Gothic is an open-world RPG by Piranha Bytes and the beginning of the Gothic series. The story takes place in the Colony of the Valley of Mines on the island of Khorinis – a magical prison enclosed by an invisible Barrier. The king has banished all convicts here to mine magical ore needed in the war against the orcs. However, the creation of the Barrier went wrong: it expanded far beyond the intended area and trapped the very mages who had created it. Inside, three camps have formed – the Old Camp under the ore barons, the New Camp of the renegades, and the Swamp Camp of the Brotherhood of the Sleeper. The Nameless Hero is thrown into the Colony and must join one of the camps to survive and find a way out of the Barrier. In the process, he uncovers an ancient threat – the Sleeper, a powerful entity deep beneath the earth whose awakening would destroy the entire Colony.