R. Dunwich,[1] also referred to as Richard Dunwich,(Note) was the owner of Dunwich Borers LLC and a seeker of the figure known in the wasteland as Ug-Qualtoth.
Background[]
Richard Dunwich was a mining baron, the brother of Constance Blackhall, and a distant uncle of her descendent Obadiah Blackhall. He owned Dunwich Borers LLC, the company that built the Dunwich Building.[Fallout RPG 1][Cut 1] Richard deliberately chose the location for the company's headquarters, hoping to unearth the mysterious obelisk beneath it. He also arranged the excavation in Massachussetts, intending to uncover an ancient temple to forgotten gods, while ensuring that workers never caught on through a combination of compliant foremen and the promise of generous benefits. Workers frequently died in the mine due to industrial accidents, which allowed Dunwich to sacrifice workers to the forgotten god(s) with impunity.[Fallout RPG 1]
Some time after the Great War, a messenger for Dunwich and Constance Blackhall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, attempted to alert the two to words being spread by Nate, an influential speaker who was spreading information that was, although partly speculative, rooted in some fact, and thus dangerous to them.[1]
Notes[]
^ (Note) Dunwich is referred to as "R. Dunwich" in the Fallout 76 note Urgent message for R. Dunwich and C. Blackhall, seen in the Public Test Server (2024). This is the only time he is mentioned in a mainline game. The given name Richard was first mentioned in cut content for Point Lookout (2009), before appearing in Fallout: The Roleplaying Game (2021), produced by Modiphius Entertainment.
Appearances[]
Richard Dunwich was first mentioned in dialogue cut from the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout. He was later mentioned in Fallout: The Roleplaying Game, then Fallout 76, introduced in the Expeditions: Atlantic City update part two, America's Playground.
Behind the scenes[]
- According to dialogue taken from the original, cut version of the Point Lookout quest The Dark Heart of Blackhall, Dunwich had an "obsession with the occult." This obsession was shared with his sister, Constance Blackhall. Their shared "obsession with the occult" would hint that the presence of the obelisk underneath the building was not unintentional. Modiphius writers later made use of the cut character of Richard Dunwich in the source book for the RPG, where he is revealed to be Constance Blackhall's brother.[Fallout RPG 1]
 | The following is based on unverified behind the scenes information and may be inaccurate. |
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- Richard is the only named precursor occultist at his company besides Tim Shoots. He could plausibly correspond to one or more of several unnamed figures, including but not limited to:
- A person who drilled into the virulent underchamber beneath the Dunwich Building immediately before the War.[2]
- A mysterious figure of company management, heard on Shoots' holotape.
- An unknown figure called "Butcher," who sacrificed several employees at Dunwich Borers (including Shoots) immediately before the War, and appeared in the Sole Survivor's visions.
| End of information based on unverified behind the scenes information |
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References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Fallout: The Roleplaying Game: "Richard Dunwich’s Washington, D.C.-based company made rock-tunneling drills. These mammoth engines of industry made possible the mining and resource extraction necessary for companies like Poseidon to thrive, for societies like pre-War America to be built, and for weapons like those used in the Great War to be produced. Although a favorite of its industrial clients, Dunwich had a more sinister reputation among its workforce. They had an abysmal record of safety, keeping employees on through a combination of high paychecks and “morale-building” events that sought to sweep their accident rate out of the public spotlight. This neglect frequently claimed lives of employees and family members.
A persistent, but likely ridiculous rumor, holds these deaths were not as accidental as Dunwich claimed. Richard Dunwich, and his brother Constance Blackhall, were known for an obsession with the occult. A marble quarry where they tested their drills was known to cover the site of an ancient temple to dark gods, whose adherents routinely practiced human sacrifice. Some say the poor safety protocols at Dunwich facilities, and especially at the quarry, were a modern form of sacrifice intended to bring eldritch attention and supernatural powers to corporate leadership. None can say for certain, as Dunwich Borers, LLC and nearly all their records were destroyed in the Great War."
Cut content
- ↑
Lone Wanderer: "That can't be the only way to destroy it."
Marcella: "There is... another option. I could never make the journey myself, though. North, far to the north. Constance had a brother, Richard Dunwich. He was a wealthy businessman outside of the city to the north, had a company building there. His obsession with the occult was as great as her own, and there's an object of great evil in that building. The book has been drawn to it before. To take the book there would destroy it. You would have to take that journey, though, and you must not fail if you attempt it."
(Marcella's dialogue)
