The Dead Horses are a tribe living in Zion Canyon in 2281.
Background
According to New Canaanite research, the tribe known as Dead Horses is composed of the descendants of refugees from Res, east of the Grand Canyon, specifically American citizens, Native Americans, European tourists and other groups.[1] Over the generations, they developed a distinct tribal identity, at the expense of their technological powers, and their own language: a combination of Res and tongue spoken by Res' visitors.[2] By 2281, they are living at the Dead Horse Point State Park.[3]
Much of their combat prowess and ability at that point comes from Joshua Graham, who taught them how to use firearms, basic tactics, how to maintain their rare pre-War equipment.[4] Graham visited them once, as a Legate of Caesar. The second visit came when Graham returned to New Canaan after being humiliated by Caesar.[5][6] Joshua decided to help the Dead Horses again after New Canaan's destruction. Graham became their acting war chief, which proved especially advantageous in their conflict with the White Legs. He convinced a large group of them to migrate from Dead Horse Point to Zion Canyon to help the Sorrows.
Society
Their tribe is located at Dead Horse Point in the Eastern Virgin. Most of the Dead Horses are designated as scouts. The full-fledged scouts occasionally leave chalk murals and pictographs to guide the less experienced ones during reconnaissance or to lead warriors to good hunting grounds.
The Dead Horses are individualistic in the way that they govern their personal lives. They are democratic in matters concerning the tribe as a whole. Usually, the only decisions made autocratically are those regarding conflicts with outside groups. In this sphere, Joshua Graham has been given complete authority to dictate the actions of tribal warriors in times of war. Joshua stated he desired little to do with the way the tribe conducted its personal matters, believing that there may be better men whose example should be followed than his own.
With the exception of Follows-Chalk, the Dead Horses believe that pre-War areas are taboo and are marked as such with white handprints.[7][8] The majority of the tribe have no desire to leave Zion Canyon for the outer wasteland as they feel they have a duty to protect their home. They hunt bighorners for food, marking themselves with tattoos to commemorate when they hunt and special occasions, like if a youth go on his first hunt or should a hunter kill large prey,[9] but are very mindful of the environment and the animals of Zion knowing not to over hunt any prey too much.
Characters
Notable
Military
Traditional Dead Horses war club
While the Dead Horses maintain offensive and defensive capabilities collectively, it can't be said they possess a designated wartime force. Though the tribe does have warriors who are specifically armed and trained for the purpose of combat, they primarily act as hunters. The tribe also has a separate branch of scouts, but again, their talents (while widely applicable) are more often utilized for the more practical matters of exploration and locating game. These scouts can be found all over Zion Canyon, and often in pairs. The Dead Horses use .45 Auto pistols as a standard firearm, though many are armed with supplementary war clubs[10] which are decorated with .45 caliber shell casings in reverence of Joshua Graham.[11] When the Courier reaches Zion Canyon, Joshua Graham is ready to lead the Dead Horses in the extermination of the White Legs, despite Daniel, who voices his concern for the fate as well as the relative innocence of the tribes.
Relations with the outside
The majority of the Dead Horse tribe has no desire to explore the rest of the wasteland, and they tend to stay away from the "taboo" pre-War buildings. Caesar's Legion came to Zion Canyon before the First Battle of Hoover Dam and attempted to court their tribe, under orders from Joshua Graham. They remained here until Joshua Graham returned from Hoover Dam and became the acting war chief of their tribe. While they are on good terms with the Sorrows tribe, they are currently at odds with the White Legs, who are trying to exterminate both the Sorrows and Dead Horses.[12]
The Happy Trails Caravan Company has attempted to make contact with the Mormons at New Canaan by passing through Zion Canyon. The Dead Horses know little about the New Canaanites apart from the few missionaries they send out.[13] At one point, the Lonesome Drifter arrived in Zion and told the Dead Horse tribe of the wasteland outside of Zion. Other than this, the Dead Horse tribe are fairly reclusive and tend to be wary of outsiders.
Language
The Dead Horses, like most Zion tribals, speak a pidgin language. Their language is based on English, Dutch, German and Navajo, although the morphology of the Navajo is unrecognizable.[14][15]
A more "detailed" list of the language can be found here. Joshua Graham believes it to be a combination of the language spoken in a place that the Dead Horses call "Res" in their simplified tongue, and languages spoken by tourists who were stranded in Utah and Arizona in the aftermath of the Great War.
Their language seems to have developed or evolved from a bizarre mix of English, Dutch and German, cf. zookuh "seek, look for," hoi "hello," utman "outlander" (Dutch zoeken, hoi, uit-man), owslandr "outlander, foreigner, stranger," dahs "that," deer "you," warum "why," Shtairb "die," toht "dead," Shaiss "shit" (German Ausländer, das, dir, warum, stirb, tot, Scheiße).
It can thus be classified as a new and distinct Germanic language.
