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For the pre-War American geographic system, see Commonwealths. For the pre-War European organization, see European Commonwealth. |
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The Commonwealth is a geographic region on the post-War North American continent, largely encompassing the pre-War American state of Massachusetts along the Eastern Seaboard, with a center point in the city of Boston. The Commonwealth is first mentioned in Fallout 3 and fully appears as the game world of Fallout 4 as well as serving as the setting of the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game sourcebook Winter of Atom.
Background[]
Pre-War[]
A mainstay in the history, industry, and culture of the United States of America, Massachusetts was one of the original Thirteen Colonies of the United Kingdom in the New World (later known as North America),[Non-game 1] becoming a hotbed of secessionist sentiment around the mid-18th century. The conflict between the New World colonists and the British crown was only aggravated by the latter's attempts to enforce increasingly oppressive taxes on the colonies without giving them representation in the parliament, resulting in incidents like the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. The powder keg finally ignited in 1775, when the Thirteen Colonies openly rebelled against British authority during the American Revolutionary War.[1] Two battles in the towns of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts were the first open engagements of the war, which eventually spread across the other twelve colonies.[Non-game 2]
21st-century America[]
Since becoming one of the first states of the new nation, Massachusetts was one of the pillars of American commerce and economic progression, supercharged by the emergence of a vibrant high technology sector spearheaded by the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. Located in Cambridge, across the Charles River from the city of Boston, the CIT was one of the foremost centers of higher learning in the nation, providing it with many great minds. By the 21st century, its alumni included Robert House, who founded RobCo Industries in 2042 after graduating CIT, which became one of the most profitable companies on the planet in a short five years.[2]
As private and public interests flocked to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the face of its major cities—Boston particularly—changed as well. Skyscrapers sprouted across the Financial District, with several cutting-edge facilities established by many major corporations. A sophisticated network of elevated superhighways and monorail lines criss-crossed throughout the city.[3] The city's historical role as the house of the Massachusetts state government continued with the construction of the new Massachusetts State House near Boston Common.
Numerous major companies were present in or based out of Boston, including Mass Fusion (the state's primary energy provider), Slocum's Joe, Poseidon Energy, General Atomics International, Galaxy News Network, HalluciGen, Inc., and many more. The Vault-Tec Corporation established a regional HQ in the city limits and funneled resources into constructing several of their Vaults in the region as well. The Nuka-Cola Corporation also added to the city's economic prominence, lining the streets with vending machines for their signature soft drink and even scoring advertisement deals with popular establishments like Fenway Park.[4] The Nuka-Cola Corporation's presence in Massachusetts was also bolstered by their theme park Nuka-World, which was located further west into the state but connected to the populous Boston area via a dedicated monorail station.
The ports of Boston in 21st-century America continued to bring in commerce and traffic until the beginning of the Resource Wars, when international relations began to fray and break down. The growth of research and development in Boston also led to a concentration of military and defense industry projects in the region, such as Cambridge Polymer Labs receiving funding specifically to develop smart materials for military usage,[5] while the SCYTHE Program also worked with companies including HalluciGen and Wilson Atomatoys to convert civilian factories to wartime production.[6][7][8]
The erosion of civil rights and social morality across pre-War America did not spare the people of Massachusetts. Corporations were able to operate unhindered by labor or environmental regulations, especially those with officially granted exceptions from the state government. The rampant unchecked pollution of the environment by industrial structures eventually reached such a degree that mutations were becoming evident in the local marine wildlife even during that time (but totally ignored by the industry and most media).[9]
The proliferation of military checkpoints and their control of state traffic was not exempt in the Boston area either. The military routinely responded to increasing incidents of food riots with violence, including one prominent incident at the Boston Police rationing site in which the 184th Infantry Regiment gunned down hungry Bostonians with impunity.[10] In spite of the violence, the local news outlet Boston Bugle continued to distinguish itself as a voice of reason, with dissident journalists continuing to cover the atrocities of the regime regardless of the risk posed to themselves from government crackdowns.[11]
