Point Lookout (location)

Point Lookout is a swampland downriver from the Capital Wasteland in 2277.
==Background==
===Pre-War===
Long before the Great War, the region of Point Lookout was discovered by English explorer John Smith in 1612.Coastal monument plaque: "Here marks the landing of Captain John Smith's shallop upon his discovery of Point Lookout in 1612." Over two decades later, in 1634, two ships known as the "Ark" and the "Dove" landed near Point Lookout. The settlers constructed the Ark & Dove Cathedral, naming it after the vessels that brought them to the New World.Fallout 3 loading screens: "The Ark & Dove Cathedral is named for two English settler ships which landed near Point Lookout in 1634, leading to Maryland's founding." Point Lookout continued as a successful settlement. 
Events of the American Civil War took place in Point Lookout, and the Lone Wanderer can still find Confederate hats throughout the region. The small seaside town became a tourist attraction, particularly with the boardwalk that pays homage to the original English settlers called "Pilgrim's Landing."
As during the American Civil War, the secluded backwater swamps of Point Lookout harbored another military prison, the Turtledove Detention Camp, for Chinese-Americans suspected of espionage against the United States, during the Sino-American War. The infamous spy Wan Yang was arrested in Point Lookout and taken there for interrogation, subsequently dying at the camp.Turtledove Detention Camp terminal entries; C.O. private operations terminal, Interrogation Reports, Yang, Wan Meanwhile, just off the coast of Point Lookout, a Chinese submarine patrolled and gathered information. This submarine was ultimately discovered and disabled, at which point a single surviving submariner was captured and taken to Turtledove. The United States Navy successfully salvaged the submarine just prior to the Great War.Turtledove Detention camp terminal entries; terminal, Doe, John (submariner)
In the years before the War, the inhabitants of Point Lookout's rural interior became intensely isolationist and distrusting of the federal government; when a disaster relief outpost was constructed to provide aid amid the outbreak of the New Plague, the deeper swamplands were avoided after a volunteer worker was attacked by marsh-dwelling locals.Disaster relief outpost terminal entries; Terminal, Log Entry 004
===Post-War===
Point Lookout was never directly hit by the nuclear bombs that fell during the Great War, but here, the water of Point Lookout's bogs were contaminated by the Potomac River that flows out of the Capital Wasteland.Fallout 3 loading screens: "Point Lookout's rural location shielded it from direct impact during the Great War, but the resulting fallout has irradiated the area in the intervening years." The irradiated terrain gives way to dense swamps and abandoned buildings where nature has largely replaced the human presence over two centuries. The pervasive radiation in the swamps led to the evolution of the swampfolk, a crazed, highly deformed, inbred people who live all around the swamps of the region.Fallout 3 loading screens: "The Swampfolk denizens of Point Lookout are the product of exposure to heavy radiation and generations of poor breeding." The radiation also gave rise to feral ghouls and swamplurks being drawn to the area's radioactive swamp waters.
Point Lookout is almost devoid of any organized society or signs of civilization, but one can trade or speak with Tobar the Ferryman, Haley of Haley's Hardware, Madame Panada, Marguerite, and the local tribals. Point Lookout is more than just a small swampy marsh, but a cache of pre-War technology waiting to be found. The area became known to outsiders from the Capital Wasteland thanks to punga fruit, a unique fruit known to grow only in the local bogs, and many legends about the supposed treasures hidden there.
The muck surrounding the region contains biogas, accumulated because of the radioactive contamination of the Civil War-era mass graves in the area.[[USS Ozymandias terminal entries#<!> Confidential <!>|USS Ozymandias terminal entries; Bysshe Co. terminal, ERROR:12XU_user_shell, <!> Confidential <!>]] The decomposing bodies buried in these ancient mass graves were slowly decomposed into methane due to the unique environment, a dense limestone wetlands substrate.Soil survey tapes Due to the radiation's effects on the normal process of decay the mass Civil War-era graves in the area have become patches of a greenish-gray, smoking and/or steaming earthy muck that releases flammable methane bubbles occasionally.Fallout 3 loading screens: "Point Lookout's swamps are rich in natural gases, which sometimes manifest on the surface as explosive methane bubbles."
==Locations==
There are 31 marked locations within Point Lookout.
Marked
Unmarked
==Related quests==
==Notes==
It takes one month in-game time to travel from the Capital Wasteland to Point Lookout.
==Appearances==
Point Lookout appears in the Fallout 3 add-on of the same name.
==Behind the scenes==
* Landscaping for Point Lookout was handled by environment artist Megan Sawyer.Megan Sawyer's portfolio
* According to Jeff Gardiner, the playable area of Point Lookout is based on Point Lookout State Park, a real-world state park in Maryland along the Chesapeake Bay.Exclusive Fallout 3 Point Lookout Interview: "Where in the Fallout universe is Point Lookout located, and how will players access it?"Jeff Gardiner: "Point Lookout is a State Park in Maryland along the Chesapeake Bay. The player will get a radio signal after installing Point Lookout letting them know of a strange new fruit being distributed throughout the wasteland. This fruit is being ferried over by a boatman named Tobar, who will allow you to ride back to the park with him down the Potomac River."
* An early sketch of the Point Lookout map used for world-building was shared via "Fallout 3 Dev Diary: Point Lookout" by Joel Burgess.Fallout 3 Dev Diary: Point Lookout (archived)
==Gallery==
Fo3 Point Lookout map.jpg|Point Lookout map
PointLookoutPrototype.jpg|An early sketch of Point Lookout map, Joel Burgess blog
==References==
Non-game
 
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