Fallout 4 was the first game to introduce settlement building into the series. It allowed players to build around certain locations so that wastelanders could move in and populate them, creating a sort of safe zone. Players used this new feature in many different ways — from min-maxing resources to create the best possible settlement, to building a vibrant home base with intricate designs.
That said, some of these potential settlements in Fallout 4 have more to them than meets the eye. Each has its own story to tell, though, for many, that story has been lost to time. In some cases, however, a settlement may still hold remnants of its past inhabitants — some of which are nothing short of disturbing.
Taffington Boathouse
The Taffington Boathouse is located directly east of the town of Covenant in Fallout 4. The settlement is made up of a dilapidated pre-war house with two stories and a large shed, built next to a river. When the Sole Survivor first arrives at the place, they’ll have to fight through a small horde of bloodbugs, after which they can access the area’s workshop and start building.
Inside the house, the player will come across the body of a woman named Mary Sutton. On her corpse is a note from her daughter, Margie: The note explains that Margie’s brother, Russell, had found an old holotape talking about a stash of Fallout 4 chems in the nearby drainage pipe, and that he wanted to go and look for it. The family could then sell the chems and use the caps to buy a new brahmin. Should the player head to the Malden drainage pipe north of the Taffington Boathouse, they’ll find the corpses of both Margie and Russell — likely killed by the swarm of bloodbugs or the dozens of landmines within the drainage pipe.
There’s more to this story, however. Further southeast, in the settlement Warwick Homestead, the player can find a man named Bill Sutton, and on him is a note labeled “Goodbye letter.” In it, Mary, Bill’s ex-wife, reveals that Bill was a drunkard who sold their only brahmin for chems. During one of his drunken rages, he beat Margie, nearly blinding her right eye. This was the last straw for Mary, so she took the kids with her and left Bill for good.
Thus, the family split up and headed to two different settlements in Fallout 4, as Bill ended up in the Warwick Homestead. Meanwhile, Mary and the kids found the Taffington Boathouse, where they met their unfortunate end. It’s chilling to know that all this stemmed from a husband’s violent habits and his family’s desperate attempts to make a living.
Egret Tours Marina
Egret Tours Marina is located to the east of Jamaica Plain in Fallout 4. It’s another riverside settlement, but much bigger than the Taffington Boathouse with a two-story boat shed, an old commercial structure, and a Red Rocket Diner available in the area. To unlock the settlement, the player must either gain the approval of Phyllis Daily, its sole occupant, or simply kill her. What makes this settlement so disturbing is actually Phyllis’ backstory.
Phyllis had lived in another, unspecified settlement with her grandson, Samuel. One night, while she was on guard duty, she blacked out and only came to when she heard a gunshot. Coming back to her senses, she realized that she was standing in front of her grandson’s dead body with a gun in her hand. Phyllis believed that she was the one who killed Samuel, so she left their home and took refuge with another group of wastelanders. However, she nearly killed one of them after waking up from a nightmare, so she decided to live on her own.
Eventually, Phyllis found Egret Tours Marina and made her home there. The nightmares continued, and in them, she had metal hands and a torn face hiding a metal skeleton. She was starting to believe that she was a synth in Fallout 4, and that the Institute could instruct her to kill whenever they wanted — just like with Samuel. At one point, she tried to end her life by jumping into the river but failed. In her personal terminal, she writes, “their programming won’t let me end it” — likely referring to the Institute.
Should the Sole Survivor convince Phyllis to let them build on the settlement, she will eventually write them a letter. In it, Phyllis thanks the player for accepting despite what she is, but also includes that it’s time for her to move on. Her past makes for a disturbing backstory, but what she does after is surprisingly bittersweet.
Croup Manor
Croup Manor can be found slightly to the northeast of Fallout 4’s Libertalia, close to the eastern shore. This settlement is roughly the same size as the Taffington Boathouse with a three-story house surrounded by a considerable lot of land. Before the player can start building, they must first wipe out the feral ghouls infesting the place, including in the house’s basement.
Croup Manor once belonged to the affluent Croup family. Despite their wealth, they weren’t able to plan for a nuclear apocalypse. As such, they remained in their house as the Great War of Fallout 4 went on. At one point, the entire family became feral ghouls, except for Theodore Croup, who remained sentient. Soon, he realized that human wastelanders were hostile to ghouls, so he gathered his family into the basement and remained there.
Surprisingly, Theodore was pleased that the old world was dead. In his personal terminal, he writes that this wiped the Croup family of their debt, allowing them to start again. All he needed to do was teach them how to act like normal humans again. In his final entry, however, Theodore laments that it’s been hundreds of years, and yet he’s still made no progress with the rest of his family. Finally, he snaps and hits his ghoulified Aunt Belinda. This turns the rest of the feral ghouls on him, and they all charge at Theodore, killing him.
By the time the Sole Survivor arrives at Croup Manor, the place is overrun with more feral ghouls. In the basement, they can find the body of Theodore Croup as well as more feral ghouls — likely his former family members. They never learned to speak again, so the player has no choice but to kill them off. Only then will Croup Manor become available for settlement building in Fallout 4.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.