Last update, we returned to Vault 101 to tie up some loose ends. Now we are back in the wasteland, still without really much of a direction to go.
So now, let's do Blood Ties. There isn't a really a method in which I'm choosing these sidequests, just the ones I think personally are most interesting.
So, we're back in good old Megaton. Blood Ties is the only other major sidequest you can pick up in Megaton, other than that there really isn't anything else to do in Megaton. Well, there is the Survival Guide sidequest, but like Blood Ties, it really has nothing to do with Megaton.
After stopping by Moira's to get some supplies, we head up to Moriarty's Saloon.
But as soon as we enter it, the NPC we wanted to talk to leaves.
Sometimes NPC's phase in and out of doors.
You would have think we would be well known around here by now. To be fair, you can start this quest really early on in the game.
"Sure am. Stopped in to find something to do."
"I hope by "something to do" you mean a job, otherwise you want to talk with Nova. I'm looking for someone to make a delivery. Interested?"
We're a courier now apparently.
"Sure, why not."
"Great! I'd like you to deliver this message to my family in the Arefu Settlement. I haven't heard from them in months and I'm worried. As soon as you get there, talk to Davis West. He'll be glad to pay you for the trip."
"Can you give me some information about Arefu?"
"Sure, be glad to since you're doing me a big favor and all."
"Where is Arefu?"
"Arefu is northwest of Megaton on an old overpass over the Potomac."
What is it with these people are starting settlements on old, crumbling overpasses. An earthquake or something could kill everyone in it.
"If you follow what's left of the river, you can't miss it. Hey, thanks again for doing this for me, it means a lot."
Now we're off towards Arefu. It's not far at all from Arefu.
I don't feel like hiking all the way there.
We fast travel to Hamilton's Hideaway and we can already see the overpass from the entrance.
You know what's fun? After you hit a certain level, instead of just fighting regular mirelurks, sometimes you fight hunters instead. And they're just as annoying.
One annoying thing about the combat shotgun is that it breaks down pretty quickly.
This isn't the only mirelurk we run into on our trip to Arefu.
That overpass is impressive.
We run into a ton of mirelurks. Like a hunter and 2 normal ones, and the problem is that we either carefully aim our shots with perforator to hit them in the face, or break our combat shotgun to kill them.
In the middle of combat I decide to loot a box for some reason.
They can overpower you pretty easily if you're on land. Of course, in their natural enviroment, mirelurks can't attack in water.
Eventually we fight them off though. You can clearly see Arefu from far away. I will never understand the logic of building a city on top of a crumbling, 200 year old overpass.
I suppose it's easily defensible, but as we'll soon see, they only have one scared old man guarding the city. If someone wanted to take down Arefu, they could easily get by him.
And they haven't even bothered to clear the cars off it?
We find one of the traders roaming the wasteland, Lucky Harith to be precise. He has a ton of ammo and weaponry, so I stock up some more there.
There's the sign for Arefu. They do the same thing in New Vegas with Novac.
Yup, they're still using planks as a bridge.
As we get closer to the town, someone tosses a grenade by us and we nearly get blown up.
"Get over here before they spot you. Now, what the hell are you doin' all the way out here?"
"Well, I have this letter for the West Family."
"That's great, but I got bigger problems then being the town post office right now. The shit's about to hit the fan in this cesspool, and I don't think I can stop them."
Okay, why would people live out here, when Megaton is only a spitting distance away. And the only person defending their town is a scared old man.
"Are they Raiders or Slavers?"
Or Super Mutants. Or Mirelurks. No, it's aliens, this time isn't it?
The real answer is only slightly more plausible.
"No way. If they were, you'd be staring at a burned out ghost town."
Why haven't the raiders came by and destroyed this place anyway?
"I think the Family are just a bunch if punks. Well at first they'd do typical gang bullshit. You know, break stuff and make lots of noise, but they always kept their distance. But this last time, they went too far. They killed all of our Brahmin! I mean, that's our lifeblood out here you know!"
