Jamaica Plain

Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of Boston and a possible settlement in the Commonwealth $$

Pre-War
In 2077, with the city finances at a deficit, Jamaica Plain sought a way to close the huge gap in their budget without cutting the massive pay and benefits to their work staff. They decided to create an attraction to boost the local economy, called the Treasures of Jamaica Plain, a time capsule to be opened two hundred years later. However, they also had another fiscal problem, as they had to appropriate funds to maintain the town hall. Instead of looking for more cuts to make, Mayor Alyssa Park decided to kill two birds with one stone and sent the funds to repair the basement, although not the roof or plumbing. In time, the exhibit became her pet project.

The project consumed a massive amount of funding, pushing the budget into the red. They began construction by removing the storage room and laying marble floors, and later added an automated security system, a Type-V Laser Defense Grid, to guard the treasure. Once completed, the treasure rooms took up most of the basement. Apart from the Revolutionary era antiques, it contained battlefield mementos (as a memorial to Private McKinney), a journalist's life work (also a memorial, for M. Stahlman, a reporter of the Canadian Annexation) and donated baubles from local residents, businesses and facilities. In the end, the exhibit was a disaster and very few visited. On October 23, 2077, with the Great War occurring outside, the janitor made one final entry and locked down the exhibit. 

Post-War
By the 23rd century, Jamaica Plain had become infamous for both the feral ghoul infestation and the fabled treasures that lie somewhere inside the town. In fact, an expedition of treasure hunters (Sal, Carl Everett, Luke Silverhand, Ken Standish, Tanya Standish) entered the suburb looking for it, although the ghouls kept them at bay.

Sal, an ex-Gunner and bounty hunter, tracked down Carl Everett and gave him an ultimatum, or else he would be turned in for a reward. Desperate, he came up with an idea, and on September 1, 2287, he pitched a plan to find the treasures of Jamaica Plain to Sal and she accepted.

After successfully convincing her that he could pull together a team, he called in favors and enticed several acquaintances to the team with the promise of an even split in the loot. All the while, Carl hoped that Sal and the others would not catch on to his eventual betrayal and abandonment. By September 22, the month-long preparations were in order, learning of the nearly unheard of security and the complete lack of description on what it was guarding. However, unbeknownst to Carl, virtually every other member of the team was planning to betray and murder at least one other person on the team.

First was Luke Silverhand, who, after digging up the details of the security systems put in place, planned to let them get into the range of the defense grid and then activate it, killing them all. By October 5, they all had gathered near the town, except for Hadrian (who would have been their sniper), who died after receiving the invitation.

Despite his reservations, Carl accompanied the team into Jamaica Plain, knowing full well that once they unlocked the treasure, Sal would just kill the team and keep the loot for herself. On October 6, they entered the town; by this time, however, no one was willing to fight together. At the first sight of a feral, they split, each trying to stand their own against the hordes.

Carl made it to the main road's traffic barricade before he was overwhelmed. The Standishes made it to the second story of a residential home before barricading themselves against their foes. They too were overwhelmed and died together. Luke took off to the church; behind the chained door, he believed that he would be safe from the ferals. The plan failed and he was overwhelmed and killed on a pew.

Sal, determined to get the treasure even if she had to dig with her bare hands, made it to the second floor of the town hall before being cornered in the remains of an office and was killed. Later, the Sole Survivor can explore the ruins. If the ferals were wiped out from this town, the location could prove to be a valuable asset to the Commonwealth Minutemen.

Layout
Jamaica Plain is located directly southwest of University Point and northwest of Quincy, mostly surrounded by walls with a variety of partially intact buildings within. The town has a contingent of feral ghouls within the boundaries.

One of the more notable buildings, an old church that has its doors chained, is found in the southern central portion of the area. It is accessible by entering the house next to it and climbing on the roof, or by going through the windows of the church, which are large enough to jump through without difficulty.

