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The historic Mothman Museum, referred to as the Wise One's Museum by the Enlightened,[1] is an unmarked location in the Appalachian town of Point Pleasant in Fallout 76.

Background[]

Pre-War[]

The Mothman Museum was dedicated to the Mothman, Appalachia's most famous cryptid.[Non-game 1][Non-game 2] Mothman appearances were believed to be an indicator of imminent danger. A cult dedicated to the Mothman gathered in a root cellar beneath the museum, which was converted into a church.

Jeff Lane worked here. He had a key to the bathroom which leads to the hidden church.[2]

On October 21, 2077, an unknown preacher called mass, announcing his intention to perform a ritual to summon their benefactor, hoping to be warned of a coming danger.[3] A member named Brother Charles believed he saw the Mothman, which warned him of a flood, and commanded the cult to seek high ground or die. The following day, the preacher communicated this omen to the congregation, and declared that the faithful must stand on the rooftops of Point Pleasant.[4] However, many of the cultists ultimately fled to the inactive Lucky Hole Mine, located on a cliff across the state. Jeff Lane remained in Point Pleasant.[5]

Post-War[]

Before the Wastelanders update, there was little evidence of cultist activity on the surface of Point Pleasant, save for a single grotesquely rearranged skeleton laid out on a table by the water. Mothman eggs could be found nearby, as well as near the Mothman statue. In the chapel beneath the museum, ritual bindings and totems could be found, as well as totems fashioned from human remains and gas masks.

The Responders lived in Point Pleasant for some time during the pre-Plague period, and left no obvious evidence of activity within the museum. They were ultimately driven south during the Scorched Plague. When the dwellers of Vault 76 found the museum in 2102, it was infested with scorched creatures. Additionally, the door between the bathroom and the chapel had apparently been broken down.

Point Pleasant was reclaimed by the Followers of the Winged One in 2103. They constructed cultist totems throughout the town, and cultivated rampant vines throughout, re-shaping its layout. Cultists can be found in the Mothman Museum, as well as the locked chapel beneath it. The pre-War sermons remain on the pulpit.

In 2104, the Enlightened constructed a throne on top of the museum, which serves as the center of their seasonal Equinox festival.

Layout[]

The Museum stands to the left of a small pavilion, dominated by a large statue of the Mothman. The building can be entered via either of two locked doors (Picklock 1 at the front, Picklock 0 at the rear). It can also be unlocked with the Mothman Museum key, located in Jeff Lane's apartment nearby. The first floor consists of the main museum area with Mothman posters on the walls, display cabinets with various junk items, and a serving desk. There is also a miniature statue of the Mothman in one of the front window display cabinets.

At the back of the room is a locked (Picklock 2) restroom door. This can be unlocked with Jeff Lane's bathroom key, which can be found in Rich Wilson's home, located up the hill from Wilson Brother's Auto Repair on the other side of the Forest. The bathroom conceals a stairway, behind a room divider. There was once a door between the bathroom and the stairway, but it has been knocked out of its frame and left on the floor. There is a clothed male mannequin within the staircase.

The basement was apparently once a small unfinished storeroom, but a hole has been knocked through a partition wall, leading to a hidden cellar-church. Cult statues are dotted around the drape-covered walls, and church pews line a carpeted central aisle. There are candlelit altars at either end of the room, and a wooden lectern with two readable sermons on it at the main end. Another hole in the wall leads to a small room with an armchair, I.V. drip, wheelchair, and a locked safe (Picklock 3) next to a set of ritual bindings and matching mask.

The upper floor can be accessed from the ground level via a set of stairs. The upper floor is comprised of a small partitioned office, store cupboard, a tinker's workbench, general storage space, and the back door at the rear which leads outside.

Notable loot[]

Notes[]

  • Very rarely, a skittish mothman can be seen standing at the door, peering inside.
  • There are triangles scratched into all of the totems in the basement. The central figure has a small triangle assembled from twigs on its chest. There is also a metal triangle on the wall in the stairwell, which bears an arrow pointing to the church.
  • A mounted stingwing and botanical plants poster can be seen mounted on the wall behind the cash register. Both are post-War goods, and both were added in Wild Appalachia, the first content update for Fallout 76.
  • The totems and plant growth in the chapel were present when the Vault 76 dwellers found it in 2102. It is unclear if these elements were present pre-War. When the Followers reclaimed Point Pleasant in 2103, they spread these elements throughout the town, and the chapel environment was not adjusted.
    • The grisly shrine found by the waterfront in 2102 indicates cultist activity in Point Pleasant prior to Reclamation Day.
  • 76 Moth church pulpit
    The pre-War sermons remain on the pulpit of the hidden chapel. Given that the Followers of the Winged One are a contiguous group who still worship the red-eyed Mothman,[6] and that they seem to discuss pre-War media at the chapel within the Lucky Hole Mine,[7] it would track for them to discuss these historic sermons.

