The Provost

The Provost is a character found in Rail Nomads camp and Los Alamitos site in Wasteland 2. He returns in Wasteland 3, to puzzle gamers once again.

Background
A mysterious man speaking in Latin, found east/southeast near a rock formation.

Details
The Provost is a mysterious character with no other known purpose than unlocking a safe containing the Eye of Providence, in the Canyon of Titan. He is encountered in the 'no-man's land' southern portion of the Rail Nomads Camp. Additionally he can be found upon entering Los Alamitos, behind what once was, it seems, a big water tank.

His bark-text response will change depending on the religious choice of the character used to speak to him.

For 'Atheists', he will simply shout "INFIDELIS!" when clicked.

For 'Christian', 'Mormon', 'Jewish', 'Buddhist', 'Indigenous' and 'None' religious specifications, he will bark-text the following:

"HIC SITVS EST PHAETON, CURRVS AVRIGA PATERNI..." (Here Phaethon lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared.)

"QVEM SI NON TENVIT, MAGNIS TAMEN EXCIDIT AVSIS." (And though greatly he failed, more greatly he dared)

"HOMO EST DEVS." (Man is God)

The first two lines are words written on the tomb of the Greek God Phaeton in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

This editor has not tested his bark-text response to 'Sikh', and 'Hindu' characters. (The text is the same for Hindu as well.)

Sikh character gets this response:

""QVEM SO NON TENVIT, MAGNIS TAMEN EXCIDIT AVSIS."" (They maintained that it did not hold, however, she hath hewn out of great daring.)

After he is encountered, The Provost will follow the player's party, joining permanently or until he's brought to the safe in the Canyon of Titan. He will aid in combat with a pistol. However, he is glitchy, and can get stuck inside buildings, or otherwise randomly disappear. He has low HP, and thus is very difficult to keep alive indefinitely throughout the game; there's no reported incidence of a player successfully managing it (yet).

Attacking and damaging The Provost will return a 'Friendly Fire' message. He does not aggro after doing so. If the Provost dies, a miscellaneous item called the Owl of Minerva (a medallion) is dropped. After a moment, a gong sound will then be clearly heard. The coin has no known purpose and likely exists just to link the Provost with the safe in the Canyon of Titan (which has an owl etched into the surface). If The Provost is brought to the high difficulty safe in the first zone of the Canyon of Titan between the Gila Lizards and the Honey Badgers and behind a destructible fence then proceed to unlock the safe, he will say: "SIC, LICET EOS IN CIRCVLVM BASILICORVM FORNICIVM STRVCTORUM INGREDI ET SVB DANTE FORNICE ACCEPI" (Yes, it is permitted that they enter into the circle of the royal furnaces that haven been built and I accept them beneath the giving furnace.)

It appears that if The Provost dies before you go to Los Angeles, you can meet him again behind a big water tank just north of the entrance to Los Alamitos site. In the experience of this editor, however, this time The Provost refuses to follow the player. He will still fight for you against the Dugan worker bots, because the latter will not let you pick up your cat litter peacefully.

If, however, the player finds The Provost for the first time at Los Alamitos, he will follow your party as a non controllable ally.

Wasteland 3
The Provost is also in Wasteland 3, and follows you around speaking Latin, similarly to Wasteland 2. In Wasteland 3, if Provost is alive and you find a Minerva coin (such as with Toaster Repair), the Provost says a few lines in Latin, and a new marker on the map appears called "Mysterious Cave" in the Northwest. Going to this cave will show a scene where many men, dressed in suits similar to Provost, are in a circle. Approach, and the men will chant and disappear, at which point an Achievement will trigger.

Details

 * Found behind a locked door in the Prison Block in The Warrens near The Bizarre (bring a character with Lockpicking 7), the Provost is up to his usual Latin ramblings and will tag along. Finding him is worth the Quid Agit?! achievement.
 * that's not all. You can take him to the Snowed Inn Resort and open the toaster found down the rightmost path (the one before the gates). Inside will be a Token of Minerva, which will cause the Provost to engage you in conversation (in Latin, of course). He will eventually say Minervae autem noctua custos, coniungere nobis. Venite ad cor montis. (Guardian of Minerva and the Owl, join us. Come to the Heart of the Mountain.). Traveling to the eponymous location in the north-west of the world map (extreme corner). If Provost is with you, he will reveal his nature - he's part of the illuminati - and unlock a second achievement.

Behind the scenes

 * The Provost appears related to the train car with notes concerning the quest for the Verchitin Armor. However, this is a red herring - Rose will remark that the armor is mythical and for good reason, as it's a reference to the fake paragraphs from the original Wasteland.