[Rowena Duff is my newest character in Fallout 3. I used console commands to allow her to run away from Vault 101 during her 10th birthday party. Since she couldn't activate anything (PC children cannot use many things in the game) I downloaded a mod that circumvented this. Rowena is truly 10 years old in FO3. She wears her party hat and carries her sweetroll with her -- always. I write this story in my head as Rowena and I roam the Wastelands. Here is a picture of Rowena: http://roanart.com/images/rowena.jpg]

7.12.68

Tomorrow is my 10th birthday. Whoopee do. I got in a fist fight with that Butch idiot after class today and my dad has grounded me to my room. It's not fair! He started it! Damn that Butch! He is such a jerk! I drew the nicest picture in class -- it was of my mom. Well, at least the way I think my mother looked. Butch -- that damn Butch! -- said it was terrible. Then he grabbed it from me and tore it up! I felt like my heart was breaking in two!

I wish . . . I wish. Oh, I just don't know what I wish! I mean, what is the POINT to all this? There's nothing to do here! I want to be an artist -- to draw pictures like the ones I see in the books! But I'm not allowed because it's not "good for the Vault". I'm suposed to be a doctor, like dad, or a scientist or even a janitor, but not an artist. No one likes me except Amata and dad -- he doesn't count, though. The Overseer, Amata's dad, gives me the freaking creeps. He always seems to be watching my dad and I. I don't know why! I can't stand those squinty eyes of his, I really can't.

I feel so . . . sad. And alone. I wish my mother were here. Sigh. She'd know what to do. Now that I think of it, there's something I just don't understand. Dad says that mom died when I was born, but no one here remembers her. How can that be? Every time I ask Mrs. Palmer about my mom she tells me to go talk to my dad. Why? I wonder. Maybe my mother *isn't* dead???? Maybe my mom left the vault when I was born? I bet the Overseer kicked her out!

I don't know. All I know is that no one except my dad will talk about her and I can't stop thinking that maybe, just maybe, mom is alive and out THERE somewhere. Some day, I'm going to go find her.

Then there's that birthday. Amata has been planning a surprise party for me. She doesn't know that I know about it and I'm so upset I don't know if I'll be able to act surprised. I'd hate to disappoint her, she's been my best friend forever.

I wish tomorrow would never come!

7.14.68

Yesterday was my 10th birthday. It was horrible. I managed to convince Amata that I was surprised and I'm glad of that. She worked hard to make my birthday special. The Overseer was rude to me, but that's nothing new. Andy trashed my birthday cake. Mrs. Palmer gave me a sweetroll for my birthday and Butch, that [censored] moron, tried to take if from me! When I said I would not give it to him, he started swinging his fists at me! The Overseer blamed ME for everything and my Dad just sat there! I was SO angry! I'm STILL angry! Paul tried to talk to me, he's not as bad as Butch and the others, and they started making fun of him. I was SO SO SO angry! I was so angry I ran out of the diner and down the hall. I didn't even know where I was going -- I just wanted to get away!

I found myself outside the Overseer's Office and went inside to hide. He left the password to his computer terminal in an open locker -- can you believe that??? I used it to get into his computer. I wish I hadn't. I now know things I really wish I didn't!

All those years I had been lied to! I used the terminal to open the Overseer's passage and I left the Vault. GOODBYE! I'm never going back!

I'm out of the Vault. It's BRIGHT out here. It's dusty and smells funny. I'm so scared.

I found a house owned by a lady named Silver. She said I could spend the night. I'm writing this from the table in her kitchen. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow!

I like the writing style a lot, but there's something that really bothers me. She doesn't talk or act like a ten year old...at all. I mean the cussing, the use of words. She just doesn't sound her age. Perhaps you could play with that a little? Use words like gonna, ain't, etc.

Redsrock,

Not all ten year olds talk like that. I sure didn't. My dad would have whapped me upside the head. I've always used proper grammar and I've always written at a much higher level than my age.

She's me, pretty much, 38 years ago

Eileen

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I pulled out an old diary of mine from 1972, when I was 11. Not much difference, really.

Fair enough. I will say no more....until the next addition of course.

7-15-68

After I woke up I talked to Silver. I didn't tell her too much. When I asked her about Megaton, the town I read about on the Overseer's computer, she started ranting and pacing. I couldn't understand much of what she was saying, but she did tell me where it was.

