Salt-Upon-Wounds

"When Salt-Upon-Wounds took New Canaan, he ordered the White Legs to salt the earth so nothing could grow again. What kind of monster would do that?"

- Waking Cloud on Salt-upon-wounds

Salt-Upon-Wounds is the war chief of the White Legs tribe, living in Zion Canyon in 2281.

Background
Salt-Upon-Wounds is a harsh, merciless leader infamous among the inhabitants of the Zion Valley for his cruelty as well as his prowess in hand-to-hand combat. He is well known for personally leading his warriors into battle, and is described as having killed hundreds of enemies with his personal Power Fist. His "salt-the-earth" policy of conquest and destruction is progressively transforming Zion National Park into another polluted piece of wasteland.

If the player chooses to go to war alongside Joshua Graham and starts the quest "Crush the White Legs", at the end of the quest the player will find that Graham has overrun the White Legs village and is in the process of executing all of the captured White Legs. At this point Salt-Upon-Wounds, whom Graham is about to execute next, will beg the player for mercy. The player can either convince Graham to show mercy to his defeated enemies, allow Graham to execute Salt-Upon-Wounds and all of the other White Legs, or give Salt-Upon-Wounds the chance to die honorably in a "fair fight" against the player.

Alternatively, if the player sides with Daniel and chooses to evacuate the Sorrows in the quest Flight from Zion, Salt-Upon-Wounds will confront the player at the end of the evacuation at Pine Creek Tunnel. The player can kill him in a final battle, or (through a Speech check) convince him to retreat without a fight.

The ending indicates that even if Salt-Upon-Wounds is spared and subsequently escapes, he is "a dim shadow of his former self," and is unable to prevent his people from being destroyed by their enemies soon after retreating from Zion.

Quests

 * Flight from Zion, Crush the White Legs: Salt-Upon Wounds is all that stands in the way of the Sorrows and Dead Horses living peacefully.

Effects of player's actions

 * If you have a Speech skill of 90, you can ask Graham to spare him, after which he will run away.
 * The player can also let Joshua Graham kill him.

Other Interactions

 * If you have the Sneering Imperialist perk, you have an extra option to tell Graham to "cap General Gobbledegook".

Appearances
Salt-Upon-Wounds appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts.

Behind the scenes

 * Salting the earth of a defeated opponent dates back before the Romans, although the best known example is the salting of the earth at Carthage at the conclusion of the Punic Wars. While it's unlikely Salt-Upon-Wounds would have been aware of it, the White Legs were interested in joining the Legion, and may have picked up the idea from them.