Vipers The Vipers are a band of quasi - religious raider - tribals with a profound shamanistic nature . They originated from Vault 15 with two other raider groups ( Khans and Jackals ) . From Killian Darkwater ' s dialogue , their main base is called the Shrine in 2161 , and was located north from Junktown but was cut from the final version of the game . Consequently , they only appeared in - game in " " in 2281 . Characteristics . They are mysterious followers of an ancient religion . They usually only come out at night to hunt for food or to conduct raids . They are ruthless when it comes to combat and prefer stealth to strength . They formerly carry bone knives and bone spears dipped in pit viper venom ( this poison , when in the bloodstream , paralyzes the victim ) and dressed in bone armor with a red sash . This armor , as the name implies , is made from strips of bone bundled around the body with strips of leather . Most victims captured with their poison are taken back to their hideout . The leaders of the Vipers conduct their ceremonies and administration duties . The members of the Viper will follow their orders even if it means death . The Great Snakekeeper was usually in the same type of bone armor as the others , save he wears a snake skull as a helmet adorned with feathers and snakeskin as a cape . Formerly , all viper members have crude tattoos all over their bodies ( exotic piercings are not uncommon ) and their elite warriors were called the Crimson Tongue . Once a month , the Vipers fall into a deep trance through a dangerous mixture of alcohol and snake venom . Anyone who doesn ' t wake is considered to have been found unworthy by the Great Snake . When the Vipers reach manhood , they are given a special mixture of the pit viper venom . Those who die ( or are in a coma for more than seven nights ) are given as sacrifices to the Children ( the snakes in the pit are officially called the Children of the Great Snake ) . Those who survive the week - long delirium become Warriors of the Snake ( also known as the Chosen Ones ) . There is also a monthly ritual , where the Venom is taken by the High Priests and Priestesses of the tribe in small quantities , which causes bizarre dreams . This is called the Time of the Summoning , because many claim to see the Great Snake come to them in their dreams . When it is time for a captured prisoner to be sacrificed , he is typically hurled into a pit at midnight . Background . Origins . During the spring of 2141 , four groups left Vault 15 to brave the Wasteland . In the winter of the same year , three of these groups became roving gangs of raiders : the Jackals , the Vipers , and the Khans . The Vipers were founded and led by a man named Jonathan Faust , with a group of about 200 people . It was there that his small band came to a small oasis in the middle of the desert . In the middle of this oasis was a large pit , almost like a crater . While resting and setting up camp , Faust decided to look into the pit . When a member of the band called out to him , Faust turned , startled , and slipped into the Pit . He slid down twenty feet and then fell another twenty and broke his leg in the process . As he lay there dazed , a half dozen gigantic Pit Vipers slithered toward him . Not knowing what these things were , Faust was terrified . The group above heard one loud scream , and then nothing . Three others went to look for him , but never came out . The small band , leaderless and stuck in the desert with no food and water , decided to stay at the oasis , at least for a little while . They covered the pit with a tarp and nailed spikes around it to keep whatever horror lived there encased there . They then set up their camp as far from the Pit as possible . Whatever was down in the Pit never bothered them . Days passed . The more influential of the group argued about what they were to do . There was talk of joining up with others from the vault . There was talk about going back to Vault 15 . The Vipers . During these four days , almost all of the group was either dying or already dead . Those who survived the radiation poisoning were too weak to travel , while those who survived either left or stayed and helped defend the little settlement against the desert creatures . Finally , after a week , the remaining members of the group decided to move on . They started to pack their belongings when an almost spectral figure emerged from the shadows . It was Faust , except this was not the strong leader they remembered . He was wan , pale , and emaciated , and there was a feverish gleam in his eyes . He told them that when he was down in the pit , a god visited him and told him the True Way . They would make sacrifices to the Gods of the Pit , and wealth and happiness would be theirs . Of course , everyone was skeptical . Some were even violently rebellious , saying that Faust was crazy . After Faust patiently listened to them , he then whistled , and from behind him , came two very large pit vipers . Without warning , they struck . They attacked everyone in the group , including Faust , but he just laughed as they bit his flesh . As the sun rose the next day , the two snakes lay dead by Faust ' s hands . Half of his people were dead , the other half were on the brink of death as the Pit Venom started to sink into their systems . By that afternoon most would be dead , but the forty or so survivors of the venom were half