Nursery Valley

The Nursery Valley is a location in the Nursery in Van Buren.

Layout
This area is to be used for exposition purposes. It is intended to show the earth as it was in the golden era of the '50s, and instill hope that at some point it could return to such a state. The valley is lush with vegetation and wildlife. Grass, flowers, and trees are abundant here. Wolves, mountain lions, badgers, and raccoons (to name a few) flourish here and show no fear of man. However, there are some telltale signs that all is not as it should be.

The water level along the river banks is receding as well as that of the lake. Patches of grass are beginning to turn brown in some areas. Trees further away from the river are starting to show signs of dehydration. In most areas lamps are not lit, computer equipment does not work, and door locks have failed.

For the most part, the player character can wander the valley at leisure and explore. There are no dangers here with the exception of the greenhouses. This area is terrorized by wandering bands of carnivorous plant life that will attack animal life on sight. Examination of the greenhouse will show that these creatures escaped through small cracks in the glass that seem to have been formed very recently. The greenhouse itself is in lockdown mode and cannot be entered.

The carnivorous plants will ignore the player character but attack indigenous animal life. If the player character intervenes they will be marked as a target for attack from that point forward. The plants can be eradicated but they will return unless they are halted at their source. This can only be accomplished by gaining access to the greenhouses.

It should begin to be obvious to the player character that the Nursery has undergone some recent catastrophe that has damaged its systems. The most apparent damage is to the power systems and the greenhouse. They can continue to explore the area or begin to search for the cause of the failures and how to deal with them. Gameplay at this point moves to the Control Facility.

While exploring this area the player character can become involved in the following:


 * Animal defense. An animal lair is under siege by a group of aggressive plants. The player character can choose a side to support (aiding the plants does not make them the player character's friend).
 * Lake infestation. The lake is infested with a version of the hag-snake. The player character should find their lair (a cave behind the waterfall) and destroy it.
 * Marauding plants. Bands of plants wander about and try to slay any animal life that the find. The player character can destroy them.

Appearances
The Valley was to appear in Black Isle's canceled Van Buren.