Civilized Man's Burden

Civilized Man's Burden is a side quest in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on, Honest Hearts.

Quick walkthrough

 * After the Deliverer of Sorrows quest's initial start, Follows-Chalk has new dialog options.
 * Talk to Follows-Chalk about his desire to explore civilization.
 * Speak to Joshua Graham about Follows-Chalk leaving Zion to explore the Mojave.
 * Tell Follows-Chalk what he should do.

Detailed walkthrough
After the player completes the quest Arrival at Zion, a new dialogue option opens up with Follows-Chalk regarding his interest in seeing civilization. If asked, Follows-Chalk says that one day a "man with a big mustache and guitar" came to the Dead Horses' camp. If the player has completed the quest Talent Pool, they can remark that they know him, and that they got him a job, confirming his identity. Follows-Chalk goes on to say that he was intrigued by the man's professed occupation -- traveling the wasteland as a wandering entertainer, being paid simply to make music.

Follows-Chalk then confesses that he is afraid to ask Joshua Graham for advice about whether or not he should see civilization for himself, and asks the player to speak with Joshua on his behalf. When asked, Joshua states that he does not wish to interfere further in Follows-Chalk's decisions, leaving it to the player to provide guidance one way or the other. The player can then either lie to Follows-Chalk about what Joshua said, or tell the truth and provide his or her own opinion of whether Follows-Chalk should stay in Zion or see more of the world. Regardless of using the lie or truth speech options, the outcomes are the same for Follows-Chalk based on the implied "go" or "stay" option given.

If the player tells Follows-Chalk to explore the civilized lands, his ending involves him arguing with the rest of the Dead Horses about his ambitions, then one day disappearing into the wilderness on his own, never to be seen again.

If the player chooses to tell Follows-Chalk to stay with his tribe, he does. His wanderlust eventually fades, and he continues to help the Dead Horses.

Behind the scenes

 * The name of this quest references Rudyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden," which has been interpreted in different ways: one is that the poem laments the slippery slope of imperial colonialism and was critical of British colonization; another suggests that the citizens of these colonies were not sufficiently grateful for the benefits of British imperialism; others still consider it racist.