What do the Brahmin eat anyway? There isn't any grass or other stuff to graze on out here...
"[Speech, 100%] What's got you so spooked?"
Why does that need a speech check?
"[SUCCESS] Sigh. Look... you can call me crazy if you want but there just is something odd about those creeps. I mean, they got the guns and they got the muscle. Why don't they just bust down our doors and tkae us out already? We're really in a bad way, and could use some help."
"I'd be glad to help. What do you need?"
"I don't want to take my eyes off the ramp here. There's no telling when the Family will return."
Even if you were keeping your eyes on the ramp, you would hardly be a match for them.
"Can you do me a favor and check on the other people's houses here? You know, make sure they're doing okay. Speak with Davis West, Karen Schenzy and Ken Ewers."
You know what I find hilarious? There's only like a half a dozen people living here right now, tops. Out alone in the wasteland, filled with super mutants. Hell, Paradise Falls is not too far away from here either.
Yet they still have survived.
"I have a message for the West family from their daughter."
"I can't take that. You're just going to have to bring it to the Wests yourself. Just watch yourself. I've got an itchy trigger finger."
Basically, we wants us to talk to every NPC in this town to check if they're okay. That would be annoying, but there are literally like 4 houses so it's pretty short.
I'll save you guys the time of showing every single persons response, but for the most part, they're jerks to you and they don't really give any useful info.
Of course in the last house, we find the people we were supposed to give the message to, dead.
If you have a higher medicine skill, you can find out more about the wounds on their bodies. It lets you skip some of the quest if you have like 90 medicine or so, as it will point you right towards Mereseti Trainyard.
"Did you know the Wests are dead?"
"The Family must have gotten to them in the last attack! Sons of bitches! Damn it! If only we had more men, we could stand up to them. I'm sick of them terrorizing this town. Wait a minute... when you searched the West's place, did you find their son Ian's body?
"No, I only found the parents' bodies."
"This has to be the work of the Family! I've caught that weirdo leader of theirs talking to Ian down by the river. Look, I know I've asked a lot from you already, but you have to find that kid... he deserves better than all this."
"The Wests had bite marks on their necks. Mean anything to you?"
"Bite marks on their necks? That's the strangest thing I've ever heard. The Family must have attack dogs with them or something. Oh, this is all I needed right now. What am I going to do? They'll keep coming back until all of us are dead!"
"Don't worry, Evan. I'll figure out what happened to the Wests."
"Thanks kid. You're all right."
"Where od you think I can find the Family?"
"I think they live somewhere east or northeast of here. Problem is, they always travel in the dark so I can't see exactly where they go. There's all kinds of places they could be hiding like Hamiltion's Hideaway, the old Moonbeam Cinema or Northwest Seneca Metro Station."
We already thoroughly searched Hamilton's Hideaway. Moonbeam Cinema is just really a waste of time, so let's head to the metro tunnel. You can go straight to Meresti trainyard and skip the looking around for them if you already know but I opted against that.
So the next train station is found between those 4 or so buildings in the middle of nowhere. Again, I really don't get why the whole Capital Wasteland has so few buildings out of the main DC area. There just seems to be so little of them, and when you find them there's only a few bunched up together.
I make a habit of shooting every eyebot I see.
We're almost there. It doesn't take too long to get from point A to point B in this game, as long as you don't run into a ton of enemies along the way.
We get attacked. At first, I have no idea where it's coming from. All I saw was little green pellets falling from the sky. See that little person shaped speck up there? That's an enclave officer.
Our perforator still makes short work of the officer though.
We manage to take the officers head off and lucky for us, it falls off the overpass so somehow we can loot the officer now.
So there's a whole enclave camp up there. Let's wipe it out.
I don't know if you can see it against all the brown there, but there's a tesla armor Enclave soldier heading right for us.
We sneak up behind some rubble and get the jump on him.
GIVE ME YOUR TESLA ARMOR
Yeah, we already have tesla armor but shut up, you can never have enough tesla armor.
Let's put our power armor training to good use...
