The Courier's Journal

by RF and AG

Journal 2

Zion Canyon

A beautiful canyon no matter how much blood was spilled; that was what Zion is. If one could overlook the constant fighting against others and the wildlife, one could almost find peace among the scenery.

If only that was how my first introduction to Zion Canyon went. The Happy Trails Caravan was ambushed shortly after entering the canyon. It was … a massacre, to say the least, but it was not on one side or the other. The entire caravan crew, minus me, died at the hands of these tribals. They were paid in kind with their deaths being at the hands of my rifle.

It was almost laughable to see what they were using when compared to my All-American. Double barrel, sawed off shotguns, and simple bolt action hunting rifles were barely anything. Not to mention that they had no form of body armor.

It was humorous to see such pitiful fighters.

Forging my way into the canyon was easy, if not tiring, due to the steep hills and constant issue of loose rocks, but at least I found someone to guide me through the easier paths. Follows-Chalk is his name, barely looks eighteen yet he constantly speaks of being a great fighter and scout. I have to admire his can-do type of attitude, even if he is rather naive about the world around him. He actually reminds me a little bit of Veronica, though she actually had experience in the world.

One thing that was nice about having him around though, was minor insight into the surroundings. It helped to give me some background to the place, as well as get my bearings. Kid might turn into a good hunter one day, just needs to ditch the pistol and pick up a nice rifle.

Follows-Chalk led me to the Dead Horse’s camp. Dead Horses … terrifying for a name if you don’t have any decent upbringing, and by that, I meant you weren’t taught how to use a gun. Either way, it was nice to see that they weren’t explicitly hostile to me, but I think Follows-Chalk has something to do with that.

They treated me with some kind of reverence at first, looking at me as though I was a ghost who had just walked into their camp. It slowly died down as I gave them a few smiles to try and calm them down, which to my surprise worked better than I thought it would. Perhaps they were more tribal than I thought they would be.

Though I hardly cared about that after they took me to their leader, or ‘War Chief’ as they said. It was a little surprising, but The Burned Man wasn’t as intimidating as the stories made him out to be. Sure he was wrapped nearly head to toe in bandages, minus the eye, nose, and mouth areas. You would think that because you couldn’t read his face very well, his intimidation game would be excellent. It wasn’t.

Instead, it would seem that Graham became a man of thought and perspective. His ideas and beliefs were not something that I explicitly shared all the time, but he brought up good points. Surprisingly valid points.

I actually enjoyed talking to someone who could hold a deep conversation for more than a few minutes. though he often touched too hard on the side of ‘God.’ I respect beliefs, within reason, but the idea of spreading their thoughts around in order to ‘save their souls’ was not something I wanted to talk to him about.

Oh, and get this, he apparently hates the Legion! As well as feels guilt at his actions, something that I would not have expected of Caesar’s first Legate. He resents a lot of what they did, even to the point of telling me that they were never the side of good. Perhaps he found a new side of himself, or maybe enough failed assassins convinced him that the Legion was bad. I have no right to judge.

On the flip side, he actually believes the NCR is redeemable, though I don’t share too much of that belief. People under the NCR rule are redeemable, the society that they created is not. Corruption and greed are what they bleed, not blood like the rest. Cut the head off the snake, and it is said to die. Cut the head off the NCR and it will only grow two more.

We talked a little about the situation of the place, and it would seem that Graham had somehow heard of my … abilities. He needs me to help his people gather some stuff to prepare for an upcoming war.

I used to be a courier, but that doesn’t mean I like being one now. I bargained shelter and trade in exchange of services. He agreed and had one of the tribals show me my space.

Tomorrow, tomorrow I will get my bearings and perhaps help Joshua.

Author's Note:

Now that I think about it, I should have had a "heavy spoilers in story" tag ... though honestly if you haven't played FNV or even read about the whole thing, then you need to get with the times.

Also this was the second best DLC in my mind. The first one still is yet to come!

Comments

[M-Tails-P]

Sawed-off shotguns and hunting rifles?
You got off easy, my boy, you got off easy...
I almost got torn to pieces by the White Legs' .45 Tommy guns and Anti Material Rifles.

[primeoetgrunn]

Hey, I like pistols!
Give me a 10mm or Lucky over a Laser rifle or Carbine rifle anytime.

[RF and AG]

5769845
In game wise, it depends on the level obviously!

in this ... well I went with a Fallout verse that was less game like in ways. That was one of them. I thought to myself, "What type of weapons would they come across or be given? The Legion gives it's scouts hardly any better ... so logically it made perfect sense.

5774083
You're obviously not using the right rifles!

[Dustchu]

Rifles and Pistols are fun //la
Especially the 44., that's my favorite~

Nice job!

[dereturd]

Let me guess, the best DLC is Lonesome Road. Is it?