Test of Faith

The Test of Faith is the mandatory admission trial for any newcomer seeking to become a Shadow in the Old Camp. Administered by Diego, it serves as both a loyalty check and a covert intelligence-gathering errand: the supply list the Hero retrieves from the Old Mine carries genuine strategic value to both factions competing for control of the Colony’s ore output.

The Assignment

Diego instructs the Hero to travel northwest to the Old Mine — the largest and most productive of the Colony’s three mines — and locate Ian, the supply overseer working at the mine’s second storage level. The mission is simple in principle: ask Ian for the supply list and bring it back. In practice, the Hero must ask Diego why Ian would cooperate and receive Diego’s name as a reference, because Ian will not hand over the list to an unvouched stranger. A map showing the route to the Old Mine can be purchased from the cartographer Graham in the outer camp for 30 ore, or obtained free by threatening him — neither choice affects Ian’s behavior.

The Double Use

Once Ian provides the list, the Hero faces a quiet fork that has no obvious in-game marker. The list can be:

1. Delivered directly to Diego — completing the Test of Faith, earning Diego’s approval vote, and advancing straightforwardly toward Old Camp membership.
2. Taken first to Lares in the New Camp, where Lares uses it as an intelligence document and inserts forged line items designed to misdirect an Old Camp supply convoy into a New Camp ambush. The Hero then delivers the altered document to Diego as if genuine, earning New Camp approval points toward Rogue rank without immediately disqualifying the Old Camp track.

Option 2 is one of Gothic (2001)‘s clearest examples of its faction-play double-cross system: the Hero can technically serve two factions’ competing interests in a single errand, with neither side immediately aware of the deception. The long-term consequence — the convoy ambush — plays out in the background whether or not the Hero witnesses it directly.

Reward and Consequences

Diego’s personal endorsement is the primary prize of the Test. Combined with at least 15 additional approval points gathered from other Shadows — Scatty, Fingers, Dexter, Whistler, and Sly — and a character level of at least 5, Diego’s confirmation allows Thorus to grant the Hero access to the castle interior and begin the formal Shadow oath process. The Test is therefore not a combat challenge but a social and logistical puzzle whose solution depends on knowing what both camps want and timing deliveries accordingly.

Remake Notes

The Gothic 1 Remake (2026) preserves the core errand and the forged-list option in full. The quest log tracks the Test of Faith as a distinct objective. English localization in the Remake names this quest “Trial of Trust,” while the underlying task structure — get the list from Ian, return to Diego — is identical to the 2001 original. The Remake also adds brief voiced commentary from Lares when the forged list is presented to him, clarifying the New Camp’s intelligence motive.