Additionally, a number of high-security military facilities and projects were based in the region, most prominently as a major staging point for the testing and development of aircraft employed by the U.S. Air Force.[12] Fort Strong on the Boston shorelines served as the development ground for the Fat Man portable nuclear launcher as well as testing grounds for the Army Corps of Engineers' implementation of T-51b power armor. Military outposts such as the National Guard training yard also dotted the landscape. The Defense Intelligence Agency also operated unhindered across the state, carrying out operations from a hidden bunker headquarters known as "the Switchboard" and establishing a network of hidden caches across the state, while federal surveillance center K-21B monitored citizens for compliance. The U.S. Army, in cooperation with General Atomics, established the covert RB-2851 facility beneath East Boston, where prisoners, often unwilling, would have their brains harvested for integration into Robobrains.[13] Multiple military satellite arrays were based out of the Boston area, including one under the Army at Fort Hagen and the Air Force's Satellite Station Olivia. At least one nuclear missile silo was known to be present in the region at Sentinel Site Prescott, a purported nuclear waste dump converted into a missile stockpile and launch silo.[Non-game 3]
As international tensions flared amidst the worldwide energy crisis erupting into the Resource Wars, Boston experienced an even higher military presence as the threat of Chinese infiltration and nuclear war drew closer. Units such as Echo Company of the 104th Infantry Regiment were sent to man checkpoints such as the South Boston military checkpoint, where they began conducting mandatory inspections of all vehicles passing through. While the inspections purported to detain "suspicious elements," this often opened the way for human rights violations like openly discriminating against American citizens of Chinese origin,[14] many of whom were already suffering being related to internment camps under suspicion of being Chinese spies.[15][16] Financial reports from this time indicated that increased military spending was coupled with a reduction in healthcare, utilities, and public transportation.[17] Combined with rising energy costs as a result of depleting resources, along with hyperinflation and war-weariness gripping the country since the occupation of Anchorage, Alaska and the annexation of northern neighbor Canada, public order and safety became a serious issue, especially after images of the atrocities committed by U.S. military forces in foreign theaters were made public. Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Graham eventually placed Boston under martial law, including a strict curfew,[18] while homeland military members found themselves pulled into active duty, only this time facing opposition in the form of their own countrymen.
The Great War[]
On October 23, 2077, following nuclear strikes on Pennsylvania and New York at 9:42 am, a single high-yield nuclear missile hit the region southwest of Boston at 9:47 am, almost simultaneously as another missile had struck the Washington, D.C. area to the south.[19][20] Ground zero in the Boston area was an area that held industrial and military significance, housing arms factories and manufacturing plants,[21] including Sentinel Site Prescott and its nuclear payload. At least one other, lower-yield missile is known to have struck the region, hitting a neighborhood in Cambridge and reducing it to a radioactive crater. Further detonations may have also occurred; the 132nd Engineering Corps stationed at Sentinel Site Prescott also detected inbound warheads which split off into multiple targets in their direction.[22] The Chinese stealth submarine Yangtze-31 was submerged in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean near Boston, where it is known to have fired five of its total six high-yield missiles towards the shore;[23] in both cases, the targets of these warheads and whether they struck have not been clarified to date. The Yangtze-31 itself was later damaged by an underwater mine after the launch and was forced to seek shelter, discreetly residing in the Boston Harbor for centuries after.[24]
Following total nuclear annihilation, most of the region was reduced to, as some say, a "war-ravaged quagmire of violence and despair."[25] The brief, limited bombardment (compared to harder-hit places like Salt Lake City, Utah or Bakersfield, California) spared most of the Boston cityscape, with military units stationed in and around the city struggling to maintain order in the aftermath, with any semblance of order eventually collapsing in on itself. The nuclear detonation southwest of Boston turned vast stretches of the surrounding land into a radioactive hellscape, which came to be known as the Glowing Sea, that would persist for centuries,[19] bolstered by the destroyed nuclear reactors seeping fuel into the atmosphere and the ground.
