Radiant Hills is a location in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia in Fallout 76, introduced in the Ghoul Within update.
The settlement is the headquarters of the Revenants and is populated solely by ghouls. Its exterior consists of a small industrial facility on top of an inoperative missile silo, while its interior is the silo itself, renovated by the Revenants. Radiant Hills connects to the nearby hillside cavern, which has a segment of the silo in its interior.
Background[]
Radiant Hills is a settlement built on top of and within a nuclear missile silo in the northern hills of the Savage Divide in Appalachia. Like some other silos in the Appalachian region, there were discreet, unobtrusive buildings on the property, masking an elevator into the silo, though the area was still fenced-off and marked as U.S. government property, with a hatch for the missiles nearby.
Before the Great War, the silo was staffed by service members in the United States Armed Forces, including a general.[1] There was also a small team of scientists on-site, who possessed some chemicals from elsewhere, although their work was not a full-scale research operation.[2][3] On the day the bombs dropped in 2077, a nuclear warhead in the silo malfunctioned, failed to launch and cracked open, leaking radiation. This left the silo inoperable and forced an evacuation of the facility. However, the general's daughter, Parthenia Blankenship, had been residing in the silo while immobilized by childhood illness, and she was left behind in the evacuation.[4]
Now alone in a non-functioning nuke silo, Parthenia scoured through the military documentation and laboratory equipment that had been left behind. She discovered that one of the chemicals had regenerative powers when applied to the human body. Her investigation into this mysterious chemical eventually led her to tap into the process of ghoulification.[3] She voluntarily became a ghoul herself following this research,[3] and developed a method to spur on and even expedite ghoulification. By 2105, this process involves the synthesis of the chemical's base formula with irradiated ore to stimulate a reaction in the human body, delivered via inhaler. The inactive nuclear warhead at the silo is emitting radiation, and a heavy dose from exposure to its chamber quickens the process of becoming a ghoul, in conjunction with the inhaler's reaction in the body.[5][6]
Although she was cooped up in the silo for many years,[7] Parthenia was not alone there forever. A group of ghouls known as the Revenants were seeking a more permanent home for themselves after losing one of their co-founders, Elmira. An inactive, highly-irradiated missile silo was perfect for a community of ghouls, and they founded the settlement of Radiant Hills.[8] The Revenants have built up defenses in Radiant Hills and worked on new structures, turning the settlement into a well-protected area. They have received help from Regular Debbie to accomplish this as she leads their construction efforts, despite not being one of the Revenants herself.[9][10] Ernie Navarro tends to their garden, creating a sustainable, irradiated food source conducive to ghouls' flexible diets.[11]
The faction has since grown to include more ghouls seeking refuge at Radiant Hills, with Parthenia in particular hoping to create more ghouls using her ghoulification process.[12] The Revenants use Radiant Hills as their headquarters and home base from which they plan raids on outsiders, attempting to survive separated from the outside world, under the leadership of Maddox Mullen and Kevan Asherton.[13] The latter provides combat training to the Revenants while on the premises.[14] To draw in ghouls for their membership, the Revenants have disseminated a rumor in Appalachia regarding a "radiation specialist" in the mountains to the north,[15][16] though its usage has been controversial.[17]
Layout[]
Exterior[]
The entrance to Radiant Hills is at the end of a wilderness trail in the northern Savage Divide; the main path also connects to the hillside cavern and the Bullengrube. Various signs along the path warn to keep out of federal government property, and the trail passes by several radioactive hotspots, including a sealed runoff pipe with radioactive barrels spilled in a pool there. At the entrance to the settlement, there are large wooden towers surrounding a chain-link fence gate, providing access to the town. Some utility protectrons roam around here. The complex of lookout towers at the entrance is accessible, and contains several junk items, ammo boxes and an armor workbench. Automated turrets are also set up on nearby platforms.
Venturing further into the settlement, there are many radioactive barrels stored throughout the exterior area. In the center of camp is a cooking station with baskets of fish nearby. To the south is a fortified concrete building that contains many disassembled robot parts, some consoles, and various containers to loot. To the right of this building's entrance is a storage area lit by a fire barrel and lantern. Some gardening supplies are contained here, as well. They are kept for the crops growing behind the building on the adjacent cliffs. None of the crops can be taken, but they include normal plants, as well as several variants of nuked flora, which thrive here due to the radiation. To the west underneath some wooden ceilings and supports, there is a weapons workbench and power armor station.
