The Followers of the Apocalypse, or simply the Followers, are a humanitarian organization originating in New California. Followers focus on providing education and medical services to those in need, as well as furthering research in non-military areas. Once allies of the New California Republic, they have since parted ways due to disagreements over NCR foreign policy.
Forgoing preaching in favor of humanitarianism, the Followers are generally welcomed by the inhabitants of the wasteland. Wherever they go, the Followers seek to provide services to those in need, namely medical care and agricultural instruction. Those in positions of power often regard them as seditious anarchists; though such accusations are not entirely without truth, the organization as a whole has no interest in seizing power.
The Followers of the Apocalypse readily assist those who require aid and welcome anyone who wishes to join their ranks, including former members of the Enclave, Brotherhood of Steel, or just about any other faction.[3] Although pacifists by nature, the Followers will not hesitate to defend themselves against attackers and will take up arms against those who threaten their ideals. Oftentimes they will be seen with hired guards adding much-needed protection and firepower to their organization.
History[]
Originally, the Followers of the Apocalypse were a secular tribe formed in the outskirts of Dayglow (former San Diego) by Vault dwellers emerging from the area's Vaults. Originally secular tribe, the Followers formed in the 22nd century, in the wake of a migration from Dayglow to the Boneyard, caused by a sickness spreading among the settlement's inhabitants due to the proximity of The Glow.[Non-game 1][4] The harsh experience of the migration, including the loss of Nicole's parents,[1] led her to form the Followers of the Apocalypse in the Boneyard. By sharing knowledge and forming a community rejecting senseless killing, Nicole hoped to restore the wastelands.[5] By educating humanity about the horrors of the Great War, the Followers hoped to ensure the atrocity that was the Great War would never happen again.[2] Ultimately, the Followers hope to move beyond simply limiting violence, and towards the creation of a new world free of war and poverty, where knowledge, resources, and ideas are shared freely by all.[6][Non-game 2]
By 2161, the Followers established a commune at the library in the Boneyard. They became widely known in the Boneyards, considered polite, educated, and not cut out for the "real world" due to their limited combat prowess. Some of the scavs even wondered why they weren't wiped out yet.[7] Their focus on preserving knowledge, with emphasis on agriculture and medicine, had already manifested by this period and laid the foundation for their future presence. The emergence of the Children of the Cathedral, another ostensibly peace-minded cult, raised more than a few eyebrows among the Followers. Spies sent out by Nicole brought back disturbing news, including reports of nightkin and Talius, a survivor of the vats who did not turn into a super mutant. Nicole put the Followers on a warpath, dedicated to cutting the threat short.[8]
Development and the rise of the Republic[]
The destruction of the Master by the Vault Dweller removed the only clear obstacle in the way of Follower expansion. The Followers gradually established control over the Boneyard, as a center of higher learning and research. When the New California Republic formed, the fledgling nation-state joined forces with the Followers. The influx of knowledge and education helped solidify a strong relationship.[Non-game 2] The Followers focused on their goals and eventually, the Boneyard became the first known place in the wasteland to boast a University. Staffed and maintained by the Followers, the school would offer courses on a non-profit basis to anyone willing to learn.[9] By 2246, the Followers had enough resources and influence to send out scholars on expeditions to gather knowledge, including information on tribal dialects. That year was when the fateful expedition of Edward Sallow was sent to the Grand Canyon, irreversibly starting a chain of events that would lead to the emergence of the Legion.[10]
But for a time, everything seemed to be in order. Cooperation between the Followers and the NCR prospered. Trouble began with the beginning of the Mojave Campaign. In 2273, a contingent of the Followers under Julie Farkas moved into the Mojave, assisting the Republic's forces. The project of President Aaron Kimball rapidly chilled relations.[Non-game 2] The failing relations were also fueled by internal dissent. While the Followers held a near-monopoly on education, particularly higher education, in the Republic's lands, some members of the organization were dissatisfied with the knowledge-centric profile of the organization.[11] This eventually resulted in a split in 2275 and the formation of the Office of Science and Industry by dissenting Followers. Focusing on practical applications of science, they became rivals of the Followers, aligned with the NCR and offering competitive higher education possibilities, though many of OSI's executives hold the Follower ideals close.[12] The NCR soon broke most ties with the Followers, and turned their support to the fledgling Office. In response, some of the Followers instigated a campaign to erode what little support NCR has among the locals of the frontier.[13]
Organization[]
Philosophy[]
