Brotherhood of Steel: The Brotherhood of Steel is a techno-religious military organization dedicated to the preservation of technology, and preventing it from destroying the world once more. Despite being slowly fading away in the West due to a conflict with the NCR, the Brotherhood has managed to thrive on the East Coast and become a military superpower in the region. The Brotherhood of Steel arrived in the Philadelphia area sometime after the events of Fallout 3 initially as a scouting mission. The scouts discovered that there was a stockpile of valuble technology in the area in the form of a pre-war military depo in the ruins of Conshohocken. Reports also indicated that there was a turf war going on between 3 raider tribes in the same area, presumably for control of the bunker. However the raiders where disregarded as a minor obstacle, and eventually a small detachment of units was sent aboard 14 Vertibirds to the Philadelphia area from Capital Wasteland.
Setting up shop in the remains of the city's naval yard, the Brotherhood saw fit to restore a relatively intact pre-war aircraft carrier with hopes of eventually making it seaworthy once more and using it as their headquarters. In the meantime, patrols where sent out to Conshohocken, now known locally as "The Warzone" in order to assess a course of action to take. To their surprise, one tribe of raiders had already equipped themselves with high-end military weaponry as well as some restored suits of Power Armor. Knowing full well of the dangers of technology in the wrong hands, the Brotherhood acted immediately and launched an assault on The Warzone with aims of taking the bunker from the raiders.
However, this would prove to be disastrous to the Brotherhood. They severely underestimated how well defended the depo was as well as the ferocity of their enemies, thanks to their unbridled use of Psycho to bolster their performance in combat. Despite being overall better equipped and better trained, it was a losing battle from the start and the Brotherhood realized this too late. Of the 30 soldiers the Brotherhood sent, including Knights and Paladins equipped with T-51b and T-60f, only 15 returned to the Navy Yard. This was a crippling blow to the already small detachment, and one that would take years to recover from.
In the aftermath of the failed assault on the bunker the Brotherhood set about establishing relations with the nearby settlements, trading lower-end weaponry for food, supplies and potential recruits. Trust between the locals and Brotherhood where shaky at first; the Locals where skeptical of the Brotherhood's motives, no doubt fueled by countless rumors and tales across the wastes. Many in the Brotherhood where vocal in their protest of taking in untrained outsiders, and suggested that only those with sufficient combat experience should be allowed into their ranks. In spite of this, both sides eventually developed a mutually beneficial system. The Brotherhood of Steel's fate can be decided in the following ways: The player can join them in their quest to recover technology from the wasteland and to maintain peaceful relations with the outside; Through various quests the leadership of the chapter will change, resulting in the Brotherhood rapidly becoming an oppressive and totalitarian group who takes what they need by force; and finally if the player sides with Talon the Brotherhood of Steel must be destroyed as they are the only challenge to Talon's rule.
Hollowpoints: By far the most dangerous raider gang in the Philadelphia area. Led by their cold and calculating leader Talon, the Hollowpoints wage a campaign to exterminate all rival gangs in order to rule the wasteland. However with the arrival of the Brotherhood of Steel, their power and influence has been contested. The Hollowpoints have set up base in the remains of a pre-war military depo with a plethora of firepower. Roving groups of Hollowpoints can often be found toting R-91 rifles, AK-112 rifles, Laser Rifles, and some even don Power Armor. The Hollowpoints are also known for their excessive use of Psycho, which has given them a reputation for being extremely aggressive.
The Hollowpoints started out as a milita for the settlement of New Conshohocken, built in the ruins of the pre-war town of the same name. The militia was formed in response to attacks by the cult-like Ghasts, who captured victims for torture and ritual sacrifice. At first the milita was able to repel the Ghasts, but eventually the cultists managed to invade the settlement using stealth and terror-tactics. The town was left in shambles from the raid, with most of the settlers having been either abducted or killed in the chaos. The head of the militia, Wayne Corbin, held the mayor responsible for his repeated refusal to take action and shot him.
