Bighorners of the Eastern Virgin is a side quest in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: Bighorners of the Eastern Virgin | |||||||||||||
| Advance Arrival at Zion to recruit Follows-Chalk as a companion; ask about the local wildlife of Zion Canyon. | |||||||||||||
| Navigate the cliff trails near the Dead Horses camp to find the lost bighorner calf. | |||||||||||||
| Optional: Avoid killing any wild bighorners. | |||||||||||||
| Feed the lost calf banana yucca fruit to lead it back to its mother. | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Follows-Chalk. | |||||||||||||
| Reward: Variable XP .45 Auto pistol 10 .45 Auto, hollow point rounds War club | |||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
After meeting him for the first time during Arrival at Zion, if Follows-Chalk is an active companion, the player character can ask him about interesting wildlife in Zion. He then mentions the herds of bighorners that roam the canyon, though notes some of them have seemed agitated lately and assumes one of the young calves got separated from its family and requests the Courier help to locate it. Chalk additionally asks that they try and leave the herd itself unscathed as the Dead Horses rely on them for meat and pelts.
Once triggered, head to Dead Horses camp east-southeast of the Eastern Virgin marker and go up the rocky slope found to the east of the camp. After maneuvering across the river over three rock bridges, one will find the lost mountain bighorner calf at the end of a narrow gorge opposite from the end of the last bridge.
Banana yucca fruit, a favorite treat of bighorners
Getting the calf to follow the player character requires feeding it a banana yucca fruit. One will need at least 3-4 individual banana yucca fruits (there are at least three banana yucca plants along the route) as the calf periodically stops and has to be fed another before it will continue. Each feeding gets the calf to follow for around 10 seconds before needing another.
In order to complete the optional part of the quest, one must not get too close to any of the other bighorners found in areas along the path to the calf's grotto, otherwise they will attack. Sneaking past with a Stealth Boy will also prevent the bighorners from attacking. Alternatively, taking the Animal Friend perk will completely eliminate this risk as even the adult bighorners will remain non-hostile even in close quarters.
With the calf in tow, return back across the rock bridges to the first bighorner encountered, which is the calf's mother. One will then get a message prompting a choice to return the calf or keep it. There is no advantage to the latter choice, so it is advisable to ignore it in favor of the former. Afterward, speak to Follows-Chalk again to complete the quest and garner a reward of a perfect-condition .45 Auto pistol and war club and 10 .45 Auto HP rounds. If any bighorners were killed by the Courier in the process of completing the quest, Follows-Chalk will still give the reward but expresses his regret that their lives were lost. If no bighorners are killed, he will be happy and the XP for the quest will be 25% higher.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- The bighorner calf can fall off the rocks; while immune to damage, this still makes its pathfinding route difficult to reconcile.
- It is possible for a bighorner to stray into the Dead Horses camp, where the NPCs may kill it if it becomes aggressive and cause the optional objective to fail.
- Similarly, a giant cazador may appear and attack the bighorners.
- Occasionally, a Dead Horses tribe member may also wander up the path leading to the bighorners herd and attack if they become aggressive.
- If the bighorner mountain mother is killed before starting the quest, it can still be successfully completed by returning the calf and then talking to Follows-Chalk.
- Occasionally, a bighorner may wander into a narrow pathway, causing issues especially when trying to go around it.
Bugs[]
Sometimes the calf will not follow the player character even if they offer it banana yucca fruit.[verified]- Even if the bighorners were only angered and not killed, Follows-Chalk will still express regret as though their lives were lost.[verification overdue]
Gallery[]
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