Honest Hearts - Part 1

“I'm not saying that everything is survivable. Just that everything except the last thing is.”  -John Green, Paper Towns.

The caravan I travelled with arrives in Zion, and I look out over the landscape, feeling very pleased with having installed those graphics enhancing mods. The characters look as weird as ever, but the area in itself? It's absolutely gorgeous and the canyon feels a lot more natural than the regular Mojave area.

Anyway, as me and the caravan walk on and I listen to the bantering of the guards... suddenly an explosion and two guards are dead. In a panic I pull out my sniper rifle and lock on the first enemy I see. He's dead before I can really tell who or what he is. But more enemies come and my comrades die one by one. Soon, I'm all alone. The enemies are gone, my allies having taken them out, but dying in the process.

Seeing no alternative, I simply keep walking on and I come upon two enemies, finally seeing who they are.

They're regular people, but white-painted all over their bodies. They look similar to American natives in dress and weaponry, immediately throwing tomahawks at me. I pull out my Rising Sun and incinerate them. Then I keep walking.

Shortly afterwards, I'm approached by another native, not white-painted, wearing- What are you wearing?

Oh my God that hat is ridiculous...

Anyway, Follows-Chalk as he's named is part of a different tribe. The ones who attacked me and my party are called "White-Legs" while Follows-Chalk is part of the "Dead Horses" tribe. He tells me a bit about the White-Legs, which can basically be summed up as "They're bad", and then asks me to follow him to his tribe's camp, where their leader is waiting for me.

On the way we meet a Yao-guai, a horribly mutated beer. Follows-Chalk tells me to be still and it leaves. Of course, me being me, I follow it and destroy it. Bewm.

I try to explore a bit, but every time I try to veer off the path to the Dead Horses camp Follows-Chalk whines at me. Not good. I want to explore, but apparently I'm not allowed to right now. As a lover of sandbox games, this is not good, giving me a massive land to explore but forcing me along a linear path, and it's something I've noticed overall in New Vegas. But again, I'm going to get to that later.

We reach the camp after a short walk. It's... not exactly big.

And these guys are supposed to be a big tribe of fearsome warriors... Okay...

Follows-Chalk leads me into a cave to meet their leader. The Burned Man himself.

Joshua Graham.