Blood Ties

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also an Xbox 360 and PC achievement.

Lucy West, a citizen of Megaton, wants you to deliver a letter to her family in Arefu. But the task is not as easy as it sounds, as Arefu is under siege by the Family, a gang of wannabe vampires.

Deliver Lucy's message
Lucy West can be found in Moriarty's Saloon in Megaton, or wandering around outside. She asks you to deliver the letter even though she doesn't have any bottlecaps with her. The quest can be declined if one is selfish and aiming for the bad karma path.

Arefu is a small settlement built at an old freeway overpass. It is located northwest of Vault 101. When you arrive (after avoiding a near accidental death with a grenade thrown by the town sheriff, Evan King), shortly after a Family assault, it turns out that Lucy's parents are dead. Further examination shows they have bite marks on their necks, and her brother Ian is missing.

Find Lucy's brother
You are given three possible locations of "The Family": Northwest Seneca Station, Hamilton's Hideaway, and Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema. The Family is hiding in the Metro Station. Upon entering Northwest Seneca Station, you will be approached by Murphy, a ghoul, asking you to find him Sugar Bombs so he can create Ultrajet (you can head back out to the wasteland and go into the building marked "Grocer" on the door. Behind the counter should be two boxes of Sugar Bombs); head into the room he came from and in the door to the right. Through another door you will see two barrels of radioactive waste, you need to go through the manhole in this room. A couple of Mirelurks will slow down your progress in a cave, but following the rough path eventually leads back into the next set of subway tunnels. There are creatures, mines and bear traps, so watch your step.

Another two entrances into the same tunnels are at Meresti Trainyard northeast of Big Town and across the river.

At the end of one of the tunnels is a checkpoint entrance where you will find Robert, the sentry, who will allow you in if you give him 100 caps, use the Speech skill to gain entry for free, or have the Cannibal perk. Then you will enter, via the maintenance tunnel, to Meresti, another Metro station. There, the Family have created their home.

The leader of the Family is Vance, a somewhat mysterious yet charismatic troubled man who is trying to help the members of his "Family" overcome their disturbing hunger for human flesh, and drink blood instead, somewhat akin to the mystical vampires in the old stories from pre-war. You will have to talk with him (rudely or understandingly), and he will advise you to ask the rest of the family to tell you the rules they live by. He also gives you the password for their terminal, where you can find the aforementioned rules, and a note from Vance about the Arefu incident, which is very enlightening.

By talking to Vance, or any of the other family members, you will find that Ian is spending some time in isolation as he is preparing to join the ranks of The Family. Further questioning of the members of the family will reveal that Ian is not only aware of his parents death, but he also killed them.

If you have the Lady Killer perk, you can talk to one of the women in the auditorium with all the benches. She will give you the password for the computer terminal to get into Ian's room without having to go through Vance. If your Speech skill is high enough you can get it from any of the (5) characters in this section other than Vance as well.

If you have the Black Widow perk you will be able to seduce Karl, the rude, bitter storekeeper into giving you the password of the computer terminal that locks the door of the room where Ian is. The Terminal also gives you the choices of activate the electronic security of the station and activate the security robot. If your strengh is good enough you can threaten Karl, then he will give you the password for having "balls".

Talking to Ian will hear reveal the shocking truth: it turns out that he wasn't kidnapped, rather, he voluntarily joined the Family after killing his own parents. He always had a hunger and thirst for human flesh and blood after a childhood encounter with a dangerous raider, and he explains he always loses his mind when he craves it, which is how his parents ended up bloody on his home floor. At this point, you have the choice of showing him his sister's letter or leave him there. If you show him the letter and have a very diplomatic and careful conversation with Vance, you can convince him to protect Arefu instead of attacking it in exchange for donated blood packs.

Diplomatic behavior and donating bloodpacks will make the Family's headquarters a place where you can sleep and trade. Karl is the shopkeeper.

Returning Ian to Arefu and granting protection for them will give you some rewards from the inhabitants. Also, you may use one of the beds in the West family house.

Once you return to Arefu and tell Evan King the deal, return back to Vance to complete the whole quest, and Vance will reward you with schematics for a neat little flaming sword shishkebab that you can build yourself. Vance will also dispatch somone to stand guard at Arefu, fulfilling his end of the deal. If you ask him to show you the ways of the vampire, you will receive the Hematophage perk which allow you to get 20hp from bloodpacks.

Bug (v. 1.00)
* If you attack any "vampire" the only way to get to Ian is to kill Vance and everyone else and search Vance's body for the code to unlock the security terminal by Ian's door. After you've talked to Ian and sent him home, Arefu will see you as a hostile since the game assumes that they're allies after the quest. The peaceful solution is to talk to the guard at the front of The Family hideout and tell him that you have a letter for Ian, he will acknowledge Ian as the "new kid" and open the gate for you. From there you can go and see Vance.