Walking with Spirits



Walking with Spirits is a Fallout 3 quest and achievement and trophy that is added to the game with the Point Lookout add-on.

Finding the Tribals
After assisting Desmond in defending the Calvert Mansion from tribals, Mr. Lockheart asks the Lone Wanderer to infiltrate the Ark & Dove cathedral to the north (the tribal's base of operations) to discover the reasoning behind their attacks. Although the cathedral gates are locked and seemingly abandoned, a guard sees the Lone Wanderer from a distance and speaks to him/her via an intercom. Being snide to him will break his concentration and make him drop his shamanistic attitude long enough to scold you. And although he says that the tribals don't "just take any recruit," he sends you on your way to the rite of initiation without so much as seeing your face. The player is then charged with venturing out west into the Sacred Bog Entrance and taking part in the Ritual of the Mother Seed.

Seeds of Vision
Once inside the bog, you will fight through many mirelurks (and possibly swamplurks depending on the player level). Upon making it to the final grove, the Mother Punga, and its purple seeds, will be ready for the taking. However, it is recommended that you take the punga fruit, if you want any, before activating the Mother punga. Once the Mother punga is activated, you will not be able to pick anything up until the punga effects wear off. When you take the seeds of the plant a gas sprays out from the fruit and the Lone Wanderer collapses.

When you awake, you experience a psychedelic hallucination. You will find giant bobbleheads, called "Schmault-Tec Bubbleheads" (fake versions of Vault-Tec bobbleheads, none of which can be actually added into your inventory) with cryptic messages written on them, ranging from expressing the PC's inner doubts and fears, to making fun of his/her misfortunes.

The hallucinations encompass experiences of the Lone Wanderer throughout his time in a cryptic fashion (such as Nuka Cola Quantum from the Nuka Cola Challenge, or a Megaton Bomb from The Power of the Atom.)

The first hallucination you will see is a large red translucent bonesaw, which appears to be randomly sawing into the ground. Next you will see exploding Nuka-Cola Quantums that make baby sounds when they explode. When you pass this part, there will be dolls on poles that appear to be waving to you, or perhaps pointing you on further. You will also see silver needles sewing or putting stitches in the ground, as if you were getting stitches.

A violin plays in the background when you near any of the several nearby trees which have 'grown' into the shape of the instrument. You will be attacked by ghost ghouls (which won't hurt you, and which you may or may not actually even see), journey through an upside-down swamp, and find the skeleton of your dead mother upon an operating table surrounded by party balloons, displaying the cruel point that it was your birth that caused her death.

Further on there are several dead bodies of various people from the Capital Wasteland that disintegrate when searched, including Lucas Simms (floating inside of the rocks between and to the left of Amata and the settler), Moira Brown, Amata, Elder Lyons, and an unnamed settler, possibly the Megaton settler who gives you items for having good Karma. When interacted with they disappear, they can however, be picked up and moved around.

Finally you find a larger version of the Megaton bomb with a character similar to Mister Burke named "Mister Break" standing in front of it. In the background behind the bomb, the Washington Monument can be seen. In Tobar's voice he tells you "Congratulations, boy ('my dear' if character is female), you are going to pull through and everything will be right as rain." If you attempt to talk to him, he warns you to not to move or you will hurt yourself. The bomb then explodes and you awaken in front of the Sacred Bog.

Return to the Tribals
When you return to the Ark & Dove cathedral, you are permitted entry. If you enter third-person, you will notice that any headwear you had equipped is presently gone, your head is shaven and you have a large scar on your head. You will be unable to equip the headwear you were wearing until you have the scar removed by Nadine. Apparently, she has joined the tribals to procure their punga, in failing to achieve her original goal of discovering treasure in Point Lookout.

Understanding the Visions
During the Tailing the Tomboy quest, it is revealed that Tobar follows the Lone Wanderer into the Sacred Bog. He then takes the Lone Wanderer, while unconscious and removes a piece of his/her brain (he allegedly has done this to many of the Tribals as well). After undergoing the procedure administered by Tobar, the Point Lookout Tribe accepts you as one of them. Before awakening at the Sacred Bog Entrance, you will experience a hallucination, which can be interpreted as follows:
 * The saw cutting could represent Tobar opening your skull.
 * The needle that "sews" its way along the side of the path in front of you is when Tobar is sewing the wound shut.
 * The part where Mr. Break talks to you is actually Tobar talking to you when you're unconscious.
 * Some things seen during the hallucination have a "real world" counterpart: (in the order the real things are seen) the bomb is a giant rock, the Washington Monument is a large rock formation seen in the background before the hallucination, the Wanderer's mother on a gurney is also a rock, the Perception Bubblehead is a doll hanging from the trees, the Agility Bubblehead is a rock, the exploding bottles are dolls hanging from the trees along the path, the violins are winding trees, the Strength Bubblehead is a small rock, and the Intelligence Bubblehead is also another rock.

"Bubbleheads"
There are seven "Schmault-Tec Bubbleheads" found during the hallucination, each representing a SPECIAL attribute. The Bubbleheads are larger than standard bobbleheads and do not behave like the latter by adding points. Instead, they taunt you in a way that reflects the related statistic of the Bubblehead.

Below is the message each Bubblehead contains in the order they can be found:
 * Intelligence: "Tsk. Tsk. Walked right into another trap. Exactly how stupid are you?" (Found right when you leave the area with the Mother Punga)
 * Strength: "This is one situation you're not going to be able to fight your way out of." (Found on a small dot of land on your way back)
 * Endurance: "Keep it up, you're almost there... wherever 'there' may be... probably nowhere."
 * Agility: "Isn't it funny how everyone you get close to ends up leaving?" (Found around where exploding Nuka-Cola Quantums start appearing)
 * Perception: "This doesn't look right, not right at all." (Found upside-down where the world is upside-down)
 * Charisma: "Blech. If my kid looked like that, I'd abandon it too." (Found in-between the legs of the skeleton labeled 'Mom' laying on a hospital bed, to represent your birth)
 * Luck: "Dead mother, life in a post-nuclear Wasteland and not a friend in it. Yeah, you aren’t exactly blessed." (Found near Mr. Break and the Atomic Bomb)

Reward
Access into the tribals' headquarters, +300 XP and the Punga Power! perk.