Community:Once Upon a Wasteland

Not to be confused with Once Upon a Time in the Wasteland.

Once Upon a Wasteland is a Fallout audio fiction project.

Background
Once Upon a Wasteland is an audio drama podcast set in Appalachia beginning in 2104 (following the events of Steel Reign) and follows the story of Vault Dweller Elizabeth Kirby and Brotherhood of Steel Scribe Odessa Valdez as they work together to save the nascent society growing in Appalachia and fall in love along the way.

Paladin Leila Rahmani remains in charge of the Appalachian Brotherhood and Knight Daniel Shin is spoken of as having left Appalachia to return to Lost Hills, echoing the choice the player must make at the conclusion of Steel Reign.

Production History
The show's first ten-episode season debuted in October, 2021. Its second season debuted a year later, in October, 2022. It has won a total of eight Signal Awards, including Best Writing, Best Editing, Best Show Art, and Best Scripted Fiction.

A third season launched on November 6, 2023. The production team announced that the third season will be the show's last.

It is one of only two audio ficton projects that has been formally promoted by Bethesda.

Main

 * Elizabeth Kirby [Letitia Lemon]: Born April 21, 2081 in Vault 76, Beth is the daughter of Andrew Kirby, an English former MI-6 operative, and Elise (Dietrich) Kirby, a German diplomat. Both of her parents were members of the Vault-Tec University faculty, with Andrew providing instruction in spycraft and intelligence gathering and Elise teaching residents about diplomacy, negotiation, and coalition building. Following the departure of her parents in Season Two, Beth is Seventh Baroness Kirby, having inherited the title from her father. Her full name is Elizabeth Laurel Kirby.
 * Odessa Valdez [Vitriol Plays]: Born July 17, 2075 in Monterey, California, Odessa is - along with Paladin Leila Rahmani - one of only two remaining members of the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force, Knight Daniel Shin having left Appalachia before the events of the show. Odessa was engaged to Knight (later Paladin) Derek Hewitt, but ended the engagement just prior to leaving for Appalachia. Her full name is Odessa Maria Valdez.
 * Amanda Otis [Lucy Middelthon]: Amanda is a former Raider and the owner of a bar called "The Spider's Web." She became involved in a highly toxic romantic relationship with Beth soon after Beth emerged from Vault 76. They reunited several months after the end of that relationship and eventually developed a close friendship.

Supporting

 * Leila Rahmani [Pandora Beatrix]: Paladin Rahmani is the leader of the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel and a mentor to and close confidant of Odessa. She won a power struggle with Knight Daniel Shin, who subsequently left Appalachia to return to Lost Hills. She has implemented several significant reforms since the Brotherhood's arrival in Appalachia.
 * Andrew Kirby (Seasons One & Two) [Aodhan Scott]:
 * Elise Kirby (Seasons One & Two) [Kirsty Harrison]:
 * Charles Watkins (Seasons One & Two) [Jay Chadwick]:
 * Alan Banks (Season One) [John Lauri]: Knight Banks was one of the first recruits following the Brotherhood's arrival in Appalachia and quickly rose to the rank of Knight. He developed a close friendship with Odessa Valdez, whom he considered a little sister. He left the Brotherhood to tend to family matters during season one.
 * Derek Hewitt (Season Two) [Addison Mosby]: The scion of the politically connected Hewitt family, Derek quickly rose through the ranks of the Brotherhood at Lost Hills. Originally trained by Odessa's father, he demonstrated strong leadership skills as well as outstanding tactical and strategic acumen on the battlefield. He began courting Odessa when they were in their early twenties, and the two got engaged a few years later. He was originally supposed to be part of the expedition to Appalachia, but backed out at the last minute and was replaced by Knight Alan Connors. This caused an abrupt falling out between him and Odessa that led to her angrily calling off the engagement. Now a Star Paladin, he unexpectedly arrives in Appalachia as Season Two begins.

Season One
Season One was soft-launched on October 25, 2021 with a prologue episode that introduced the main characters and their relationship from the perspective of a historian and archaeologist hired by a mysterious benefactor. The first full episode, "Such Perfect Identity of Interests," was released on November 2.

The titles for this season's episodes were drawn from Lincoln's First Inaugural Address.

