Joanna Mayfield

Joanna "Jo" Mayfield^[2] is the head of the Blue Ridge Caravan Company in Fallout 76.

Background[]

Beginnings[]

Descended from a family of truckers, Joanna Mayfield worked with shipping practically her whole life, earning her stripes hauling cargo up and down Appalachia, primarily the Blue Ridge Parkway. She inherited the trucking business from her grandfather around 2073,^[3] due to the death of her father. She continued to manage the company, earning the loyalty of manager Vinny Costa and his crew.^[2]

The Great War forced her to adapt, but not to surrender. Joanna decided to swap eighteen-wheelers for hardy brahmin, re-founding the Blue Ridge Caravan Company in the wake of the apocalypse, now as its owner and proprietor.^[1] Over the next 25 years, she built it up into a professional outfit, providing security, commerce, and safe travel along the Blue Ridge Parkway.^[3]

Joanna prioritized self-sufficiency above all else, rejecting offers of collaboration from paramilitary groups to maintain independence.^[4] While she jokes about refusing raises to contractors,^[5] she pays them well, to the point that Kieran Kennedy could afford to hire a live-in guard for his adopted family.^[6] She also does not tolerate intimidation of her employees as a means to an end.^[7] Joanna has a good eye for people, keeping close tabs on her head of operations, Vinny Costa, to keep him on the straight and narrow, setting aside toys to gift to Kieran's children, and making sure that Libby Wen and Carver Timmerman do not burn themselves out while doing runs for the company.^[8]

Expansion into Appalachia[]

By 2103, the company was ready to expand north into West Virginia, thanks to the containment of the Scorched Plague and humanity returning once more to the region.^[3] Vinny Costa spearheaded the initial push into the region, setting up operations centered around the Big Bend Tunnel, providing a more or less safe route beneath the mountains and providing access to the western parts of Appalachia. Joanna planned for a visit to the region once operations were underway.^[2] A year later, she finally arrived, setting up an office at the western end of the tunnel in order to investigate a string of disappearances tied to Blue Ridge operations. Clients who paid for safe transit had disappeared under unclear circumstances, and she wanted to both prevent a panic among customers and identify the culprits without scaring them off. Her internal investigation coincided with the arrival of the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force, which also took interest in the matter. Joanna did not trust the Brotherhood, considering Paladin Rahmani's investigations an attempt at "oppression and regulation" that her enterprise could do without.^[9]

The secrecy, dodging answers, and ultimately lying to Art Knapp had the effect of making Joanna and her company a prime suspect. Rather than take drastic action, Paladin Rahmani decided to try subterfuge, assuming that Mayfield would be unfamiliar with her. Joanna saw through the ruse immediately: She finally agreed to the meeting, because Mayfield's own investigation had hit a brick wall, despite identifying multiple missing people after combing through company records.^[10] Dealing with the Brotherhood was necessary to solve the mystery and prevent the Blue Ridge name from being tarnished.^[11] While still standoffish, Mayfield and Rahmani agreed on a course of action. The two agreed to a joint investigation of the caravan camp in the Harpers Ferry tunnel, sealed up by Aries.^[12] While Rahmani's attitude grated on Joanna,^[9] it was Aries who truly put the strain on Rahmani's patience. His antics while investigating the tunnel^[13] almost led Paladin Rahmani to conclude that it was Joanna's attempt at an elaborate coverup,^[14] until they finally arrived at the caravan stop and uncovered evidence identifying Edgar Blackburn and the Hellcat Company as parties responsible for the mass kidnapping.^[15]

Joanna was pleased with the results of the investigation. While she did not plan to make a habit out of helping "jackbooted overlords", as she called them, she was glad to have helped the Brotherhood clear her company's name.^[16] As the company continued to expand their operations in Appalachia, Joanna helped set up a job at the Middle Mountain Pitstop for Vera Thornberg, the daughter of a pre-War Blue Ridge trucker whom Joanna knew well.^[17][18] Overall, under Joanna's leadership, Blue Ridge as a company has operated smoothly, something that Vinny Costa recognizes as a comfortable normalcy.^[19]

Interactions with the player character[]

Interactions overview[]

Interactions
	This character ignores combat and cannot be damaged.
	This character is involved in quests.	Out of the Blue

Quests[]

• Out of the Blue: The Vault Dweller and Paladin Leila Rahmani head to the Blue Ridge office to speak to Joanna Mayfield, as part of their investigation into the disappearances across Appalachia, which Blue Ridge may be connected with.

Inventory[]

Appearances[]

Joanna Mayfield appears only in Fallout 76. She was first mentioned in the Wastelanders update by characters such as Vinny Costa. She made a full appearance in the Steel Reign update, and previous dialogue was adjusted to fit her arrival.

Gallery[]

Joanna Mayfield

Leila Rahmani seeking answers from Joanna

Joanna with her employee Aries

References[]