The Followers consider the Great War to have been preventable and strive to remind people why it happened in the first place and ensure it never happens again.[14] With the Great War, humanity lost many things, like methods of agriculture and techniques for basic survival and the Followers took it upon themselves to piece together this forgotten knowledge and bring it to the wasteland.[15][16] The Followers focus on the preservation and restoration of knowledge, including technology and legitimate education. They are also proponents of sharing basic necessities – food, water and medicine – instead of hoarding them.[17] Their ultimate goal is to gradually shape a better brighter future for the wasteland through education, research, and medical services.[18]
In terms of philosophy, the Followers combine the principles of voluntary association, cooperation, and equality characteristic of anarchism and a disdain for conflict that bears a striking similarity to pacifism. Of course, the Followers are well aware of the flaws in human nature and ideology doesn't come before reality.[19] Despite that, they want to bring peace back to a wasteland that tends toward destruction.[20] Specific ideologies of the Followers vary significantly, ranging from anarcho-syndicalism to socialism, to communism.[Non-game 3]
Structure[]
Despite the breaking of ties with the NCR, the Followers continue to be an influential group. From their humble beginnings as a small group of scholars living in the restored Los Angeles Public Library, they have established great permanent facilities in New California, including the Angel's Boneyard Medical University.[21][22] Outside their Boneyard operations, they operate a network of regional hubs, offering their services to local residents, although their ability to provide these services varies on the availability of supplies. Some frontier hubs, like the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside, tend to become overwhelmed without support from local merchants or powers like the NCR.[22]
The Followers are a highly decentralized group with limited hierarchy. Any leaders are typically informal and selected naturally, based on their deeds, expertise, and organizational skills. Formal structures exist in a limited fashion. The aforementioned hubs and the administrators that maintain them coordinate the activities of Followers operating in the region[23] and permanent operations, such as reconstruction and relief efforts.[24] As the Followers are always looking for new members,[25] they can be inducted at the discretion of local administrators, either as fully-fledged members (typically after they have aided the local hub in some way)[26] or as probationary initiates. The administrator can assign duties to probationary members, including positions such as junior archivist,[27] assistant to a full member,[28] or cataloging the Pre-War Unexploded Munitions Collection in New California (in case a prospective member has no major qualifications).[29]
Although flexible, decentralization has drawbacks. For instance, the Followers do not have a system in place that would allow for containing rogue members and their actions, as was the case with the future Caesar and Tom Anderson.[30] However, they are liable to force people out of their organization if they are seen as a distinct threat. This is the case with former Enclave members, hunted by bounty hunters, the NCR, and the Brotherhood.[31]
Activities[]
Followers offer free education for all who are willing to learn,[9] as part of their philosophy.[17] They also offer medical support and other aid to those in need, both at hubs and by direct action. Every member is asked – not ordered – to help those in need when the opportunity arises.[18] The New Vegas medical clinic run by Dr. Usanagi is a great example of a Followers operation attempting both education and medical services for the wider New Vegas area.
On top of education and medical services, Followers also take steps to provide basic necessities, such as access to food and water in impoverished communities, like Freeside at the Old Mormon Fort or Westside.[24] The latter is a textbook example of the Follower philosophy: Leveraging local resources to allow for sustainable agriculture. By irrigating the desert, Tom Anderson enabled Westsiders to cultivate crops, while restored refrigerators allowed for storing food for later use or trade. As a result, Westside became a self-sufficient, ordered community with prospects for growth.[32]
Research is a major aspect of Follower operations, including both theoretical and practical disciplines. Where the OSI splitters focus on practical applications of science,[33] and the Brotherhood of Steel prefer combat technologies,[34] the Followers are one of the few organizations to devote time to both hard and soft science. Their research efforts include topics as diverse as studying the sociological, linguistic, and anthropological aspects of the people of the wasteland (including raider tribes like the Great Khans[35] and other culturally distinct peoples of the wasteland, like those inhabiting Zion or the Grand Canyon[10]), and discovering new methods of manufacturing medicine and alternative treatments for common afflictions.[36]
Funding[]
As a fundamentally non-profit organization, the Followers rely on a variety of sources to acquire supplies for their operations. For a good hundred years between 2181 and 2281, the Followers sustained their operations by salvaging old hospitals and medical warehouses,[37] and various donations, in return for discounts on their services.[38] Charitable donations continue to represent a major source of their funding and sources, particularly when it comes to providing low-cost medical services to the less fortunate.[39] The preferred donation size is 500 caps from the rich who can afford it,[40] although the Followers will accept any amount – and especially material donations like medical supplies.[41]
