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Dunwich Borers is a marble quarry found within the Commonwealth in 2287. It has been taken over by a detachment of the Forged, and its depths are inhabited by feral ghouls.

Background[]

Pre-War[]

An old marble quarry[Non-game 1] operated before the Great War by Dunwich Borers LLC. The quarry was notoriously unsafe, with railings and supports replaced only when they decayed to the point of failure, any requests for additional safety measures dismissed out of hand, and standing orders were to wait-and-see if something potentially unsafe happened. The cost-cutting measures were, of course, very profitable for the company,[1] which never actually addressed the underlying problems. Instead, it organized Happy Hours right next to the excavation pit, with any alcohol consumed taken out of the workers' weekly paychecks, and annual picnics with complimentary Nuka-Cola. Onsite deaths were treated with a casual attitude regardless if the victims were workers or their children. At most, Dunwich simply purchased additional robots to keep people away from excavation pit edges.[2][3]

In truth, all of these measures were acceptable sacrifices: The company's management was looking not for a source of marble, but an ancient temple to dark, forgotten gods. When an access route to the subterranean temple was finally found, Tim Shoots immediately notified the management, noting that the other station managers might realize the marble quarrying was merely a sideline.[4] In response, the management ordered him to lure the rest of the management team down there and stall them pending their arrival. Shoots was to be handsomely rewarded, as the management was very close to accomplishing its goal. Instead, all four station managers were likely sacrificed, forever doomed to remain beneath the ground as feral ghouls.[5]

Post-War[]

Roughly two hundred years later, the quarry was repurposed by the Forged. Seeking a supply of iron for Saugus Ironworks, they had their raider affiliates begin collecting any and all scrap metal from the site - a task which was soon complicated by rumors of the quarry being haunted. Failing to meet quotas, the Forged leader Slag sent his lieutenant Bedlam to identify and correct any issues. Believing the work crew was merely frightened by a few ferals, she immediately got them back to work.[6][7]

The raiders under Bedlam were able to get another two shipments out on time, but before the third, the crew disappeared. In response, Bedlam herself headed down into the quarry to discover the reason behind the work stoppage, end the feral threat, and get her workers back on track.[8]

Layout[]

The entrance is located at the bottom of the exterior quarry. The exterior area is guarded by about a dozen raiders, including one in power armor. A large quantity of bones can be found in and underneath the connected cages over the large smoking bonfire in the central area; the cages can be opened from below.

Upon entering the quarry's interior zone, a tripwire trap triggering a nearby weapon is not far from the entrance. Just past the trap on the left is a lift that leads up to a locked door requiring a key held by the raider corpse on the other side of the door; the Sole Survivor will pass through the area on the far side of the door after exploring the rest of the facility.

Continuing ahead from the entrance are several more raiders. A circuit breaker switch controls the power and some of the spotlights. The unlocked Station 1 terminal is near the breaker on the right, and can be used to deactivate the nearby turret; beware a grenade trap activated by a bathroom scale in front of the terminal. Across from the terminal is a small camp with the machinegun turret, a mattress, and a cooking station.

The way ahead now leads to the left. A set of stairs to the left leads up to a Novice-locked cell with a tripwire trap activating a grenade bouquet at the bottom of the stairs, while continuing down the main path is terminal 2. Just beyond the terminal is a weapons workbench next to an ammo crate, a sleeping bag, and a Novice-locked cooler. Continuing on to terminal 3, a huge pit opens up, at the bottom of which Bedlam will be found.

A Novice-locked terminal, belonging to Bedlam, is attached to the reservoir in the middle of the pit. There is also an armor workbench with an issue of Astoundingly Awesome Tales placed on it, a steamer trunk, and two sleeping bags. To the west is a door that is chained shut. Removing the chains allows access to a corridor littered with feral ghoul corpses. Activating a circuit breaker on the left near the middle of the corridor turns on the lights and triggers a large group of feral ghouls to start running towards the player character. Farther along, near a wrecked machine with a skeleton, is a door on the left.

Opening it triggers a hallucination in the form of a flashback. A flash of white will provide a glimpse of a few pre-War employees working, before another flash of light returns the current-day surroundings to the forefront.

More circuit breakers in the following ghoul-infested area will attract more ferals. At a fork in the path, the lefthand passage heads upwards, leading past work stations 5 and 6 (which unlike the first four stations, do not feature terminals) and eventually back to the exit.

