Great Khans The Great Khans are a found in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281 . History . The Great Khans are the only truly organized band of raiders in the Mojave and , as befits their warrior culture , men and women both can hold their own in a fight , whether in a brawl or a shootout . As a tribe however , the Great Khans are but a shadow of their former selves . Both their numbers and morale have been ravaged by a series of massacres and displacements . From their rocky stronghold at Red Rock Canyon , they make a living by drug - trafficking and the occasional raid or salvage find . Since the Bitter Springs Massacre , the tribe has aspired to little more than survival and isolation , with often acts of vengeance on the occasional NCR citizen or deserter . The arrival of a Legion emissary , , has changed this . Papa Khan , the tribe ' s leader , wants to believe Karl ' s assurances that the Great Khans will be absorbed intact by the Legion , assuming glory and an honored place as one of its elite forces . To lead the assaults on Hoover Dam and the Vegas Strip would make for fine acts of vengeance . The rest of the Great Khans are not so entirely convinced . As much as they want to exact revenge on the NCR and Mr . House ' s Three Families , as it was implied that the Great Khans had a war against the Omertas , they know that they lack the strength to do so . Indeed , they believe it is only a matter of time before their enemies track them down and that the Great Khans would be unlikely to survive such a confrontation . The looming conflict between Caesar ' s Legion and the NCR , along with the message from Karl , offers the possibility of a new way forward . Karl plans to betray the Khans and never intended to offer them a full place in the Legion , as told in his journal . Society . The Great Khans reside in Mongolian - style tents called Gers within Red Rock Canyon . However , unlike the other settlers of the Mojave , these homes are used for little more than sleeping in as they usually only have room for a couple of beds and a central fire . A Great Khan often carries all of their possessions with them , if they should decide to have anything besides the bare essentials . Because of this , as well as their aggression , the other factions view them as savages . However , unlike the Jackals , Fiends , Scorpions and Vipers the Great Khans are not hostile towards new - comers . As a similarity , if the Great Khans begin to dislike someone they will often show great hostility towards them . The Great Khans subsist on hunting and farming , as well as sales of chemicals and drugs produced in the Red Rock Drug Lab . The Canyon is a harsh environment for plants , leading the Great Khans to depend on drugs as a substitute for crops , which they can create quite easily and can sell to a multitude of factions . Coincidentally , one of their most frequent consumers is also their largest enemy : the New California Republic . The NCR officially has a ban on illegal drugs , however the Crimson Caravan and wealthy merchants that make up the NCR frequently turn a blind eye in order to make a profit . While these merchants make up a large portion of their custom , their biggest consumer is , by far , the Fiends - violent raiders constantly searching for new and exciting drugs . Though the drug trade is not the Great Khans ' only form of self - sufficiency . They constantly hunt geckos and bighorner s for their meat and pelts , which are tanned into the leather outfits they are often seen wearing . The Great Khans also wear crude armor plating on their legs . The Great Khans ' preferred form of warfare is through war parties , where multiple central figures lead their own individual units into individual battles and adapt on the fly , rather than being ordered by a main unit . Relations with the outside . The Great Khans usually keep to themselves , rarely traveling too far from Red Rock Canyon , besides the odd raiding party or trek to Fiend territory for fear of being attacked by NCR troops . They frequently visit the fiends and other tribes or organizations dependent on their drugs , despite the fact that they are quite isolated and hostile to many factions . They remain suspicious of many strangers , because of what happened to them at Bitter Springs , although they are always ready to accept a newcomer and perform their brutal initiation rituals on them . They are often unpredictable and brash so relations are treated with caution , as the wrong word will often set off a fuse in them . They are hostile against anyone wearing NCR apparel , including the Courier . The Followers of the Apocalypse visited them upon the arrival of Red Rock Canyon and helped them with books , medicine and technology . When the Khans instead chose to use that knowledge to become drug dealers , they withdrew their support in disgust . The Khans maintained an alliance with Caesar ' s Legion for some time , despite the Legion ' s general disgust of drug usage and raiders . Many Khans say the alliance had more to do with their hatred of the NCR than their fondness of the Legion . Technology . The Great Khans use a very random assortment of weapons , while most Great Khans boast of their great strength very few use melee weapons as their primary weapon , even though a large arena resides in the canyon where multiple Khans hone their melee fighting abilities . Khans are said to be tough and able to hold their own in a fight , both with their fists or in a shootout . Many Great Khans use s , , and s . Others around Red Rock Canyon may be found carrying hunting revolver s , hunting shotgun s , trail carbine s and 12 . 7mm pistol s as well as the random weapons in between . They have picked up methods of how to make chems by abusing the trust of the Followers of the Apocalypse ( However if you convince them to leave the Mojave , they will eventually heal their relations with the Followers ) . They are known to grow a small amount of crops in Red Rock Canyon . Unlike most other inhabitants of the Mojave , the Great Khans are a tribal / raider group that live in tents . Notes . Some Khans are affected by the Sneering Imperialist . Appearances . The Great Khans appear in " " and " All Roads " . Behind the scenes . The tribe ' s culture is based on the Mongol warriors under the rule of .