The Sleeper, known in the orcish language as Krushak, is the main antagonist in the 2001 video game Gothic.
He was an ancient, evil archdemon from the world of Beliar.
Biography[]
Gothic[]
The Sleeper was summoned by five orc shaman, trusting that Beliar would give them power to have their clan defeat the enemy, the humans. Beliar gave them the power, but in a different way than they had imagined. The Sleeper cursed them and they became undead. The hearts of the five orc shamans pounded in separate altars, which could only be destroyed with their own special blades. The orcs were afraid of the creature, but also worshipped it as the earthly appearance of their god Beliar. The Sleeper wanted sacrifices. The orcs chose from their own, who were brought into the temple, and there the undeads sacrificed the sacrifice to the demon.
King Rhobar II sent thirtee mighty mages to the mining colony to create a huge barrier so that no one could escape from the convicts. The barrier was successfully created, but the power of the Sleeper disturbed the balance of magic and the barrier became much larger than the mages wanted and indestructible. They, too, were trapped in their own magic. The barrier distracted the king's people. Then a convict, Gomez and his companions killed the soldiers, only the mages did not hurt. None of the mages knew about the existence of the Sleeper and the Five Undead Orc Shamans, so they did not understand why the barrierbecame so large. Xardas, the leader of the mages, began research, but Gomez and the other mages did not like the fact that he also began to deal with black magic and necromancy. Then he went through the portal he clung to the gate of the portal with his arms and pulled himself back.
During his research, the convicts were scattered into three camps. The first was the Old Camp, where Gomez and the ore barons still ruled. The second was the new Camp, where the water mages were the actual leaders who researched how to destroy the barrier. The orcs were still terrified of waking of The Sleeper, so the demon was forced to find new followers. Arriving in the form of a good deity, he appeared to Y'Berion in a vision. The man believed in the promise of freedom, and therefore decided to leave the Old Camp. The third was the Sect Camp or Swamp Camp, where people heard about Sleep and even heard its call. The sect viewed him as a god and believed it could be a way out of the colony. The Gurus were the leaders whose leader Y'Berion best researched on how they could communicate fully with the Sleeper. He settled in a temple in the swamps, where he set up his own camp for the followers of Sleeper. He was joined by many convicts, including Cor Kalom and Cor Angar. Soon the Swamp Camp began to develop rapidly, and the faith in Sleeper was very popular in the Colony. The Sleeper later instructed sect members to collect swamp herb. In fact, smoking the herb made their mind fragile and manipulative.
Once a nameless convict arrived at the colony. He toured all three camps and eventually joined the Old Camp. An ore baron Raven then instructs him to find out what the sect is planning in the swamp. There was a lot of voice in the sect about the plan for Y'Berion to contact Sleeper. The hero helped the sect. Y'Berion was looking for a focus stone for which he had already sent a novice. The focus stone was an object that concentrated spiritual power together. Y'Berion also said that the thirteen mages used five focus stone to erect the barrier. However, he did not return, so he sent the hero after him. He also found the novice Nyras and the focus stone. However, the novice went crazy and wanted to keep the focus stone to himself. He began to talk about the Sleeper talked to him the last night and made him his own tool. Nyras felt kind of selected and attacked the hero with angry fanaticism. However, he was stronger than the crazy novice and killed Nyras. He took the focus stone from him and returned to Y'Berion . Y'Berion explained Nyras madness by saying that the power of the Sleeper is not easy to accept and the unprepared souls are easily despair over it. Only the gurus were able, after years of meditation, to bear the voice of the Sleeper. The hero then had to take thestone to Cor Kalom. He was also a guru and the alchemist of the Sect Camp. Kalom needed a certain secretion to better study the focus stone.
Such secretions were from the minecrawlers and were found mainly in their eggs and mandibles. Cor Kalom also said that he was chosen by the Sleeper and that the hero would receive this mission from the great deity himself. Ine the Old Mine had a huge minecrawler nest. The Hero went to the old mine where some sects there also helped him. Plenty of minecrawler were killed and the hero found the queen as well. After he also killed the beast he obtained the eggs and mandibles and took them to Kalom. Kalom was finally able to make the magic potion that was needed to contact Sleeper, but something was still needed. The focus stone had to be charged. This was possible with the help of an almanac. They bought the book from a fire mage named Corristo, but the novice who was going to camp was attacked by goblins and they stole the item. The hero reported to the ore barons what the Sect were plan and then found the novice, Talas, from whom the goblins had stolen the book. Talas led him to the hiding place of the creatures. The hero killed the goblins and retrieved the book. He hurried to Cor Kalom right away. Now everything was ready.