Early post-War[]
Due to the nuclear detonations not hitting Boston directly, much of the city survived the initial bombardment relatively intact. Many of the initial survivors were those who were either in a Vault, similar sealed fallout shelters, or who were simply lucky enough to be in the right place to avoid the worst of the immediate aftermath; for example, the Tournquist family at West Everett Estates managed to survive in a backyard bunker and rebuild for some time, and the Wu family apparently survived unharmed in their house in Natick Banks.[26] Several members of Boston's baseball team, the Swatting Sultans, were able to survive due to being on the field inside Fenway Park at the time, with the stadium's reinforced walls insulating them from the nuclear firestorm.[27]
However, the aftereffects of the blast also doomed many other survivors: the Miller family at Big John's Salvage died after their homemade bunker's generator gave out, trapping them inside without proper ventilation and eventually leading to their deaths;[28] the staff of Federal Surveillance Center K-21B were protected from the radiation at ground zero but had inadequate food supplies, leading to starvation and death within days;[29] and an female unnamed employee at Fallon's department store survived trapped in a jewelry safe, but was left to die with no one to unseal the safe for her.[30] Any distress calls over functioning ham radios made by these survivors went unanswered, whether due to communications systems giving out or the apathy of anyone who heard them, with most left running on repeat for decades after their users had passed away.
Surviving elements of the military in the region attempted to maintain order in the aftermath of the war, operating from multiple checkpoints across the region and commandeering intact structures such as Mass Bay Medical Center for military triage,[31] as well as transmitting emergency frequency RJ1138 over the airwaves to other surviving soldiers promising food, shelter, and aid to help in peacekeeping. With its command structure in tatters, however, holdout groups eventually disbanded and the social order collapsed further. Government heads also took steps to survive the bombs, including the incumbent Boston Mayor Hildenbrand, who had holed himself up at the Boston mayoral shelter (which he had constructed by embezzling taxpayer money). When the shelter was besieged by an angry mob, the shelter's protection failed and the mayor and his family perished.[32]
Ultimately, rampant scarcity of supplies, disrupted communication networks, and the lack of a clear leadership structure prevented any form of organized government from reasserting control in the region, now known as simply "the Commonwealth."[33] Within months of the Great War and the destruction of America, bands of savage raiders sprung up in the region, terrorizing the remaining inhabitants by attacking burgeoning settlements and taking what little supplies there were.[34][35]
Though Boston itself's cityscape was spared, other satellite towns were not so fortunate. The Commonwealth Institute of Technology campus was irreparably damaged by the nuclear blasts, with surviving staff and students forced to take refuge underground where across generations, they slowly carved out subterranean habitats for themselves. These underground dwellings and their makers eventually formed the core of the Institute, formally founded in 2110 as the children of the original survivors dug into the earth and built increasingly sophisticated habitats and laboratories, starting an ongoing process of expanding the Institute's facilities and infrastructure, all in pursuit of the mission "Mankind - redefined" by means of advanced technological progression.[36]
Fenway Park's sturdy construction allowed it to weather the Great War, and as a result, it became a focal point of humanity's continued survival in the ravaged Commonwealth. In the mid-2130s,[37] survivors from around the region came together and established the settlement of Diamond City, taking after the remnants of the stadium's past. Diamond City greatly benefited from its central location and the natural protection afforded by the reinforced walls of the old baseball stadium, allowing it to gradually rise to a position of prominence as the "Great, Green Jewel of the Commonwealth" and becoming an integral part of the region's history and its many factions for years onward.
