The Dead Horses are a tribe that can be found in Zion Canyon in 2281.
Background[]
The New Canaanites believe that the Dead Horses tribe originated from a place called Res, east of the Grand Canyon. They are descended from the pre-War inhabitants of the place, as well as tourists who had been visiting when the Great War broke out. Over time the languages of the two groups melded into a creole, becoming the main language of the tribe, though a few members maintained enough English to effectively communicate with outsiders.[2] Eventually they left Res, heading west until they reached the banks of the Colorado River at Dead Horse Point, which they would make their namesake and their home.[3]
After living there for many generations, the Dead Horses were visited by Joshua Graham, the Malpais Legate of Caesar's Legion. He sought to prime them for assimilation into the Legion, like numerous tribes before, and began to train them in the methods of warfare. He taught them how to hunt more efficiently and how to maintain their rare pre-War equipment.[4] However, before they were ready to join the Legion, Joshua was called away to lead Caesar's armies in the First Battle of Hoover Dam, a battle from which he would return a very different man.
With Joshua gone, the Dead Horses were no longer at risk of eminent assimilation, though they maintained a deep level of reverence for both Graham and the man he served.[5] They began to put Joshua's teachings to use and started raiding and attacking people around them. They were eventually retaliated against, driving the Dead Horses from their home and all the way south to Zion. They had lost much and were taken advantage of by many of the tribes of the valley.[3] It would be here that Joshua found the Dead Horses, having survived his execution and returning to his home of New Canaan.[6] This time, he would lead the tribe in a different direction. He led them away from Caesar, explaining what the Legion would have done to them.[5] He taught them how to defend themselves, to protect and hold their territory.[7] Graham became their acting war chief,[8] and under his guidance the Dead Horses would retake Dead Horse Point.
After the destruction of New Canaan, a group of survivors led by Daniel made their way to Zion and resided with the Sorrows tribe, where Joshua met up with them.[9] To help protect his people, he asked some of the Dead Horses to return to Zion, to help defend the New Canaanites and the Sorrows against the White Legs.[4] Whether the Dead Horses help the Sorrows evacuate the valley or drive the invaders out, the tribe returns to their home afterward.[10][11]
Society[]
Their tribe is located at Dead Horse Point on the Colorado River. Many of the Dead Horses serve as scouts for the tribe, keeping their warriors back in case of enemy attack. The full-fledged scouts leave chalk murals and pictographs to guide the less experienced ones during reconnaissance or to lead warriors to good hunting grounds.[12]
The Dead Horses are individualistic in the way that they govern their personal lives. They are democratic in matters concerning the tribe as a whole. Usually, the only decisions made autocratically are those regarding conflicts with outside groups. In this sphere, Joshua Graham, revered as their war-chief, has been given complete authority to dictate the actions of tribal warriors in times of war.[1] Joshua stated he desired little to do with the way the tribe conducted its personal matters, believing that there may be better men whose example should be followed than his own.[13]
In the past of the Sorrows, they lost one of their own to a trap left behind by their "Father in the Caves," convincing them to stop trying to enter the caves of Zion and even incorporate this belief into their religion. When the Dead Horses came to the valley, the Sorrows told them stories of the spirits that live within, scaring them enough that most came to avoid the caves and pre-War buildings of the valley as well.[14] A few members remain willing to enter these taboo places, such as Follows-Chalk, but are still nervous nonetheless.[15][16][17] They hunt bighorners for food, marking themselves with tattoos to commemorate when they hunt and special occasions, like if a youth goes on his first hunt or should a hunter kill large prey,[18] (a tradition similar to the Twisted Hairs who braid their hair to reflect their lives and deeds). The Dead Horses remain very mindful of the environment and the animals of Zion knowing not to over hunt any prey too much.[19]
Characters[]
Notable
Military[]
While the Dead Horses maintain offensive and defensive capabilities collectively, it can't be said they possess a designated wartime force. Though the tribe does have warriors who are specifically armed and trained for the purpose of combat, they primarily act as hunters. The tribe also has a separate branch of scouts, but again, their talents (while widely applicable) are more often utilized for the more practical matters of exploration and locating game. These scouts can be found all over Zion Canyon, and often in pairs. The Dead Horses use .45 Auto pistols as a standard firearm, though many are armed with supplementary war clubs[20] which are decorated with .45 caliber shell casings in reverence of Joshua Graham.[21] When the Courier reaches Zion Canyon, Joshua Graham is ready to lead the Dead Horses in the extermination of the White Legs, despite Daniel, who voices his concern for the fate as well as the relative innocence of the tribes.
Relations with the outside[]
The majority of the Dead Horse tribe has no desire to explore the rest of the wasteland, and they tend to stay away from the "taboo" pre-War buildings. Caesar's Legion came to Zion Canyon before the First Battle of Hoover Dam and attempted to court their tribe, under orders from Joshua Graham. They remained here until Joshua Graham returned from Hoover Dam and became the acting war chief of their tribe. While they are on good terms with the Sorrows tribe, they are currently at odds with the White Legs, who are trying to exterminate both the Sorrows and Dead Horses.[19] Joshua Graham has asked that the Dead Horses not attack any outsider who enters the valley, unless they are targeted first.[22]
The Happy Trails Caravan Company has attempted to make contact with the Mormons at New Canaan by passing through Zion Canyon. The Dead Horses know little about the New Canaanites apart from the few missionaries they send out.[23] At one point, the Lonesome Drifter arrived in Zion and told the Dead Horse tribe of the wasteland outside of Zion.[24] Other than this, the Dead Horse tribe are fairly reclusive and tend to be wary of outsiders.