Y'Berion and Cor Kalom gathered the members of the sect in front of the temple. Y'Berion used the focus stone, but he was failed to contact Sleep. He got a vision instead. In the vision, he saw a ruined place where an orc warrior stood in front of an altar. Suddenly the ground shook and Y'Berion fell to the ground. The sects were curious about what Y'Berion saw. Cor Angar, the trainer of the camp and the leader of the templars believed that their freedom is connected with the orcs. He says the ruined building from the vision was the nearly orc cementry. Cor Angar said a guru Baal Lukor and some of his novices had already set out to search the cemetery. The orcs raided the cultists in the cemetery and killed most of them. The hero arrived and helped the guru search the cemetery. While they defeated the orcs, they found half parchments written in orc language. These were pieces of a teleport scroll, used by the hero to open a secret passage. They found the altar that was in Y'berion’s vision, but nowhere was the Sleeper just bones and dust. Baal Lukor then went insane because he could not bear to fail and attacked the hero. He believed that if he presented a human sacrifice to the Sleeper, he would reveal himself. However, the hero defended himself and killed the crazy guru. The hero left the cemetery and reported the incident to Cor Angar, who was shocked. Y'Berion was already very weak. The hero brought the strongest healing herbs to him, but it was too late.He died, but warned Angar that the Sleeper was not what they believed. Meanwhile in a rage, Cor Kalom left the camp with many novices to find the Sleeper themselves.
Angar sent the hero to the water mages, as they were the surest chance of escape alongside Yberion. Their leader, Saturas was surprised by the events. It turns out that the Sleeper is actually was an ancient archdemon and that whoever comes under his power will go crazy and ready to kill anyone. Kalom also left camp because he didn’t want to believe that the Sleeper was a demon. Saturas explained that there is a certain amount of magic in the ore. They piled up a lot to concentrate the magic force from the ore together with the focus stones, allowing the barrier to be destroyed. The hero brought the focus stones and the almanac from Kalom's chest. However, the water mages alone were not strong enough to control such a magical power. The help of fire magicians was needed. The hero went to talk to them in the old camp, but his friends Milten and Diego said Gomez killed every fire mage in the castle because they opposed the attack on the Free Mine. The hero shared the bad news with Saturas, who revealed an important secret. In fact, thirteen mages created the barrier and the thirteenth was strong enough to control the magical power that created the barrier. He was Xardas, the necromancer how leaving the Old Camp in the past. Saturas thought he could help them. However, he warned the hero that a few had already went to Xardas's tower but had not returned. The tower was guarded by three golem who were defeated by the hero, and then a demon in the tower gave him a rune to teleport to the necromancer.
Xardas told the hero that the pile of ores was not a solution and it was no coincidence that the barrier had grown much more larger than they wanted. He told the hero some part of the story of the five orc shaman. He then said that the orcs had exiled a shaman and it was possible that he knew something. The hero found the shaman at the nearby ruins, who was attacked by orcs. The hero defeated the attacking orcs and talked to the shaman. The shaman who was called Ur-Shak said that the Sleeper is an evil monster who demands living sacrifices from the orcs and that they are very afraid of him. He also said there is a temple in the orc town, but there are too many orcs. However, there was a weapon the Ulumulu which provided protection against orcs. One of the shaman's friends, Tarrock, was able to make this weapon, but he hiding in the Free Mine which Gomez's minions captured. The hero attacked the captured mine with his friend Gorn. He killed one of the elite warriors of the Old Camp, Jackal and the guards. After he was done with them, he found Tarrock. The orc was dying, but the hero found a healing potion for him. Out of gratitude, he made the Ulumulu for him there on the spot. After this the hero went to the orc town. The orcs did not hurt him as he wore the Ulumulu. However, the shamans prayed in front of a symbolic little statue. The hero took the statue, but the orcs attacked him. He, in turn, defeated the orcs in front of the temple and opened the gate with the statue. The hero met all sorts of evil creatures in the Temple of the Sleeper. He was attacked by the undeads, demons and minecrawlers. He also met fanatical templars who were Cor Kalom's men. These people were completely possessed by the Sleeper, their eyes were also red. Along the way, he found a strange and beautiful sword. The hero met the undead orc shaman, he successfully defeated four of them. However, the fifth could not be killed with either a weapon or magic. Rather, the hero fled the temple and returned to Xardas. The hero showed the necromancer the sword. Xardas was very surprised to see that this sword was the legendary Uriziel, an ancient, powerful weapon. The sword was said to have unbelievable power, but Xardas did not feel magical power in the sword. Xardas said the sword needs tremendous magical power and a magical formula. The hero wanted new armor. Xardas gave him a key and sent it to his first ruined tower to try find anything there until he made the magic formula. Here the hero found the magic ore armor and a rune that allowed the user to teleport to the Old Camp«s Castle. Xardas made the formula and they also knew where to use it. The water magicians' accumulated ore may have provided enough power to charge the sword. His fire magician's friend Milten helped him and Uriziel became a powerful weapon again. The hero was now ready for the final fight.
