Flatwoods Monster

Flatwoods monsters are creatures found in Appalachia.

Background
Described as a hovering creature with glowing purple eyes, capable of abducting wastelanders. The wandering storyteller shares details about the creature, warning that its "mere presence can warp the mind of all but the most iron-willed."

In pre-War West Virginia, near the town of Flatwoods, many claimed to see a dark, mysterious figure with glowing eyes. Colton Pickins claims he was taken onto its spaceship and subjected to experimentation, but his account was dismissed by police. After the war, there are accounts of wastelanders being taken, only being able to recall a blinding light afterward.

In actuality, they are Zetan aliens. In late pre-War West Virginia, the zetans operated through a network of zetan agents who captured individuals in the wilderness around Flatwoods for experimentation. One such person was the Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Vault-Tec, who was inspecting the construction of Vault 76 sometime between 2064 and 2069. These alien agents were often spotted and reported upon by Flatwoods locals like Colton, though local law enforcement did not take the sightings seriously. The zetan agents were dubbed the "Flatwoods Monster" by the locals and the media. These zetan agents continued to operate in Appalachia at least up until 25 years after the Great War. The Enclave also maintained a research facility in Appalachia where they apparently held three zetan bodies and studied them.

Biology
A Flatwoods monster's head is encased in a purple helmet, which obscures most of its face. The rest of the body is sealed in a protective suit. Flatwoods monsters have no visible legs, the suit instead terminating to a bullet-shaped point at its bottom. The Flatwoods monster has three fingers on each hand. Its blood is green, which can be seen when fighting them.

Gameplay attributes
A Flatwoods monster can be encountered at night in a random encounter. If approached or shot at, it will engage the player character using teleportation to move around. If a player character exits combat or remains hidden for too long, the Flatwoods monster will suddenly disappear along with a flash of light.

During combat, a Flatwoods monster will teleport around. It regenerates lost health when nearly dead multiple times and can also take control of other creatures and robots around it and use them to defend itself, indicated by the purple glow around the creatures under its control. The Tales from the West Virginia Hills magazine issue #5 will provide an additional 15% damage against the Flatwoods monster.

Locations

 * The Flatwoods monster has no fixed spawn locations.
 * Possible encounter during Daily: Queen of the Hunt.
 * Possible encounter during Daily: Making Sacrifices.
 * Approaching any of the markers on this map at night will have a 2.5% chance to spawn the Flatwoods monster. Note that they do not despawn and can be encountered during the daytime.

Appearances
The Flatwoods monster appears only

Behind the scenes

 * The Flatwoods monster was to appear as a boss for a cut variation of Campfire Tales as well as the cut Vault raid for Vault 96.
 * The Flatwoods monster is based on West Virginia folklore.

Bugs

 * The Flatwoods monster may never spawn as a Legendary enemy.
 * Similar to burrowing creatures, if the Flatwoods monster is killed with VATS while it is teleporting, its body may fall beneath the game floor and be unlootable.
 * The Flatwoods monster laser beam attack does not count as an energy weapon, and will not proc Electric Absorption. It still deals energy damage.