Ritual chamber[]

FO4 Dunwich B 5
FO4 Dunwich B 7

Following the righthand passage at the fork, the Sole Survivor will enter the deepest part of the quarry, past station 4. Upon entering the passage beyond station 4, a second flashback will occur, which is a few seconds longer than the first.

The hallucination presents lit candles lining the passage. At the end of the short path is the main cavern, where a ritual of sorts is taking place. A raised, multi-tiered marble platform is seen in the cavern. Stairs lead up to the main area, where a man stands on a square rug before a pulpit. Broken segments of railing loosely fence in the platform. Wearing pastor's vestments, the man makes repetitive cutting motions toward the top of the pulpit with a large knife. Behind him, a long set of chains hang from a crane flush against the ceiling. Around the perimeter of the room are stone benches, some of which were crushed by collapsing walls. Kneeling before the platform on two sides are nine individuals, dressed in clean, pre-War outfit variants. Each one rests on their knees, hands crossed behind their back, with their head bowed. The room is lit by additional candles on the perimeter walls and the corners of the raised platform. Every few moments, the room shakes and rumbles violently.

As the Sole Survivor continues down the corridor toward the chamber, another bright flash of light occurs and the current-day surroundings come back into focus, including four named feral ghouls who are all that remains of the project managers from stations 1 through 4: Bob Stanson, Bradley Ramone, John Hatfield, and Tim Shoots, the co-conspirator of Dunwich management.

The cavern's appearance has changed significantly from what was observed in the flashback. The raised platform is missing, as are the pulpit, rug, and candles. In place of the platform and surfaces upon which the pre-War individuals kneeled, a large pool of water is found. Some similarities remain, such as the crane, chain, and remnants of railings and stone benches.

Underwater chamber[]

FO4 Dunwich Kremvh 4

The Sole Survivor can dive into the pool and swim down a tunnel deep into the earth. At the bottom, through the fog, a gigantic statue can be seen buried beneath the earth, gazing at the player with a pupiless eye. Right next to it is the pulpit from the previous hallucination, and an entrance to an even deeper chamber. Several clusters of glowing fungus and a skeleton mark the way.

Past the skeleton is another tunnel which soon opens into another chamber, with stone benches set along the edges of the space. An altar sits in the center against the back wall, illuminated by more glowing fungus. On the altar are two mini nukes flanking a unique weapon named Kremvh's Tooth. Turning and following the path back to the surface, the Sole Survivor can take the forked passage described earlier to reach the exit.

Jumping down in power armor will render exit impossible. The player can only retrieve it if they have a humanoid follower and order them to use the frame, then exit the quarry.

Notable loot[]

  • Bottlecap mine - Unarmed, in the exterior building at the top of the quarry, on the cabinet to the left of the turret control terminal.
  • Astoundingly Awesome Tales - On an armor workbench near Bedlam's terminal in the giant pit room.
  • Three mini nukes. One mini nuke is to the left of Bedlam's terminal, up on the rock face. The remaining two mini nukes are in a submerged tunnel beneath the irradiated pool of water at the lowest level of the quarry, on an altar together with Kremvh's Tooth.
  • Sneak bobblehead - On a small table near the section 4 terminal.
  • The Dunwich - Tim Shoots holotape - In the section 4 terminal.
  • The Dunwich - Management holotape - On Tim Shoots' corpse.
  • Kremvh's Tooth - In a submerged tunnel beneath the irradiated pool of water at the lowest level of the quarry, on an altar.
  • Dunwich Borers key - On a dead raider next to the door it opens.
  • At least 25 oil can be obtained by collecting the many canisters and lanterns throughout the site.

Related quests[]

Notes[]

