Black Mountain

"City of the Dead" 
Black Mountain is a location in the Mojave Wasteland .
==Background==
Black Mountain was host to a military communications array and monitoring station focused on China's satellite network prior to the Great War.Black Mountain terminal entries; broadcast tower terminal, Log 672 When the bombs fell, it was shielded from a direct strike by the mountain ridges but was left highly irradiated from the fallout thereafter.Black Mountain terminal entries; broadcast tower terminal, Log 675
Post-War, following the fall of the Master in 2162, many of the first generation super mutants from Mariposa Military Base headed east, led by Marcus. Coming to the Mojave and eventually arriving at Black Mountain, they discovered the array was still operational and the mountain's natural structure provided a secluded and defensible place in which to settle, so it was there that Marcus decided to try and create a mutant sanctuary, similar but not quite like his former township of Broken Hills.Black Mountain terminal entries; broadcast tower terminal, Log 676
Over time, an influx of nightkin and the more thuggish second generation super mutants trickled into Black Mountain and with both came problems. While Marcus was the de facto leader at Black Mountain, one particularly unstable nightkin named Tabitha began to gain a following among the second-generations and Marcus found himself being pushed out. Deciding not to further splinter their community, Marcus and a small group of first-generations departed, later founding a second mutant settlement at Jacobstown in the northwest Mojave close to Mount Charleston.Black Mountain terminal entries; Tabitha's terminal, Alone at last!
Left unchecked, Tabitha progressively turned the satellite array into a fortress defended against any and all non-mutant outsiders. She quickly convinced the slow-witted second-generation super mutants and schizophrenic nightkin that she is a prophet, subsequently founding her own "State of Utobitha" and ordering her mutants that humans are to be killed on sight.The Courier: "What makes this a 'dangerous place?'"Neil: "You must've heard her radio broadcasts? Though why a human would follow her invitation here is beyond me... unless you didn't listen very closely. The voice on the radio belongs to Tabitha, the 'supreme commander' of Black Mountain - or, as she calls it, the 'State of Utobitha.' She took control of this place almost two years ago. The Super Mutants here do whatever she says - and she says humans are to be killed on sight."(Neil's dialogue)The Courier: "How did Tabitha end up in control?"Neil: "For years, Black Mountain was a peaceful community. Its leader, Marcus, broadcast an invitation to Mutants throughout the wasteland. That's how I found Black Mountain. So did others, most of them second generation Mutants. Marcus welcomed everyone - that was his mistake. The community ended up being mostly second gen - not very bright, but easy to influence. Fine, until the Nightkin came along, led by Tabitha... In a week she had most of the second-gens thinking she was some kind of prophet - and that she should be broadcasting her 'truth,' not Marcus. Marcus saw what was coming and decided to leave before things got out of hand. He smashed the radio and left to found Jacobstown."(Neil's dialogue) Tabitha now uses the array to broadcast her crazed radio program throughout much of the wasteland.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition pp. 398-401: "Black Mountain:A slightly unhinged Super Mutant named Tabatha (and also Rhonda) has installed herself (with the indentured help of a Ghoul named Raul) in this mountain-top radar installation, and is broadcasting her particular brand of insanity throughout much of the Wasteland. There are two ways to reach her lair; both of which are covered in the side quest."
Sometime before or during 2281, Black Mountain had two new arrivals: Neil, a first-generation sent by Marcus as a spy to keep tabs on Tabitha's regime as well as to divert any wandering mutants away from there to Jacobstown instead,The Courier: "Why are you here, instead of Jacobstown?"Neil: "Marcus sent me here a couple of months ago to check on Black Mountain. I suppose you could say I came here as a spy. But with no signs of Tabitha's weakening, and none of the second-gens ready to revolt or to come to Jacobstown, there wasn't much I could do. Down here, on the other hand, I've saved a dozen Mutants from heading up the mountain. It's not much, but it's something. I have my own reasons to stay away from Jacobstown for a while - reasons we won't be discussing - so I've stayed here."(Neil's dialogue) and Raul Tejada, a ghoul mechanic that came to investigate the disrupted radio signals he liked listening to. When Neil wasn't able to stop him in time,The Courier: "You say Marcus smashed the radio. Not very well, apparently?"Neil: "Heh. There's a sad story behind that. Marcus smashed it just fine, but while we were gone some Ghoul named Raul came along. Tabitha turned him into her personal mechanic. A slave, really. See, if I'd been standing down here, I could've warned him before it was too late."(Neil's dialogue) Raul ended up captured by Tabitha's mutants but was spared from being killed by offering his skills as a repairman. He was enslaved and forced to do Tabitha's bidding, including figuring out how to repair her defunct robotic companion, Rhonda, all while being threatened with execution on a daily basis; he exploits Tabitha's schizophrenic mental split between her original identity and an ersatz replication of Rhonda to constantly convince her to let him live another day.
==Layout==
Situated northeast of Goodsprings and east of Sloan, the general location is easy to spot from a distance due to the series of satellite dishes and transmission towers on the mountaintop. The main path up the mountains consists of several switchbacks in a winding pattern, peppered with checkpoints with at least one to three super mutants armed with heavy or melee weapons like miniguns and super sledges. Shortly before reaching the peak, there is an overturned satellite dish that is used as a makeshift camp. It contains several trunks, two of which contain several hundred caps. There is also a transceiver that can be used to interrupt Tabitha's broadcasts.The Courier: "What sort of trouble should I expect if I head up?"Neil: "The road is a series of switchbacks up to the peak. There are three blockades, plus patrols. Sneaking past them would be... difficult. Just before the peak is a kind of shanty village. More second-gens there. And then there's Tabitha's compound - heavily guarded by her Nightkin."(Neil's dialogue)
When entering the mountain peak, the closest building to the player character will be the prison building, inside of which resides Raul. The door to his cell is locked, and one can either hack the Very Hard-locked terminal next to the door, use the key taken from Tabitha, or can access a second terminal close to the entrance door and read the sixth entry to gain the password to the first terminal. Raul can then be set free, after which he will either travel to his shack or can be recruited as a companion; this will cause Tabitha and two nightkin to spawn as hostile outside of the building upon leaving.
