East Coast

The East Coast, also known as the Eastern Seaboard or Atlantic Seaboard, refers to the easternmost states of the pre-War United States of America. While in a strictly geographical sense it includes the entire eastern seaboard, in popular usage the term "East Coast" is most often used to specifically refer to the northern half of this region, which is also known as the Northeastern U.S.

Background
The east, much like the rest of post-War America, is a lawless, inhospitable and barren wasteland. Most of it consists of barren badlands where only the strongest can scratch a living out of the irradiated wastes. The Great War did not spare the east in any way; however, some areas did come out less destroyed than others, thus able to create small communities, some able to thrive. While Pittsburgh and Washington, DC were completely bombarded by nuclear ordnance, rural areas, such as in West Virginia and parts of Maryland, were mostly spared, though still subject to mutants and radiation. Boston was struck by one nuclear bomb, which missed and hit further to the south.

Furthermore, life in the wasteland, no matter what place, can always break down the strongest of men. It's no secret that raider clans live out in the scorching wastes. These groups of people take what they can by force, sparing almost none in their paths. It's a sad fact that not many organizations are able to protect the many peaceful tribals and small towns, however, some do step up to protect the land such as the Minutemen, or Reilly's Rangers, who are a fierce but good-natured mercenary group that acts out of D.C. Even the Regulators, who have pledged to rid the wastes of any and all evil, can be seen in some parts of the wastelands.

As life continues in the eastern wastes, a large faction of metal knights, known as the Brotherhood of Steel, tries to make life a bit easier around the areas of Washington, D.C.. Following their war with the Enclave, the Brotherhood has strengthened their hold over the Capital Wasteland, and has sought to expand into places like the Commonwealth.

Brotherhood of Steel
In West Virginia, remnants of the U.S. Army got in contact with Roger Maxson, the founder of the Brotherhood of Steel, and chose to adopt his tenets, forming a local chapter of the Brotherhood in Appalachia. However, this chapter was virtually wiped out in their war against the Scorched.

Almost two centuries later, the Brotherhood of Steel sent an expedition to the Capital Wasteland, partly to reestablish contact with disparate chapters, but also to recon the area and reclaim any dangerous technology. However, its leader, Elder Lyons, upon reaching the ruins of D.C., decided to change his mission to protecting the people of the Capital Wasteland, forming a splinter group of the original Brotherhood of Steel. Their headquarters was the Citadel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon on the edge of what used to be Washington, D.C. As of 2277, it is one of the most important and influential factions in the Capital Wasteland. The organization acts mainly out of the D.C. area and have officially defied the original brotherhood's orders on the west coast, to protect all of the wasteland.

As of 2287, the Brotherhood of Steel, led by Arthur Maxson, has near-total control over the entire Eastern Seaboard. Areas under Brotherhood control (or at least with BoS presence) include the Capital Wasteland, Adams Air Force Base, the Commonwealth and many more. The Brotherhood of Steel is the largest faction on the Eastern Seaboard.

Adams Air Force Base
The Adams Air Force Base was a major United States Armed Forces military installation before the Great War. Located just outside the Capital Wasteland, the base is accessible through the presidential metro, and in 2277 served as a secondary headquarters for the Enclave, supplementing their installation at Raven Rock. Enclave operations here were centered in the mobile base crawler, which had the capability to call down orbital strikes on several locations in the Capital Wasteland.

The Brotherhood of Steel constructed the Prydwen over a period of several years at Adams Air Force Base, and maintain a strong presence at the base as of 2287.

Broken Banks
The Broken Banks was one of several regions Tobar piloted the Duchess Gambit to, along with the Commonwealth and the Capital Wasteland. Nothing is known about it, except that it is located south of the Capital Wasteland.

Capital Wasteland
The Capital Wasteland is the area surrounding the former city of Washington, D.C., including portions of the former District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. As of 2277, the area is overrun by super mutants, raiders, mercenaries and numerous other dangers that threaten the small human and ghoul populations.

The central hub of civilization in the former capital's ruins is Rivet City, a settlement housed in the remains of a beached aircraft carrier. Other settlements include the towns of Megaton, Canterbury Commons, Andale, Tenpenny Tower, Paradise Falls and the Brotherhood of Steel Citadel within the ruins of the Pentagon. Movement through the ruins of the downtown Washington, D.C., area itself is facilitated by the remaining metro tunnels.