Examples of words and phrases
- "Goot."– Good (day).
- "Yah ah tahg."– Hello.
- "Hoi!"– Hi!
- "No tsaig tuh beh dah a hih jih gahni a meer."– Don't point weapons at me.
- "Stahp dahs pleez."– Stop that please.
- "Ah del tahi, bahm buh, ya?"– Explosive, bomb, yes?
- "A bil he neh fuhr jahd thli gai! Heh he!"– A warning for white legs! Heh he!
- "Nih mah sih!"– Grenade!
- "Bahm buh!"– Bomb!
- "Lah."– Fine.
- "Varoom? Stahp!"– Why?! Stop!
- "Nah ash ne wit deer!"– I'm playing with you!
- "Shtairb!"– Die!
- "Glahb ni kahn meer dah ah?!"– Think you can fight me?!
- "Shaiss!"– Shit!
- "Eh hahj!"– Look out!
- "Roo too nait, ahk iss."– Rest tonight, my friend!
- "No! Neekt ni!"– No! Not you!
- "Naymst dees!"– Take this!
- "Koh bahm buh!"– Fire bomb!
- "Geh bits ah!"– Get away!
- "Chin dee!"– Devil!
- "Dahs wur bahd."– That was bad.
- "Ow wah!"– Ouch!
- "No! Shtay len tahbah mah ee."– No! Thieving raccoon.
- "Bey haz oh neekt!"– It's not allowed!
- "Shih zookuh ta tee..."– I'm still searching...
- "Voh ni ar?"– Where are you?
- "Ni ar heer?"– Are you here?
- "Shoah!"– Look!
- "Shih finn deh deer!"– "I found you!"
- "Hah go!"– Come here!
- "Huh. Neekts."– Huh, nothing.
- "Gey gonen."– Gone.
- "Yee nad loo shee!"– Skinwalker!
- "Guhst fair schvoond!"– Just disappeared!
- "Fair flick!"– Damned!
- "Goot keel, ahk iss."– Good kill, my friend.
- "Shih zhah neh hoyta!"– I'm lucky today!
- "Goot nah nish."– Good work.
- "Ee sists ah."– I am listening.
- "Dah tse ni ar gey gonen."– Maybe you're gone.
- "Voh ni ar?"– Where are you?
- "No, ni kahn neekt ruhn!"– No, you can't run!
- "Dahs eet!"– That's it!
- "Ni ar toht!"– You're dead!
- "Shih ahm fair tig es zookuh."– I am done searching.
- "Yideets oh etvass."– I hear something.
- "Vass?"– What?
- "Nish eh."– I'm taking a look.
- "Jahd thli gai!"– White Legs!
- "Ahl tah jeh jey!"– Attack!
- "Sohl tyeh!"– Let's go!
- "Dah ah hi meer!"– Fight me!
Endings
| # | Slide | Voice-over narration | In-game condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Having revered Joshua Graham as a living legend for so many years, the Dead Horses found it difficult to accept his death. New Canaanite missionaries sought to remain in contact with the tribe, but lacking Joshua's authority, their influence dwindled. Still, as an expression of enduring respect for their lost spiritual leader, the Dead Horses helped protect the lands where New Canaanites settled. As generations passed, the Dead Horses came to worship a spirit of the land, a harsh spirit of divine justice. They called it Joshua.  |
Kill Joshua Graham. |
| 2 | |
Having helped Daniel and the Sorrows escape from Zion, the Dead Horses returned to their home at Dead Horse Point. The tribe continued to learn from the New Canaanites, and over many years built a flourishing community along the banks of the Colorado. Though the tribes' bond would endure, it was Joshua Graham's legend the Dead Horses would revere, not the tenets of New Canaan's faith. |
Help Daniel evacuate Zion. |
| 3 | |
Having helped eradicate the White Legs from Zion, the Dead Horses returned to Dead Horse Point in triumph. They remained neutral toward the Sorrows, but as years went on, there were periods of competitive friction, even violence, between the tribes. The New Canaanites - Daniel especially - intervened regularly as mediators, but found it difficult to reconcile the tribes' conflicts. |
Help Joshua crush the White Legs. |
Notes
- When found roaming Zion Valley, the Dead Horses are not attacked by nor do they attack mutated creatures such as yao guai or green geckos.
- Even if the player character helps the Dead Horses eradicate the White Legs and works with Joshua Graham to complete Honest Hearts, the Dead Horses may be hostile upon the player character's return to Zion Canyon.
- According to Joshua, the tribe's signature weapon is the war club.
Appearances
The Dead Horses appear only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts.
Behind the scenes
In the first design docs for HH, every tribe was supposed to have members from all of the F3/FNV ethnic groups. However, there was a complicating factor: body art. The various tattoos and body paints we needed to texture the bodies multiplied the number of required textures. They couldn’t simply be layered on (as they can in F4), but were entirely new body textures that dramatically increased the amount of texture memory being used. For that reason, each tribe wound up having only one body texture per sex. This compressed their ethnicities into homogenized blends, with Dead Horses being a darker tan, Sorrows a light tan, and White Legs (under the body paint) fairly pale.
