Mesa Verde design document / 2 This is part 2 of the Mesa Verde design document for " Van Buren " , the canceled " Fallout 3 " by Black Isle Studios . Monster Roster . Weedling s ( 8 ) . Plant monsters who spawned as a result of the radioactive waste used to fertilize the crops . When the PC encounters them , they ' ll be in battle with a group of Ciphers in one of their greenhouses . They will be in battle with the Ciphers when the player first encounters them . Two - headed Rattlesnake s ( 6 ) . Giant two - headed rattlesnakes . They ' re the pets of the Vipers camped in the canyon . The Vipers give the snakes freedom to roam , and the snakes are usually found in the underground caverns hunting molerats . The snakes will be randomly roaming the Mesa Verde caves . If they encounter a molerat , they ' ll attack it . Molerat s ( 3 ) . Molerats running around in a series of caves in the canyon . The Ciphers hunt these guys for meat , but now the rattlesnakes are hunting them as well . These three guys are the sole survivors . The molerats are not particularly aggressive and will only attack if the PC walks right next to them . Otherwise they ' ll do their best to run away from both the PC and the snakes . Gecko s ( ~ 7 ) . A few geckos wander around in the canyon area . They avoid the Viper camp . Their wander routes will be confined to the canyons , and they won ' t go near the Viper camp or Alexandra ' s camp . Random Encounters Surrounding the Area . Cipher Nomads ( 8 - 12 ) . A band of Ciphers either on their way out or heading in to Mesa Verde . Usually 75 % of them will be adults , with the remainder being teens or younger . Happens three times . Viper Patrol ( 5 - 6 ) . A patrol of Vipers scouting the area around Mesa Verde . They ' ll be wary of the PC , unless he ' s got a Cipher texture , in which case they ' ll attack . These encounters will stop if the main Viper camp is destroyed . Happens five times . Desert Stalkers vs Ciphers . A small band of Ciphers battling several desert stalker s they encounter . Happens once . Vipers vs . Ciphers . A skirmish between a Viper patrol and a band of Ciphers . Happens twice . Wolves and Corpses . The aftermath of a Viper / Cipher battle . There are several corpses being chewed on by ravenous wolves . Happens four times . Radscorpion Pack . The PC inadvertently wanders into pack of hidden radscorpions who buried themselves to hide away from the desert sun . Daytime encounter . Hunting Radscorpions . The PC runs into a pack of hungry , hunting radscorpions during a night trek . Night encounter . Quests . 1 . Deal with the Vipers . . A month ago , as punishment for defying her , Hecate sent a band of Vipers to lay siege to the village of Mesa Verde . There ' s only a handful of healthy Cipher warriors in the village , but they ' re in an extremely defensible position . Unfortunately , there are not enough of them to take to the fight to the Vipers . At the same time , the Vipers are unable to breach the village ' s narrow entrance , so they ' re biding their time , letting hunger weaken the Ciphers before the next assault begins . CIPHER _ CANNON = 0 / / Player hasn ' t inspected the Cannon < br > CIPHER _ CANNON = 1 / / Player has inspected the Cannon < br > CIPHER _ CANNON = 2 / / Player has spoken to Trig about the Cannon < br > CIPHER _ CANNON = 3 / / Player finished the construction of the Cannon VIPER _ SIEGE = 0 / / Vipers are still around < br > VIPER _ SIEGE = 1 / / Vipers got blasted by the Laser Cannon < br > VIPER _ SIEGE = 2 / / Vipers got poisoned < br > VIPER _ SIEGE = 3 / / Vipers got crushed by the cliff < br > VIPER _ SIEGE = 4 / / Vipers got killed in combat < br > VIPER _ SIEGE = 5 / / Vipers were tricked / intimidated into leaving 2 . Acquire the Ciphers ' enriched uranium . . Some factions in the wasteland ( like the ghoul s at the Reservation or the Brotherhood ) would love to get their hands on some weapons - grade uranium . The player can find out what the Ciphers have by speaking with the Nemonik and deducing that his ancestors were carrying uranium around , fixing the computer and accessing the old records , or by being thiefy and snooping around the uranium chamber . PENDING . . . 3 . Convince Isaac to tell you what the power armor security codes are . Before Isaac left Maxson Bunker , he locked down all the unused suits of power armor with a security code . Naturally , the remaining Brothers aren ' t too happy about that . The PC ' s mission is to convince Isaac to reveal what the codes are . 4 . Ask the Ciphers to process ZAX ' s raw data . . Zax the Supercomputer is having difficulty calculating the spread of the plague because he ' s old and a lot of his processing power is gone . The PC can help him out by bringing the data to the Ciphers , one of the few places in the wasteland that has any hope of processing the complex information . ZAX _ EQUATION = 0 / / PC doesn ' t have Zax ' s equation < br > ZAX _ EQUATION = 1 / / PC has Zax ' s equation , and it ' s not solved < br > ZAX _ EQUATION = 2 / / PC gave the Ciphers Zax ' s equation , and they solved it < br > ZAX _ EQUATION = 3 / / PC returned to Zax with the solved equation ; Quest Complete 5 . Sabotage the wind turbine for the Vipers . . Without the turbine powering the water condensors , the Ciphers will weaken enough for the Vipers to overwhelm their defenses . 6 . Forge an alliance between the BoS and the Ciphers . . The Ciphers ' knowledge of math and electronics makes them ideal replacements for the missing BoS Scribe s . The BoS could send some troops to reinforce the defenses at Mesa Verde while the Ciphers can use their wizardry to repair the BoS ' s equipment . If the player has met both groups , he can suggest an alliance to the leaders . The good thing about the deal is that the Brotherhood won ' t have to deal with disgruntled Scribes ; the bad thing is that all the repair work needs to be outsourced to the Ciphers and won ' t be done in - house . 