After I left her place, I realized that I didn't have any caps except the few that she gave me. DOH! How am I going to pay for anything without any money? I found tin cans and bottles lying in the street and picked them all up. I hope someone will buy them from me.

I got to Megaton around mid-day. What a strange place! It's noisy and dirty and there is an atomic bomb sitting in a crater in the middle of the town! Most of the people were real nice to me. The Sheriff told me I could sell my cans and bottles at Craterside Supply, so I went there first.

Moira, the lady that owns Craterside, is really nice! She bought all my cans and bottles and extra stuff and then asked if I wanted to help her write a book on "Wasteland Survival". What a great idea! I mean, I need to learn how to survive out here, too, so I might as well get paid for doing it.

Anyhow, while I was talking to Moira, she mentioned a lady who had come through Megaton from the Vault about ten years ago, but she didn't know who she was and the lady didn't come back. Wow! I wonder if that was my mom!?!?! Where did she go??? I'm going to ask around! I'll write more later when I get back.

. . .

Back. I'm in the Common House in Megaton. I'm so tired. I must have talked to everyone that lives here. Some of the people are really nice, but a few of them made the hair on my neck feel funny. No one knows anything about my mom.

One of the creeps I talked to, Jericho, I think his name was, said that the east was very, very dangerous and that I should not search that way. I did not like how he was looking at me. He reminded me too much of Butch, only creepier. UGH! There was a saloon I could have gone into, but I didn't like the looks of the people I around there.

Sigh. I'm cold and tired and hungry and I don't feel well. I wish I was back at the Vault with Amata and my dad. I've really screwed up this time. I know I can't go back. What am I going to do???? Maybe my dad will come looking for me? Sigh, nope, the Overseer wouldn't let him. I know it.

I'm going to go to sleep and think about what to do. Tomorrow.

Love the idea. I reckon I'm going to have to make my own kid-character, just for the roleplay! Mind PMing me on how you did it, Eileen?

Sure, but be warned that I did this on the PC, so I don't know how to do it on anything else. I'll send you a PM in a bit. I've gotta get to the barn.

Oh, and I'm MUCH further ahead in the game than I have written. There's some interesting things that happen with your kid character when you don't have a mod

Eileen

I'm posting this in here as I've already gotten a couple of PMs asking how I got out.

First of all, I'm on the PC and I have no idea if you can do any of this on a console.

You will need the nochilduse removed mod:

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1817

If you do not have this mod, or one similar, anything you try to "use" -- workbench, switches, repairing the pipes in Megaton -- will all generate "A child cannot do this." Messages.


Okay, during my birthday party, after Ms. Palmer gave me my sweetroll and Butch tried to get it from me, I opened the console with tcl and walked through the door. Then I turned it off. Wandered around the corridors and used either UNLOCK on doors that were VERY HARD or TCL for doors and stuff that needed to be activated. I did not have the mod at the time.

I went into clinic, got the bobblehead, hacked the Overseer's computer and got out. Simple.

You could probably do the same at any time during the party and it would be neat if someone could try it during BB practice. Just make sure you do it before the target practice is over.

Eileen

I love this, keep it up!

Thank you!

It's difficult, though. Writing in the 1st person is hard enough without having to write like a 10-year-old.

Eileen

7-16-68

I can't write for long because I'm shaking so hard. I'm sick and can't stop throwing up. I don't have enough caps for the Dr so I'm going to go see Moira. Maybe she can help me.

. . .

Moira said I had radiation poisoning from all the Wasteland food and water I've been eating and drinking. She said she could help me, but since I was already radiated I might as well help her with that section of the Guide.

I went down to the atomic bomb crater and stood in the water. Drank some of it, too. It only took five minutes before I could barely stand! I know I crawled back to Moira's, but I don't remember doing it. I stink, though, so I must have thrown up a few times on the way.

She gave me some RadAway and some other stuff and I feel much better now. Moira says that I have a "mutation" now -- from all the radiation. We talked about that in class in the Vault and I'm not happy about it. She says it's benign, but she's not a doctor. Does she really know??? Sigh.