23rd-century strife[]
Of the factions that cropped up in the post-nuclear Massachusetts, the group known as the Commonwealth Minutemen came the closest to filling the role of an organized army protecting the Commonwealth; their first prominent act was the defense of Diamond City in 2180 against a horde of super mutants (the products of experiments by the Institute with the Forced Evolutionary Virus).[38] The ideal of a unified, governed Commonwealth as championed by the Minutemen was not an isolated case either, as various disparate settlements started coming around to the idea and even gained the Minutemen's direct support for a time as well.[Non-game 4] The Institute themselves were also involved for a period of four years. However, after observing cases of political infighting among the settlement representatives, the Institute's leadership ultimately chose to give up and return to isolation underground to instead focus on advancing development on their artificial race of synths.[39]
The Broken Mask incident of 2229 and its ramifications of revealing the human-like Generation 3 synths to the general population cemented the Institute's notorious reputation as an enemy to surface society and contributed to the state of mutual distrust and paranoia that kept the communities of the Commonwealth divided for years after.[40][41] Despite this, talks for the Commonwealth Provisional Government continued into the early to mid-23rd century, until the pivotal meeting ended in disasters after the Institute apparently sent a synth infiltrator to slaughter the settlement representatives, an event that became known as the Massacre of the CPG;" the blood shed that day ended any further discussion of uniting the Commonwealth and increased fears about the Institute and its synths.[42][43]
The Minutemen also began to suffer continual setbacks in the 23rd century, starting with the loss of their headquarters, the Castle, to a mirelurk attack in 2240.[44][45] The loss of a central headquarters, their ability to respond to distress calls via Radio Freedom, and subsequent death of the group's last "true" leader Joe Becker sent the Commonwealth Minutemen into disarray.[Non-game 4] Without the advent of artillery support and centralized leadership, the Minutemen fell to bickering and factionalism, causing many to be picked off one by one or abandon the mission entirely over time.[46][47]
Since the decline of the Minutemen's influence, the regional situation has remained tenuous. Economically, the Commonwealth has remained an abundant source of trade and resources well into the late 23rd century; entrepreneurs like Quinn[48] and boat captain Tobar included the Commonwealth in well-traveled trade routes for as long as until environmental hazards rendered it unmanageable,[49] while land-bound caravans from other regions continue to pass through the region, contributing to the wealth of settlements like Bunker Hill, Goodneighbor, and especially Diamond City.[50] However, the region beyond the few settled hubs has remained unsafe, if not destabilized further. By the late 2280s, most settlements in the Commonwealth are isolated farms with few residents, making them easy prey for unchecked dangers like raiders, super mutants, and unscrupulous mercenaries like the Gunners,[51] each of whom have carved out areas of the Commonwealth for themselves, but remain too disorganized to take over the whole region.
The Institute continues to experiment on the surface, sending synths to scavenge the surface and destroy or infiltrate opposition; for example, the settlement of University Point became a casualty of the Institute in 2285 after they failed to hand over technology the Institute coveted.[52] Meanwhile, synth infiltrators have replaced important figures such as Mayor McDonough of Diamond City and Roger Warwick of the Warwick homestead to perform discreet missions of gathering intel or conducting experiments. One of the few forces dedicated to opposing the Institute has been the Railroad, conducting a shadow war to liberate the Gen 3 synths from their bondage to the Institute; they have suffered numerous setbacks and casualties, with the most recent being a devastating series of raids on their safehouses and their previous headquarters in the occupied Switchboard in 2286, forcing the survivors to hide themselves under tightened security at a new HQ under the Old North Church.[53]
That same year, the Commonwealth suffered a brutal winter. Amidst the struggles of famished communities and frigid temperatures, a new faction of the Church of the Children of Atom emerged, with their following burgeoning as they propagated their worship of radiation and "Atom" through the region. Under the guidance of a mysterious prophet, the Last Son of Atom, the sect's forces attempted to instigate conflict against settlements which rejected their faith. The Commonwealth only survived thanks to a diverse group of survivors who rallied and put an end to the cult's plans.[Non-game 5]
The following year in 2287, the situation changed further. A large Gunner offensive broke the last remnants of the Minutemen when they razed a protected settlement inhabiting the ruins of Quincy, forcing the survivors to flee across the Commonwealth northeast towards sanctuary. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel's Recon Squad Artemis uncovered evidence of the Institute's existence, prompting a full-scale expedition force to mobilize from the Capital Wasteland to declare war on the scientist cabal and their artificial creations.
