My favorite memories when it comes to writing? Creative writing, every single time. One of my personal favorites is my 2011 collaboration with Lexx, a German Fallout modder, to add a little more shine to the flawed gem that is Honest Hearts. If you played it, you remember that at the end, you are placed back at the Southern Passage. In front of you is a crate containing all the unique gear from Zion – Joshua’s armor and sidearm, Daniel’s outfit, etc. – but without so much as a note to provide closure or context.

Lexx wanted to correct that and reached out to me, asking if I could write the letters. I said yes and started work as soon as I could.

How do you write a letter?

Though the player would only see one letter per playthrough, we wanted to reinforce the narrative and support reactivity. Any other approach would require a generic letter of appreciation that would be useless for our purposes.

As such, we needed at least two letters to emphasize the choice between Joshua and Daniel: If the player chose to wipe the White Legs out, the player would receive a letter from Graham. If they chose to evacuate Zion, then Daniel would write the letter instead.

However, the endings are more granular when it comes to Joshua, as he has three possible endings (four if you decide to kill him). They are tied to the decision at the end of his path, when he has Salt-Upon-Wounds at his mercy. Though he stands victorious, it is Joshua’s darkest hour. The old Legate of the Legion stands before the Courier, about to crush his defenseless and surrendered enemy in cold blood.

The Courier can let Joshua succumb to temptation and kill Salt-Upon-Wounds, guaranteeing that the legend of the Burned Man would only grow more horrifying. On the other hand, he can convince him to stay his hand and spare the tribal leader – or at least give him the dignity of dying in combat.

While this could suggest the need for three letters, the endings described the future Graham. It was Joshua months, if not years after defeating Salt-Upon-Wounds. Short of time travel, a letter that described future events or simply reiterated the endings would be a jarring addition. I believed that we should add two, hinting at the future changes, but not spelling them outright, and Lexx agreed.

Daniel was an interesting challenge. He only has one ending for evacuating Zion and one that suggests future disappointment and doubts. We wanted to fully support both playthroughs, as it would have been a disservice to players who sided with him to just get one letter regardless of what they did during the evacuation. With Daniel’s focus on preserving Sorrow lives, we looked to the endings again and settled on two versions of the letter, depending on whether the Courier completed the three side quests during the flight from Zion or not.

Two end quests, two characters, two mindsets to account for. It was time for me to write six four letters.

A goodbye from Graham

The first step was to settle on the tone. I researched his dialogue and especially the many remarks and comments Joshua Sawyer made over the years. I recall that what inspired me the most was his statement that “Joshua’s struggle is about what burns inside him — light that illuminates or fire that consumes.”

Sitting down to write, I decided that the letters would have been written by him during rest, sitting at a campfire, perhaps staring into flames and studying scripture to help him process what happened with Salt-Upon-Wounds. It was obvious to me that a lifetime of violence and trauma would not be resolved instantly, and that it would take him years to finally resolve and become as he is described in the endings.

How to highlight these changes, then? I decided to write two versions of the same letter, bookended by the same paragraphs, but with a different middle. Let’s start with Dark Graham:

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged; for I will destroy her speedily; yea, for I will be merciful unto my people, but the wicked shall perish.

I thank you for your help in eradicating the enemies of Zion. You delivered God’s wrath to those unworthy of his mercy. Zion will always remember you and if the need be, unleash its wrath on those that may wish to harm you.

Consider the contents of this crate our token of friendship. May these weapons and clothes serve you in your journey ahead; and may God watch over you.

Graham

Opening with a quote from scripture felt like the right thing to do, as Joshua quotes it in the course of the story and is seen studying it. Rather than recycle Psalm 137 or continue it, I selected 2 Nephi 23, both to highlight Joshua’s faith and his personality.

The second paragraph emphasizes the darkness in him. He’s continuing down the path of the Burned Man, reveling in bloodshed and destruction, and thus he focuses on the aspects of wrath and eradication. Of course, it’s God’s wrath, not his own, or so he rationalizes it to himself. Finally, he promises Zion’s assistance in the future should the Courier be threatened.

The final paragraph is the same in both versions of the letter, but its meaning is different. Here, the Courier sent Graham down a dark path, befriending a force of nature – a wildfire – that will consume their enemies, but risks consuming them as well.

Now for LessDark Graham:

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged; for I will destroy her speedily; yea, for I will be merciful unto my people, but the wicked shall perish.

I thank you, friend, for your help in defending Zion from the defilers. Though we may not share the same faith or creed, I shall pray for you in your journey ahead. Know that you have made an ally today and that you will always be welcome in Zion.

Consider the contents of this crate our token of friendship. May these weapons and clothes serve you in your journey ahead; and may God watch over you.

Graham

As you can see, it’s bookended by the same paragraphs, but the second one is much different. To emphasize the light that’s germinating in him, I decided to still have him acknowledge the slaughter of the White Legs, but focus it as a necessary defense, rather than a bloody culling.

His subsequent mention of prayer and hospitality is also meant to suggest that something changed. He focuses not on wrath (a sin he rationalizes away in the other versions), but what could be considered virtues, at least in his case. The fire inside him starts to illuminate, rather than destroy.