The Followers also sell a portion of their stock of supplies to fund their operations, but salvage and donations alone are insufficient to make this a major source of funds.[42] For this reason, the Followers greatly prefer to establish sustainable relations with local providers, such as providing medical services to farms in exchange for food. More specific resources, such as raw chemicals and alcohol that permit the Followers to manufacture medical supplies they need for their operations and trade, are difficult to source and they usually have to compromise for the greater good. For example, in the Mojave, they can be convinced to work with local pushers – people they normally oppose – maintaining their distillation equipment and providing intake in the form of food waste. In exchange, they would receive the aforementioned supplies, allowing them to expand their services and influence, improving the lot of Freeside residents in the long term.[43]
Of course, this source of supplies and funding only works as long as the other party is willing to accept what the Followers offer. Most merchants, like the Crimson Caravan Company, refuse to deal with the Followers on anything less than market terms.[44][45]
Ultimately, the Followers prefer for themselves and the people they care for to be self-sustainable. This means trading only for the necessary raw materials and manufacturing the supplies they need, especially when it comes to medicine.[46] Education and improving infrastructure contributes to this goal, as if local residents are able to source food and water on their own, it frees up Follower resources that can then be assigned to high priority goals.[47]
Outside relations[]
As the Followers have no desire to control territory, they rarely clash with other factions.[48] Historically, they enjoyed close relations with the New California Republic for a time as the Republic's technical advisors, researchers, and educators, but the change in foreign policy and a push for subjugating the East soured them. Disagreements over how wealth and prosperity should serve the people of the wasteland led to the aforementioned breaking of ties in 2275 and the cessation of support for the Followers from the NCR authorities. Many among the Followers are therefore bitter about the NCR's actions and see themselves as janitors, cleaning up the NCR's mistakes and trying to introduce stability into the regions they claim.[48][49] Some also take it upon themselves to deny ancient technologies to the Republic, on the basis of the fact that they can prove incredibly destructive.[50][51] Although closely associated with the NCR government, the Followers retained their independence and pursued their own separate goals.
The NCR has no official policy against the Followers but has waged a propaganda campaign against the Followers which has stained their reputation in New California to a certain extent. While NCR citizens can be dismissive of members of the organization as bleeding-heart idealists at best or anarchic cultists at worst,[52][53][54] the Followers continue to operate excellent facilities in the Republic,[22] including the Angel's Boneyard Medical University.[21] Even the Office of Science and Industry considers the Followers more as a competitor and worthy rival, rather than the enemy; the Follower's goals are simply humanitarian in origin, rather than economic.[54]
These facilities are the Followers' greatest asset. Their willingness to teach others for free and help the people of the wasteland makes them welcome among the less wealthy denizens of the wastes, particularly on the frontiers. Of course, sometimes their teaching has unpredictable effects. When a Follower taught the Great Khans how to read and write, as well as basic science, the tribe harnessed the knowledge for the production of recreational drugs to sell to the Fiends, inadvertently causing major problems for the Republic.[55] As a result, the Followers withdrew their support almost entirely.
Besides the NCR, there are only two factions the Followers are not particularly thrilled about. The first is the Brotherhood of Steel, with its desire to hoard technology and prevent it from being used for the common good; completely antithetical to the Followers' beliefs.[56] The second is, of course, Caesar's Legion and the Followers do not even entertain the thought of allying themselves with the Legion. After defaming Caesar, a former Follower himself, the Followers seldom talk about this dark aspect of their history.[57] Needless to say, the Followers of the Apocalypse are uneasy about their connection to a man who has created an empire based on militarism and institutionalized slavery and has denounced the Legion's brutal methods of conquest. Though both sides follow completely different philosophies, Caesar himself holds some measure of respect and appreciation for raising him as a child and providing him with an education, in spite of his derision for their ideals.
The Followers stationed in the Mojave also show no love for Mr. House and the surrounding personnel running New Vegas, who locked Freeside out of the city and does nothing to support the people in the surrounding neighborhoods. The Followers are struggling to keep Freeside in enough medicine and all Vegas does is think about running their casinos.[58]
The Followers of the Apocalypse are highly respected in Freeside, where their main base of operations in the Mojave Wasteland is located. Locals admire them for their charity, and maintain an amicable relationship with the Kings, whom the Followers praise for the security they provide, as well as their chivalrous attitude. In turn, the Kings appreciate the Followers for providing much-needed services to those that live in the area. Cooperation between the two is just about the only thing that keeps Freeside from collapsing into chaos and strife.
Technology[]
Thanks to decades of salvaging and research, the Followers have excellent knowledge and technology in civilian branches, including agriculture,[59] medical care,[60] IT,[61] robotics,[62] and more.