The resulting War of the Commonwealth engulfed the region, involving most of its minor and major factions, with the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 playing a pivotal role in the conflict.[54] The Sole Survivor also took a pivotal role in dealing with other threats that emerged in the Commonwealth that year, including the arrival of a mysterious figure called the Mechanist who terrorized the Commonwealth with junk robots, as well as choosing whether or not to assist a raider coaltion occupying the pre-War Nuka-World amusement park in expanding their influence into the Commonwealth.
Post-2287 status[]
While the aftermath of the war and the state of the Commonwealth and its factions has not been officially confirmed to date, events in the timeline by 2296 suggest that the Brotherhood's expeditionary force to the Commonwealth survived the conflict (whether as the ultimate victor or merely a survivor of another faction's victory is ambiguous) and went on to become the de facto leadership of the Brotherhood, able to send a large force including their airship, the Prydwen, to reinforce the West Coast Brotherhood in New California and issue orders for the West Coast elders to hunt down important targets on their behalf.[55]
Regions[]
Lexington and Northwest Commonwealth[]
This section of the Commonwealth has its borders roughly from Sanctuary Hills in the north, to the west foothills. To the east and south, this region ends at the elevated freeways, or at least what is left of them. In the southeast corner, at the congruity of the two freeways is Lexington, a gateway to the greater Boston area.[Non-game 6]
Once a burgeoning landscape, this region still has the remains of suburbs and cities alike. Among the ruins are several settlements.[Non-game 6] Among them are Abernathy farm, Drumlin Diner and Tenpines Bluff. Due to the high traffic and relative safety, thanks to relatively low background radiation compared to the rest of the Commonwealth, this region is home to several raider gangs who prey on the caravan traffic.
North Central Commonwealth[]
This section of the Commonwealth has its borders roughly established from the rolling foothills in the north, the south to the Mystic River, and the east and west by elevated freeways. This region was more developed the farther south traveled, at its center is the remains of the city of Malden.[Non-game 7]
Although scarred by the Great War, this region along with the rest of the known Commonwealth was environmentally scarred by the greed and casual disregard of its inhabitants. One of the worst disasters was the case with Lake Quannapowitt. Once a popular fishing and swimming hole, this locale was used as a dumping ground by Mass Fusion. A local containment shed dumped waste via pipeline directly into its waters. The lake bottom is strewn with detritus and safety barrels.
Despite the lake and its tributary, the Saugus River, becoming dangerously contaminated, it remains one of the more hospitable regions surrounding Boston, with the settlements of the Slog and Greentop Nursery having become stops on the caravan routes. Settlers, however, are not this region's only inhabitants. Super mutants and raiders have made their homes in several landmarks, overrunning – such as the case with Breakheart Banks – and threatening nearby settlements such as the Forged at Saugus Ironworks. The ominously named Parsons State Insane Asylum is also located here.
Western Commonwealth[]
This region consists of foothills to the west descending into the suburban neighborhoods of the greater Boston area to the east. Mostly wilderness, even before the war, it is dominated by the remains of Fort Hagen township to the west. Once flowing directly northeast is the Charles River, along a deep natural navigational channel that was devastated by the cataclysmic destruction of the southern Commonwealth.[Non-game 8]
Along its riverfront lies the ruins of several townships and developments that have since been flooded by the change in water flow. Such is the case with the Forest Grove marsh, once a burgeoning town on the waterway, its lock and dam stuck in the closed position. The nearby Weston water treatment plant flooded due to a failure in its machinery, despite it being constructed below the waterline. Another instance of environmental destruction is the site of Jalbert Brothers Disposal.
Despite this, the region is not without successful settlements. Graygarden was founded shortly before the war, and Oberland station, a recent farmstead built on the remains of a rail station, lies on the crest of the hillside east of the river. Among the ruins of the Mass Pike Interchange, the Gunners have constructed a major encampment. To the west is the ruins of the federal ration stockpile, once a place where the United States government stockpiled supplies, now a raider encampment. To the east is Vault 81, constructed near Chestnut Hillock Reservoir.