Plot
Freelance intelligence operative Elizabeth Kirby sets up a meet-cute with Brotherhood of Steel Scribe Odessa Valdez, who's generated a lot of buzz since her arrival in Appalachia thanks to her intelligence, technical acumen, strength of character, and beauty. Sparks fly between them and their relationship blossoms while working together to untangle a mystery involving technology located in a mysterious underground facility that became known as "Flagrante Bello" thanks to years of factions violently vying to control it after the Great War.

Working with Beth's parents as well as her best friend (and ex), a former Raider named Amanda, Beth and Odessa make a series of shocking discoveries as they learn the terrifying scope of the myriad challenges they face. As the battle nears its climax, both characters weigh just how far they're willing to go and what they're willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

Episodes

 * 1) Such Perfect Identity of Interests (November 2, 2021)
 * 2) The Requisite Means (November 22, 2021)
 * 3) Checks and Limitations (December 13, 2021)
 * 4) Fraternal Sympathies and Affections (January 17, 2022)
 * 5) The Identical Old Questions (February 7, 2022)
 * 6) So Desperate a Step (February 28, 2022)
 * 7) The Mystic Chords of Memory (March 21, 2022)
 * 8) The Power Confided to Me (April 11, 2022)
 * 9) The Audacity of Doing This (May 2, 2022)
 * 10) I Shall Take Care (May 23, 2022)

Season Two
Season Two launched on September 30, 2022 with a surprise bonus episode titled "Survey the Dark." The episode foreshadowed the events to come in the second season, but was mostly set up as a one-off sitcom-style episode at Amanda's bar, the Spider's Web.

The titles for this season's episodes were drawn from Churchill's "Battle of Britain" speech.

Plot
Beth begins the season in Pittsburgh to pay off the debt that she owes to MODUS for their help in retrieving Odessa from Flagrante Bello a year prior. A handsome stranger, new to Appalachia, saves Amanda and Beth's mother from a Raider attack and visits the Spider's Web that evening. When Odessa arrives, she realizes that it's her former fiancé, Paladin Derek Hewitt, who made the journey to Appalachia to learn the fate of her expedition.

Beth returns and is immediately concerned about Derek's presence and the possibility of losing Odessa to the man she once loved. With that personal turmoil lurking in the background, the team is thrust into preparations for a potential interdimensional invasion by a group of marauders known as the "Untainted" alongside a new ally, a traveler named Devon McKnight who's fought the Untainted before. Beth and Odessa find their reality completely upended and must find each other once again and then find their way home and play their part to save Appalachia, and perhaps everything, from destruction at the hands of the Untainted.

Episodes

 * 1) Looking More Widely Around (October 17, 2022)
 * 2) The Kind of Peace We Wish to Make (November 7, 2022)
 * 3) This New Kind of War (November 28, 2022)
 * 4) Great and Distinctive Changes (January 9, 2023)
 * 5) A New and Potent Aid (January 30, 2023)
 * 6) The Will and the Means (February 20, 2023)
 * 7) Far Beyond Its Bounds (March 13, 2023)
 * 8) The Spark of Hope (April 3, 2023)
 * 9) Only by a Miracle (April 24, 2023)
 * 10) We Cannot Know What Lies Ahead (May 15, 2023)

Season Three
Season Three was launched on November 6, 2023.

The titles for this season's episodes were drawn from Canto V of Inferno by Dante Alighieri.

Plot
With wedding plans in full swing, Beth works undercover to take down a powerful criminal syndicate with designs on taking over Appalachia but discovers a mysterious artifact that forces her to take an unexpected detour that may hold the key to securing Appalachia's future.

Episodes

 * 1) Beyond Our Fate (November 6, 2023)
 * 2) Wherefore We Are Lost (November 27, 2023)
 * 3) Whence Twofold Grief
 * 4) The Wind That Prevails
 * 5) Such Longing Seized My Heart
 * 6) In the First Song of Love
 * 7) Borne by the Winds
 * 8) Whence and Why
 * 9) Love's Relentless Flame
 * 10) Unbroken Still Through All

Special/Bonus Episodes

 * Prologue (October 25, 2021)
 * Minisode: Character Matters - Elizabeth Kirby (March 14, 2022)
 * Minisode: Page to Podcast - The Screenwriting Process (March 28, 2022)
 * Minisode: Page to Podcast - Starting a Story Podcast (April 4, 2022)
 * Minisode: Character Matters - Odessa Valdez (with Vitriol Plays) (April 18, 2022)
 * Survey the Dark (September 30, 2022)