Past the cooking station and the first concrete building is a brick storage building with collapsed outer walls, allowing easy access into the building. The elevator to access the missile silo interior down below is at the center of this building. There is also a metal staircase leading up to a series of catwalks for a small upper level of the building, above the elevator. Various generic Revenants roam around this area; Ernie Navarro is found around the aforementioned concrete building and its garden, while Regular Debbie is found near the western entrance.
Heading east, there is another concrete building, although this one has a deactivated radio tower on top of it. This communications building has less junk items to loot, although there is a gated storage area with three ammo boxes (two of them are locked with Picklock levels of 0 and 2), as well as a duffle bag.
There is another lookout tower on the eastern edge of the settlement, with a weapons workbench, tool case and cabinets underneath it. There is a small broken fence and a bear trap here indicating the end of the eastern side of Radiant Hills; a waterfall with a crashed vertibird can be accessed beyond these bounds.
Another, higher-elevated section of Radiant Hills can be accessed by heading northeast from the entrance and its lookout towers. There is another brick building here with significant damage, though there are no items in it to loot. Continuing east, one will find the giant hatch door of the missile silo from which an ICBM would emerge if the facility was not broken and inactive. On top of the hatch, several rocks and flowers have been placed as a shrine to Revenants co-founder Elmira. Across from the hatch is the shooting range used by Kevan Asherton for combat training; Kevan himself can also be found here after completion of Leap of Faith.
To the north, there is a rock wall where a wooden, scaffolding-like complex has been built with stairs to provide access to the top of the rocks. At the top of this cliff, a destroyed brick building has been built over with wooden walls for a new home. Although there are fences here indicating the northern end of the settlement, there are nearby trails littered with more radioactive barrels. To the east, there is a small shack built against another rock wall, and the building is occupied by one of the Revenants.
Interior[]
After taking the elevator down into the missile silo, there are various shelves and consoles to the left and right. Continuing down the hallway, the settlement's med bay is off to the north; after completion of A Fresh Pair of Genes, it is occupied by Revenants leader Maddox Mullen, though there are no active patients. There is a door in the clinic leading east, into the reactor area.
Heading west from the clinic opens up into the large, central common area of the missile silo. A map of the facility is drawn in chalk on a wall in the added-on wooden doorway. To the south after entering here is a bar area occupied by two Revenants. Further along this side of the facility, moving southwest, is a dining area with four tables set up, with a kitchen (including a cooking stove) behind it. Guy roams around this area. Circling around to the northwest, there is a small room with two robot fabricators and a door that connects to the hillside cavern interior and the laboratory/launch silo there.
Continuing to move around the sides of the common area, to the northeast, there is a poker table with cards strewn about, and a bookshelf nearby contains several board game junk items. A tinker's workbench is found against the wall further to the east. In between the bar and the door to the reactor area is Jaye Vo's beauty salon, where one can talk to her to receive a disguise.
There are several small staircases that lead down into the lowered central area of the commons. There are several couches and a makeshift performing stage with a playable acoustic guitar. Jess is found in this lowered central area.
The reactor area is the living quarters of the settlement, accessed through an open doorway underneath a "power house" sign to the north. Immediately to the left after going through this doorway is Ernie Navarro's room, complete with gardening supplies. There are some sleeping bags set up on a platform north of that; further north, in the corner, is Kevan Asherton's quarters, containing a ham radio and footlocker. Now moving east around the reactor, there are two more beds near some constructed wooden walls; this path eventually terminates at a wooden wall, although there is another room to the left (north) acting as a secluded quarter; ambient NPC movement indicates that it may belong to Dave, who roams around the reactor area.
In the center of the living quarters is the giant reactor of the missile silo, and the generic Revenants here may work on its nearby generators. Leamon Price may also be found around the living quarters area if he is convinced to become a ghoul during Leap of Faith. On the eastern side of the living quarters, against the wall adjacent to the commons, there are more beds and shelves; the southeastern corner here is where the door and corridor connecting to the clinic is found. Past some more sleeping bags with various personal items (such as a duffle bag and backpack container), Jaye Vo's room is found in the northeastern corner. A chemistry station is also situated across from Jaye's quarters.
Inhabitants[]
Exterior
- Ernie Navarro - gardener
- Regular Debbie - associate
- Kevan Asherton - co-founder, guard and combat trainer
- Generic Revenants
Interior
- Dave - silo resident
- Guy - silo resident
- Jaye Vo - stylist and disguiser
- Jess - silo resident
- Leamon Price - former scavenger (after Leap of Faith, optional)
- Maddox Mullen - co-founder and de facto leader
- Parthenia Blankenship - doctor and scientist (only during A Fresh Pair of Genes)
- Generic Revenants
Notable loot[]
- Asher's training notes - Note, on a table next to two ammo boxes near the exterior blast door.