Coastal Commonwealth[]
Once a vacation destination, as well as a destination for military and commercial interests. Salem, Nahant and Revere Beach lay on the shore, mostly abandoned due to a combination of raiders, feral ghouls and super mutants camped out at Revere satellite array.[Non-game 9]
Natick and the Glowing Sea[]
One of the most desolate stretches of the Commonwealth, the Glowing Sea is the most irradiated region of the Commonwealth.[19] It sits south of the township of Natick, covered in centuries' worth of radioactive fallout, pollution, and torn apart by radioactive storms. The nuclear detonation at the Crater of Atom has devastated much of the region, making it uninhabitable to all but the Children of Atom. Precious facilities can be found in the Glowing Sea, but require special gear and preparation outside the ability of most Commonwealth denizens. The town of Natick sitting on the northern edge of the sea still has living fauna and flora, but the mutants pouring out of the sea and geological upheavals have driven the denizens off.[Non-game 10]
Quincy and Southern Commonwealth[]
The areas south of the greater Boston neighborhoods, aside from the Glowing Sea, can be considered part of the Southern Commonwealth. Along rivers and treacherous marshlands, this region is the location of both West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, two townships with their fair share of secrets. To the southeast is Quincy, which, like much of this zone, is under Gunner control. Some of the most dangerous areas in the entire Commonwealth include the coastal area past Quincy and the strange ruins of Spectacle Island, which may be an idyllic place for a settlement.[Non-game 11]
Boston[]
The capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and one of the most densely urbanized areas on the eastern seaboard. It is a mix of centuries-old colonial architecture, civic and public buildings from the heyday of the United States, and expensive, high technology skyscrapers from its latter days. A vast network of elevated highways and monorails connected the city to the towns and districts beyond. Most of the city is abandoned and lies in ruins, although extensive reinforcement work, redundant draining systems, and excellent engineering prevented it from being reclaimed by the ocean, despite the near-constant fighting going on throughout the city. It is also home to three oases of peace: Diamond City, Bunker Hill and Goodneighbor, which also act as pillars of the region's economy.
Nuka-World[]
Located in a dammed valley west of the Commonwealth proper, Nuka-World is home to a derelict amusement park that once belonged to Nuka-Cola Corporation. The crown jewel of the soft drink giant has since slowly withered away, its treasures preserved by a combination of hostile robots, isolationist ghouls, and terrifying wildlife. Heavily altered by Nuka-Cola's work and the climate upheaval of the nuclear war, the valley has mostly dried up and supports little in the way of vegetation. However, the bounty of salvage and advantageous location has endeared a substantial population of traders to it, who have fallen prey to an army of raiders as of 2287.[56]
Environment[]
A humid continental climate, the Great War has altered the Commonwealth in subtle ways, most noticeably an elevated ambient radiation count that increased environmental pressures and selected for mutated versions of local flora and fauna.[57]
The damage caused by the nuclear war and neglect caused much of the region's industrial facilities to deteriorate. However, while this has been negative for much of the region, such as when the nuclear reactors in the Glowing Sea exploded, contributing to the desolation, it was a boon in other places. For example, the derelict sewage treatment station at Warwick homestead actually created the most fertile soil in the Commonwealth when it broke.[58]
Even before the Great War, Massachusetts was suffering from widespread environmental pollution and devastation. Pressure and payoffs from companies such as Poseidon Energy and General Atomics International ensured that this pollution would go unreported. In one case, the Nahant Oceanological Society observed radiation and toxicity levels at Lake Quannapowitt that exceeded safe levels and showed a 1500% increase year over year. Exposure to such levels of pollution has resulted in rapidly increasing toxicity in marine species - including those fished for consumption - and increase in average mass by 14% in crabs and 12% in lobsters. The additional food necessary to sustain the shellfish population could lead to colony collapse and the implosion of marine ecosystems. When the Society tried to bring their findings of the growth and mutations to the press, Galaxy News Network simply reframed the news to be about how great the shellfish season was going to be.[9][59][60]
Flora[]
Like the rest of the United States, the changes in the ecosystem were due to a combination of factors, the most prevalent of which was the pollution and radiation. However, instead of reducing the number of plant types that could be grown, other mutated variants adapted to their place in the local environment(s). This can be seen with plants such as the tato, a plant that shares characteristics with the potato and tomato,[61] and razorgrain, the popularity of which is due to its ability, unlike wheat,[62] to be grown almost anywhere in the Commonwealth.[63]
The Commonwealth has quite a fertile landscape, barring the areas where pollution and radiation are at their most extremes. Most towns are agriculturally stable, if not thriving, both due to trade, as well as various locations throughout the region suited to grow particular kinds of crops, from the Sunshine Tidings co-op, to Graygarden, and the Slog. The worst of such places where plant life is at its most scarce is the Glowing Sea, a vast and true wasteland. This radioactive landscape was birthed from the nuclear weapons that devastated the location and the continuous pollution from the destroyed nuclear power plants that dotted the area. The result of the vast mudslides of barren radioactive soil covers what once was a very populous area, burying whole communities and even elevated highways. This is where the region's radioactive storms originate, the effects of which continue to shower radioactive fallout across the Commonwealth.