Daniel

With Daniel, I considered the circumstances and decided that, unlike Graham, he would not have a lot of opportunities to sit down and ruminate on what happened. He’d be preoccupied with keeping the evacuated tribe organized, intact, and safe. The most he’d be able to do is sit down and hastily write down a few words of thanks for the Courier while packing the crate together.

His state of mind at that moment would be determined by the number of Sorrows lost. If the Courier completed all three side-quests, then the casualties would be surprisingly small, and the evacuation would be seen by him as almost a victory.

Friend,

I’d like to thank you for your aid in saving the Sorrows. We expected much greater loss of life, yet you managed to not only prevent that, but also allowed us to safely escape the White Legs’ pursuit. You are truly a man of God, even though you might not share my faith. Know that the Sorrows will always remember you, as will my fellow Canaanites. Go in peace, my friend, and accept these humble gifts as tools to further God’s work.

Daniel

When I wrote his letter, I considered the endings and the doubts he has about his decision to evacuate Zion. Like with Graham, I decided that these would start to appear in the future, with the immediate feelings being far more positive. After all, they narrowly escaped death at the hands of the White Legs, fleeing into safety with minimal casualties, without infecting the Sorrows with Joshua’s warlike ways.

It would be natural for him to feel good about it, even if he’s slightly overwhelmed with managing a whole tribe moving into an entirely new region. As such, the doubts are not present, only a positive attitude towards the Courier, from him, the Sorrows, and the New Canaanites. Accordingly, the items the player receives are considered as gifts to the Courier, so that they may perform more good deeds in the wasteland, perhaps using the weapons to defend innocents, like in Zion.

A note on the terms used: While “man of God” is gendered, it’s used here in a gender-neutral fashion by choice. I’d personally use a different term, if at all, but I’m not Daniel, a Mormon missionary jotting down a quick letter while dealing with exhaustion and a lack of sleep. I feel that it’s important to maintain this distance and write something that’s true to the character, even if we’d personally say it in a different way.

I realize that the situation in Zion was tough. Forgive me if I was harsh to you; losing not only New Canaan, but also Zion and so many Sorrows weighs heavily on my mind. I will have to carry this cross with me, however, and do my best to guide the survivors into the future. Take these items away from this valley and use them as you see fit. They will only make it harder for us to find peace.

Daniel

The situation is much different if the Courier doesn’t complete the side quests before evacuating Zion, which is tantamount to letting Sorrows die. Daniel explicitly shouts this in the Courier’s face, in fact: “You let them die! They needed you! Why didn’t you help them?! Nevermind. I don’t have time for this. Take the map. Just take it and go!”

As such, the letter does not begin with “Friend” and has a much more negative tone. However, I decided not to make it a complaint against the Courier. It would be putting down the player after they chose a less attractive option (everyone loves Graham, after all), further piling dead Sorrows on top of abandoning Zion.

More importantly, it felt wrong and out of character for Daniel. Anger and resentment are something more closely associated with Graham and I felt that suggesting they are more alike than Daniel likes would run counter to the nature of the choice between them. As such, instead of piling blame on the Courier, Daniel assumes responsibility for the failure to save as many Sorrows as possible. The Courier was carrying out Daniel’s plan, after all. Yet while he has doubts about his ability to lead, he knows that he must assume leadership and guide them to prevent even more deaths among the survivors.

Finally, he gives the Courier one more opportunity to help. While they might not have saved as many Sorrows as they could, they can help them move on by taking reminders of the loss of Zion as far away as possible.

Reactions

Lexx combined my writing with his modding skills, publishing the Honest Hearts Letter on Nexus on August 21, 2011. It’s a small, lore-friendly mod that accumulated some 1,165 endorsements, 18,347 downloads, and over 120 thousand views over the past 12 years. I feel it’s a respectable performance for something that seems minor and inconsequential at a glance. Some of the users commenting on the mod thought it was anything but:

“Hey, that is a great idea and a nice touch to add something like that for sure.” –Ogramirad

“great idea, a small simple change that makes sense.
no one could object to this mod.
thank you.” –Kyusoath

“I have read all four letters in this mod using FNVedit(Two from Daniel and two from Graham) and I must say the contents of the letters feel very real.It doesnt feel like it came from a mod.It feels exactly like what Graham or Daniel would say to you in a goodbye letter.Most importantly theres not a single typo or grammar mistake in all four letters.That alone deserves an endorsement for this mod” –turkmc

“Reading that note… No longer is that a footlocker of stuff the devs put in just so we can play with all of the shiny toys. Now it actually means something, and no longer breaks immersion. Endorsed.” –StealthCookie

“A wonderful mod. It’s simplicity in no ways diminshes the contribution it makes to Honest Hearts.” –CyrusAmell

“A simple, high quality mod. Great writing.” –SunnyDove

“Wasn’t really expecting much when I downloaded this, but holy s#*! dude this feels like something Joshua would say. So good job on the top quality writing.” –bat3291

“Very well imagined and executed. Endorsed.” –Bernt