  • The Dunwich Building was a location in Fallout 3 which was also owned by Richard Dunwich before the War, where similar phenomena occur.
  • Rumbles and footsteps can be felt and heard throughout the underground quarry. The rumbling becomes more frequent the closer one gets to the bottom of the quarry.
  • The man standing upon the platform in the flashback scene behind the altar is referred to as the "Butcher" in the Creation Kit. In the vision, his lectern appears to be upside-down. The lectern can be found at the bottom of the pit.
  • The Butcher is one of the few NPCs in Fallout 4 to be seen wearing pastor's vestments, though the flashbacks are supposedly from the pre-War era.
  • The Editor ID of the giant colossus face is MetroMan_1. This is due to the fact that the face is simply a reused asset of the faces found around certain metro tunnels, such as the Mass Pike Tunnel.
  • The two mini nukes underwater respawn every time the cell is refreshed, which can happen in multiple ways, such as receiving a Minutemen radiant quest for this area.
  • Occasionally the normally chained red exit door, which one can get to by taking the lift, will remain open from the last time the Sole Survivor has exited through it. This has no effect on loot or enemies and they should both be respawned.
  • Along with the raiders, many of the feral ghouls in the deeper section of the quarry respawn.
  • Upon collecting the management holotape, all four named ghouls will lose their names.
  • In Fallout Shelter Online, a game exclusive to the Oceanic region, Dunwich Borers comes up several times.
    • It is a large explorable dungeon.
    • Eventually, Pickman will approach the player, explaining that his murders were fueled by his proximity to Dunwich Borers. This event unlocks Dunwich's Whisper, a game mode in which the player descends into the Dunwich mine fighting groups of enemies. On each floor, one helpful voice and one hostile voice will apply certain buffs and debuffs to the player.
    • In Lorenzo Cabot's Memory Den quest, he becomes interested in the Dunwich Borers mine after visiting Pickman, believing it to have something to do with the Rub' al Khali Desert.
    • Both Lorenzo and Pickman also speak of "whispers" coming from within the Dunwich pit.

Companion comments[]

  • When at this location companions make comments, which are activated at two locations: at the top of the stairs leading down to the vertical chamber where Bedlam is, and the entrance of the submerged tunnel with Kremvh's Tooth.
Location comments
Character Specific location Comment
Cait Vertical chamber "That's a long way down."
Submerged tunnel "No way... we're not swimmin' in there."
Codsworth Vertical chamber "Hard to believe a tunnel system so vast was all for a bit of rock."
Submerged tunnel "If you ask me, that little water hole is more than a tad suspect."
Danse Vertical chamber "I wonder what type of material this mining operation was attempting to recover."
Submerged tunnel "Remain vigilant... something isn't right here."
Deacon Vertical chamber "You old timers really liked digging tunnels."
Submerged tunnel "Railroad Tip #113: Don't go diving in creepy swimming holes. That is all. "
John Hancock Vertical chamber "Don't slip."
Submerged tunnel "I don't throw the phrase "watery grave" around a whole hell of a lot. But in this case..."
Robert MacCready Vertical chamber "Don't tell me we're going all the way down there."
Submerged tunnel "Something tells me that hole shouldn't be there."
Nick Valentine Vertical chamber "It's alright. I'm sure the rocks at the bottom would break your fall."
Submerged tunnel "We going for a dunk?"
Piper Wright Vertical chamber "That is a hell of a first step."
Submerged tunnel "Yeah, I just ate, so you go ahead."
Curie Vertical chamber "What a strange place for a quarry."
Submerged tunnel "I wonder if any organisms live in the pool? Shall we collect a sample?"
Preston Garvey Vertical chamber "Somebody went to a lot of trouble digging this out. I wonder what's down there?"
Submerged tunnel "Going in there is the very definition of bad idea. Which means, I assume... that we're going in there."
X6-88 Vertical chamber "Why dig this here? Were they looking for something?"
Submerged tunnel "I don't like the look of that water."

Appearances[]

Dunwich Borers appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Similar to the Dunwich Building in Fallout 3, random flashbacks to times before the Great War happen spontaneously while exploring the quarry, hinting at its paranormal background and relationship to the author H. P. Lovecraft, his literary series the Cthulhu Mythos, and particularly his short story "The Dunwich Horror."
  • At the bottom of the quarry, one can see an eye belonging to a cyclopean statue, staring up through the submerged tunnel (the statue is simply an upscaled and mostly obscured downtown sculpture, which can be seen by clipping outside the map). Such placement mirrors another of Lovecraft's stories, "The Shunned House," in which the protagonist digs underneath an abandoned, haunted house, only to uncover the elbow of a colossal being buried underneath.

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Playstation 4Playstation 4 Flashback scenes may not trigger properly, and you may not encounter any named ghouls.[verified]
  • Playstation 4Playstation 4 The first few raiders encountered in the underground area will never respawn after being killed, and their bodies will never disappear. [verified]
    • Radiant quests that send the player character to Dunwich Borers will respawn new enemies, and their corpses will finally disappear after being looted.

Gallery[]

Flashback sequences[]

See also[]

References[]

Non-game

  1. Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition pp. 327-328: "[4.30] DUNWICH BORERS
    This is an old marble quarry with deep subterranean fissures and tunnels. Many have attempted to fully explore this place, but none have ventured back up to the surface. The same can be said for a group of Raiders, some of whom have wisely kept to the surface. For it is said something unspeakable occurred within these depths..."
    (Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map)
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