Their medical aptitude is the most noticeable facet of their operations. The Followers offer formal medical training to all at the Angel's Boneyard Medical University, ensuring a uniform level of knowledge and skill among their doctors,[21] which is then put into practice using the best available materials, up to and including Auto-Docs in some clinics.[63] The latter represent the apex of Followers' medical capabilities, as they are capable of both restoring and improving the human condition. Using them, Follower physicians can perform surgeries and apply implants to improve performance anywhere, including the kidneys, eyes, and the brain. Some clinics also offer experimental military implants, like the NEMEAN sub-dermal armor modification or PHOENIX Monocyte Breeder implant.[64] Their medical expertise is not limited to merely the physical. Follower ranks also include psychiatrists capable of treating a variety of mental disorders, including PTSD.[65]
Due to the aforementioned supply issues in outlying hubs, Followers also focus their efforts on researching new methods of obtaining medical supplies and other materials, which would allow them to greatly expand their efforts outside New California.[36] Other avenues of technological research include solar power as a sustainable alternative.[66] Aiding in their efforts is a substantial amount of data recovered from pre-War times, including extensive records on the various corporations that operated in the United States, like Poseidon Energy.[67]
Gameplay[]
Quests[]
- High Times: Julie Farkas asks the player character to find Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff and get them cleaned up.
- Friend of the Followers: Farkas is worried about the supply of medical equipment at the Old Mormon Fort, and asks the Courier to ask around to see if they can get a steady supply, or donate medicine to her.
- Long-Term Care: The Followers wish to strike a deal with some local merchants to keep their chem supply flowing.
- Short-Term Treatment: The group needs certain drugs to treat the people of Freeside.
- Cry Me a River: The player character has to ask permission from Julie for Jerry the Punk to join the Followers.
- Wild Card: Finishing Touches: The Courier can ask her for the Followers to help keep peace in the New Vegas region when New Vegas becomes fully independent.
- For the Republic, Part 2: The Courier can ask Julie for the Followers to help the NCR in the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.
Members[]
Former members:
Locations[]
- Angel's Boneyard Medical University
- Boneyard Library
- Follower's outpost
- Followers safehouse
- New Vegas Medical Clinic
- Old Mormon Fort
- Dayglow
Endings[]
Notes[]
- The group is mentioned in the Fallout: New Vegas ending slides as having a presence in Wyoming.[68]
- The group is mentioned in the Fallout Official Survival Guide.[Non-game 4][Non-game 5]
- The Followers are mentioned in the Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide.[Non-game 2]
- If the Courier has an Intelligence of less than 3 while talking to Ignacio Rivas, they will refer to the Followers as the "Flowers of Pock-Lips."
Appearances[]
The Followers of the Apocalypse appear in Fallout and Fallout: New Vegas and are mentioned in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.
Behind the scenes[]
- Fallout
- Fallout originally had a more dynamic wasteland, with the super mutants expanding and invading settlements across the wasteland as time passed by. The longer the player took to complete the game, the more settlements would be invaded, with all characters removed, with only super mutant invaders present. A remnant of this mechanic can be seen with Necropolis, where entering after 110 days pass triggers the invasion: All ghouls are killed off by script, with super mutant invaders added to surface maps, along with a ghoul refugee who recounts the invasion. The time limits are still included in Vault13.gam and are as follows:
- Followers of the Apocalypse would be invaded 90 days after the start of the game (March 5, 2162).
- Necropolis falls after 110 days (March 25, 2162).
- The Hub falls after 140 days (April 24, 2162).
- Lost Hills is invaded after 170 days (May 24, 2162).
- Junktown is invaded after 200 days (June 23, 2162).
- Shady Sands falls after 230 days (July 23, 2162).
- Vault 13 finally falls and the game ends in a fail state after 260 days pass (August 22, 2162). This was modified to 500 days for release (corresponding to April 19, 2163).
- In the end, the idea of introducing a distinct, invaded variant of the major locations was scrapped in favor of focusing on finishing the game. However, the time limits were retained and entering any of the locations except for the Brotherhood does trigger the corresponding bad ending in the end slides (eg. entering The Hub after 140 days pass triggers the destruction ending; for Followers, all that suffices is entering the Blades' map).
- The time limit for the Vault 13 invasion was lengthened from 260 days to 500 for release, to reduce the time pressure, before being completely removed in subsequent patches. It was also affected by other factors: Purchasing healing from the Children of the Cathedral reduced the time limit by 1 day, ordering water deliveries from Martha Rastello reduced it by 90 days, while blowing up the Mariposa control computer to trigger the self-destruct sequence halved the invasion time limits for Vault 13, Shady Sands, and The Hub. The removal of the hard time limit only affected Vault 13, with the functionality retained for the other two locations.