- Elmira's dream - Note, on some rocks on the exterior blast door, as part of a small shrine.
- Eugenie's response - Note, in the interior, in the reactor area, on a small shelf in between a bed and a military crate.
- Leamon's diary - Note, in the interior, in the reactor area, next to one of the sleeping bags on top of some pallets.
- Letter to Jaye - Note, in the interior, on a dresser in a room made out of dividers in the reactor area, underneath a mirror.
- Observations of Point Repose - Note, in the interior, in the reactor area, on top of a console in the room with plants.
- Potential magazine - In the interior, on a dresser in a room made out of dividers in the reactor area, underneath a mirror.
Notes[]
- Radiant Hills, being populated solely by ghouls, is one of the most heavily-irradiated populated settlements in the Fallout series, alongside Crater of Atom in Fallout 4.
- While there are some safe spots throughout the exterior for an unprotected human to wander through, there are several large pockets of irradiated barrels and toxic pits that give off 50-70 rads each.
- By contrast, ghoul player characters can make use of Radiant Hills as a convenient location to gather excess radiation for the Glow meter.
- Human player characters are allowed to roam around the exterior of Radiant Hills, and the generic Revenant characters have unique dialogue to address humans. However, human player characters cannot enter the Radiant Hills interior. The extent to which they can explore the missile silo is the small, separate section accessible through the hillside cavern.
- The two named characters found at the Radiant Hills exterior, Regular Debbie and Ernie Navarro, will not open their dialogue tree when interacted with, if the player character is a human.
- The map marker cannot be discovered by human players, only by ghoul players.
- It is unclear if the missile silo Radiant Hills is built upon is part of the Appalachian Automated Launch System. While it is the fourth major missile silo featured in Appalachia, it is non-functional and inactive, and thus would not have been on the radar of Vault-Tec and the Vault 76 overseer as part of the main quest.
Appearances[]
Radiant Hills appears only in Fallout 76, introduced in the Ghoul Within update. It was first mentioned indirectly in the Wastelanders and Once in a Blue Moon updates, as the "compound" from which Eugenie originates, before making a full appearance in the Ghoul Within update.
Gallery[]
Exterior[]
Interior[]
References[]
- ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "You mentioned you would tell me more about your past if I stuck around."
Parthenia Blankenship: "My father was a general, stationed on-site here at the silo. I was an adolescent bag of ailments. My health conditions kept me largely isolated and immobilized, and he was the only family I had. So I had an exception to stay here with him. Well, one day the War happened, and everything went terribly, terribly wrong. There was a very loud noise, lots of distant panic in other rooms, and then... Well, I noticed it was very quiet. When I finally left my room, the place was empty. I guess everyone evacuated, or... Well, I don't know."
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "Did you find out anything else about the chemical?"
Parthenia Blankenship: "Well, I could describe its molecular structure, but I suspect that's not what you're asking. Documentation on the substance was mysteriously lacking. As such, I'm not sure if it even originated here. There were some scientists here, but as far as I can tell, not a full-scale research operation. In short, your hypothesis is as good as mine."
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Vault 76 dweller: "What happened then?"
Parthenia Blankenship: "I was alone like I had always been. Taking care of myself. Reading. Learning. And now, all of their military resources were at my disposal. Books, research documents, laboratory equipment. A whole new playground for knowledge! Most intriguingly, I found an assortment of chemicals ripe for experimentation. I soon found that one of these chemicals had fascinating effects on the human body... Regenerative effects. My analysis and experimentation with this chemical led to the highly functioning flesh chassis you see before you today. I ailed no longer. I was reborn! Fantastic, isn't it?"
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "That's it? You really don't know where all the military staff went? What about your father?"
Parthenia Blankenship: "I have only theories. Perhaps the loud noise I heard indicated the successful creation of a vortex... ...Which sent the entire military staff hurtling through space and time, never to be seen again! But more likely it was the nuclear warhead failing to launch, falling off of its supports, and cracking open. Thus beginning the slow process of filling this entire place with increasingly deadly levels of radiation. Sufficient reason for a full-scale evacuation, I would think. As for my father... I'm not sure I can explain why he would leave me behind. Well, I could, but... In any case, it's not important now. Books have always been a better friend to me than anyone else. And it remains that way."
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Parthenia Blankenship: "What I need is irradiated ore. It's the only material with the right nuclear structure for massive simultaneous extraction. I have the base formula here already, but this version is incomplete. I need the ore to trigger the final reaction."
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "I'm ready! Turn me into a ghoul!"
