Territory: Far Harbor, Acadia, and much of the surrounding area on Mount Desert Island in Maine.
History:
The Institute itself was founded right after the war by the faculty and staff of The Commonwealth Institute of Technology who banded together and began excavating a home for themselves below the ruins of their former campus. Years were spent in isolation advancing science in ways that had previously been thought impossible. This included their greatest creation: the Synths.
During the Directorship of Shaun, also known as ‘Father’ to the people of The Institute, their idyllic lives safe and secured from the surface unravelled completely. Shaun had begun to feel a sense of unease towards the later stages of his life, and longed to know who his biological parents were. To this end, he released them from their cryogenic stasis in Vault 111.
This, it turned out, was the worst mistake of his life. Far from being the ideal caregiver and successor that Shaun had hoped for, the one known as the Sole Survivor turned treacherous, and refused to join their son in his vision for The Institute and the future of The Commonwealth. This culminated in the ultimate act of wanton destruction when The Institute itself was completely leveled by the Sole Survivor’s own hand.
However, all was not lost for its people. Shaun had made his one, and perhaps only, logical decision as regards his erstwhile successor and parent shortly after it became clear that they were going to be a problem. A precautionary evacuation order was given, and a substantial portion of The Institute's population was relocated to temporary quarters north of The Commonwealth in an abandoned Vault. They were provided with plenty of supplies, equipment, a substantial contingent of Synths guards, and most critically, a backup of The Institute's archives for safekeeping.
In the wake of the destruction of The Institute by the Sole Survivor, and despairing at the loss of their home and many of their friends and families, these remnants made plans to seek safety far away from The Commonwealth. Somewhere along the line they became aware of the possible existence of Acadia, a Synth refugee that had managed to evade their gaze for quite some time. Seeing opportunity, and led by a new self-proclaimed Director, they traveled north to where it was believed to be located. Members of the former SRB and Robotics divisions soon made contact with DiMA under the pretense of being Synths which had managed to escape The Institute's destruction and were seeking a new home. DiMA quickly and gladly offered up Acadia's location to these supposed refugees.
Before arriving in force, the remnants sent ahead SRB agents and two Coursers. Upon their arrival, they mingled successfully with the populace of Far Harbor and soon came to the realization that Avery, the leader of the town, was in fact a Synth replacement: a replacement never authorized by the SRB.
Seeking to use this knowledge to their advantage, the new Director executed his plan. Utilizing their contingent of Synth troopers, The Institute’s forces attacked Acadia and successfully overwhelmed it, capturing DiMA and subduing most of the Acadian Gen-3's via their reset codes. With the former Synth sanctuary now under their control, they made overtures to the people of Far Harbor. While initially outraged by Acadia's destruction, Far Harbor came around quickly enough when The Institute offered its help to drive back the fog. Captain Avery also began to argue quite convincingly about how she'd never really trusted DiMA and how these 'new' neighbors were, at the very least, human. A suspicious change of heart to be sure.
In the years that have passed, The Institute's remnants have managed to solidify their grip over much of Mount Desert Island and the town of Far Harbor. A ‘mutual understanding’ has been made with The Children of Atom at the Nucleus and the fog has been contained to the western half of the island thanks to their reverse engineering and improvement upon DiMA's Fog Condensers. Slowly but surely, they are expanding their resources and founding a promising new life for themselves far away from The Commonwealth and the betrayal that brought them to the brink of destruction.
Pressing Issues:
Powering Up: The issue of power forever plagues The Institute, even before its destruction the need for power was always great. In order to continue its expansion and meet the needs of its scientific personnel they’re constantly seeking new innovative ways to generate electricity.
Institutionalized: The Institute is an incredibly advanced technological society, and its scientists are some of the best in the post-war world. However, they’re an insular and highly xenophobic. With the destruction of their former home, they’ve had to endure far more interaction with the outside world than they ever wanted, and this has put immense strain on their society. The remnants of The Institute will need to adapt and overcome their prejudices and hang-ups regarding the ‘surface-dwellers’ if long term survival is to be achieved. The people of Far Harbor and The Children of Atom might serve as remarkable opportunities in that regard.
What Lurks in The Fog: Mount Desert Island abounds with danger, and there’s far more deadly things than mirelurks and ghouls within the shroud of the Deep Fog. The Fog is simultaneously a boon and a determinant. Its existence makes exploring and scavenging the western half of the Island nearly impossible (at least without Children of Atom guides) and is an ever present danger, but it also serves as a natural barrier on their flank which even the most well equipped army would find difficult to penetrate. Likewise it presents an interesting avenue of research to certain scientists within The Institute eager to learn all they can about its unusual properties.
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