With a rune found in the tower of Xardas, he teleported to the Old Camp and killed the ore barons as a rightful punishment for their actions. After he killed Gomez as well, he teleported to the Temple of the Sleeper with a scroll obtained in the orc city. He met the fifth orc shaman again in the temple, but Uriziel's power was strong enough to kill the undead. When the hero got very close to the Sleeper, Xardas teleported to him. Xardas originally planned to acquire the power of the Sleeper himself, but he was too exhausted and the Sleeper was stronger than him. All he could tell the hero, however, was how to banish the Sleeperfrom the world. He then fell into a deep sleep.The nameless hero entered the last hall where the Sleeper was, with a large portal behind him. There were also the five altars, with the five orc hearts in them. In front of the Sleeper, the mad Cor Calom prayed with his followers. The sect leader tried to protect the demon at all costs, but the hero also defeated him and his followers. After defeating the sects, the hero stabbed the blades of the orc shamans one by one into their hearts. After stabbing four hearts, four demon lord appeared, but they also failed. After stabbing the last heart, the portal opened. The Sleeper resisted, but the portal kept absorb his body. The portal absorbed it, but the demon clung to the gate of the portal with his arms and pulled himself back. The nameless hero stabbed the Sleeper in the head with Uriziel. The monster was stunned by the power of the weapon and the portal absorbed it permanently. After this, the portal was closed and the barrier was destroyed around the Valley of the Mines.
Gothic II & Gothic: Night of the Raven[]
Essentially, The Sleeper does not appear in this game, but there is a theory saying he is the undead dragon. Lester and Angar (former members of the Dreaming Brotherhood) stop harassing their headaches. According to the magician Hyglas, demons can move to the human world due to the convenient arrangement of the stars. However, former followers of the Sleeper, who serve the undead dragon as seekers, also show up.
Arcania[]
The game features The Sleeper's Amulet, which King Rhobar III received from a blind woman. His task was to relocate the artifact to a safe place, but the man postponed it and decided to first take over the island, Argaania. Trapped in an artifact, the demon's soul possessed the ruler, who became a docile puppet in her claws. The savior arrived in time and took the cursed amulet with the intention of referring him to his destination. Finally, The Sleeper is liberated by the highest rulers of the city of Setarrif, who counted on his gratitude and help.
Arcania: Fall of Setarrif[]
The Old Sleeper appears in the form of the mighty Archdemon. The protagonist fights him at the end of the game. The demon calls for help all creatures associated with fire.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Sleeper was one of the most powerful creature in the world of Gothic. He had such power that he surpassed even the power of the magical barrier that created by the thirteen most powerful mages of the people of Myrtana.
One of the most common abilities of the Sleeper was the possess people. Members of the Sect Camp thought their god wanted to communicate with them telepathically. The reality was that the Sleeper possesed people to some or all. Some people couldn’t stand his power so much that they either went crazy or died.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Sleeper was meant to return as the main antagonist of the cancelled addon Gothic Sequel, in which they were going to make an attempt to return in the human and Orc world by reappering in the Valley of Mines. Both Orcs and humans in the story were going to try to stop the Sleeper from returning. The Seekers from Gothic 2 were originally created as a smaller group of possessed Fire Mages who failed their attempt to stop the Sleeper and were corrupted and dragged by them, only to be brought back as demonic dark mages. Curiously a large portion of the Seekers, who are also demonic dark mages using the design from the cancelled addon, were once members of the Brotherhood of the Sleeper from the Swamp Camp, whose minds were bound to the Sleeper's strong influence.