7 . Repair the computer so the all the Ciphers can access the old knowledge . . Long ago , a Nemonik removed the memory core of the computer so any technical knowledge had to be passed on by the Nemonik himself . This was done to ensure that Mesa Verde didn ' t destroy itself with technology it wasn ' t responsible enough to handle . Azkee wants the PC to fix the computer so the Ciphers have access to " all " the knowledge . 8 . Cure Radian . . Radian is suffering from High Desert Fever . A doctor PC can either cure him , or get him addicted to painkillers and turn him into a PC slave . 9 . Figure out what Denom did to the crops . Azkee is worried about the crops . They ' re unnaturally large , and he ' s concerned that Denom might have done something to " improve " the fields which might ultimately prove detrimental to the Ciphers . 10 . Get more food to the Ciphers . . When Denom ' s irradiation of the crop fields is discovered , the Ciphers will refuse to eat any more of the tainted fruits and vegetables . Azkee will ask the PC to go to Hoover Dam and negotiate with one of the caravans there to have food shipped to the village . CIPHER _ FOOD = 0 / / The Ciphers are not getting outside food < br > CIPHER _ FOOD = 1 / / The PC has negotiated food shipments with one of the Hoover Dam caravans < br > CIPHER _ FOOD = 2 / / The Ciphers are getting food from their Brotherhood allies < br > CIPHER _ FOOD = 3 / / The PC brought the Ciphers a GECK 11 . Restore the crop fields with the Miracle Wheat . . If the PC learns about the miracle wheat which cleans up irradiated ground , he can mention this to Denom and offer to bring him some seeds . 12 . Rescue the captured Ciphers . . This quest will become available if the Vipers have been dealt with and a caravan is delivering food to the Ciphers . Because the caravans cannot make it up the narrow trail to the village , the Ciphers need to come down into the canyon . A group of slaver s , having heard about the developments at Mesa Verde , decided to pose as a caravan and get some Cipher slaves . The ruse worked , and several Ciphers , children included , have been captured . When the player returns to Mesa Verde , Azkee will greet the player at the entrance and tell him what happened . The slavers headed northeast , towards the Caesar ' s Legion group at Denver . CIPHER _ RESCUE = 0 / / Cipher kidnapping hasn ' t happened < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 1 / / Cipher kidnapping has happened , player hasn ' t heard about it < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 2 / / Player has heard about the kidnapped Cipers , hasn ' t decided on the quest < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 3 / / Player has heard about the kidnapped Ciphers , has decided to take the quest < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 4 / / All kidnapped Ciphers have been rescued < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 5 / / At least one , but less than half , the Ciphers died in the rescue < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 6 / / More than half , but not all , the Ciphers died in the rescue < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 7 / / All the Ciphers died in the rescue < br > CIPHER _ RESCUE = 8 / / Player has heard about the kidnapped Ciphers , has refused the quest 13 . Bring a GECK to Isaac in exchange for his power armor . . Isaac wants the PC to bring him a GECK to study , and in exchange he ' ll give the PC his old power armor . However , no GECKs are available , but the PC can have DIANA give him a holodisk with information about the GECKs which Isaac will accept as a trade . 14 . Resolve the Alexandra - Blackjack situation . . Blackjack is barricaded , hiding out from Alexandra . He doesn ' t want to have to kill her , but he doesn ' t want to shot , either ( he ' s unaware that Alexandra needs him alive ) . If the player gets Alexandra off Blackjack ' s back , he ' ll head over to Hoover Dam to go find some card games , and Alexandra , if still alive , will head over to Fort Abandon to hang out . If the PC helps Alexandra capture Blackjack , she ' ll take him to Denver and give him to the Caesar ' s Legion slaver s before returning to Fort Abandon . Note : if the PC is aware he needs to bring prisoners back to the Big Empty , he can ask Blackjack about it if he helps him out . Blackjack will want to gamble at Hoover Dam first before returning to the prison ( this will lead to the problem of actually tearing him away from the card games : " Just one more hand . I can ' t quit while I ' m winning ! " ) . If the PC hasn ' t helped Blackjack , or Blackjack is a prisoner in Denver because of the PC , he ' ll tell the player to fuck off . 15 . Kill the weedlings . . When the PC first arrives at the mesa top , Denom and the Ciphers at the mesa top will be battling a group of weedling s in one of the greenhouses . If the PC chooses to help out , he ' ll get an xp bonus . If he just stands by , the Ciphers are eventually victorious , and the PC gets no xp . 16 . Build an alarm for Trig . . Trig is attempting to build an electronic alarm for the path leading up to village , something which will alert the Ciphers to visitors . She can ' t quite get it working , though . Merchant Quests . When the Ciphers discover they no longer have a steady supply of food , the player arrange to have a caravan head their way from time to time .