and each one has his own Plane of Oblivion, then how come i keep running in to gates to Oblivion all over the place after i already shut 16 of em down ?

Wait! Screw that! I just remembered the lore. :D

The plane where cyrodril/morrowind/skyrim/etc situated was originally part of oblivion. That's why gates to oblivion can be open infinite times all over the places. Mehrunes Dagon invaded cyrodril because he wants to take back the plane. When Martin smashed the amulet and transformed himself into the dragon and killed Mehrune Dagon. This stopped any future gates to oblivion from opening in the land.

[ 08-14-2006, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Kakero ]

Oh...and btw...i made a mistake in the TT, it should have said 16 instead of 6, but i guess that must be obvious. :D

I thought that once i had shut 16 gates down, they would all be gone, but the fun goes on endlessly.

Oh wait! that's not so quite correct. Let me rephrase that. :D

The world where cyrodril/morrowind/skyrim/etc situated was originally part of oblivion. Mehrune Dagon had been wanting to take back the world for quite a long time. However he couldn't do so because the emperor was still alive and with his amulet. When Dagon's loonies murdered the emperor and his obvious kins. Gates to oblivion can be open for infinite times all over the land as long as the new emperor (martin) didn't bring the amulet to the temple where this special fire is burning.

There! I think I got it now. :D

[ 08-14-2006, 08:25 PM: Message edited by: Kakero ]

You should read the official lore forums about this. Apparently, the gates are held back by various coloured 'towers' spread across the land. Red tower=Mt Dagoth, White-Gold tower=imperial palace etc.

Also, many believe that the Heart of Lhorkan was the key to holding Oblivions forces at bay, and that Azura tricked the main character from MW into destroying it.