Duchess is a NPC in the Online RPG Fallout 76, introduced in the Wastelanders update as the owner and bartender of "The Wayward" a tavern and motel just south of Vault 76 at the intersection of Routes 88 and 86, with the Vault 76 Overseer's C.A.M.P. right across the street from it.
When Duchess is first met, she is being held at gunpoint by Batter, a member of the Free Radicals, a split-off from the New Appalachia Raiders, demanding information on someone named Crane. After the Vault 76 Residents either distract Batter or aid in killing him with the ghoul Mordecai, Duchess offers some of her special booze as thanks and asks for the residents' help in dealing with the Free Radicals and stop them from pestering The Wayward any longer. After the residents agree, she provides them the gear to build a sign at their C.A.M.P. to lure the Free Radicals in. Once learning that the Free Radicals have set up their home base at WV Lumber Co., which Mordecai mentioned had been filled with Super Mutants previously, the residents can either fight their way into the base and slaughter the Free Radicals piecemeal, or use a password to get in and meet with their leader, Roper, without hostility, offering to help them find the treasure Crane was looking for in return for leaving the Wayward alone.
After that, Duchess asks to find her hired muscle that ran off, those being Sol and the Assaultron Polly. Finding them in Gauley Mine just up the road, it turns out they were attacked by Scorched. Sol manages to get back to the Wayward on his own, but Polly is found to have had her head torn from her body, so the Vault 76 residents have to use her as a weapon to fight their way past the Scorched and out of the mine, dealing with a Scorched Foreman that serves as the boss before they can escape, though Polly proves her worth with using her Assaultron head laser to fry the Scorched into ashes when fully charged. Upon returning to the Wayward, Duchess then asks the residents to travel to Duncan & Duncan Robotics in Summersville to find Polly a new body. While the initial choice would be a pristine Assaultron body for Polly, she can have her A.I. transferred to a Protectron or Mister Handy body instead, depending on player choice.
After helping Polly out with getting her a new body, Duchess finally allows the residents to meet Crane, revealed to be a Scorched himself, but still retaining some of his humanity, repeating over and over "Boy is key!" After choosing to either spare his life or kill him due to how he could completely fall under the Scorchbeast Queen's hive mind at any moment, the Vault 76 residents recover what they need from Crane and proceed back to Gauley Mine to discover the treasure Crane was talking about, revealing that the "Boy" he was referring to was the Pip-Boy 2000 Mark VI. Using it to open the door, they find the treasure to be several vending machines, but only one token left to use in one of the machines to attain a two-star legendary weapon. After making up their mind and collecting the weapon, the residents return to find that Duchess and the other Wayward residents are being held at gunpoint by the Free Radicals, if the Vault 76 residents offered to help Roper find the treasure in return for leaving the Wayward alone. After convincing Roper and his crew to leave in peace, or slaughter them instead, Duchess is grateful to the Vault 76 Residents for all their help and offers a permanent discount to her merchandise when they wish to use her vendor option.
Later, once the residents have raided Vault 79 with the Settlers or Raiders to get to the gold inside, Duchess can be told of what was found, putting her somewhat at ease upon learning of what the treasure of Appalachia really is in being the United States gold reserve to help rebuild the country.
