New Canaan

New Canaan - formerly the Jericho Desalination Plant of New Canaan in Ogden, Utah, Jericho is all that is left of the Mormon city. The town's prosperity revolves around the fresh water the still-working plant produces. However, the plant is old and inefficient, and Jericho is a long way from being the economic powerhouse it wants to be.

The Mormon community of New Canaan was fairly successful as long as it was left alone. When outsiders started to filter in, their rules about the use of alcohol and other substances rubbed non-Mormons the wrong way. The community was also split on how to handle super mutants and ghouls who wanted to convert and be part of the community. Many of the Mormons in NC were big racists and didn't want anything to do with the mutants. The Living Prophet went against their wishes and allowed them in, causing a lot of dissention.

The legitimacy of Christianity or Mormonism was never a question explicitly (or even implicitly) asked or answered in the VB design. Here is a sample of a situation from VB: the leader of New Canaan is a man named Jeremiah Rigdon. Jeremiah is the Living Prophet of the faith. He claims to receive visions after having fits. He seems to believe this. Many members of the community believe this, but not all do. Some people think that Jeremiah is intentionally fraudulent or that God is not the source of his visions.

Citizens of New Canaan
The leader of New Canaan is a man named Jeremiah Rigdon. Jeremiah is the Living Prophet of the faith. He claims to receive visions after having fits. He seems to believe this. Many members of the community believe this, but not all do. Some people think that Jeremiah is intentionally fraudulent or that God is not the source of his visions.

Another member of the community is a super mutant Mormon named "Revelation" John. John also sees and hears things that others do not see or hear. He does not believe that his visions are divinely inspired, but a few others in the community do. Some PCs have the ability to recognize that John is suffering from schizophrenia resulting from his time as a Night Kin scout. The implied question is: if John's visions are the result of a medical conditions, couldn't Jeremiah's be natural as well? No definitive answer is given.

Yet another member of the community is a faux-Mormon named Pablo. Pablo claims to be a Mormon, but is just going through the motions so he can live in New Canaan. He is part of a drug-smuggling operation that defies Jeremiah's explicit ban of such substances in the community. While New Canaan is dying, some PCs can figure out a way that they can survive on a long term basis. However, Pablo would have to be the leader of said solution. If he is exposed as a drug smuggler, Jeremiah would almost certainly throw him out of the community -- even if doing so made it difficult for the community to survive. Implied question: is being so strict on religious taboos worth risking destruction? Again, there is no author-defined answer.

Jeremiah has told the members of the community that God once again wants the Mormons to practice polygyny. So many of the men have died off that God sees that practice as vital to their survival. Not all members think this is a good idea, and many outsiders are disgusted by it. This is never "validated" as "true" in the game. It is simply declared by Jeremiah. It's up to the player to decide whether Jeremiah was really inspired, whether he made it up, or whether he simply dreamed it. Another implied question: if Jeremiah did make it all up, is what he's suggesting wrong or bad?

Marshal is a glowing ghoul who converted to Mormonism. He is dying and going mad, and the priest who ministers to him, Jude, is also dying as he cares for him. Many of the Mormons, who hate ghouls to begin with, want Marshal to be cast out. Jeremiah believes it is immoral to risk the lives of outsiders if Marshal goes mad or -- worse yet -- dies somewhere where his body could harm countless travelers. Marshal is isolated, but Jude volunteers to care for him and perform private ceremonies every day. If the PC talks to Marshal, the ghoul begs him or her to help him escape; he does not want the community to suffer because of his presence, and would rather try to wander far out into the desert than watch Jude slowly weaken and die. It is up to the player to decide the proper course of action by questioning the validity and importance of all viewpoints.

Appearances in games
New Canaan did not appear nor was mentioned in any of the published games, but was to appear in the cancelled Fallout 3 project by Black Isle codenamed Van Buren, and was designed mostly by J.E. Sawyer. It is not certain if it will appear in any future Fallout game, but it is known that Bethesda received all Van Buren design documents from Interplay and might re-use some of the background from them.