Camp Venture

Camp Venture, known before the war as the Endurance and Survival Training of the Virginias - Appalachia Regional Facility (shortened to Virginias Endurance and Survival Training or V.E.S.T.), is a location in the Mire region of Appalachia.

Background
Camp Venture was known before the Great War for its extreme survival training. Known as V.E.S.T. (Virginias Endurance and Survival Training), it was run by Edward Hayes Jr., a Free States member. The intense training course lasted four weeks, with attendees working on their cardio, strength and learning numerous skills, including building fires, cleaning water, establishing shelter (week 1), handling firearms, field dressings, safety against poisonous flora (week 2), wilderness navigation, first aid and signals (week 3). The final week was essentially an examination, where attendees applied the skills they learned in practice. Hayes used the facilities to train members of the Free States, including Raleigh Clay and his family, in preparation for the nuclear war. However, Hayes later mothballed the facility and retreated to his bunker shortly before the Great War.

After the bombs dropped, this proved to be a windfall for Taggerdy's Thunder, left to fend for themselves by the chain of command. Acting on de Silva's recommendation, Lt. Taggerdy moved her squad into the camp, where they survived the harsh winter of 2077-78. Taggerdy ordered the Camp to full readiness, in order to fill out the ranks, putting Sgt. Ted Wilson in charge of training volunteers. Within 29 days, Wilson brought the mothballed facility back to operational status, improvising a training regimen, adapting Ranger techniques to their present situation (complicated by the lack of an airborne component, but he made do). Recruits signed up regularly, but Wilson's brutal training caused many to wash out. The first class that graduated from Camp Venture had an over 50% failure rate and one fatality due to the live-fire exercises Wilson had recruits perform. However, they were the right kind of people for the Thunder, the lieutenant, and Captain Maxson. In fact, it was here that the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel was eventually born.

Complications happened from time to time. On January 3, 2081, a recruit by the name of Fisher, just a week from graduation, deserted from the Camp taking a combat shotgun, ten boxes of shells, salvage recon, and other gear. The incident resulted in Sergeant Wilson modifying the recruiting strategy used by Lt. Taggerdy, starting a pattern of elitism and preferring military veterans in recruiting, something that would come to bite the faction back, hard, years down the road. However, the Camp's training continued and when the Brotherhood was formed around 2082, it provided a steady stream of new troops for the organization. Although some could not take the strain - as was the case with one K. Kelly, who took her own life on November 9, 2083, unable to live on after losing most of her family and loved ones - others excelled, as was the case with Tex Rogers, who received a commendation on March 26, 2086, from Wilson, the very first he issued since the Great War. As this came just as the situation around Huntersville was heating up, the timing was impeccable.

Although the Camp could continue for the foreseeable future, the appearance of the scorchbeasts and the Scorched, coupled with Taggerdy's steep recruitment criteria meant the Camp's life expectancy was drastically reduced. Losses taken in containing the Bog's scorched threat and refusal to cooperate with other factions led to the Camp being shuttered in July 2093, with remaining personnel reassigned to Fort Defiance, Thunder Mountain Power Plant, and defense stations along the Bog's perimeter. The remaining Squires were immediately assigned combat duties, completing their training in practice, while Wilson was promoted to Fort Defiance executive officer.

By the time of the opening of Vault 76, all the bunkhouses outside the perimeter wall were falling apart and the interior was overrun by Scorched.

Layout
Camp Venture sits on the edge of the Mire. It is divided into three distinct sections: the outer perimeter on the southern side, the entrenched Brotherhood of Steel facility, and the northern cliff, housing a Vertibot landing pad and a small shooting range.

Outer perimeter
The outer perimeter is surrounded by a crooked wooden palisade wall with several lookout towers attached to it. It is comprised of a restroom in a wooden cabin, bunkhouses Alpha and Phoenix (the latter located behind the former, up the hill), a Storage and Supplies cabin with a basement (which holds the chute for Forbidden Knowledge), and a small cabin with two gurneys in it and a S.E.R.E. Training sign on the ground in front of it. To the west, a small path with a bridge leads to the Pioneer Scouts athletic test. Up the hill in the northwest and next to the facility entrance are the derelict remains of bunkhouses Bravo and Charlie, with their signs on the ground and attached to a wall respectively.

The facility
The Brotherhood of Steel facility is fully enclosed by prefabricated metal fortifications. It can be accessed on either its southern or eastern side via red double doors. Inside, the barracks are located in a cabin on the southern edge, they hold many notes and holotapes as well as a small kitchen. East of the barracks are a chemistry station, two power armor stations (which can potentially have a power armor frame), and an armor workbench.

Next to the eastern entrance is another cabin, which houses a small armory with a weapons workbench. A level 3 locked security gate prohibits entrance, but can be opened by either the secure storage key (found in a locked level 0 locker in the barracks) or a level 3 lockpicking skill. A multitude of items can potentially be found in this room (see notable loot), which also holds a a level 3 locked floor safe under one of the shelves.