What's this?
The enclave soldier up he isn't hostile towards us. Apparently, it's a rather common glitch...
Huh.
What, you didn't think I'd let him live, did you?
Now we head into the train station. Do note that around here, you can enter one of the buildings. It's a grocery store, nothing really interesting inside. The vast majority of the buildings in this game are boarded up and you can't enter them. That kind of sucks, honestly.
It's especially bad in DC. Anyway, I check the grocery store and come back, just to find these assholes.
Yup, more talon mercs. We should really go to their hideout and kick the crap out of them sometime, shouldn't we?
Yup.
You can be suicidal with the rocket launcher in VATS.
Even though our explosives skill is shit, they do a ton of damage. Because they're rockets.
Is there a headshot count in this game? Remind me to post our statistics at the end of the LP.
They manage to do a surprising amount of damage to us. I don't particularly like how Fallout 3 handles armor and armor damage, but I see why they did it the way they did.
I used the plasma pistol for awhile before I remembered we were a guns character, then I pulled out the shotgun.
They still have the contract to kill us. By Mr. Burke. Who is dead.
Well, now it's time for another extended trip into the
sewers metro. (Every time I say the word metro, I get the urge to play Metro 2033. I loved that game.)
In the metro, we run into this ghoul who is apparently making chems.
"Steal your secrets? Not at all."
"Good. I was afraid I was gonna have to abandon my lab here. That would mean starting all over again. It's not easy trying to make Ultrajet you know!"
"Ultrajet? That some sort of super chem?"
"I suppose you could say that. Ultrajet is almost double the potency of Jet... perfect for Ghouls. Jet barely affects us you see."
How did Jet get to the Capital Wasteland anyway?
"Only trouble is it's almost impossible to gather the ingredients together. Say, you might be able to help me with that!"
"No way, I'm not helping you make chems!"
This would seem the be the good karma option, but it's where the evil karma options are usually put. I wish you could just say "No, not interested." instead of expressing moral outrage though.
"Fine, fine. Sheesh. Take it easy. You change your mind, gimme a shout."
He is really in a rather random location. He should be in the grocery store or something...
In this guys closet there is some radioactive waste and an entrance to another part of the metro.
We drop down into a radioactive cave. Again, questioning the layout of the metro tunnels.
I sure do love fighting mirelurks.
Now we're getting somewhere.
SHIT. I hit a wire and grenades just rained from above.
Ugh, I hate this tunnel. It's filled to the brim with traps.
Mines, bear traps, rigged shotguns and grande bouqets. You have to navigate the tunnel very carefully...
And those. I forgot that was there. It does a decent amount of damage too, it's annoying.
"[Speech, 100%] I really need to get by you. It's important I find what I'm looking for."
"[SUCCESS] Alright, alright. I guess you look harmless enough."
Um, we're in full tesla armor with a combat shotgun aimed right at his face now. Either these guys kick some serious ass, or this guy is blind.
"If I were you, I'd speak to Vance before you poke around too much. You can usually find him on the mezzanine overlooking the common area."
So yeah, I guess there's a settlement down here.
This guy has a lot of valuable stuff in this little room, it's easy to simply steal it from him.
Wow, this place looks cool.
Honestly, it does. I like the idea of a settlement down in the subway tunnels but they never really utilized it. It's a shame that there really isn't much to say about this place at all, outside of the Blood Ties questline.
Of course, even then this place isn't that much of a settlement at all. They do have their own weapons shop though, which is always nice. And he has a ton of stuff as well.
So, this is their leader. He has a shiskebab on him.
"My people call me Vance. I lead this group of weary travelers and outcasts who need a home."
Damn it, another cultist group? This better not be about their magical "broken subway car" god.
"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"This place is very different from any of the other settlements I've seen."
I mean, most of them are on overpasses.
"What you see before you is the last bastion of hope for the downtrodden and misunderstood. It is a sanctuary for the oppressed and a beacon of faith for the tyrannized."
What's the difference between oppressed and tyrannized?
