The Kingdom of Myrtana

The Kingdom of Myrtana is the human realm that frames all events in Gothic, though it remains largely invisible to the player. Its ruler, King Rhobar II, is the architect of the Valley of Mines’ existence: his war against the Orcs, his dependence on magic ore, and his decision to use convict labour in a magically sealed prison created the Colony that serves as Gothic’s setting.

Rhobar’s War

Myrtana’s conflict with the Orcs is existential. Orc fighters are individually stronger than humans, and their forces press relentlessly against the kingdom’s borders. Rhobar has prosecuted this war with determination, but the key advantage he holds — and depends on entirely — is weapons forged from magic ore mined on the island of Khorinis. Ore-forged weapons are more effective against Orc resilience than conventional steel, making the mines not a convenience but a strategic necessity. Lose the ore supply, lose the war.

The Chain of Cause

This dependence on ore explains everything in the Colony. Rhobar needed ore extracted efficiently; free labour was too slow; convict labour under magical confinement solved both the manpower problem and the disposal of the kingdom’s criminals. When the original Barrier spell misfired and sealed the mages inside with the prisoners, and the prisoners revolted and killed the garrison, Rhobar was left with a dilemma: assault the dome and risk destroying the mines, or negotiate with the barons who now held them. He chose trade, which is the arrangement that defines the Colony’s political economy at the start of the game.

Beyond the Barrier

Myrtana itself — its cities, its politics, its armies — exists only in description during Gothic. NPCs reference it, letters and documents mention its concerns, and the goods that arrive through the Exchange Zone carry its stamp, but the player never visits it. This absence gives the kingdom a mythological quality: it is simultaneously the source of the Colony’s suffering and the place every convict hopes to return to. The kingdom’s remoteness underscores how thoroughly the Barrier cuts off the valley from the world.

Khorinis and the Sequels

The island of Khorinis — the landmass on which the Valley of Mines sits — becomes a more explicitly explored setting in Gothic II, and Myrtana itself becomes accessible in Gothic 3. In retrospect, Gothic’s presentation of Myrtana as distant background is the first stroke of a worldbuilding approach that opens outward across the series, gradually revealing a continent-spanning civilisation of which the Valley of Mines represents only the smallest and most desperate fragment.