Fauna[]
Pollution and radiation have affected the fauna of the region as well, resulting in the adaptation of existing species, including the development of creatures such as radstags, mirelurks (of which there are at least three species), bloodbugs, bloatflies and the brahmin. Other creatures have weathered the mutations, such as dogs and cats. While not common in the conurbation of the Greater Boston Area, wolves can be found in the greater region. One detail about the Commonwealth's fauna is that synthetic wildlife exists, created by the Institute under the Watcher Initiative and efforts to reintroduce pre-War wildlife to the surface.
The ecosystem of the Commonwealth, while peaceful for the most part, is occasionally disturbed by the super mutants. Like their Capital Wasteland "cousins," these giant green beasts have a level of intelligence comparable to that of the Mariposa strain super mutants and are capable of constructing simple structures and armors, having a strength biased hierarchy, as well as operating tools of varying complexity. A fixture of the region since the Institute's FEV experimentation beginning in 2178, they became a permanent nuisance. However, production ceased sometime before 2287 due to Brian Virgil's sabotage of the FEV lab. Similarly to their D.C. brethren, they are considered pests, and are frequently hunted down.
Politics and economy[]
The Commonwealth lacks a centralized government unifying the various settlements that dot the region. The Institute is omnipresent in the region, directly or indirectly influencing the politics of the wasteland. The closest the region came to a stable government was with the Commonwealth Provisional Government (CPG), a proposed unified government for the region.[Non-game 12] The initiative met an abrupt end when representatives sent to Diamond City were all murdered by a synth.[64]
Since then, the various settlements across the Commonwealth have remained independent and forged their own path. Diamond City remained the biggest and most influential city thanks to a combination of effective governance by its democratically elected mayors, burgeoning economy, and defensive forces, remaining a vital hub for trade. Under Mayor McDonough, elected in 2282, this pattern continued, albeit the city's societal tranquility took a sharp turn for the worse that same year. Anti-ghoul rhetoric of the campaign culminated in the banishing of all ghouls into the surrounding wasteland.[65] McDonough also adopted a hard anti-Minutemen stance, which only hastened the demise of the organization.[66] McDonough was actually a synth infiltrator, sent to monitor the city and ensure it would not grow powerful enough to threaten the Institute.[67]
In contrast to the Institute is the Railroad, this underground movement was founded on the idea that synthetic people should have human rights. In their fight against what they perceive to be slavery have set up a shadow network of operators, to specifically fight the institution of machine slavery itself. In their efforts and failures, they influence some Commonwealth denizens in resistance against the Institute.[68][69]
Beyond Diamond City, Bunker Hill formed the second pillar of the region's economy, sitting on top of coastal trade routes. The income from caravans passing through the settlement and merchants operating out of the settlement allowed it to pay off the raider gangs operating in the area. Goodneighbor serves as another of Boston's major settlements, an anarchic haven for everyone who didn't fit in at Diamond City or Bunker Hill. Various gangs proliferated in the town, kept in check by John Hancock after his rise to power, while unrestricted trade in weapons, chems, and other vices grew. While neither Diamond City nor Bunker Hill had rules proscribing such trade, fees and taxes imposed by the mayor's office cut into profit margins, making trading in Goodneighbor (and smuggling into Diamond City) a profitable enterprise.[70]