Appearances[]

Mothman Museum appears only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Jeff Wamsley with John Keel

    Jeff Wamsley with John Keel.

    This location is based on the real-life Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and has a statue depicting the local mythical creature. An annual festival takes place to honor the legend of the Mothman.
    • The museum contains an exhibit dedicated to the works of John Keel, author of The Mothman Prophecies. It also features an exhibit for Mary Hyre, who features prominently in the book, and an exhibit for the 2002 film adaptation.
    • Bethesda worked directly with the museum to promote the game in 2018. The store has sold Fallout merchandise ever since.
    • The character Jeff Lane may be named after the real-life owner of the museum, Jeff Wamsley, who was contacted by Bethesda to promote Fallout 76.
    • 76 Mothman Museum Jeremy
      Upon seeing the area in-game, Wamsley took note of a skeleton with a cigarette near the museum, which struck him as unmistakably resembling an employee, Jeremy, who would frequently chain-smoke outside the establishment at the time.
  • The statue resembles the real-life statue very closely, except that the real statue has arms, while the in-game statue appears to have wings for arms. The in-game version comports more closely with first-hand descriptions of the Mothman.
  • Evan Miller next to Mothman statue
    The Note from Miller found in the adjacent pavilion is a tribute to Evan Miller, a Fallout fan who passed away on June 8, 2018. A friend of his, Zack Berry, created a petition asking Bethesda Softworks to honor him.[Non-game 3] It caught the attention of Bethesda Vice President Pete Hines, who corresponded with Zack and other friends of Evan's about how to best honor his memory in the game. The shotgun ammo mentioned in the note is a nod to the last gift Zack received from Evan: two boxes of 12 gauge buckshot ammunition. Evan's online handle was "Limbless Cadaver," hence the name Evan "Limbless" Miller.
    • Evan was once photographed at the statue, smiling in a Vault Boy shirt, at the right hand of the Mothman. The Note from Miller is found where he stood.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Observer Errol: "The Interpreter needs you. Speak with him on the roof of the Wise One's Museum."
    (Observer Errol's dialogue)
  2. The note Wilson's Bros. garage indicates that the church key found at the garage belonged to Jeff.
  3. Sermon: Summoning the Mothman
  4. Sermon: Impending doom
  5. Interloper
  6. Exodus
  7. Randomized science magazine or pulp novel on the pulpit in the First Priestess' burial chamber.

Non-game

  1. Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide p. 294: "ZONE B: NORTHWEST FOREST AND POINT PLEASANT"
    "This sliver of the Forest follows the winding Ohio River, the western boundary of Appalachia, and is mainly comprised of wooded and mountainous terrain. It is more remote and has fewer large settlements, with the exception of Point Pleasant, where a strange band of cultists have started to worship a possibly apocryphal shadow creation known as the Mothman."
    (Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Atlas of Appalachia)
  2. Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide pp. 300–301: "27. POINT PLEASANT"
    "Point Pleasant is home to the Mothman Museum and the adjacent statue. Its recent past has seen it change hands from a Raider to a Responder camp, though the current inhabitants are Scorchers and some mutated and unpleasant wildlife. Expect a number of inaccessible dwellings, upper rooftops with ramps, and bridges connecting them to narrow interiors, allowing for you to dodge violence as well as explore. Clear the rooftops of ScorchersIn-game spelling, punctuation and/or grammar first, before venturing into structures and finally securing the town. Don't forget to search for "The Mothman Cometh" holotapes (parts 1 and 2), and observe the worrying sacrificial display by the river. Check the church for the remains of a Responders triage center. Attempt to enter the Mothman Museum via either the locked front door (1) or the rear upper back door (0); then unlock the toilet door (2), which leads to a secret staircase into the basement, where true cultist horrors await!"
    (Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Atlas of Appalachia)
  3. Put a tribute to Evan Miller in Fallout 76 - Change.org
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