Festus the Cave Dweller is a pale, emaciated Super Mutant member of The Voiceless, appearing as a companion to Al during the events of his Fallout: New California playthroughs.
Appearance[]
Festus appears as a deformed, gaunt being with features characteristic of a creature having lived much of it's life underground. His face is quite contrast to that of most Super Mutants, having dark, papery eyes and a large, downturned nose with droopy ears. Festus' chin bulges outward dramatically, accentuating his ever-gaping frown. Much like the rest of his fellow voiceless, Festus cannot speak english, instead communicating through a distinct and low hissing.
Festus wears only a brown loincloth, while the other Voiceless are clad in tattered slave rags.
Origin[]
After being captured by Captain Jackson, Al is brought before Juan Maxson-Elsdragon, and willingly accepts his offer of ridding the mines below of Shogath, a Super Mutant Behemoth.
Upon jumping off into the pit, Al first confronts The Voiceless, slaves put to work at mining in the pits all their lives, never again seeing the light of day, one among them being Festus the Cave Dweller, described by Mevil as a "green demon" who was slaved among them long ago, now pale, just like them. As per Voiceless tradition, when Festus became married, his tongue was cut off, thus rendering his speech incoherent.
After Al convinces The Voiceless to aid him in his quest to defeat Shogath and rise up against the raiders who enslaved them, Festus is one of the Voiceless to follow alongside him as a companion, aiding him in killing Shogath and his Bellringer guards.
Alas, Festus meets an untimely demise at the hands of a powerful nightkin by the name of Mandrake, gunning his left arm off with a hunting rifle and killing him before he could accompany the rest of his Voiceless brethren to the surface, much to Al's woe.
He is mentioned in passing during the series' following episode, Fallout New California | Part 6 - Slave Revolt!.
Festus later makes his triumphant return in Al's second playthrough, first reappearing during Fallout New California | Enclave Playthrough - Part 6, where he once again joins Al and his fellow Voiceless in confronting Shogath at the arena. Al notes that it is good to see him again, calling him a "magnifacent bastard".
In the following episode, Fallout New California | Enclave Playthrough - Part 7, Al and the Voiceless actually manage to kill Shogath without Festus, using a mining pulse beam. Al returns to the workshop to find that Festus became stuck behind the doorway. Al deduced that he wanted to give a speech at the podium, too.
On their way back up to the surface, Al and company once again faced off against Mandrake, this time Festus surviving the ordeal, to Al's joy, promptly congratulating him on being able to "frighten small children for another 80 years". As they returned to Elsdragon, Al was then ordered to meet Nos, Elsdragon's right-hand man at the vertibird and join in the attack on the NCR's Interstate 15 garrison.
As Al decided against rallying a slave revolt on his second playthrough, the Voiceless in company, including Festus, all returned back to the mines in a single-file line, Al then feeling bad, admitting that he didn't know if they actually were happy down there.
Trivia[]
- In the vanilla Fallout: New Vegas, a character named Festus is the animatronic mascot for the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company.
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