Dunwich Borers

Dunwich Borers is a marble quarry found within the Commonwealth in 2287. It has been taken over by a detachment of the Forged and is likewise inhabited by feral ghouls.

Pre-War
A marble quarry, active before the Great War. According to terminal entries throughout the four job stations, several issues plagued the employees of Dunwich Borers LLC. Safety was a significant problem at the job site, with requests for additional precautions dismissed by company management. Railings and support beams were only set up where necessary and renovated only when they decayed completely.

The company attempted to satisfy angry workers by hosting events such as happy hours and picnics. These company events did not serve to rectify the real worksite hazards, resulting in several employees falling to their deaths, despite project and worksite managers escalating complaints to management.

Post-War
Roughly two hundred years later, the quarry was repurposed by the Forged. Seeking a supply of iron for Saugus Ironworks, they had their raider affiliates begin collecting any and all scrap metal from the site - a task which was soon complicated by rumors of the quarry being haunted. Failing to meet quotas, the Forged leader Slag sent his lieutenant Bedlam to identify and correct any issues. Believing the work crew was merely frightened by a few ferals, she immediately got them back to work.

The raiders under Bedlam were able to get another two shipments out on time, but before the third, the crew disappeared. In response, Bedlam herself headed down into the quarry to discover the reason behind the work stoppage, end the feral threat, and get her workers back on track.

Layout
The entrance is located at the bottom of the exterior quarry. The exterior area is guarded by about a dozen raiders, including one in power armor. A large quantity of bones can be found in and underneath the connected cages over the large smoking bonfire in the central area; the cages can be opened from below.

Upon entering the quarry's interior zone, a tripwire trap triggering a nearby weapon is not far from the entrance. Just past the trap on the left is a lift that leads up to a locked door requiring a key held by the raider corpse on the other side of the door; the Sole Survivor will pass through the area on the far side of the door after exploring the rest of the facility.

Continuing ahead from the entrance are several more raiders. A circuit breaker switch controls the power and some of the spotlights. The unlocked Station 1 terminal is near the breaker on the right, and can be used to deactivate the nearby turret; beware a grenade trap activated by a bathroom scale in front of the terminal. Across from the terminal is a small camp with the machinegun turret, a mattress, and a cooking station.

The way ahead now leads to the left. A set of stairs to the left leads up to a Novice-locked cell with a tripwire trap activating a grenade bouquet at the bottom of the stairs, while continuing down the main path is terminal 2. Just beyond the terminal is a weapons workbench next to an ammo crate, a sleeping bag, and a Novice-locked cooler. Continuing on to terminal 3, a huge pit opens up, at the bottom of which Bedlam will be found.

A Novice-locked terminal belonging to Bedlam is attached to the reservoir in the middle of the pit. There is also an armor workbench with an issue of Astoundingly Awesome Tales placed on it, a steamer trunk, and two sleeping bags. To the west is a door that is chained shut. Removing the chains allows access to a corridor littered with feral ghoul corpses. Activating a circuit breaker on the left near the middle of the corridor turns on the lights and triggers a large group of feral ghouls to start running towards the player character. Farther along, near a wrecked machine with a skeleton, is a door on the left. Opening it triggers a hallucination in the form of a flashback. A flash of white will provide a glimpse of a few pre-War employees working, before another flash of light returns the current-day surroundings to the forefront.

More circuit breakers in the following ghoul-infested area will attract more ferals. At a fork in the path, the lefthand passage heads upwards, leading past work stations 5 and 6 (which unlike the first four stations, do not feature terminals) and eventually back to the exit.

Ritual chamber
Following the righthand passage at the fork, the Sole Survivor will enter the deepest part of the quarry, past station 4. Upon entering the passage beyond station 4, a second flashback will occur, which is a few seconds longer than the first. The hallucination presents lit candles lining the passage. At the end of the short path is the main cavern, where a ritual of sorts is taking place. A raised, multi-tiered marble platform is seen in the cavern. Stairs lead up to the main area, where a man stands on a square rug before a pulpit. Broken segments of railing loosely fence in the platform. Wearing pastor's vestments, the man makes repetitive cutting motions toward the top of the pulpit with a large knife. Behind him, a long set of chains hang from a crane flush against the ceiling. Around the perimeter of the room are stone benches, some of which were crushed by collapsing walls. Kneeling before the platform on two sides are nine individuals, dressed in clean, pre-War outfit variants. Each one rests on their knees, hands crossed behind their back, with their head bowed. The room is lit by additional candles on the perimeter walls and the corners of the raised platform. Every few moments, the room shakes and rumbles violently.

As the Sole Survivor continues down the corridor toward the chamber, another bright flash of light occurs and the current-day surroundings come back into focus, including four named feral ghouls representing the remains of the project managers from stations 1 through 4: Bob Stanson, Bradley Ramone, John Hatfield, and Tim Shoots.

