Lake Quannapowitt is a location in the Commonwealth in 2287.
Background
A once popular tourist location, Lake Quannapowitt was heavily polluted by radioactive particles and heavy metals; nearby industries (like the General Atomics factory, the Saugus Ironworks and the Corvega assembly plant) were suspected to be the source.[1] However, it was actually Mass Fusion.[2] The Nahant Oceanological Society verified the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources' findings[3] and it was urged on June 25 that the mayor of Boston cancel the annual July 4th bass fishing tournament.[1] The 2077 tournament was being sponsored by General Atomics International as a promotion for their new galleria.[4]
It was only after this tournament in which 27 individuals suffered illness after exposure to the lake, a boat sank and the two survivors had to be treated for radiation burns that the lake was closed to the public.[1] The survivors and families of the Lake Quannapowitt incident filed suit on the city on July 16, and a legal notice was distributed by J. Richard Thorndike, City Attorney. The notice was a legal directive to preserve documents relating to the lawsuit. Although officially they declared that the suit was "baseless and without merit," that the "City Attorney's office [was] committed to a fair and impartial legal process" and they extended their official "condolences to the victims of this terrible tragedy," they knew the truth, simply that they allowed the incident to happen due to negligence. A copy of said legal notice at the monitoring station beside the lake has J.T.'s personal handwriting to wipe the terminal to dispose of the evidence, making this also a case for conspiracy charges.[5] Two centuries later, the lake is only suitable for mirelurks, bloodbugs and bloatflies.[6]
Layout
The lake is small and littered with hostile creatures. On the west bank, there is a Department of Water building guarded by some mirelurks. Inside there is a terminal which indicates that the lake is highly irradiated and has been so since before the Great War. The northeast edge of the lake has a small boat ramp and a couple of picnic tables, where a fishing tournament ad can be found. To the north is a bridge, where random encounters may occur. A pair of streams feed into the east side of the lake and host many bloodleaf plants.
One of the streams leads to a nest of mirelurk eggs inside the sewage pipe underneath the truck with the partially overturned boat. To the east is radio tower 3SM-U81 which can be accessed by following the road, patrolled heavily by mirelurks. The lake also has a sort of billabong off to the east side. At the center of the lake, there are numerous barrels of radioactive waste. Along the perimeter are several boats and ski-doos, indicating that the water level in the lake was higher in the past. The lake also hides several containers below the surface.
Notable loot
- Fishing tournament ad - On a picnic table at the boat launch near the green glowing mushrooms on the northern shore.
- A legal notice and another fishing tournament ad on the desk inside of the monitoring station on the northwest shore.
Notes
- The water is highly irradiated, as noted in a nearby terminal, due to excessive dumping. With that said, since the "Aquaboy" perk only negates the small dosage of rads from the water itself and not any other sort of contaminants, it will only slightly lessen the high amount of Rads, which increase towards the center, peaking near 120 Rads on Survival difficulty.
- The lake is mentioned regarding the rise of the radiation and toxicity of a fish sample by over 15 times from the previous year, in the Nahant Oceanological Society terminal entries. Well over safe levels for swimming according to the report being returned to the colleague requesting the testing of the Lake Quannapowitt fish.
- When at this location, companions make comments.[clarification needed]
| Location comments | |
|---|---|
| Character | Comment |
| Cait | "We go skinny dippin' in there, things might start fallin' off." |
| Codsworth | "Sir/Mum, I'm picking up dangerously high levels of radiation. Best not linger here if you value your health." |
| Curie | "" |
| Danse | "I recommend against entering that lake. The radiation levels are dangerously high." |
| Deacon | "Lake Q has hard rads. Unless we're planning on chugging RadAway, let's not." |
| John Hancock | "You spend too long in here, you're gonna come out looking like me. Though you would make a hell of a Ghoul." |
| Nick Valentine | "A dunk in here's a quick way to up your rad count." |
| Piper Wright | "Not sure this is the place to take an extended dip." |
| Preston Garvey | That does not look like a good place for a swim.|A warning / Concerned}" |
| Robert MacCready | I hope you're not thinking of swimming in that mess." |
| X6-88 | "That water is heavily irradiated. We should keep away from it." |
Appearances
Lake Quannapowitt appears only in Fallout 4.
Behind the scenes
There is a real Lake Quannapowitt located in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a suburban town to the north of Boston. The lake is emptied by the Saugus River. The toxic waste dump echoes a real problem with pollution the lake has faced historically.
Gallery
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lake Quannapowitt terminal entries; monitoring station terminal, Water Quality Incident Reports
- ↑ The pipe with the northward flowing, glowing, radioactive waste at Mass Fusion containment shed.
- ↑ Nahant Oceanological Society terminal entries; research terminal, Samples from Lake Quannapowitt
- ↑ Fishing tournament ad
- ↑ Legal notice
- ↑ Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition p.275: "[2.02] LAKE QUANNAPOWITT
Suffering from a pollution problem even before the current inhospitable living conditions, this remote lake provides habitat for Mirelurks and a few airborne bugs. If you must swim, dive into the northern part of the lake where a sunken rowboat yields a steamer trunk of goods."
(Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map)