Commonwealth
The Commonwealth consists of the remains of the pre-War state of Massachusetts. Like most other major population centers of the United States, it was ravaged by the Great War and is as lawless and inhospitable as the Capital Wasteland. Despite its anarchic nature, it is also home to the mysterious Institute, which has continued to develop advanced technology even after the massive amounts of destruction caused by the Great War. Among its accomplishments are artificial intelligence and androids, built as a servant class, with other models serving as trackers to return runaway androids. The Railroad, another organization within the Commonwealth, works against the Institute to free the enslaved androids. A militia by the name of the Minutemen helped to maintain order in the region until they suffered numerous setbacks and internal division leading to their near extinction.

The Brotherhood of Steel also operate in the area and own an armored airship named the Prydwen that can be seen in the skies of Boston.

Crater Banks
Nothing is known about this area, other than the fact that it is on the coast. It is only mentioned once, in a single line of dialogue from Quinn. When asked "Travel? Where do you go?" he responds "Oh, here and there and everywhere. I've explored all up and down the coast, from the Commonwealth, to the Pitt, all the way down to Crater Banks."

Great Lanta
Great Lanta is the birthplace of Saint Monica, who is venerated by the Church of Saint Monica aboard Rivet City in the Capital Wasteland. The exact location of Great Lanta is unknown, as it is only mentioned once in a sermon by Father Clifford, where he describes it as "on the shores of the ocean."

The Island
Formerly Mount Desert Island, the Island is an island off the coast of Maine. The Island has higher radiation levels than the Commonwealth and is home to a secret colony of synths. The Church of the Children of Atom is also present on the Island, and are in conflict with the synth colony and the local townspeople.

Point Lookout
The region of Point Lookout, Maryland, just south of the Capital Wasteland, was home to a small seaside resort town established after the 1950s. Point Lookout was one of the few places in the United States not directly hit by nuclear bombs during the Great War, but lingering radiation in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay has had a significant impact on the area's wildlife and native population. The effects of the radiation were amplified by inbreeding which led to large amounts of deformities in the native populations.

Appalachia
Located within the Eastern Commonwealth of the former United States, the region within the State of West Virginia was spared most of the destruction and carnage of the Great War due to its relative isolation and lack of strategic targets, but much of the surviving human population nonetheless perished over the following years due to the Scorched Plague. In 2102, the residents of Vault 76 emerged into Appalachia after twenty-five years of isolation and began to reclaim the wilderness.

At some point later, settlers from other parts of the post-war US would later trickle into the region, forming settlements and raider gangs.

Erie Stretch
The Erie Stretch is a region located somewhere along the coast of Lake Erie, possibly even the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. It is only mentioned once, by the Pitt slave Brand, who asks, "You're new, aren't you? Are you here from the Erie Stretch? The Capital Wasteland? Ronto? Where's home?"

Monroeville
Monroeville is an area east of the Pitt, known to have significant ghoul and trog populations. It is mentioned only once, by the Pitt slaver Everett.

Philly
Philly is the name given to the ruins of the pre-War city of Philadelphia. It is mentioned on Abraham Washington's terminal where he states that the Liberty Bell is still intact and "is laying in the ruins of Philly." He also mentions funding an expedition to retrieve it from "that dump."

The Abbey of the Road
The Abbey of the Road is a Christian monastery located far west of the Commonwealth, though its exact location is unknown. The church's main concern is the well-being of the other Christian churches along the East Coast.

The Pitt
The Pitt is a raider settlement built from the decaying infrastructure of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Not only bombarded by nuclear bombs, the radiation continued to plague the city through the confluence of its three rivers, leaving the city to be fought over by mutants and raiders. In 2255, en route to the Capital Wasteland, the Brotherhood of Steel decided to fight through the city, securing resources as they went, in an event known as the Scourge. This left a power-vacuum in the city, which would be filled by an MIA Brotherhood member, Ishmael Ashur. He aimed to restart the industrial heart of the city, but in doing so, created a mass of pollution, that together with the radiation, caused the native inhabitants to degenerate into trogs, resulting in a demand for slave labor to keep their steel-mills running.