The church has a cooking station which is a settlement object and shares the workshop's inventory, despite being outside its borders. The player can move the cooking station into the settlement build area by activating the workshop menu inside the settlement, moving into the church, grabbing the cooking station as soon as possible, and moving back towards the build area, placing the cooking station inside the green zone just before the five second timer runs out. The cooking station needs to be placed inside the build area in time, or it will drop as a non-functional hologram. In this case, reactivating build mode will reset it back to the church. Alternatively, using Jet will extend the Workshop auto exit timer enough to make moving the cooking station trivial.

The most sought after place in Jamaica Plain is the town hall, found across from the church. The town hall's basement is the home of the Jamaica Plain treasures exhibit, which has lured treasure hunters in hopes of finding what lies within. The basement used to be a janitor's area but it was changed into a pre-War cache, two months before the Great War. The exhibit itself features many unique pre-War items deemed as treasures by its former inhabitants.

Inhabitants
Of these treasure hunters, one group, in particular, can be found dead and scattered throughout the town, including:
 * Sal - ex-Gunner, heavy weapons specialist, leader of the group. Found in the Mayor's office.
 * Luke Silverhand - gearhead/tech guy. Found in the church.
 * Carl Everett - fixer. Found east of the town hall near some concrete barriers and a trashcan fire.
 * Ken Standish - found on the second floor of a blue house northeast of the town hall.
 * Tanya Standish - with Ken.

Settlement information
Although the construction area is not as large as the entire suburb, it is still of moderate size, surrounding the main house and extending out to the adjacent parking lot and a portion of a nearby street. The area of Jamaica Plain that can be used to build is only a small portion of the overall ruined town. However, it's a rare settlement that is an actual town with architecture.

Salvage in Jamaica Plain is rather sparse compared to other sites, but its location as one of the few southeastern settlements makes it a good location for a Minutemen artillery piece. The zone contains several junked cars that can be scrapped for steel but contains nearly no wood.

There are no bodies of water, so simple water pumps must suffice. There are many line-of-sight breaks and natural walls, which combined with the smaller area, should prove easily defensible with turrets. The eastern parking lot has plenty of arable land for crops and water wells, and the house is mostly intact, able to be built upon if so desired. The entire area is situated in a dangerous part of the Commonwealth.

Loot

 * Jamaica Plain mayor's password and Sal's holotape - On the body of Sal in the upstairs area of the ruined town hall building. The password gives access to the mayor's terminal and the treasures access terminal.
 * Jamaica Plain mayor's ID and Silverhand's note - On Luke Silverhand, in the church opposite of the Town Hall basement.
 * Jamaica Plain town hall key and Carl's log - On the body of Carl Everett, found against a concrete barrier in the central east part of town. Opens the town hall basement.
 * Jamaica Plain archives key - On Ken Standish's body. Another copy in the basement itself on a desk. Unlocks master locked door inside the town hall basement.
 * Tattered field jacket - Found on Ken Standish's corpse.
 * A Vault-Tec lunchbox - Directly next to the south side of the town hall on a picnic table.
 * Bottlecap mine - On a shelf in the destroyed house with a power armor station and workshop, which is west of the church and south of town hall.
 * Power armor - Northwest of Jamaica Plain, behind the "Treasures of Jamaica Plain" billboard, at an unmarked military checkpoint.

Related quests

 * Clearing the Way: A settler tells the Sole Survivor that they are concerned about dangerous enemies in a nearby area and asks them for help in clearing it out.
 * Taking Point: Minutemen scouts have found a promising site for a new settlement, but it's overrun with hostiles. Preston Garvey asks the Sole Survivor to clear it out so a beacon can be set up to attract new settlers in need of a home.
 * Find the Treasures of Jamaica Plain: The player character learns about a pre-War treasure, locked up tight in the city of Jamaica Plain, which they can search for.

Companion comments

 * When at this location companions make comments, which are activated at three locations: northwest road entrance, by the diner, the security room before the hallway, and in the treasure room.

Appearances
Jamaica Plain appears $$

Behind the scenes
Jamaica Plain is based on the real-world location of Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood on the southern side of Boston, Massachusetts.

Bugs

 * The Protectrons may not respond to terminal commands of activation (they are activated by hacking the Treasures access terminal).
 * AI pathfinding suffers severely in this area, not recognizing the stairs leading to the main plaza, making settlers go around the whole settlement area.