- The only ending for the Followers of the Apocalypse in Fallout is the one in which they are destroyed, as the quest necessary for obtaining the positive ending is unfinished. They did not appear in Fallout 2 but returned in Fallout: New Vegas.
- The group was planned for inclusion in Black Isle's canceled Van Buren and their survival was mentioned in the Fallout Bible.[Non-game 6]
- A variable in vault13.gam indicates that the player was originally supposed to be able to side with the Children and destroy them with a bomb smuggled into the library.[69] This corresponds with unused characters like Alisha, who would replace them.
- Another variable indicates that instead of sending a strike force, Nicole would offer to sneak the player character into the Cathedral.[70]
- Fallout: New Vegas
- In the Mojave, the Followers have a snake wrapped around a staff stitched into their coat, a design that originates from Ancient Greece and Rome. It's meant to represent the staff of Asclepius, the Greco-Roman god of Medicine.
- Joshua Sawyer remarked on the shortcomings of the faction in Fallout: New Vegas, sharing that the endings where the Followers wind up with a lot of responsibility, their tendency to over-commit and their lack of efficient organization resulted in those problems. Even though they heavily distrust the NCR, they are only able to provide adequate services in Freeside in an ending where the NCR maintains control of the Mojave.[Non-game 7]
- Joshua Sawyer stated that the Followers as they appear in Fallout: New Vegas are the most left-leaning faction in the game, holding a philosophy close to social democracy.[Non-game 8]
Gallery[]
References[]
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Non-game
- ↑ Fallout Official Survival Guide p.84: "The Followers of the Apocalypse: A small group of peace-lovers from San Diego. They are enemies of the Children of the Cathedral, and may provide help and information to the player."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.42: "Followers of the Apocalypse
Originally, the Followers of the Apocalypse (also known simply as "The Followers") were a secular tribe formed in the Boneyard, with a purpose of educating humanity about the horrors of the Great War, and never to repeat those atrocities again. Forgoing preaching in favor of medical treatment and charity. When the Master died, they controlled the Boneyard with the help of the then-embryonic New California Republic, and accompanied a contingent of the NCR into Nevada, settling in an Old Mormon Fort, close to Freeside where they can save the wretched, and tend to those down on their luck. They take in stragglers of many creeds and colors, including the last few Enclave remnants. Despite the historic name of the place, there are no serious fortifications—just fences and gates with a few armed Followers inside."
(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide faction profiles) - ↑ "The Followers of the Apocalypse: Libertarians, socialists, communists, or greens?"
Joshua Sawyer: "They vary significantly, but range from anarcho-syndicatists to socialists to communists. Their general tendency to be inclusive and non-hierarchical means they don't have a single outlook or 'platform.'"
Josh Sawyer Formspring answers - ↑ Fallout Official Survival Guide p.154: "Followers of the Apocalypse: The Followers are former hippies who migrated here from San Diego. They believe in peace."
- ↑ Fallout Official Survival Guide p. 84: "The Followers of the Apocalypse: A small group of peace-lovers from San Diego. They are enemies of the Children of the Cathedral, and may provide help and information to the player."
- ↑ Fallout Bible: Question: "Another thing. While FO1 ending animation suggests Hub is destroyed, it still seems to exist. Has it been rebuilt, or did it survive, no matter what was said in FO1 ending? In latter case, is there a chance Followers of Apocalypse also survive?'"
Answer: "The Hub survived F1, and last word was the Followers of the Apocalypse also survived, using their knowledge to help the Blades of New Adytum." - ↑ Joshua Sawyer: "At least in Fallout: New Vegas, I think it's easier to find fault in what they don't do than in what they do. They tend so much toward anti-authoritarianism that they have weak internal hierarchies and a lack of clear or unified direction. In the White Wash, Anderson's activities may or may not have been noted by other Followers, but even if they were, he doesn't have a "boss" and the Followers don't have any commonly accepted methods for dealing with rogue agents. Similarly, when Edward Sallow became Caesar, he essentially just sent Bill Calhoun away and there wasn't anything he or the other Followers were prepared to do about it. In the F:NV endings where the Followers wind up with a lot of responsibility, their tendency to over-commit, and their lack of efficient organization result in a lot of problems. Even though they heavily distrust NCR, they are only able to provide adequate services in Freeside in an ending where NCR maintains control of the Mojave."
(Josh Sawyer on Formspring) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas 10th Anniversary Charity Stream (reference starts at 3:12:32)
Joshua Sawyer: "'Any plans for a communist faction in New Vegas?' No, the Followers of the Apocalypse are probably the most 'left' you could get. And they're more like social-dem, I would say, personally."
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