The cavern's appearance has changed significantly from what was observed in the flashback. The raised platform is missing, as are the pulpit, rug, and candles. In place of the platform and surfaces upon which the pre-War individuals kneeled, a large pool of water is found. Some similarities remain, such as the crane, chain, and remnants of railings and stone benches.

Underwater chamber
The Sole Survivor can dive into the pool and swim down a tunnel deep into the earth. The tunnel will end at a large statuesque silver visage, the pre-War pulpit seen in the previous flashback above, and several clusters of glowing fungus. A skeleton is splayed out to the left, partly obscured by the earth.

Past the skeleton is another tunnel which soon opens into another chamber, with stone benches set along the edges of the space. An altar sits in the center against the back wall, illuminated by more glowing fungus. On the altar are two mini nukes flanking a unique weapon named Kremvh's Tooth. Turning and following the path back to the surface, the Sole Survivor can take the forked passage described earlier to reach the exit.

Notable loot

 * Bottlecap mine - In the exterior building at the top of the quarry, on the cabinet to the left of the turret control terminal.
 * Astoundingly Awesome Tales - On an armor workbench near Bedlam's terminal in the giant pit room.
 * Three mini nukes. One mini nuke is to the left of Bedlam's terminal, up on the rock face. The remaining two mini nukes are in a submerged tunnel beneath the irradiated pool of water at the lowest level of the quarry, on an altar together with Kremvh's Tooth.
 * Sneak bobblehead - On a small table near the section 4 terminal.
 * The Dunwich - Tim Shoots holotape - In the section 4 terminal.
 * The Dunwich - Management holotape - On Tim Shoots' corpse.
 * Kremvh's Tooth - In a submerged tunnel beneath the irradiated pool of water at the lowest level of the quarry, on an altar.
 * Dunwich Borers key - On a dead raider next to the door it opens.
 * At least 25 oil can be obtained by collecting the many canisters and lanterns throughout the site.

Related quests

 * Kidnapping: Concerned settlers will ask the Sole Survivor to help them rescue a fellow settler that was kidnapped for ransom by nearby hostiles, hoping to have them freed without harm.
 * Raider Troubles: A group of settlers is struggling to defend themselves against a nearby group of raiders and asks the Sole Survivor for help.
 * Butcher's Bill 2: A survivor may have made it out of the Augusta safehouse disaster. His name is Blackbird and he was spotted recently. Doctor Carrington tasks the player character to gather more details regarding his fate.
 * Reclamation: The Sole Survivor learns from Dr. Secord that a synth was kidnapped by raiders. They can help with the planned retrieval mission by placing a tracking beacon on the synth and reporting back to the Synth Retention Bureau.
 * Randolph Safehouse: The Railroad agent Mister Tims will leave dead drops in the form of six holotapes for the Sole Survivor, containing information about possible hazards to the Railroad's escort and escape of synths out of the Commonwealth. They can assist in these efforts by clearing out the location of hostiles.
 * Quartermastery: Scribe Haylen has identified the location of a piece of technology she wishes to retrieve and catalog. She asks the Sole Survivor for help in bringing back the technology in one piece.
 * Cleansing the Commonwealth: Knight Rhys gives the Sole Survivor an assignment to clear the location of what he calls "abominations" to further the aims of the Brotherhood of Steel.
 * To the Mattresses: The synth-hating L&L Gang is a major threat to the Railroad. Desdemona has a lead on them and asks the Sole Survivor to help neutralize their members.
 * Stop the Raiding: The Sole Survivor becomes aware of a group of settlers being terrorized by nearby raiders and can offer to help.
 * Lost Soul: Doctor Carrington has a lead on a synth that's in danger and sends the player character to save them.

Companion comments

 * When at this location companions make comments, which are activated at two locations: the vertical chamber where Bedlam is, and the entrance of the submerged tunnel with Kremvh's Tooth.

Appearances
Dunwich Borers appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
Similar to the Dunwich Building in Fallout 3, random flashbacks to times before the Great War happen spontaneously while exploring the quarry, hinting at its paranormal background and relationship to the author H. P. Lovecraft, his book series the Cthulhu Mythos, and particularly his short story The Dunwich Horror. At the bottom of the quarry, one can see part of a statue that resembles a face. Using console commands, it is possible to clip outside of the map to reveal the entire statue. The buried statue might be a reference to another of Lovecraft's stories, The Shunned House, in which the protagonist digs underneath an abandoned, haunted house, only to uncover the elbow of a colossal being buried underneath.

Bugs

 * Flashback scenes may not trigger properly, and you may not encounter any named ghouls.
 * The first few raiders encountered in the underground area will never respawn after being killed, and their bodies will never disappear.
 * Radiant quests that send the player character to Dunwich Borers will respawn new enemies, and their corpses will finally disappear after being looted.