The Scribe

The Scribe is a randomly encountered character in the Commonwealth in 2287.

Background
The Scribe is a former member of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel, now wandering the Commonwealth repairing and selling armor. If the Sole Survivor asks what his story is, he says he was a Brotherhood of Steel scribe back in the Capital Wasteland under Elder Lyons.

He claims to have left the Brotherhood when Elder Maxson took over that chapter of the Brotherhood, because under Maxson the Brotherhood stopped using its resources to help the people and also mentions knowing Maxson back when he was still "Squire Maxson", who was a little boy that could be encountered at the Citadel in Fallout 3.

Encounter locations
(Work in progress)
 * (BUG) NPC Test Room
 * On a road by a lake northwest of Old Gullet Sinkhole
 * East of Cambridge Police Station
 * On the road near a train bridge east of Boston Police rationing site
 * On a small square between Greenetech Genetics and Cambridge crater
 * On the street right outside of Med-Tek Research
 * Near Revere Satellite Array
 * Near the front of Hesters Consumer Robotics
 * Behind the Cambridge Polymer Labs building. To trigger random encounter, fast travel to the location and go south, then turn west and go down the road along the river until  you reach the broken Red Rocket billboard. Then turn around  and go back. Alternatively, travel to Cambridge Police Station and go down the same road to Cambridge Polymer Labs.

Appearances
The Scribe appears only in Fallout 4.

Bugs

 * The Scribe often will not show up at the settlement he is assigned to, and often vanishes if escorted on the journey.
 * The Scribe won't spawn at all and cannot be found in some cases. When using console commands he can be found in a secret room filled with other NPCs. If you wish to bypass this you can type in the console the following: 'prid 0010d56d' and press enter. Then type 'moveto player' and press enter. This will move him to you and then you can speak with him. He will sell you armor, but if you have recruited him previously and he vanished, the only way you can recruit him as a 'level 4 merchant' is to summon him to a settlement and assign him in the build menu to the level 3 armor shop.
 * It would seem there is a timer attached to the scribe, as after being loaded for a specific amount of time (approx. 3-4 in-game hours) he will simply vanish. This can occur even while the player is in dialogue with him. Population count will be unaffected and there is no way to lower it again. There is currently no means of preventing this or bringing The Scribe back without the use of console commands.
 * If you have not already initiated conversation with The Scribe may be possible to get him to a settlement nearby to where he was encountered and have him actually stay there. Save as soon as you see him in view (to be safe), and do not allow him to get close enough to initiate the first conversation with you. He will continue to walk towards you as long as you keep him in view and do not become hidden from him (i.e. don't crouch - if you become hidden from him he starts to walk off in a different direction). In this manner he can be led to a nearby settlement, and once inside the boundary line can be talked to safely and assigned to that settlement. Immediately assign him to a Level 3 Armor stand. Ideally build or vacate (store then rebuild) a Level 3 Armor stand before initiating the conversation. This method was tested when he was encountered near Wattz Consumer Electronics, and 'escorted' to Taffington Boathouse. Also tested when encountered near Cambridge Police Station and escorting him all the way up to Sanctuary Hills.  So far after waiting 48 in-game hours he still shows up to his stall in the day and sleeps in a bed at night.