The storage building is located between the prison building and the broadcast building, and it contains several random items, a Nuka-Cola vending machine, locked chests, and a broken Mister Handy robot by the name of Rhonda; the robot can be repaired via a 60 Science skill check, which will cause Tabitha to spawn as non-hostile upon leaving the building.
The broadcast building is at the far end of the property and is identifiable from the single satellite dish on the roof. The building is two floors high and has two doors on the ground floor, one of which is inaccessible from the outside. Once entering the building, the other door can be accessed, it leads to a staircase which then leads to Tabitha's room. A key is required to access her room, which can be found underneath the staircase. The door to the first floor inside the fence can be interacted with from the outside, potentially granting access to the top floor while bypassing most of the enemies. 
==Notable loot==
* Cuddles' toy car - In the prison building, on the table. Details of the item are mentioned in the nearby computer terminal (note: unless one reads the fifth entry, it remains a generic toy car).
* Annabelle - A unique missile launcher used by the nightkin sniper on the radio tower platform.
* One Nuka-Cola Victory - In the storage building.
* One Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - In the storage building, between two Sarsaparilla crates on the bottom shelf, left of the training dummy.
* Sheet music book - On a stand in Tabitha's room.
* Repair note #3 - A note, on a console in Tabitha's room.
* Treasure hunt - A note, attached to the training dummy's midsection inside the storage building.
* Minigun - In an Average-locked trunk by the radio in the camp within the dome-like structure.
==Related quests==
* Crazy, Crazy, Crazy
* Eyesight to the Blind
==Endings==
==Notes==
* When arriving at or standing around Black Mountain, the sound of thunder can be heard.
* By fast traveling or returning to Black Mountain, super mutant masters will spawn, generally in groups of three. They will not be hostile to the player character and cannot be spoken to. Killing one will not cause the others to attack. This is in line with Neil stating that super mutants are still streaming in, and he is going to stay and direct them to Jacobstown. The nightkin encountered will still be hostile however.
* If one enters the storage room and doesn't fix Rhonda within three in-game days, she will disappear and won't come back. If one intends to repair Rhonda for the positive ending to Crazy, Crazy, Crazy, one must have, or be able to temporarily achieve (via certain armor pieces, skill magazines, chems, etc.), a minimum 60 Science skill level.
* The ambiance that plays at Black Mountain is the same ambiance that plays at Necropolis during the original Fallout, "City of the Dead."
==Appearances==
Black Mountain appears only .
==Behind the scenes==
* Black Mountain is located in the same geographical area as the real-world Black Mountain, within the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area near Henderson, Nevada.
* Josh Sawyer addressed criticism that the inclusion of Black Mountain, as well as Quarry Junction and scorpion gulch, was to simply gatekeep the player from the New Vegas Strip. He stated that the common strategy to get past these areas by sneaking past is not a glitch but an intended solution and a further test for "players to Git Gud or Die."Josh Sawyer's Twitter
==Bugs==
* When using the terminal in the prison building, the screen may become blurred but not bring up the monitor interface for the computer. This will fix itself by leaving the building and re-entering but using scoped weapons will now show the image of the computer terminal.
* When climbing back down the mountain after reuniting Tabitha with Rhonda, it is possible that attacking any nightkin or centaur will cause Rhonda and Tabitha to join the fight and attack you. After the original attackers are dead, they will disappear altogether. Fast traveling to Jacobstown will show that Tabitha is still hostile to the player.
* When fast traveling or climbing the mountain normally, random non-player characters will spawn at Tabitha's compound or in the crater area. They will be non-hostile to both the super mutants/nightkin and to the player. If the player starts a fight with the mutants/nightkin, they will not join regardless of faction reputation.
* When meeting Neil for the quest Crazy, Crazy, Crazy, you may be given the optional objective to meet him by the overturned satellite dish. Meeting him there, he will ask if you are ready. No matter what reply you give him ("Let's go" or the equivalent of "No not yet. There's some things I have to do first"), he will always respond to the latter. A possible fix for this is telling Neil you're ready to go before you talk to the super mutant on the radio.
* A variety of non-player characters may spawn on the roads on your way to the summit including, Sunny Smiles, an NCR trooper, a Powder Ganger, some Boomers, and a Great Khan. They won't be attacked by the super mutants if you're around them, they will go straight to you and completely disregard the other non-player characters.
* Sometimes, the nightkin sniper will not spawn, making it impossible to get Annabelle.
* The back door to the ground floor of the broadcast building can be entered from outside the fence.
* Sometimes, a deathclaw may spawn in the crater at Black Mountain or along the winding road leading up the mountain.
* Upon returning to Black Mountain after your initial visit, it is possible for the super mutants and nightkin to turn on eachother.
==Gallery==
Black Mountain.jpg
Black Mountain super mutant quarters.jpg|Collapsed satellite dish
Collapsed sat blk mtn.png|Collapsed satellite dish interior
Black mountain overview.png|Radio tower platform
Blk mtn towards nv.png|Looking towards New Vegas
Blk mtn main drag.png|Main buildings
Blk mtn dude.png|Nightkin with Annabelle
Minigun Black Mountain.jpg|Minigun
Frag grenades Black Mountain.jpg|Frag grenade, halfway up Black Mountain
==References==
Non-game
 
Category:Mountains
Category:Craters
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