subject of ongoing theological debate.