The last building is the command center, which has a level 3 lock on its door. Access is gained by either picking the lock or by obtaining the command center password and using the nearby terminal to unlock the door. Inside are several ammo boxes, more notes and holotapes holding information about Fort Defiance's location, a steamer trunk, the overseer's cache, and two terminals.

Northern cliff
The landing pad is emblazoned with the insignia of Taggerdy's Thunder and can be accessed by taking the stairs up the cliff in the northwestern corner of the facility. Alternatively, one can follow the Pioneer Scouts athletic test, which happens to end on the pad's western side. There is a control terminal at the top of the stairs, which is used to call a cargo bot to the location during Defiance Has Fallen. On the landing pad's eastern side is the Weapons Training shooting range, which is usually inhabited by feral ghouls. It has another weapons workbench, a tinker's workbench and an ammunition vending machine. The small cabin here holds a level 0 locked ammo box alongside a duffle bag and a cooler.

Notable loot

 * Holotapes and notes
 * About the Brotherhood - Holotape, on the center table in the command center.
 * Anonymous diary page - Note, in an open locker on the northern wall inside the barracks.
 * Belmonte incident - Note, on the center table in the command center.
 * Command center password - Note, next to a radio in the secure storage room in the Storage and Supplies basement, related to Defiance Has Fallen.
 * Formation of the Brotherhood of Steel - Holotape, on a table near the kitchen in the barracks.
 * Goodbye Alpha - Note, on a wooden crate inside Bunkhouse Alpha.
 * Henry's letter - Note, in an open locker on the southern wall inside the barracks.
 * Letter to Tommy - Note, on the center table in the command center, related to Defiance Has Fallen.
 * Message to Marge 1 - Holotape, on the floor next to the westernmost bed in the barracks.
 * Message to Marge 2 - Holotape, on the floor next to the westernmost bed in the barracks.
 * Overseer's log - Camp Venture - Holotape, inside the overseer's cache in the command center.
 * Preservation of technology - Holotape, on top of the kitchen oven in the barracks.
 * Shelley's letter - Note, on the counter inside the cabin at the Weapons Training range.
 * Store room report - Note, on a table in front of the secure storage room in the Storage and Supplies basement.
 * Survival planning checklist - Two notes, one on a bed in Bunkhouse Alpha and the other in a medical cabin on a gurney.
 * Maxson's eulogy for De Silva - Note, on the table past the locked security gate, in the small armory near the facilities' eastern entrance.
 * Secure storage policy - Note, pinned on the wall next to the entrance to the secure storage room (cannot be taken).


 * Other loot
 * Secure storage key - In a locked (Picklock 0) locker in the barracks, to the right of the locker with Henry's letter in it.
 * Five fusion cores - Chance to spawn on the wall cabinet inside the smal armory near the eastern entrance.
 * Three potential Vault-Tec bobbleheads:
 * In the small armory, on the ground next to the weapons workbench.
 * On top of the roof of the small armory, between two small chimneys.
 * In front of the command center cabin, on top of a green containment barrel.
 * Two potential magazines:
 * In the middle of the command center, inside the top row of a metal cart, near the central steel support beam and by the steamer trunk and the overseer's cache.
 * In the small amory, below the shelf trolley, jutting out from the southwest wall (under the cabinet), left of the weapons workbench, past the security gate.
 * Power armor chassis with T-series armor pieces - At the power armor stations near the facilities' eastern entrance.
 * Mini nuke - Inside the Storage and Supplies basement, on top of a wall-mounted cabinet facing the southeast wall.
 * Stealth Boy - Inside the Storage and Supplies basement, on top of a wall-mounted cabinet, near the entrance of the secure storage room.
 * Five potential plans:
 * Inside a bottom cabinet shelf in the Storage and Supplies basement, next to the secure storage room. (Weapon mod plan)
 * Inside the small armory, on a table next to a weapons workbench. (Armor mod plan)
 * Inside the small armory, on the bottom row of a surgical cart on the left. (Weapon mod plan)
 * Inside the barracks, on a metal shelf, at the bottom row on the left. (Armor plan)
 * Inside the command center, on a metal shelf, on the middle row. (Armor mod plan)
 * Two potential power armor mods:
 * Inside the locked secure storage room in the Storage and Supplies basement, on the top left grocery shelf.
 * On a large green supply container in the middle near the power armor stations.
 * Two potential armor mods:
 * Underneath a cabinet in the locked secure storage basement, on the lower row of the cabinet near the red chute for depositing technical data, to the left.
 * Inside the small armory, on a shelf to the left of an ammo box.
 * Six potential weapon mods:
 * Underneath a cabinet in the locked secure storage room in the Storage and Supplies basement, on the lower row of the cabinet near the red chute for depositing technical data, to the right.
 * Inside the locked Storage and Supplies basement, on the top left grocery shelf.
 * Two can be found under the main counter of the cabin at the Weapons Training range, in the far left shelf.
 * Inside the small armory, on the bottom row of a surgical cart on the left.
 * Inside the small armory, to the left of a weapons workbench, on a table.

Appearances
Camp Venture appears only in Fallout 76.