Later on I met Harden Simms, the Sherrif's son. He's really nice and he invited me to go shooting with him and his dad later on. I really, really need to learn how to handle a gun, so I just JUMPED at the chance!

I've been on this forum for 1 day now, And guess what? This is the one thread i am constantly reading! it is absolutely amazing for a story =D Good luck with the rest of it.

This is a really good story! One thing I find creepy is that... me and Rowena share the same birthday.

7-17-68

Sheriff Simms says I'm a natural with a gun and all I need is lots and lots of practice. He gave me his old 10mm pistol and some ammunition. It has a silencer, so it's nice and quiet. On our way back from the practice area yesterday, I ran into that Jericho again. Harden was with me, so I felt safer. Jericho said that if I was going to go search for my mom, I needed to learn how to pick locks. I already knew a little bit about it . . . I wonder if Amata ever realized that I picked the door to her room and read her diary? Hrm.

OH! Oh, NO. I'm SO stupid! I made that comment about Freddie Gomez at my party -- the thing about him that she wrote in her diary -- I shouldn't have! I really, really hope she didn't catch that. Sigh. She's smart. I bet she did.

Anyhow, Jericho took Harden and I and taught us a little more about picking locks. It's not easy! You really need to have a steady hand and a feel for the clicks. I think I did okay. Hrm, I hope Harden's dad doesn't find out. I don't think he'd like the idea of the Sheriff's boy picking locks. Heh.

This morning I went to see Moira and she asked me if I wanted to head to the Super Duper Mart to see if I could find any food or drugs -- for the Wasteland Survival Guide. It was still early so I decided to head on out. I got there around 11 am and there were three ghouls standing outside. Ghouls are NASTY to look at! There's one living in Megaton -- Gob, I think his name is -- but I've never talked to him. Their skin is all pealy and gooey and GROSS. GAH!

These guys were pretty nice to talk to, even with the icky skin. They said they were trying to get to Underworld, which is a city of ghouls. Can you imagine and entire city of icky, pealy, gross people? UGH! Sure, they were nice, but. . .

Anyhow, I went into the Super Duper. It was very, very dark. I was going to turn on my Pipboy light, but something told me not to. There was something there, in the dark. I waited a bit and then made my way towards the right side of the store. I heard voices and they weren't very nice ones. I figured they were radiers. Jericho had told me all about raiders. He used to be one. I had to be careful.

I found a room that had a fridge in it and took all the food I found inside. Moira said to find food, but if I could find medicine, too, that would be better for the book. People always need medicine. I started to make my way to the back of the store and I bumped RIGHT INTO A RAIDER! I screamed and ran. I think I scared him as well, because he dropped his gun and started swearing at me.

I hide behind some shelving and pulled out the gun Sherrif Simms had given me. I could not stop my hands from shaking! The raider came around the corner and I pulled the trigger. I pulled that trigger over and over and over until the gun was empty. I killed him! There was blood EVERYWHERE! I've never killed anyone before! I grabbed his rifle and RAN for the Super Duper exit.

I think I ran all the way back to Megaton. When I got to Moira's, I told her I was sorry I didn't get the medicine. I was just too scared. She said it was okay, but I could tell she was disappointed in me. Sigh.

Very nice so far. I especially like the most recent addition because it's the longest.

Thank you! If people keep reading, I'll keep writing



Thanks! One of my brothers has a birthday on the same date as well

Eileen

I think the most recent one seems the most...Human, if you catch my drift. And I'm taking all this has happened to you ingame, right?

7-17-68

(11 pm)

I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about the man that I killed. The blood. The screams. How scared I was. I can't do this. I can't live out here. I keep thinking about life out here and Dad and the Vault and how much better it was inside.

I'm going to go back to the Vault. Right now.

Rowena will become more "human" as the story goes on. Her ten-year-old Vault-sheltered idea of being miserable is nothing compared to real life in the Wastelands. She's growing up

And yes, I'm following my in-game almost exactly -- at least as far as my movements go. At this point of the game she is only level 2.

Redsrock --

I'm writing this like a real diary. I mean, some entries are short and some are long. However, as I get closer to where I am in the game entries will probably get longer and a little more articulate. I've got to watch my carpal tunnel, though

I think one more entry for today -- a short one.

Eileen

7-18-68

(4 am)

So that's it. I'm alone. I'm really, really all alone.

