Adapting Van Buren (Workshop - Complete on Page 30)

[Atomic Postman]

Hmm. There's the Bethesda route to give them something Arthurian. With that in mind I guess Avalon would work best, a distant and fabled place far from home, and the Brotherhood has effectively gone there to die since (not counting Midwestern or DC BoS) this is their furthest extent prior to the NCR-Brotherhood War. And it seems like you're going for something similar to that since you implied that this bunker would be the source of the Colorado BoS that has forgotten Maxson's name, presumably after they conquer Boulder and assimilate tribals. But Avalon may be too on the nose.

Alternatively you could go for something Biblical. Gives it a fantasy feel, and also a literal 'knights on crusade' vibe. Gilead maybe, since that was the portion of Israel not technically a part of Israel - distant, across the Jordan, with the understanding at the time of conquest that the Gileadites would have to leave this land to help the main body of the Israelites. I could suggest other potential Biblical names if you're interested, though that doesn't really seem to be the Brotherhood's bag so it would be a bit odd.

You could cheat and have their be some Poseidon thing at the array so they name it after a Greek god.

In terms of English type names which I think is more what you're getting at...

Citadel is right out of course, but you could name it any number of synonymous things that imply their isolation and this as a forward operating base. Star Fort would gel with the Nexus, but the name sounds a bit lame. Redoubt doesn't sound great. Castle Rock sounds kind of cool, but of course is already a place in Colorado so it might by a bit odd.

You could go the same route as Lost Hills or Hidden Valley by naming it after actual local features. Looking around the actual VLA location... Lone Mountain, Lion Mountain, Blue Mesa, Enchanted Tower, Bear Mountain, Red Rock, Horse Peak. Lone Mountain and Blue Mesa are probably my faves. Though this also assumes that the Nexus is at the same place as the VLA.

Lone Mountain too close to Big Mountain and Blue Mesa too close to Black Mesa

How about Lone Mesa?

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Oh, one more: the most prominent peak (and therefore most likely to have a bunker) in the region is called "Mount Baldy." Maybe change that to "Bald Mountain?" It also has the advantage of being much closer to the VLA than most of the locations I cited. It's practically to ion top of it.

Another not as good one is Oak Peak, which could be renamed Oak Mountain.

Also - I'm guessing the bunker complex was a high-tech one built by the Hubbologists?

Lone Mountain too close to Big Mountain and Blue Mesa too close to Black Mesa

How about Lone Mesa?

Doesn't really sell a fantasy feel for me

 

[Atomic Postman]

Oh, one more: the most prominent peak (and therefore most likely to have a bunker) in the region is called "Mount Baldy." Maybe change that to "Bald Mountain?" It also has the advantage of being much closer to the VLA than most of the locations I cited. It's practically to ion top of it.

Another not as good one is Oak Peak, which could be renamed Oak Mountain.

Also - I'm guessing the bunker complex was a high-tech one built by the Hubbologists?


Doesn't really sell a fantasy feel for me

Sorry, I should clarify it isn't near VLA. The Brotherhood are vaguely near ABQ (nonspecific) as well as Nexus - it's an entirely fictional location. It also isn't on top of Nexus but close by.

 

[Atomic Postman]

I also must be said I am quite fond of Lone something. Lone Mesa, Lone Rock, Lone Stockade etc

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Sorry, I should clarify it isn't near VLA. The Brotherhood are vaguely near ABQ (nonspecific) as well as Nexus - it's an entirely fictional location. It also isn't on top of Nexus but close by.

Oh OK. Seems a little close to the Reservation, but I guess that also means its close to the action to be relevant. Still, VLA would be nice since it would fill out the southern part of the map more.

In any case, there are certainly a fuck ton of place names to trawl through for the ABQ, being a major metropolitan area. For the moment, the only one I have is Black Rock, named after the numerous black basalt volcanoes and volcanic fields surround ABQ. And maybe as an added bit of fun, you could place the base directly under https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph_National_Monument. Classic American disrespect for indigenous cultures, and having their base there would show the melding of the futuristic and the tribal, which I think is the ultimate outcome you're going for. May be too close to ABQ proper. But it even has a star man!

I also must be said I am quite fond of Lone something. Lone Mesa, Lone Rock, Lone Stockade etc

Yeah, I can see the appeal. I'm warming up more to Lone Mesa as I think about it, though I don't think Lone Mountain is bad, and gives a Hobbit reference. But maybe Mesa is better since it mixes in the Western influence.