""
Other dialogue options are -
"Excuse me, but what does all that mean?" or
"Whoa, whoa... slow down there, I left my thesaurus at home."
So at least Bethesda lampshaded this guys pretentious dialogue.
"We are the remnants of society, cast aside like the clean-picked bones of a hunter's feast."
Get on with it.
"I led my flock beneath the sun-baked sands of the Wasteland to keep them safe and teach them my ways. Men of science would call us cannibals, eaters of human flesh. Society labels us as monsters, demons and the unclean."
Okay we get it. Cut it out with the misunderstood monster shtick.
"[Speech, 100%] None fo this talk is necessary. I know exactly what you are."
That could have been a useful dialogue option for earlier.
"[SUCCESS] You amaze me. Never have I met a human with the gift of cognition that you posses."
He isn't being sarcastic either. Maybe he just hasn't met that many smart people?
And why does he keep referring to us as human? I mean, they can call themselves whatever they want, but they're still technically people.
"Tell me then, what are we?"
"You're vampires. Or at least you follow their fictional traditions."
Yup. Vampires in Fallout. Normally I'd say this would be completely out of place, but then I remember this is the game that has an entire DLC devoted to aliens. I'd still say it's just really kind of silly and doesn't fit in with Fallout 3's setting though.
At least they're not magical, sparkly vampires though.
"Do you think I believe I can turn into a bat and fly away? Of course not. Do I cast my image in a mirror? Absolutely. Now ask me if I believe these individuals from every corner of hte Wasteland need me to give them a sense of purpose and identity."
Well, vampires aren't know to do that either.
"I have shown these people the ways of the vampire. I've provided them shelter, organization and a sense of belonging."
Okay, I can buy that. I mean aside from the whole vampire thing. All that they really do is vampire-ish is suck blood instead of just straight up eating people. I personally think they're splitting hairs a bit.
"You do this by teaching them that they're mythical beings?"
"Now you disappoint me. You need to open your mind and think for a moment before you pass judgment."
If I didn't stop and think for a moment, you'd all be dead with stakes driven into your hearts.
"I have reined in their cravings and taught them to eat not of the flesh, but to drink of the blood. Most importantly, they have a Family. A place where their quirks are tolerated and understood."
Yes, cannibalism is just a tiny quirk.
"I've been searching for a young man named Ian West."
"Ah yes, my newest charge. What would you want with him?"
"I have a letter for him. From his sister..."
"Then a part of his human family still remains? Even more of a reason he needs to remain in isolation. Ian is at a critical moment in his life right now. After all that occurred in Arefu, he is scared and confused. It would be ill advised for me to allow you to speak to him while he decides what he wants to do."
"Wait a minute... What happened to him?"
"Ian's hunger for flesh overwhelmed him... it drove him to kill his parents. Because of my intervention that night he stopped just short of being lost forever to his cravings for flesh."
"Are you telling me that Ian is a cannibal?"
"I am telling you he will no longer be labeled as such. He has become one of us... a member of the Family. The hunger that drives us must be kept in check. It is one of the most difficult things to teach. Ian lost control because no one was around to guide him. His own family was alien to him."
"[Speech, 100%] This letter is all Ian has left of his old life. Allow me to give it to him."
"[SUCCESS] Your words impress me, human. Perhaps I misjudged you when we first met. If you wish to speak to Ian, you are free to do so. Here is the code for the area in which he is meditating."
What is cool about this sidequest, is that if you can't speech check Vance, there's quite a few other ways to get that code.
So let's go find this Ian guy. He is the whole reason we took this quest in the first place.
There he is.
"You're a ***** to find."
"Well, maybe that's becasue I don't want to be found. Why the heck are you looking for me anyway?"
"I'm sorry, Ian, but your parents are dead."
"You think I don't know that? You think I don't know what I did?!"
"I know what you did. Vance told me everything."
"Then you must think I'm some kind of a monster."
"Look, Ian. I know loss, too. I know it hurts. But staying here isn't the answer."