Parthenia Blankenship: "Thrilling! The procedure is quite simple. Just pick up that inhaler and give it a puff. You may feel something like a rush of exhilaration. Just over there is a chamber containing a nuclear warhead. It's leaking... heavily. You are to walk inside the chamber. The heavy dose of radiation will stimulate the reaction already happening inside your body and thus expedite it. This will be painless, but will likely cause you to lose consciousness. By the time you awake, the transformation will be complete. Try not to panic when that happens. You will still be you, of course. Just... improved. At your own pace, then. I will, of course, monitor the entire procedure."
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "Wait, what? You didn't become a ghoul naturally?"
Parthenia Blankenship: "Of course not! I've been holed up here in the silo for most of my life! But at present, all of that is besides the point. We have priorities, yes? If you're still here after Leamon's crisis is resolved, I'll tell you all the glimmering details of my unconventional past."
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "You needed a place to hide. So you came here."
Maddox Mullen: "We were lucky to find this place. Unfortunately, not all of us made it here. We needed to save up enough resources to make our escape from the area, so we planned one final raid. It was supposed to stay quiet - in and out before anyone knew we were there. But at the time, we weren't used to working that way. The camp got alerted. Elmira... decided to cause a distraction. She tore off her mask and ran in front of the spotlights. They thought she was feral. Bought us enough time to get out while they scanned the entrance for more of "her kind". All we can do now is try to honor her sacrifice. Live on the way she would have wanted us to."
(Maddox Mullen's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "How did you leave the Pitt and end up here?"
Regular Debbie: "I stayed a long time in Pittsburgh. Clingin' onto home, or at least... the idea of it. But truth was that Pittsburgh became The Pitt. It wasn't home no more, much as I tried to believe it was. Home was gone. Once I finally came to terms with that, it was time to leave. Don't know where to, even now. I was on the road in God knows where when this gang of ghouls visited me in the night. I was shocked to see so many ghouls outside The Pitt. Less shocked when they started explaining things. How they were hunted, then hunted again. Said they was going somewhere to set up permanently, and they needed all the help they could get. Didn't seem like too bad a gig: helping out in exchange for food and shelter. Maddox is under some kind of spell thinking I'm going to join up permanently. This kind of life ain't for me. I'll happily risk my hide in exchange for freedom."
(Regular Debbie's dialogue) - ↑ Regular Debbie: "Bunch of outcasts living underground. Can't say it's for me."
(Regular Debbie's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "Tell me about the garden."
Ernie Navarro: "We've got everything here. Flowers, fungi, fruits, and veggies. But only the most resilient plants survive here with the radiation. The ones that are able to evolve. It's truly amazing. When I started bringing plants in here, I half expected all of them to die. Most did. But some... Well, they grew to become the flourishing garden you see here today. And one great thing about being a ghoul? We can eat practically anything. Mutated produce that would kill anyone else becomes gourmet for ghouls."
(Ernie Navarro's dialogue) - ↑ Parthenia Blankenship: "We need more ghouls. I need to make more ghouls. I mean, the science is fascinating. Ghoulification cures countless ills - even terminal ones - but it has side effects. Flesh falling off is an obvious one, but there can be joint pain, loss of smell, loss of sight, degradation of the vocal cords, and so on. I mean, this is a completely new medical field we're inventing here, and I'm the only doctor they've got. I need data! I need subjects! With application and study, I could treat these ghouls - maybe one day bring them back to the quality of life that people like Asher wish for. They'd be happy, and more resilient to the Wasteland than any human! And you could be one of them!"
(Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "Let's talk about your methods for acquiring resources."
Maddox Mullen: "You mean our raids. Like the one dear Leamon found himself in the middle of. We don't pretend to be saints. If we can avoid violence, we do. But, if it's between our safety and theirs, we protect ourselves. I hope you can understand something as simple and necessary as that."
(Maddox Mullen's dialogue) - ↑ Asher's training notes
- ↑ Leamon Price: "Now, just hold on a second, here! Who are you people? And what in darned heck is going on?"
Parthenia Blankenship: "Let's start with your question about our identities. "Radiation specialist" is a bit of a euphemism. It was intended to help other ghouls find us. And other... potential ghouls."
(Leamon Price and Parthenia Blankenship's dialogue) - ↑ Responder medic: "I shouldn't even be saying this, but... I've heard some rumors. A "radiation specialist" up in the hills, north of the Savage Divide. I don't know what that means, or if they even exist. So just take it with a grain of salt."
(Responder medic's dialogue) - ↑ Leamon Price: "I've got the radiation sickness! I heard there's a specialist!"
Kevan Asherton: "God damn it. I told them spreading that rumor would be the end of us."
(Kevan Asherton and Leamon Price's dialogue)
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