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Here's all the candidates I could find east of ABQ in what seems to me to be a reasonable distance -

-Skies West
-Black Ranch
-Bear Canyon
-Sky Mountain
-Enchanted Acres
-Cedar Oaks
-Rock Canyon
-White Rock
-Sand Canyon
-Big Spring
-Whiteface
-Pine Shadow
-Falling Star Ranch
-Sundance Mountain
-Lazarus Gulch
-Meadow Lake

 

[Atomic Postman]

The Brotherhood Of Steel Part 1 The Watchers

Pre-War History
Prior to the Great War, America experienced something of a mid-21st century space age. For the first time in a long time - Americans were looking to the stars. Along with this came waves of pop-culture fixated on stories of alien contact - stories of advanced sciences and peaceful overlords - and so interest grew in the search for alien life.

Purely academic delves into this matter struggled for funding - until the Church of Hubology stepped in. Funding the Search for Cosmic Life (SCL) facility in the New Mexico desert was initiated. Both to listen out for any life out in the vast cosmos, to find the mythical Quetzel but to also teach the intrepid youth in the ways of the Great Wheel and The Hub. An educational centre was founded amongst the satellite stations - a battled compromise between astronomer academics and Hubologist kooks, whilst it did have large amounts of information about the stars and space, the money won out and plenty of Hubologist mythology was begrudgingly incorporated.

As the Resource Wars dawned it's head, the US Government provided a stimulating injection to the small facility - vastly expanding the technology and amount of dishes. As always, this had dual purpose. The dishes would listen for signals of cosmic civilization, but also listen and track the cosmic efforts of the Communist Chinese - satellites, space stations - and feed the data through a seperate encrypted feed to nearby millitary installations.

Post-War
OST Atmosphere:


In 2253, the ruins of the facility are home to an agricultural star-worshipping tribe who call themselves the Watchers. Descended from surviving astronomers, Hubologists and tourists.

Once visited by Ghoul traders from the Rebirth, they exchanged all their firearms (of which they did not know how to use) and random satellite components for chemically infused fertilizer (itself modified from super-science fertilizer taken from Greenway Hydroponics HQ in the ruins of ABQ) . It provided great boon, their maize grew stronger and in greater number and a new food began to grow - a strange thing the packaging called "potatoes". Occasionally the tribe will be visited by the Scorpion's Bite to collect tithe, but they are mostly left alone.

Their beliefs are a devolution of Hubology - they believe that Quetzel and it's peaceful Overlord the Hub are just one of many grand civilizations out there, mixing the mythology of Hubology with pulp-fiction comics in the visitors center. They believe the stars are the spokes of the great wheel - lines that connect the civilizations of the stars both literally and spiritually.

They believe Earth is the center of the great wheel, and furthermore that their tribe is the Nexus of the universe. The final link in the chain of communication that when found, will link all of eternity in spiritual nirvana. The Great War set us back, cut our signal short and the billions of neodynes that cloud the psychosphere are further scrambling interference. So, all they can do is watch the stars, dream of the civilizations above and wait in good hope for contact.

Each tribesman is named after a star listed in the sacred center where the Elder, who always takes the name Quetzel, resides. The Elder will consult the charts and pick a name for each child. This includes mixes of real stars and those conjured by the pulp mythology of the Hubologists. Most tribesmen are covered in constellation tattoos.

Their only real worry being the growing rumours of the Red Okie Horde, a vast army of brutes ravaging the southeast. These concerns have pressed the minds of the Watchers and their Elder.

Then one day, great chrome hulks arrived bearing ray-guns. Contact they believe had finally been established, until the chrome titan removed it's helmet and extended its hand to shake, revealing it's humanity.

 

[Hardboiled Android]

-Highland Meadows
-Plate Mesa (flying saucer?)
-Sunset Ranch
-Lost Horizon (travelling towards the 'horizon,' distant conquest)
-Avalon
-Sundance
-Black Volcano (near Petroglyphs)
-Volcano Ranch
-Vulcan (poseidon?)
-Volcano Cliffs
-Black Ranch
-High Range
-Note really a name but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Lunas_Decalogue_Stone
-Moon Rocks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_lunar_sample_displays Could also go for "Mountain of the Moon" or some such, esp. considering Las Lunas.

Probably some I've missed

 

[Atomic Postman]

-Highland Meadows
-Plate Mesa (flying saucer?)
-Sunset Ranch
-Lost Horizon (travelling towards the 'horizon,' distant conquest)
-Avalon
-Sundance
-Black Volcano (near Petroglyphs)
-Volcano Ranch
-Vulcan (poseidon?)
-Volcano Cliffs
-Black Ranch
-High Range
-Note really a name but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Lunas_Decalogue_Stone
-Moon Rocks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_lunar_sample_displays Could also go for "Mountain of the Moon" or some such, esp. considering Las Lunas.

Probably some I've missed

I like Lost Horizon but the Lost too evocative of Lost Hills? Maybe Lone Horizon?

