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Background

You'll receive this quest from Lucy West in Megaton, provided that you agree to deliver a letter for her. If you manage to avoid Lucy, you can also trigger this quest in Arefu and at the Meresti Service Tunnel.


Walkthrough

Lucy West will tell you that she hasn't heard from her family in Arefu for months, and she'll ask you to deliver a letter to them and make sure that everything is all right. She'll also mark Arefu on your world map so you'll know where to go.

When you get to Arefu, you'll be "greeted" by Evan King (#1), who will momentarily mistake you for a member of the Family, "a bunch of punks" who have been terrorizing the town. If you press King for details, then he'll mention that the Family recently slaughtered Arefu's Brahmin herd, and that the residents of the town are now hiding in their homes until it's safe to come out. He'll then ask you to check up on those residents, including the Wests (#5).

Most of the houses in the town will be locked, but you'll be able to knock on the door and get invited inside. You won't see or learn much from the Ewer residence (#2) or the Schenzy residence (#3), but when you get to the West residence (#5), you'll find the parents dead and their son Ian missing. Depending on what your medicine skill is, you might learn something from the corpses (such as that the bite marks came from humans), but you won't need to be a C.S.I. specialist to understand the meaning of the words "The Family" scrawled on the wall in blood.

Note: You can also pick your way into Evan King's house (#4). Inside you'll find some ammunition and a Bobblehead - Repair doll (located downstairs on a table).

When you return to King (#1) and tell him the bad news, he'll remember seeing the Family's "weirdo leader" talking to Ian West down by the river, and he'll ask you to look for the Family and the boy. If you then ask King where they might be located, he'll give you three suggestions: Hamilton's Hideaway, the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema, and the Northwest Seneca Station.

The Northwest Seneca Station is the most correct of the three, and Murphy there (#9) will tell you to look for the Family in the Meresti Metro Station. You can get into the metro station from the Meresti Trainyard world map location (Exit B), or from the irradiated tunnel connected to the Northwest Seneca Station (Exit C). Either way you'll have to deal with traps or mirelurks (#10) or both.

When you approach the metro station, you'll be stopped by Robert (#11), who will tell you that this part of the metro system is off limits. There are a few ways you can get by Robert: you can pass a speech check, you can bribe him with 100 caps, you can show him Lucy's letter, or you can kill him. Just be warned, if you kill Robert then the Family will turn against you, and you won't be able to resolve the quest peacefully. You'll also miss out on a perk.

Inside the metro station, you'll meet several members of the Family, and they won't seem to mind you being there. If you ask them about the Family, then you'll learn a few things: Ian West is currently meditating in his cell (#16), the members have "special problems," the name Meresti comes from Romania, and the Family is "the coolest gang this side of the U.S." With enough speech or the Black Widow / Lady Killer perk (or some other means), you can convince some of the members to give you the password to Ian's cell.

You should also talk to Vance (#14), the leader of the Family. He'll tell you some more about the Family, and he'll invite you to learn their laws. You can get the laws one at a time by talking to the other members, or you can go to one of the terminals in the main hall (#12) and learn them all at once. If you learn about the Family and then pass a speech check, Vance will give you the password to Ian's cell (#16).

Note: It doesn't appear to make any difference how you get into Ian's cell (including picking or hacking your way in), just as long as you don't kill anybody.

When you talk to Ian, he'll either decide to stay with the Family or to go home to Arefu. The quest will progress about the same either way. If you want Ian to go home, then you'll need to pass a speech check, or you'll need to show him Lucy's letter. If you want him to stay, then all you'll have to do is tell him to stay.

When you return to Vance to tell him about Ian's decision, you should first take the dialogue option that starts with "Before I discuss Ian..." This will allow you to negotiate a deal between the Family and Arefu (if you tell Vance about Ian first, then you won't be able to broker the deal; this might be a bug). With a high enough medicine skill or with enough intelligence, you'll be able to convince Vance to protect (or just leave alone) Arefu in return for Blood Packs. With enough speech, or if Vance just likes you, then he'll agree to leave Arefu alone with no strings attached. Then when you tell Vance about Ian, he'll be happy enough either way, and he'll give you Schematics - Shishkebab for your efforts.

To complete the quest, you'll need to return to Evan King (#1) and tell him what happened. Regardless of what Ian decided, and regardless of how you handled the Family, you'll receive 300 experience points for your efforts. If you negotiated a deal with the Family, then King will happily accept it, and you'll gain some karma.