As a minor point, Daniel was specifically supposed to be (and was, in data, for most of development) Asian. I don’t know when, how, or why he was switched to Caucasian, but that’s how he shipped. It’s frustrating, because those changes slot Joshua and Daniel as white guys among (mostly) brown folk when 1) they weren’t supposed to be white guys and 2) the tribes were specifically called out as ethnically and culturally mixed without any real-world analogues.
Regarding the “natives as aesthetic” criticism, the patterns we used for the three tribes’ body art are not based on any current or historical native American body art (AFAIK). There are in-fiction explanations for each tribe’s specific choices. The White Legs initially colored themselves white to blend into the Great Salt Lake (where they are from) and they dread their hair out of reverence for Ulysses. The Sorrows use the river pattern to reflect their suffering and their connection to the Virgin River in Zion. The Dead Horses mark various accomplishments on their skin and decorate their clubs with .45 shells out of their respect for Joshua Graham.”— Joshua Eric Sawyer, Frog Helms Fan ClubReferences
- ↑ J.E. Sawyer: "Some of the original Dead Horses were Native Americans, but the group overall is supposed to be a mix of NAs, European tourists, and random American citizens."
- ↑ The Courier: "Do they speak... our language?"
Joshua Graham: "Most don't. It's been hundreds of years since the war. They've developed their own languages. Take the Dead Horses. We think they were originally refugees from a place called "Res," east of the Grand Canyon. They speak a combination of Res and a language spoken by travelers who were visiting Res when the bombs fell. Over time, the two languages blended. I was a translator years ago, but it's hard to keep up with all of the tribal variations."
(Joshua Graham's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Tell me about your tribe."
Follows-Chalk: "We came up in the Land of the Dead Horse, though why the Back When folks called it that I got no hint. We raided, we fought... we lost. Our enemies drove us back into Zion, and we would have died if it hadn't been for Joshua. Joshua, and his Caesar."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What did Joshua do for you?"
Follows-Chalk: "If it wasn't for Joshua, the Dead Horses would still be the whipping boys of the Zion Valley. He taught us how to hold our territory, to protect ourselves. He guided us away from Caesar, and showed us how Caesar would have destroyed us."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Do you remember anything about Joshua from before he became your leader?"
Follows-Chalk: "Only a little - I was very young. He was... different. Prouder, yes, but harder, crueler, more driven. Really, I was terrified of him. We all were. When he came back, I almost didn't believe he was the same man. He was humbler. He wanted to protect, not destroy."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Wait, what about Caesar?"
Follows-Chalk: "When Joshua first came to us, he was servant to a man he called Caesar. He led his master's armies, and we were ready to follow him into war. Then he lost his master's army to a tribe called Enseeyar, the Sunset People. When he returned, he was as you saw him - burned, broken, but changed. He led us away from Caesar, led us to our own destiny in Zion."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What taboo places?"
Follows-Chalk: "Lots of them around the valley - places built by the folk from Back When. You'll know them when you see them - scouts mark them with hand prints. The hand prints are a warning to keep out - angry ghosts live inside. Not that I believe in angry ghosts. They're just spooky old places. Right?"
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ Follows-Chalk: "See those handprints? Dead Horses and Sorrows mark them on taboo places, places from Back When. Good thing for you I don't buy into that stuff."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What are all those tattoos?"
Follows-Chalk: "Dead Horses mark ourselves to commemorate our hunts. When a hunter takes a great beast, or when a youth goes on his first hunt, he gets a tattoo."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Nice guns."
Joshua Graham: "In the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau, all tribes are known for a specific weapon. White Legs are known for their big submachine guns, "storm drums." They broke into an armory near Spanish Fork and have been using them for years. Of course, the Dead Horses have their wooden war clubs and even the Sorrows have their Yao Guai gauntlets. This type of .45 Automatic pistol was designed by one of my tribe almost four hundred years ago. Learning its use is a New Canaanite rite of passage."
(Joshua Graham's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What's with the shell casings in your club?"
Follows-Chalk: "We decorate our clubs with them to honor Joshua Graham. They were the weapons of his old tribe, so now they are ours. Can't say they seem that dangerous to me, but Joshua says they "won the West.""
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Why is it so important that we fight the White Legs?"
Follows-Chalk: "Well... because they're our enemies. What else would we do? They take our land, they kill our scouts, they poach our hunting grounds."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What do you know about the New Canaanites?"
Follows-Chalk: "Little bit. I met some of their missionaries a few times, but I've never been to their city. Joshua could tell you more - or Daniel, I imagine."
(Follows-Chalk's dialogue) - ↑ J.E. Sawyer on Formspring
- ↑ Language information
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