[u][b]Mary Hawthorne - Her House[/b][/u]

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I trouble you for a second?" a voice called out to her. Mary looked up from her milking to see that the stranger had walked up to the edge of the enclosure. He was a tall, red haired man with familiar tattoos on his face. "I've only just arrived here from up north and I fear I am lost. Could you please help me out?"

"Certainly, Mister", she replied, not showing a even flicker of recognition. "Where are you fixin' to go?"

"My friend Giraud is looking to do some trading", the man continued, "but we've heard that this place has had some...trouble. Specifically, trouble involving the Children of Atom making the area outside the town less than safe. Might you know anything about them? 

"The Children of Atom?", Mary said. "I've heard tell of them. The tenets of thier Faith are certainly novel, to say the least. They don't seem to be very friendly, haven't heard a kind word about them since I got to the Commonwealth. They seem to keep to themselves, though....if you steer clear of the places they like they don't go out of their way to vex you none."

"And more importantly", the man added, "can you offer us any information on how we might avoid running afoul of them while we're in and around Salem?"

"Certainly", Mary said as she stood up. She pointed down the road south, past the Diner, where in the distance a large brick structure loomed, shimmering in the afternoon sun. "they don't come in to town that I've seen, as far as gettin' past them jes' follow the road there. The road forks just outside of town,  stay right or you'll walk right into them. Follow the road 'til you get to the old Witchcraft Museum there....it's the big brick building down there. Speaking of that, it's safe enough to walk by, but it's not the safest place for prospectin', even in daylight, if you get my drift. The road branches just beyond that, keep going South and you'll get to the Cannery. East of the road is pretty much the Children's...west of it isn't any better, though....Raiders and Gunners, I hear."

"Anything else you need, Mister?" Mary asked.