 The title of this article is conjectural.
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| Although this article is based on official information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture. |
 This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!
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The Fall of Ravenholm was a major event in the early stages of the Human-Vortigaunt Resistance to the Combine.
Prior to the development of reliable local teleport technology, the Resistance had to ferry refugees on foot from City 17 to the comparative safety of the countryside. The route was extremely hazardous, fraught with the perils of evading Combine patrols as well as aggressive Xenian wildlife. Refugees had to be smuggled through the old canal network of the city, where they were ferried to Black Mesa East, an intersection of the Underground Railroad. From there, refugees either remained at the base, or were able to make their way to Ravenholm and the Coast, or further afield to the Outlands or White Forest.
Ravenholm, a small industrial and mining town[3], was an attractive destination; it provided easy access to both the coast and countryside regions[4], and the Combine had very little control over the area, providing a significant degree of freedom and liberty citizens could not enjoy elsewhere. The town subsequently became a major rebel base.
Due to the significant rebel presence in Ravenholm, the Combine likely concluded that a direct assault by Overwatch forces would be needlessly costly. Consequently, the Combine opted to bombard Ravenholm from afar with heavy shelling of Headcrab canisters. The parasites spread like wildfire throughout the settlement and its surrounding regions, killing hundreds, rendering the town completely uninhabitable.
The fall of Ravenholm was a major blow to the Resistance, neutralizing their largest base and removing a key component of the Underground Railroad. The loss of Ravenholm elevated Black Mesa East's importance as the key crossroads of the Railroad, becoming the only settlement from which refugees could escape into the surrounding countryside. Ravenholm's infestation by headcrab parasites gave the town a ghoulish reputation among the Resistance, who avoided passage through at all costs.
There was only one known survivor of the bombardment[5], and until Freeman's navigation through the town after the raid on Black Mesa East, no-one had successfully transited the settlement alive.
References[]
- ↑ Community leader as an Orthodox priest
- ↑ Counting all zombies and corpses encountered throughout Ravenholm
- ↑ As indicated by the factories and smokestacks seen. Ravenholm also has a mine on the outskirts, and a large railyard.
- ↑ Eli Vance instructs Alyx & Freeman to get to the Coast, but not to go through Ravenholm, suggesting that before its fall, Ravenholm was the crossroads to the Coast.
- ↑ Father Grigori
 Combine Occupation of Earth
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