Joining the Old Camp

Joining the Old Camp makes the Nameless Hero a Shadow — the lowest sworn rank inside Gomez’s ore cartel. The process combines a mandatory trial (the Test of Faith) with a canvassing phase in which the Hero accumulates approval votes from existing Shadows in the camp’s outer ring. The minimum threshold is 16 total approval points plus a completed Test of Faith, and the Hero must also have reached at least character level 5 before Thorus will process the application and grant access to the castle interior.

The Approval System

Each Shadow the Hero may approach controls tasks or small challenges worth a fixed point value:

• Scatty runs the outer camp’s arena. Defeating Kirgo in a duel earns +2; beating the harder opponent Kharim separately earns an additional +5.
• Fingers teaches rogue skills — Sneaking, Lockpicking, or Pickpocketing — for ore. Simply training with him counts as an implicit endorsement worth +3.
• Dexter asks for the Recipe of the Sect, a document from the Sect Camp, worth +5 when delivered.
• Whistler sends the Hero to the merchant Fisk to buy an ornamented short sword for exactly 110 ore, with strict instructions not to mention Whistler’s name; returning it earns +3 (Whistler reimburses the 10-ore markup).
• Sly needs a missing guardsman located: +4 on resolution.
• Mordrag presents a moral fork whose outcome can swing between −5 and +5 depending on how the Hero handles his defection situation.

The first five tasks alone already total 17 points, exceeding the threshold — the system is designed so multiple viable paths exist.

The Test of Faith

Approval points alone are not sufficient. The Test of Faith — traveling to the Old Mine and returning Ian’s supply list to Diego — must also be completed, with Diego’s specific endorsement confirming the errand is satisfactory. The list has a dual use: taking it first to Lares in the New Camp allows Lares to insert forged items into the document, after which the Hero delivers the altered version to Diego as if genuine. This detour earns New Camp approval points without immediately disqualifying the Old Camp track.

The Oath Ceremony

Once both conditions are met, Diego confirms the Hero’s readiness. Raven personally escorts the Hero into Gomez’s throne room — approaching Gomez without Raven’s introduction is immediately lethal. After a brief audience, the Hero is formally sworn in and receives Shadow Garb (valued at 750 ore), plus roughly 2,450 XP across all sub-tasks combined. Castle access follows immediately, including the Temple of Innos where the Fire Mages reside and the royal letter can finally be delivered.

Remake Notes

The Gothic 1 Remake (2026) preserves the approval-vote architecture and all named Shadow tasks. Quest-log entries track each sub-task individually, and revised dialogue adds more explicit character motivation to figures such as Scatty, Whistler, and Sly, giving the canvassing phase more narrative texture.