World & Lore
Off the coast of the kingdom of Myrtana lies a place no one chooses to go. To feed his war against the Orcs, King Rhobar II needs magic ore, and the only place it can be dug is a valley sealed beneath a shimmering magic Barrier. Mages raised the dome to keep the convicts in — but the spell slipped, and now the guards are gone and the prisoners rule themselves. This section gathers the world and lore of the Colony: how the Barrier came to be, why the ore matters, the rival camps that carved up the valley, and the dark presence the Sect calls the Sleeper. Start here to understand the land you have just been thrown into.
13 entries
The Barrier
The Barrier is a vast magical dome that seals off the penal colony in the Valley of Mines on the island of Khorinis.
The Valley of Mines
The Valley of Mines is the mountainous mining region on the island of Khorinis that serves as the penal colony, the sole setting of Gothic.
Khorinis
Khorinis is the island setting of Gothic, lying off the coast of the human kingdom of Myrtana.
King Rhobar II's War Against the Orcs
The war between the human kingdom of Myrtana and the Orcs is the political backdrop that drives the entire premise of Gothic.
The Sleeper's Temple
The Sleeper's Temple is the ancient subterranean structure where the arch-demon known as the Sleeper lies imprisoned, located deep beneath the long-buried Orc City within the Valley…
The Free Mine
The New Camp's independent mine, where free miners keep what they dig — the heart of the camp's challenge to the ore barons.
The Kingdom of Myrtana
The human kingdom beyond the Barrier, ruled by King Rhobar II — whose war against the Orcs created the penal Colony in the first place.
The Old Camp Castle
The ring-shaped fortress at the heart of the Old Camp — a former royal castle that became the throne of the ore barons.
The Old Mine
The Old Camp's great ore mine, worked by diggers under the ore barons — and the collapse that throws the Colony into crisis.
The Arena
The Old Camp's fighting pit, where disputes are settled with blades and reputations are won in single combat.
The Exchange Zone
The place beneath the Barrier where new convicts are thrown in and goods are traded out — every prisoner's first taste of the Colony.
The Orc City
The ancient, half-buried Orc city that guards the entrance to the Sleeper's Temple — and the last barrier before the game's climax.
Xardas's Tower
The remote tower of the necromancer Xardas, hidden deep in the Orc lands and defended by summoned horrors.