Arefu

Arefu is a small settlement in The Capital Wasteland made of ramshackle houses. It's most important for its role in the quest Blood Ties.

First Impressions
When you first arrive Evan King throws a grenade at the player, mistaking the player for a member of the The Family, a group who frequently raids the town of Arefu.

When you first talk to Evan King he will tell you he wants to check on everyone in Arefu (going to the West house all the way in the back reveals that the Wests are dead.)

Speaking back with Evan King after this he will tell you that he saw Ian West talking to The Family down by the river, this will initiate the Blood Ties quest.

Location
The town is located north-northwest of Vault 106, as illustrated in the map here. Arefu is actually located atop the remains of a destroyed highway, therefore the small town is only accessible from the south. The town's location appears to be on what is left of one of the I-495 Capital Beltway bridges over the Potomac River.

People
Evan King, Brailee and Ken Ewers, Karen Schenzy, and Ian West and his (now dead) parents all have places of residence in Arefu. Lucy West recently moved from Arefu to Megaton.


 * If you kill all residents of Arefu or the family after making a deal with them and return to Megaton and attempt to talk to Lucy West, it will not go into dialogue, she will say to you "I heard about your little killing spree in Arefu, get the hell away from me!"
 * Once you have arranged a deal with The Family, the people of Arefu can be found walking around without a care in the world. They are happy to talk with you.

Notable Loot

 * The Bobblehead - Repair is found on a table inside Evan King's house, along with a nice supply of ammo on the second floor that requires stealing. Although you will have to pick Evan's door (it will be red), you will not lose Karma.


 * There is a Nuka Cola Quantum just to the east of Arefu. It is perched on one of the wooden buoys just out in the water. Expect two Mirelurks and one Mirelurk Hunter. There's also Silenced 10mm Pistol and one ammo box near buoys bottom of the river


 * There is a copy of Pugilism Illustrated (Unarmed) on a table in Alan's house. It is the house by the Brahmin pen at the base of Arefu, and only accessible (no longer boarded up) after you negotiate the exchange of donated blood packs for protection between Arefu and the Family, and inform Evan King and Vance, during the Blood Ties quest. Vance sends Alan as the agreed protection. You will lose karma by taking it.


 * Follow the river under Arefu and you'll come across a grounded boat. There is Missile ammo contained in ammo boxes on the prow.

Caravans
The caravan merchant stop here as part of their route. They can be found at the base of the ramp, near the Brahmin pen. This is useful as none of Arefus residents trade anything. They can also make Ken Ewers repair skills useless as the Merchant have far higher skills than him.

Being that Arefu is beside a Mirelurk infested river, that merchants will often run off if a Mirelurk comes out of the water. Strangely, some Merchants will sometimes actually run towards the Mirelurks instead of away from them, forcing you to save them, before they die. This often means killing 5 Mirelurks (dependent on difficulty level), most of which will be underwater.

Trivia

 * Just above the entrance (where the highway leaves the ground), you can see a damaged traffic sign that should read "CAREFUL". Note that the 'C' and 'L' have faded away on either end of the traffic sign.
 * This could be a reference to the Planet of The Apes remake from 2001. There, the downed ship is named Calima by the apes, due to the sign "CAution LIve aniMAls" whereas CALIMA is the only letters not covered in dust.
 * Arefu is also a small village in Romania, which is most well-known to be the village near the former castle of Vlad (the Impaler) Tepes, who was also known to his people as "Dracula". This is a clear reference to the blood-drinking "Family" whose thirst for blood is similar to the fabled vampire "Dracula".

Bugs

 * Some players may experience a bug, where upon fast traveling to Arefu, they see a mirelurk maul Evan King, ruining the quest, and turning the entire village's population hostile to the Vault 101 Dweller's presence. Trading blood packs to The Family for bottle caps is no longer available after this bug has occurred.  Instead, the members of the Family will chastise and mock the player's "killing spree" at Arefu.  Apparently any critter in the area will be placed in town center when fast traveling, wanderer is blamed for this (assuming Arefu 'was' friendly).
 * In cases where Arefu becomes hostile, Evan King may start a killing spree. He will kill everything in his path from merchants and citizens, to you. He will even kill Arefu's supply of Brahmin occasionally, maybe because of having your gun out.
 * Behind the West Residence, adjacent to a bathtub is an indent in the road where you can walk on air.
 * In the PS3 and XBOX360 version, after completing the Blood Ties quest, some players may get locked in the Schenzy residence with no key to unlock the door. The only solution is to reload a previously saved game. If this happens on the PC version, the simple answer is to enter cheat mode on your keyboard, click on the door 'selecting it' with your mouse, and typing 'unlock' then 'enter'.  Can be used on all locked doors, except those that need to be activated elsewhere, and inaccessible doors.