crazy with the aftereffects of the venom . Faust , himself immune to the venom , helped the remaining few through this time , which has come to be known as the Great Awakening . He whispered things to them , told them how the Great Snake has spared their lives , so that they would fight for his mighty cause . And thus the Viper clan was born . They decided to make the Pit their main base named the Shrine , and to go out into the wastes and take what they needed from those blasphemers that did not follow the Winding Way of the Great Snake . Decay . When Faust ( or the Great Snakekeeper , as he was called ) grew too old to rule , his son , Asp , was given the sacred role of leader and High Priest . Around the early 2150s , however , the Vipers had grown to their former strength from captured slaves and caravan drivers and had begun to establish a power base in the badlands to the North of the Hub ( and south of the Lost Hills bunker ) . Driven by a religious frenzy ( and the need to provide for their much larger numbers of soldiers and disciples ) , they began raiding more frequently than before , attracting the attention of the Brotherhood of Steel . The Brotherhood sent out a few squads of scouts to track the raiders down - it was more of a training exercise conducted by John Maxson ' s father , as the Brotherhood was convinced that small detachment of troops in power armor would be sufficient to deal with a group of raiders , no matter how large . One Brotherhood squad found the Vipers , and during the firefight , John Maxson ' s father ( who was leading the squad ) was killed with a poisoned arrow . The response from the Brotherhood was immediate . The Paladins , now led by Rhombus , began a full scale campaign against the Vipers , tracking them down and wiping out almost all of their members within the span of a month . A handful of Vipers were able to flee north and east into the mountain range . Most of them fled eastwards , but some stayed in California until they were almost entirely wiped out after 2162 . During the campaign , the Brotherhood of Steel sent a few scouts and emissaries to the Hub to track down Vipers members , and from these beginnings , the Hub and the Brotherhood of Steel began full trade relations ( caravans had delivered to the Brotherhood before , but not long after the destruction of the Vipers , caravan trains ran directly from the Hub to the Brotherhood on a regular basis ) . Hounds of Hecate . Some of the Vipers who fled to the east eventually " settled " in the American southwest , and became a part of the fanatical tribal army of Hecate , a mad tribal goddess . The " Hounds of Hecate " , as they were now called , served as Hecate ' s fist against the other tribal and raider clans in the area . They had learned a lesson through the Brotherhood of Steel about not entering combat with forces much more powerful than them , though , and so didn ' t attack caravans heading between Denver and Hoover Dam , despite Hecate ' s wishes . They also had pet two - headed rattlesnake s which they raised in the canyons . Once the snakes were old enough , they were released into the wild . Mojave Wasteland . Other remains of the Vipers have traveled to the Mojave Wasteland . Known as Viper gunslinger s , they have been reduced to petty raiders by the constant attacks from the Brotherhood of Steel and NCR in 2281 . They tend to be equipped with varying armor and equipment , though there will usually only be one in any given group armed with a gun . Even those that do carry guns usually just have 10mm pistols . They continued the traditional work and customs of the Vipers , continuing pillage and usually come in large groups . Vipers will usually ambush wastelanders while looting unmarked locations around the Mojave Wasteland . All of their equipment is in poor condition , but a small minority carry varying body armors , such as . They may also occasionally wear . Generally , they are inefficient and practically disabled by their poor state of affairs . However , at higher levels , they carry grenade rifles and ammunition . Viper gunslingers and Viper leaders can consistently be found at locations such as Horowitz farmstead , Highway 95 Viper ' s Encampment , and raided farmstead , as well as on the road leading from Wolfhorn Ranch to Nipton . There is an unmarked Viper gang camp south - east of the Hidden supply cave , with at least 4 to 5 Viper gang members present . They respawn in these locations if killed . Appearances . The Vipers were initially meant to be included in " Fallout " , but they were eventually cut , and are only mentioned by Aradesh , Ian and Killian Darkwater . They are also mentioned in " Fallout 3 " , in the Citadel of the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel . A computer containing information about Maxson family reveals that western Brotherhood were fighting this raider group before the encounter with the Master . Maxson II , father of John Maxson , was killed by them . They finally appear as enemies in " " , albeit splintered and weak . They were also to appear in " Van Buren " , the canceled " Fallout 3 " project by Black Isle Studios . Sources . The information here is based on Brian Freyermuth ' s Vipers design document , timeline from Fallout Bible 3 and on Avellone ' s expanded background for the Vipers from Fallout Bible 6 , adapted for consistence with the Fallout universe and their appearance in " " .