I decided to go back. And I went. And. .

The Vault door was locked. The Overseer's password did not work.

They locked me out! All of them! Dad, too! How COULD they?!? I can't stop crying. I'm just a kid and they've locked me out of the Vault!

I HATE them! I hate HIM! How could he let them DO that to me? His daughter? ARGH! I hope they all die! I wish they were dead! I wish HE was dead!

Mom would have never allowed this to happen. She's alive -- I know she is! I'm going to go find her. I can't spend my life in Megaton all alone. I'll show DAD! I'll go find mom. I have to.

I'm going to sleep for a while. When I wake up, I'm leaving Megaton. I'm going out THERE to search for mom.

Very nice, Do another one for tonight, i can't wait another day for another entry!!! =D and i was thinking of making one of these, like a diary entry and that, but i decided to come ask you first, Do i have your permission?

Of course you do -- I don't own the idea

I kept diaries from the time I was . . . oh. . seven? until well into my teens. The only thing I wish I could do is emulate the actual handwriting-on-paper look. Boy, you can put a LOT of anger or angst into how you form letters and tears stain paper really nicely.

Eileen

EDIT: I'll try to add some more tonight. I really want to get to the point of where I am in the game so I can just write as I travel.

very entertaining - well done

Maybe, i could make a diary and mention this, like "i can't believe Rowena escaped from the Vault!" And then like, my character escaped from the vault, and then we sorta merge the diaries together? =D

7-18-68

(10 am)

I didn't get a lot of sleep. I kept tossing and turning and dreaming about Dad, the Vault, Amata and the Overseer. I still cannot believe they locked me out of the Vault. I wish everything that happened was a dream and I could just wake up from it.

My gun is under my pillow. I thought about using it last night. I even pulled it out and looked at it. I felt the weight in my hands and imaged what it would be like to put it to my head and pull the trigger. Just end it all. I can't. COWARD! Great, now I'm crying again.

Sigh. And now I sit at a table in the Common House. I need to get up and get my gear together, but I just can't seem to make my body work. C'mon, Rowena, just DO it!
. . .
I'm all packed. Finally. Jericho came into the Common House and told me that he would walk with me for a couple of miles if I paid him 50 caps. Hah. One thing I'm learning very quickly is how most people out here don't do anything unless they get something for it. I gave him his caps and told him I'd meet him at the gate.

(late evening)

Well, here I am. I'm out in the Wastelands sitting in the corner of a dirty diner hoping no one -- or no THING -- finds me.

Jericho had met me at the Megaton gate, as he said he would. He talked to a caravan guard to see if I could travel with them, but they were heading south-east to Rivet City. We started walking west and Jericho started telling me about some of the things I would run into in the Wastelands. He scared the crap out of me! He said molerats weren't so bad, radscorpions were to be avoided and to stay FAR away from the giant-sized radscorpions. He told me about the Super Mutants and to avoid them at all costs. He said that I was lucky, cause I was so small, and it would be easy for me to hide from most of the bad stuff.

I think we walked a couple of miles and then Jericho stopped and said he couldn't go any further. I told him I would pay him more, but he crouched down and said there were Outcasts up ahead and that they would kill him on sight. He pulled a sniper rifle and some ammunition out of his pack and gave it to me. Said, "You're just a kid and your best bet for survival is to learn to use this. Stay out of sight and kill from a long way off. Don't let anything get close to you or you're dead meat." I was shocked. I guess Jericho isn't all that bad after all.

I said my good-byes and ran to meet up with those Outcasts he was so afraid of. Jericho said they were "good guys" and wouldn't harm me and that they might let me tag along. He was right -- I mean about them letting me tag long. They had to be the RUDEST people I've met. They called me a "local" and a "rock pounder" -- or something like that -- and treated me like dirt, but they didn't tell me to get lost when I started following them west.

The Outcasts turned north-west, but I stayed with them. We kept meeting radscorps and molerats and they didn't seem to mind when I helped them. I'm getting pretty good with this pistol and I've been practicing with the sniper rifle. We arrived at a place called "Jury Street" and the Outcasts turned south, so I stayed behind.

The light is getting really dim so I'm going to call it a day. Tomorrow I'll check this place out a bit and head west. By myself.