Language[]
The Dead Horses speak a unique language, based on that of pre-War German, English, and Navajo vernacular.[Non-game 1][Non-game 2][Non-game 3]
Examples of phrases[]
Phrases | |||
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Endings[]
# | Slide | Voice-over narration | In-game condition |
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1 | Having revered Joshua Graham as a living legend for so many years, the Dead Horses found it difficult to accept his death. New Canaanite missionaries sought to remain in contact with the tribe, but lacking Joshua's authority, their influence dwindled. Still, as an expression of enduring respect for their lost spiritual leader, the Dead Horses helped protect the lands where New Canaanites settled. As generations passed, the Dead Horses came to worship a spirit of the land, a harsh spirit of divine justice. They called it Joshua. |
Kill Joshua Graham. | |
2 | Having helped Daniel and the Sorrows escape from Zion, the Dead Horses returned to their home at Dead Horse Point. The tribe continued to learn from the New Canaanites, and over many years built a flourishing community along the banks of the Colorado. Though the tribes' bond would endure, it was Joshua Graham's legend the Dead Horses would revere, not the tenets of New Canaan's faith. |
Help Daniel evacuate Zion. | |
3 | Having helped eradicate the White Legs from Zion, the Dead Horses returned to Dead Horse Point in triumph. They remained neutral toward the Sorrows, but as years went on, there were periods of competitive friction, even violence, between the tribes. The New Canaanites - Daniel especially - intervened regularly as mediators, but found it difficult to reconcile the tribes' conflicts. |
Help Joshua crush the White Legs. |
Notes[]
- When found roaming Zion Valley, the Dead Horses are not attacked by nor do they attack mutated creatures such as yao guai or green geckos.
- Even if the player character helps the Dead Horses eradicate the White Legs and works with Joshua Graham to complete Honest Hearts, the Dead Horses may be hostile upon the player character's return to Zion Canyon.
Appearances[]
The Dead Horses appear only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts.
Behind the scenes[]
Developer quotes[]
In the first design docs for HH, every tribe was supposed to have members from all of the F3/FNV ethnic groups. However, there was a complicating factor: body art. The various tattoos and body paints we needed to texture the bodies multiplied the number of required textures. They couldn’t simply be layered on (as they can in F4), but were entirely new body textures that dramatically increased the amount of texture memory being used. For that reason, each tribe wound up having only one body texture per sex. This compressed their ethnicities into homogenized blends, with Dead Horses being a darker tan, Sorrows a light tan, and White Legs (under the body paint) fairly pale.
As a minor point, Daniel was specifically supposed to be (and was, in data, for most of development) Asian. I don’t know when, how, or why he was switched to Caucasian, but that’s how he shipped. It’s frustrating, because those changes slot Joshua and Daniel as white guys among (mostly) brown folk when 1) they weren’t supposed to be white guys and 2) the tribes were specifically called out as ethnically and culturally mixed without any real-world analogues.
Regarding the “natives as aesthetic” criticism, the patterns we used for the three tribes’ body art are not based on any current or historical native American body art (AFAIK). There are in-fiction explanations for each tribe’s specific choices. The White Legs initially colored themselves white to blend into the Great Salt Lake (where they are from) and they dread their hair out of reverence for Ulysses. The Sorrows use the river pattern to reflect their suffering and their connection to the Virgin River in Zion. The Dead Horses mark various accomplishments on their skin and decorate their clubs with .45 shells out of their respect for Joshua Graham.”— Joshua Sawyer, on Frog Helms Fan ClubGallery[]
References[]
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- Non-game
- ↑ Question: "Trate de preguntar en español? OK. ¿Qué idioma es el idioma de los Dead Horses basada en? La idioma de los Sorrows se basada en español, por supuesto. Pero no puedo entender qué idioma de los Dead Horses se basada en." (English translation: "Can I try to ask in Spanish? OK. What language is the language of the Dead Horses based on? The Sorrows' language is based on Spanish, of course. But I can't understand what language the Dead Horses is based on."
Joshua Sawyer: "El idioma de los Dead Horses se basada en alemán, inglés, y navajo, pero la morfología del navajo es irreconocible." (English translation: "The Dead Horses language is based on German, English, and Navajo, but Navajo morphology is unrecognizable."
Joshua Sawyer Spring.me - ↑ Question: "Is It correct that the tribals are descended from vacationers at the time of the Great War? I swear I hear a little German in the Dead Horses and Spanish in the Sorrows, but I also hear another language(s) mixed in and spoken by either tribe as well."
Joshua Sawyer: "Yes. Joshua Graham explains that they speak languages from a place he calls "Res" mixed with languages from people who were vacationing in Utah."
(Joshua Sawyer Formspring post 19 May 11) - ↑ Joshua Sawyer: "Some of the original Dead Horses were Native Americans, but the group overall is supposed to be a mix of NAs, European tourists, and random American citizens."
(Joshua Sawyer at forums.somethingawful.com)
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