After the Quest

Completing the quest will provide you with other benefits as well. In Arefu, Evan King (#1) will give you random items (usually alcohol) once a day, Ken Ewers (#2) will repair your items at a reduced cost, and Karen Schenzy (#3) will reveal some locations on your world map. If you convinced Ian West to leave the Family, then he'll show up at his house (#5), and you'll be able to talk to him there.

At the Meresti Metro Station, if you brokered a deal where the Family agreed to protect Arefu, then when you tell Vance (#14) that Evan King accepted his terms, he'll send Alan to live in the abandoned house near the entrance to Arefu (#6). This will cause the door to the house to show up, allowing you to go inside and claim a copy of Pugilism Illustrated. If you brokered either of the deals involving Blood Packs, then you should also be able to sell Blood Packs to Vance for 15 caps each, and if you ask Vance to teach you the ways of the vampire, then you'll learn the Hematophage perk.

Finally, if you return to Lucy West in Megaton, then you'll be able to tell her that you delivered her letter, but she won't give you any sort of reward.


1 - Evan King


2 - Ewer Residence


3 - Schenzy Residence


4 - King Residence

Inside this house you'll find some ammunition and a Bobblehead - Repair doll.


5 - West Residence

Provided you don't mind sharing a bed with a couple of corpses, you can sleep here. Later, if you convince Ian West to leave the Family, then he'll return to live here.


6 - Abandoned Residence

When you first arrive in Arefu, you won't be able to enter this house. It won't even have a door. Later, if you complete the quest, and if you broker a deal where the Family agrees to protect Arefu, and if you let Vance (#14) know that Arefu agreed with his terms, then Vance will send Alan to live in the house, and you'll find a copy of Pugilism Illustrated inside.


7 - Boat

You'll find several Missiles in the ammunition boxes here.


8 - Bathrooms

You'll find a first aid box in each bathroom.


9 - Murphy

Murphy is a chemist, and he specializes in Ultrajet. If you talk to him, then he'll try to make you a deal. If you bring him Sugar Bombs (one of the three ingredients in Ultrajet), then he'll pay you 15 caps each for them. If you pass a speech check, then you can up the price to 30 caps. You can also loot some useful things (like mines and chems) from the back room of Murphy's lab.


10 - Mirelurks

If you take this route into the service tunnel, then you'll have to deal with a pair of mirelurks.


11 - Robert's Camp

Robert is a member of the Family. You'll have to get by him to enter the Meresti Metro Station (Exit D). If you explore Robert's camp, then you'll find a few things to steal, including an Assault Rifle, ammunition, and a copy of Tumblers Today. For an easier time with your thefts, you should wait for Robert to go to sleep.


12 - Main Chamber

This is where you'll find most of the members of the Family.


13 - Karl's Shop (Lower Level)

Karl will offer to sell you a variety of items from his shop. If Karl's not around, then you can steal a bunch of stuff from his shop instead, including meds, guns, ammunition, and a bunch of Scrap Metal.


14 - Vance's Pulpit (Upper Level)

Vance is the leader of the Family. You'll usually find him up here unless he's eating (#12) or sleeping (#15). If you kill Vance, then you'll find Vance's Longcoat Outfit and the key to his sword cabinet (#15) on his corpse. In this general area you can also find some beds to sleep in and some guns and ammunition to steal.


15 - Vance's Quarters

Other than some miscellaneous items to steal, you'll only find two things of interest in Vance's quarters: a locked sword cabinet and a wall safe. If you can't pick open the sword cabinet, then you can steal the key from Vance or loot it from his dead body. Inside the cabinet you'll find the unique sword Vampire's Edge. For the wall safe, you can pick it open or hack into the nearby computer to get it open, but inside you'll just find some random stuff.


16 - Ian's Cell


Exits:

1. Entrance to the Northwest Seneca Station.
2. Entrance to the Meresti Service Tunnel.
3. Grate between the Northwest Seneca Station and the Merest Service Tunnel. Move quickly through this exit to avoid radiation poisoning.
4. Door between the Meresti Service Tunnel and the Meresti Metro Station. This door will start out locked, but Robert (#11) will open it for you when he lets you pass. If you decide to kill Robert, then you'll need to pick the lock or hack into the nearby computer terminal to get the door open. Robert will drop the password to the terminal when he dies, making it easy to get through.