Cleansing Fire

Cleansing Fire is the second main story quest $$

Quest Objectives

 * Explore the sewers below Boston and make them safe to use as a supply route.
 * Drive the Children of Atom out of the tunnels—or make a deal with Brother Schumaker that allows his sect to remain.
 * Learn about the Last Son of Atom’s cult.

Detailed Walkthrough
Mayor McDonough (or an alternate settlement leader if The Train Job concluded with getting banned from Diamond City) meets with the player characters and offers them a job to help clear out a path through the Boston Sewers for travelling caravans to use instead of having to endure the harsh conditions aboveground. The primary concerns are removing deadly radiation, eradicating dangerous threats, and ensuring the area can be fortified; with payment of 250 caps upfront and another 250 caps upon completion. The Mayor supplies the group with a Geiger counter if they lack one, and directs them to an exposed sewer entrance next to a Red Rocket south of Diamond City.

Scene One: Into The Sewers
In freezing rain, the player characters arrive at the Red Rocket south of Diamond City, and descend into the relative heat of the sewers. Upon entering the sewer tunnels, the player characters immediately notice painted arrows in the tunnel ahead, glowing green in the pitch darkness. Each chamber in the sewers has its own hazard or source of radiation that the player characters need to nullify, which can be tackled in any order. The Sewer Stairs's main obstacle is a flow of irradiated water, The Recreation Room's main obstacle is an array of tanning beds bolted to the walls bathing the room in harsh UV light, Battle Bots' main obstacle is a destroyed robot with a cracked Fusion core emitting radiation, The Rad Church is a key place of worship for a chapter of the Children of Atom and houses a bus-sized undetonated atomic bomb, and The Vault's main obstacle is the irradiated food stored there contaminating the room its stored in.

Progressing to the Rad Church, the player characters will encounter Brother Schumacker, the soft-spoken local priest for this group of the Children of Atom, knelt on the ground in prayer before a large undetonated nuclear bomb the size of a bus. The room is bathed in a dull white glow and has a high level of radiation. If the player characters did not fight or kill other members of the Children of Atom in the sewers, Schumaker will allow their presence, but refuse their desire to clense the Rad Church, and is prepared to fight to protect the Rad Church's divine radiation. He however informs them of an alternate route through the sewers that eschews going through the Rad Church in favor of another tunnel, however it is currently inhabited by the Last Son's sect, who are unlikely to be receptive to the player characters' supply line requests. If they accept Schumaker's offer of an alternate route, he will unlock a secret door leading to the deeper sewers for them to use.

If the player characters alternatively do not wish to co-operate with Schumaker; they can fight him, attempt to disable the undetonated atomic bomb at the centre of the Rad Church, and finish their assigned task of cleansing radiation from a route through the sewers. Any Children of Atom left inside the sewers will fight with their lives to try and prevent the disarmerment, and the act itself is incredibly difficult. The player characters have 3 attempts to disable the bomb, however the device becomes armed after the first attempt and begins counting down. If 3 failed attempts are made, or the countdown reaches zero, the bomb detonates.

Scene Two: The Deeper Sewers
The deeper sewers are older and narrower, however after the player characters trek for some time, they encounter a group of three Children of Atom Fanatics and two young gigapedes. Their armor is decorated with the same symbol Brother Landon was wearing, and if the player characters are able to display that same symbol, they may be able to gain the trust of the Atomites. If successful, they may inform the player characters that they are searching for a woman who served the Last Son before escaping named Minnie Mabee, and are prepared to offer a 100 cap reward for information relating to her location. They may also offer the player characters a 500 cap reward for aiding them in fighting off 4 Minutemen Riflemen and blocking off the entrance to the sewer they came in through. If the player characters do not intervience, the Minutemen are still killed anyway. If the player characters do not present Landon's symbol, or are otherwise unable to convince the Last Children that they are peaceful, the Fanatics and the young gigapedes attack.

The Fallout
If the player characters succeed in purging the radiation from either the Rad Church or the alternate route, trade is able to resume through the sewers, and the player characters gain 1 rank of settlement reputation from whichever settlement instagated the quest (Likely Diamond City), in addition, all settlements visited by the player characters gain +1 food supply, and +1 denizen outlook. If the player characters agreed with Brother Schumaker to deal with the Last Children in the deeper sewers, news of the act reaches the Last Son of Atom, who views Brother Schumaker's action as a betrayal and may attempt revenge against the Rad Church. Alternatively, if Brother Schumaker was killed, Children of Atom who would otherwise have joined the Rad Church are driven into the Last Son's sect and increase his power as a result. Lastly, if the player characters failed their attempts in disarming the nuclear bomb at the center of the Rad Church, the player characters lose 2 ranks of settlement reputation from any settlement that becomes aware that they were responsible for the explosion, and further hazards may be triggered.

Enemies

 * Children of Atom
 * Children of Atom Tinkerer
 * Eliza’s Dragon
 * Brother Schumaker
 * Children of Atom Fanatic
 * Young Gigapede
 * Minuteman Rifleman