The settlement is divided into two main areas: Downtown, where slaves work and live, and Uptown, where the raiders live. Downtown includes quarters for the slave population, the Mill and the abandoned Pitt steelyard which is inhabited by wildmen and trogs and contains remnants of pre-War manufacturing facilities. Uptown contains the abandoned apartments, an area of housing which has been left by the Pitt raiders and is inhabited by a fairly sized trog population, and the Haven building, which the personal palace for the Pitt's leader, Ishmael Ashur. A network of ramps and bridges connects the upper floors of the Pitt's dilapidated buildings in both parts of the settlement, serving as platforms for raiders to oversee the working slaves.

Ronto
Little is known about Ronto, including its exact location. By 2277, Ronto had established itself as a regional power with a reputation that extended as far as the Pitt, as Ashur mentions the location in a speech, stating, "Our industry is the envy of the Commonwealth! Our safety is the envy of the Capital Wastes! Our might is the envy of Ronto!"

Environment
The Eastern Seaboard shows an uneven recovery from the nuclear devastation of the Great War. While almost all regions are hostile to human life, rural regions in Maryland, Appalachia and the Island remain green and full of living plantlife. Heavily bombarded areas still rife with radiation, such as the Capital Wasteland the Pitt, or the Glowing Sea of the Commonwealth remain the definition of a wasteland however. The greater commonwealth area, while its great forests have since petrified, the region is still capable of agriculture, and there are many small farms, such as Abernathy Farm, the Slog and Finch Farm.

Flora
While the Eastern Seaboard experienced heavy bombardment, some plantlife manages to thrive in almost all regions. Alongside some basic grasses and shrubs, brain fungus and glowing fungus can be found from the Capital Wasteland to the Commonwealth.

Plants such as tatos, razorgrain, corn, carrots, gourds, melons and mutfruit have become staple crops of many a wasteland settlements. The Slog, a ghoul settlement in the Commonwealth, made its fortune by turning an old pool into a tarberry plantation. The Point Lookout tribals formed a culture tending to the Great Punga Tree, and living off of punga fruit.

Various flowers and other plantlife have taken on medicinal uses, as well as use as ingredients for the brewing of chems. These include hubflowers, bloodleaf and ash blossom.

The FEV mutant, Harold, would eventually be trapped by the tree forming off his body that he called Bob, somewhere in the Capital Wasteland. Bob's presence caused the surrounding area to grow rich in plantlife, with a number of tribals forming a community around him, known as Oasis, worshipping him as a god. Most in the community believed Harold/Bob's presence would allow the Capital Wasteland to grow lush with plantlife again, but that his presence must remain a secret from those that would do him harm. Some went so far as to try accelerating the spread of his seeds to the rest of the Capital Wasteland, though others instead wished to limit the spread of greenery to better preserve Oasis' isolation.

Fauna
As with the rest of the wasteland, most of the animal life on the East Coast is dangerous and mutated. While most humans still keep dogs, many wild dogs remain a threat to most wastelanders. Pet cats can also be found in the Commonwealth. The most common domesticated animal is the brahmin (a mutated two-headed cow) used for their meat, milk and as a beast of burden for almost all caravanners. Birds are common sights in the sky, and seagulls can be found in the Commonwealth. Radstags can be found in the Commonwealth, Appalachia and the Island, which like brahmin have two heads, but also sport a pair of vestigial legs from their front. Hunted for meat and skin for leather, while generally timid fleeing from humans and other wasteland creatures, the radiation of the Island has driven the radstags there insane and incredibly hostile.

Most other animals in the wastes are hostile and deadly. Giant insects range from mere pests such as bloatflies and radraoches, can grow up to three feet in size and are found in most locations in the East Coast, there are more deadly bloodbugs (giant mosquitos), swarms of giant ants, which range from between a foot and five feet in length. On the far end are radscorpions, descended from emperor scorpions that were common housepets prior to the war, they are now of an enormous size, and incredibly deadly. Smaller ones can burrow into the ground to ambush prey, the Capital Wasteland had particularly large and hardy specimens, such as the albino radscorpion.

Other threats include the yao guai, descended from the local bear population, being extremely large, strong, aggressive and almost always coming in pairs. Mole rats, while being much smaller, tend to come in swarms and can overwhelm the unwary and unprepared; many of them will burrow undergound to ambush their prey. But the apex-predator of the wastes remains the deathclaw. While they tend to be solitary, they possess immense speed strength, and sword-like talons that let them quickly kill their prey. Deathclaws can be found in Appalachia, the Capital Wasteland and the Commonwealth.