Point Lookout (location)

Point Lookout is a swampland along the Chesapeake Bay that was once Maryland's Point Lookout State Park before the Great War.

Pre-War
Long before the Great War, the region of Point Lookout was discovered by English explorer John Smith in 1612. Over two decades later, in 1634, two ships known as the "Ark" and the "Dove" landed near Point Lookout. The settlers constructed the Ark & Dove cathedral, naming it after the vessels that brought them to the New World. Point Lookout continued as a successful settlement.

During the American Civil War, the region served as a Union-controlled camp for Confederate prisoners of war. Sometime following the war, the greater region became a federally protected national park; the small seaside town became a tourist attraction, particularly with the boardwalk that pays homage to the original English settlers called "Pilgrim's Landing."

As during the American Civil War, the secluded backwater swamps of Point Lookout harbored another military prison, the Turtledove Detention Camp, for Chinese-Americans suspected of espionage against the United States, during the Sino-American War (2066—2077). The infamous spy Wan Yang was arrested in Point Lookout and taken to the camp for interrogation, eventually being killed by the harsh and cruel interrogation techniques. Meanwhile, just off the coast of Point Lookout, a Chinese submarine patrolled and gathered information. This submarine was ultimately discovered and disabled, at which point a single submariner was captured and taken to Turtledove. The United States Navy successfully salvaged the submarine just prior to the Great War.

Post-War
Point Lookout was never directly hit by the nuclear bombs that fell during the Great War, but here, the water of Point Lookout's bogs were contaminated by the Potomac River that flows out of the Capital Wasteland, and the wasteland's irradiated terrain gives way to dense swamps and abandoned buildings where nature has largely replaced the human presence over two centuries. The pervasive radiation in the swamps (as well as frequent inbreeding) led to the birth and evolution of the swampfolk, a crazed, highly deformed, inbred people who live all around the swamps of the region. The radiation also gave rise to feral ghouls and swamplurks being drawn to the area's radioactive swamp waters.

Point Lookout is almost devoid of any organized society or signs of civilization. Other than Tobar the Ferryman, Haley of Haley's Hardware, Panada, Marguerite and the Point Lookout tribals, it is extremely difficult to find someone to trade with. However, Point Lookout should be a treasure trove of pre-War technology and artifacts, since it escaped the nuclear turmoil that scarred most of the Earth. Thus, Point Lookout is more than just a small swampy marsh, but a cache of pre-War technology waiting to be exploited. However, the amount of technology actually available in the area is limited, considering not only its rural location, but its isolation from the rest of the wasteland. The area became known to outsiders from the Capital Wasteland thanks to punga fruit, a unique fruit known to grow only in the local bogs, and many legends about the supposed treasures hidden there.

The muck surrounding the region contains biogas, accumulated because of the radioactive contamination of the Civil War-era mass graves in the area. The decomposing bodies buried in these ancient mass graves were slowly decomposed into methane due to the unique environment, a dense limestone wetlands substrate. Due to the radiation's effects on the normal process of decay the mass Civil War-era graves in the area have become unusual patches of a greenish-gray, smoking and/or steaming earthy muck that releases flammable methane bubbles occasionally.

Locations
There are 31 marked locations within Point Lookout as well as a few unmarked ones.

They are as follows (unmarked locations in italics):

Appearances
Point Lookout is the eponymous location in which the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout takes place.

Behind the scenes

 * In real-life, John Smith discovered Point Lookout in 1608, not 1612. He was injured in a gunpowder explosion in 1609, forcing him to return to England. He did not return to the Americas until 1615.
 * Landscaping was handled by Megan Sawyer.
 * Point Lookout is based on the real world location of Point Lookout State Park.