"There's something inside me... something completely messed up! I'm a mutant, a fucking freak!"
No, you're not a mutant. You aren't even green.
"The only person I was ever able to talk to was my sister Lucy, and she's gone. No one gives a shit about me except Vance and the Family. Can't you understand that?"
"Read this letter, Ian. Lucy wrote it. I bet it will change your mind."
"She... she really misses being home and she's asked about me in here a lot! I think I had it all wrong. I shouldn't have come here. I bet Lucy is feeling just as bad as me. Please, tell Vance I've made my decision. I'm going home to Arefu. I hope to see you there as well."
Well of course we'll be there, to collect the quest reward.
"I'm just gonna gather my stuff together and say my goodbyes then I'll head on back."
Well, now let's talk with Vance about Arefu.
First however, there's a weapon we need to steal.
Vance has a unique Chinese Officers Sword, called Vampire's Edge. It only does slightly more damage but it attacks extremely quickly and has a high crit chance, so it's pretty damn effective.
"I am quite interested in learning the results of you discussion. Did he come to a decision?"
"Before I talk about Ian, there's still the matter of Arefu to discuss..."
"As long as you maintain this level of civility, please proceed."
"[Medicine] Vampires can drink any kind of human blood... even from bloodpacks."
Holy shit, an actual skill check.
"Curious. Many years ago, I survived by drinking from fresh bloodpacks I recovered from hospital ruins."
Wait, what? I thought they used the blood to sate their addiction, not actually use it as food.
"The problem was that these bloodpacks were scarce."
No they aren't. We have like 30 of them on us right now.
"What do you propose?"
"Arefu donates bloodpacks, and in exchange, you protect them."
"Agreed. Please, take this proposal to Arefu. Speak with tehm and return to me with their decision."
Really? I have to go all the way back and here again?
"I think you for showing me that your kind can be trusted after all. It is a lesson I will not forget. Now, what of young Ian? Tell me his decision."
"Ian's decided to leave the Family."
"It saddens me to lose one of my flock, but I believe everyone has to follow their own path. All I was attempting to do was guide him. Now it seems that responsibility has fallen upon you. I hope you will be more successful. Please, I want you take this. Consider it as an apology to you for all the hardships you had to endure finding this place. Goodbye, human. Our time together has been rather... educational."
We get a shiskebab schematic from all of this. Cool. The Shiskebab is pretty awesome, probably my favorite of the craftable weapons in this game.
Well let's not waste any time getting back to Arefu.
Not pictured: Me buying some ammo and going back through the trap tunnels.
We exit through Meresti Trainyard. This is a shortcut if you want to get to Vance faster.
A random encounter involving some wastelanders aruging over water. Due to our amazing persuasion skills, we get them to share it.
We quick travel back to Arefu.
"It's done, Evan. The Family will never bother Arefu again."
"I know, I talked to Ian and he told me everything you did. Thanks again, kid. Consider youself welcome back here anytime you're in this part of the Wastes."
"I have a proposal from Vance, the Family's Leader"
"Interesting. It seems they wish to enter into some kind of agreement."
Yeah, that's what I was saying. He seems pretty willing to ally with them considering he was pissing his pants in fear at the sight of them not more than a few hours ago.
"I guess it's better than pointing my gun down that ramp all day and hiding inside at night. Let Vance know he's got a deal... we'll do it. I'll speak to the others, I'm sure they'll agree with me."
Now we go all the way back to Vance. They could have designed this better.
"Arefu has accepted your proposal, Vance."
"Excellent! I knew you would serve as an ambassador for us in good faith. I will dispatch Alan to Arefu immediately to help serve as their guardian and honor my end of the agreement. Your efforts surpass those of the average human. In fact, I feel almost like you are a member of our flock. If you ever wish to learn our ways, you have but to ask."
No thanks. We sell him our bloodpacks for a rather large amount of caps and then we book it.
Why is everyone in the wasteland so crazy?
What wacky sidequest misadventures will occur next?