 

[Hardboiled Android]

I like Lost Horizon but the Lost too evocative of Lost Hills? Maybe Lone Horizon?

But Lone Horizon is nonsensical

 

[Atomic Postman]

But Lone Horizon is nonsensical

Lost Horizon it is

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Lost Horizon it is

But your point about it being way too evocative of Lost Hills is totally correct at the same time.

I dunno, it's a tricky one. Maybe come back to it later, see if inspiration strikes, but for now don't worry too much about it.

 

[Atomic Postman]

But your point about it being way too evocative of Lost Hills is totally correct at the same time.

I dunno, it's a tricky one. Maybe come back to it later, see if inspiration strikes, but for now don't worry too much about it.

Yeah. I like Lone Mesa just because I'm a Half-Life super fan and New Mexico bunker facility with Mesa in the title....

Also in other news I was telling an artist friend of mine about Hecate and the idea excited him so when I wap that post up we might get a totally custom image to depict her.

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Yeah. I like Lone Mesa just because I'm a Half-Life super fan and New Mexico bunker facility with Mesa in the title....

Also in other news I was telling an artist friend of mine about Hecate and the idea excited him so when I wap that post up we might get a totally custom image to depict her.

I'm not totally sold on Lone Mesa, but I have warmed up to it and it's probably the best option we have. If all else fails its a fine choice.

And awesome!

Also just based on my map trawls, I have two small potnetial adventure hooks -

• Retrieve decalogue for the Mormons, presumably taking it from the Glyphers.
• Retrieve moon rocks for the Watchers, probably just from animals.

 

[Atomic Postman]

I'm going to do a quick rewrite of The Watchers because whilst being sleepy and on medication last night I forgot I was including the Twin Mothers and not recycling them so I blended too much of their gig in.

Also I'm going with the name Maxson bunker because I actually think it justifies Caesar's comment - it would provoke him asking them about Maxson and their ignorance to why their bunker is even called that in the first place. (In the VB document the Maxson name is on order of the Lost Hills elders)

 

[Hardboiled Android]

I'm going to do a quick rewrite of The Watchers because whilst being sleepy and on medication last night I forgot I was including the Twin Mothers and not recycling them so I blended too much of their gig in.

Really? They didn't strike me as too similar. Only thing I can see looking back is the Greenway fertilizer, but that seems kind of necessary since they're partly an adaptation of Ag Center.

Still, any re-write means more/new content, so I can't complain.

Also I'm going with the name Maxson bunker because I actually think it justifies Caesar's comment - it would provoke him asking them about Maxson and their ignorance to why their bunker is even called that in the first place. (In the VB document the Maxson name is on order of the Lost Hills elders)

Last-ditch naming: what about Mount Maxson, Maxson Mesa, or Maxson's Horizon?

 

[Atomic Postman]

Really? They didn't strike me as too similar. Only thing I can see looking back is the Greenway fertilizer, but that seems kind of necessary since they're partly an adaptation of Ag Center.

Their elysian fields of plentiful crops and grass are meant to be something of a "reveal" of the Twin Mothers which is lessened of course if the adjacent tribe also has that. The Watchers are still ag based with a unique hook but I will elaborate

Last-ditch naming: what about Mount Maxson, Maxson Mesa, or Maxson's Horizon?

Maxson Mesa I like. Rolls off the tongue well and still keeps that sweet HL reference I crave.

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Maxson Mesa I like. Rolls off the tongue well and still keeps that sweet HL reference I crave.

I had my hopes set on Maxson's Horizon, since this represents the uttermost limit of the Brotherhood (territorially, ideologically, and chronologically) and sounds futuristic, but Maxson Mesa does still have a good vibe.

 

[Atomic Postman]

I had my hopes set on Maxson's Horizon, since this represents the uttermost limit of the Brotherhood (territorially, ideologically, and chronologically) and sounds futuristic, but Maxson Mesa does still have a good vibe.

It's a good name but it's a bit too awkward on the tongue.

 

[Hardboiled Android]

One last thought regarding the name: it does stretch credulity somewhat that all of the Brotherhood, including the scribes, would totally forget Maxson a mere two decades after the events of VB. In a similar sort of way to after the prequels how much everyone has forgot the Jedi and the Old Republic as if these are extremely ancient things. Doubly so if the place name is named after Maxson, people tend to preserve those sorts of memories for a decently long time, one of the first questions people ask is 'Why is this place named this way?' to the point where even after the true origin is forgotten fictional eponymous heroes and origin stories are made up to explain it.

For it to be viable, the Brotherhood must have arrived in ABQ a decently long time ago, it must have been integrating natives for a fairly long time, and most importantly there must have been a conscious propagandistic effort to wipe out the old Brotherhood, not mere cultural drift.