Beyond these three, various settlements and factions operated across the Commonwealth, with various degrees of success. One of the most well known, the Commonwealth Minutemen, is a militia organized before 2180 and dedicated to the protection of the Commonwealth. Their faction entered a period of steep decline after the loss of the Castle, their headquarters and main armory, to a mirelurk horde in 2240. The fall culminated in 2287, after the town of Quincy was sacked by the Gunners and the last remaining Minuteman, Preston Garvey, led the survivors in an exodus across the Commonwealth, ending up in Concord with just five survivors in tow, besieged by raiders. The Gunners, on the other hand, rose to be a prominent faction in the Commonwealth thanks to a combination of military training and ruthlessness.[71]
As in many other regions, raiders continued to operate, forming a large number of uncoordinated warbands. Although various warlords such as Sinjin tried uniting them, these plans were universally stopped by character flaws, contractors hired by various major powers of the Commonwealth, or infighting. The largest of these raider armies formed in the ruins of Nuka-World, after enslaving its original residents, formed of three distinct gangs: the Operators, the Pack, and the Disciples, briefly united under Overboss Colter, before he was removed by the machinations of Porter Gage.[72]
In contrast to raiders, a new player to the region's power-politic has entered the wasteland. The Brotherhood of Steel already scouting the region, grew wary of their reports of the Institute and their synths. Seeing them as an abomination against mankind itself they established themselves at the abandoned Boston International Airport to destroy what they see as the next cataclysmic event against humanity and continue their mission of the preservation of technology as a whole.[73]
Notes[]
- During the Fallout 3 quest The Replicated Man, Harkness, Dr. Zimmer and Armitage all mention being from the Commonwealth, with Zimmer remarking on its reputation as a near-inhospitable war-torn landscape.[25]
- In the Broken Steel add-on for Fallout 3, Madison Li is mentioned to have left the Capital Wasteland on a trip to the Commonwealth, dissatisfied with the Brotherhood's goals after the takeover of Project Purity during the war with the Enclave. As implied in Fallout 3 and later revealed to be true in Fallout 4, at some point she met with and joined the Institute, becoming the Advanced Systems division head by 2287.
- In the Point Lookout add-on for Fallout 3, Tobar, captain of the Duchess Gambit, mentions making frequent trips to the Commonwealth when his vessel was in better condition.[49] Christian missionary Marcella also mentions the Commonwealth on her terminal; she visited the Commonwealth as part of her travels before coming to the Capital Wasteland in 2277.[74]
- In the Pitt add-on for Fallout 3, Ishmael Ashur, ruler of the Pitt, claims during a speech on the Pitt's industrial might that it is "the envy of the Commonwealth."[75]
- In Fallout 76, Molly, a member of the Crater Raiders living in Appalachia, says she was born and raised in South Boston, where she experienced military crackdowns, rampant abuse of power by police, and the reign of terror cast by Boston crime boss Eddie Winter.[76][77] Other Crater raiders also mention that the gang traveled all the way to the Commonwealth before coming to Appalachia in 2103.[78]
- The Commonwealth is mentioned in the Fallout Shelter quest Game Show Gauntlet, the multi-stage questlines The Great Tato Famine and Zines from the Commonwealth as well as the description for the bloodhound.
- Some of the artwork depicts the Commonwealth as having more flat open plains than it does in-game.
Appearances[]
The Commonwealth serves as the game world for Fallout 4 and parts of it appear in Fallout Shelter Online. It is mentioned in Fallout 3 and its add-ons The Pitt, Broken Steel, and Point Lookout; in the Fallout 76 update Wastelanders; in the Fallout TV series episode "The End";[79] and in Fallout Shelter.
Behind the scenes[]
The region's name is a shortened version of the official name of the state of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[33][Non-game 13]
Gallery[]
References[]
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Non-game
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