Corbin then led the survivors to a pre-war military depo where he rallied any able-bodied volunteers to accompany him in a retaliatory attack on the Ghasts. Donning energy weapons and some of the only working suits of Power Armor in the depo's armory, Corbin and his strike team tracked the Ghasts back to their lair in an abandoned quarry and killed a majority of the cultists before destroying the nearby mine shafts with explosives to bury any Ghasts left inside.
Since then rampant use of Psycho has turned Corbin and his followers into raging savages, and severely warped the latter's judgment. Corbin now believes that the only way to "protect" his people is by killing or enslaving all other tribes in the wasteland, so that there would be no-one left to cross them. To undertake this goal, Wayne Corbin rechristened himself as "Talon", and set about his goal for total domination. Talon and the Hollowpoint's fate can be decided in the following ways: Talon can be convinced to see the error of his ways and disband the Hollowpoints (However if a certain quest is completed, Veers will take over after Talon steps down and will be even more brutal, thus requiring the player to kill Veers with Talon's help); The player can join the Hollowpoints as a high ranking lieutenant but at the cost of all settlements not already aligned to Talon becoming hostile, as well as attempts on the player's life by hired hands or would-be userpers within the Hollowpoints; Talon and his lieutenants can be killed thus ensuring the dissolution of the Hollowpoints thus ending their threat to the wasteland.
Ghasts: Ghasts are one of the oldest tribes in the Philadelphia area, and have earned their name by way of their ghastly rituals they preform on victims they've abducted. Ghasts are fanatic cultists who worship an unknown diety, who they believe demands regular human sacrifice and unflinching loyalty lest their souls be devoured. The Ghasts dress in tattered garbs with crude metal plates or bones for protection, and almost always wear hoods and masks concealing their faces. Often these masks are made of human or animal skulls, or in some instances flayed human flesh. The Ghasts are commonly found using spears or swords made of crude metal or bones. Occasionally they can be found using a variety of small arms weaponry, but most prefer the thrill and glory of melee combat. The Ghasts have a distinct hierarchy, and covens are usually led by an Arch-Bishop.
It is unknown where the Ghasts originated from, only that they've been in the Philly Wasteland for a long, long time. Some speculate that they're decendants of satanic cults, other say they're the ghosts of those who died when the bombs fell. One thing is for certain; the Ghasts are a terrifying and very deadly group. The earliest known encounter with the Ghasts was in 2101, when they attacked the fledgling community established in Fairmount Park. The cultists captured or killed any settelers they came across before disappearing as fast as they came. Those who survived described them as terrifying beyond imagination; from their crude clothing made of human and animal remains to their fanatic devotion to their god.
The Ghasts once again rose to prominence with their raid on the settlement of New Conshohocken. At first they sent their lesser peons to charge the gates only to be mowed down. Gradually, the Ghasts began to use covert tactics, and managed to sneak past the guards on several occasions before being caught and dealt with. Eventually however, the Ghasts deployed their elite members, fittingly dubbed "Specters" whom utilized Stealth Boys and Smoke Grenades to launch a surprise attack on the settlement and destroy it. Unfortunately, a counterattack led by the head of the settlement's militia saw most of the Ghasts wiped out. Those that did survive now operate in complete secrecy; functioning more like assassins and striking from the shadows. To this day the Ghasts are still carrying out hostile attacks on the Hollowpoints whom they indirectly created, resulting in the town of New Conshohocken being renamed "The Warzone". The Ghasts cannot be reasoned with, and there is no other option other than to destroy them.
Enclave: After having suffered one crippling defeat after another, the Enclave is essentially defunct with only scattered remnants hiding from the Brotherhood of Steel on the East Coast and from the NCR on the West. One such remnant has holed up in the ruins of the Philadelphia Airport, although they pose little threat to the wasteland in the face of more powerful factions such as the Brotherhood of Steel or the Hollowpoints. In the face of these daunting circumstances, there is much infighting within the remnant. There are those who believe that they should continue the Enclave's original mission to retake the US mainland, and that they should purge all mutations and dissenters. Then there is another faction that calls for a reform of the Enclave in order to work towards a peaceful alternative to make the wasteland a better place. Finally, the last faction believes that the Enclave should just simply disappear and the former members should integrate into society.
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