• Location: Lottery Parcel, Hope Region (open steppe fringe)
• Founders: Kadir Jamestown & Gloria Jamestown (lottery award by the Land Allocation Office, 2627)
• Surroundings: Mixed pasture blocks and windbreak lines; private carrier track to Hope

Jamestown Ranch operated as a private Hoo-breeding ranch in the Beta Age, supplying mounts to the New Kourou Courier Service and the Firetown Courier Service, with surplus animals sold to neighboring farmers.

Unpurchased stock from each generation was consigned for meat to Hope Meat Inc. Ranch operations used Butler Bots (household/yard tasks) and Maintenance Bots (repair/upkeep). Livestock typically ranged 70–100 Hoos.

The ranch closed in 2632 after the Great War with the founding of the Federal Confederation and the introduction of Communardism; meat production and fishing were banned under the Peace Treaty with the Alliance of Native Tribes.

Patchwork Beta Age ranch assemblage emphasizing salvage and speed of erection over aesthetics.

• Materials: Local timber frames and field-stone plinths fused with salvaged Last Frontier hull plates and bulkhead doors; corrugated roofing.
• Lighting: Electric high-bays in barns and yard mast lamps (Quantum Fusion Battery-backed); house kerosene lamps as fallback.
• Ventilation & Acoustics: Slatted walls, ridge vents, and wind baffles; rubber pavers at stall rows to mute hoof/bot noise.
• Energy Use: Portable gensets/battery packs for lights and pumps; bots on dock-style charging cradles; hand pumps and wind-vanes as redundancy.

Homestead & Office

• Family House: Kitchen (pre-federal), dining nook, children’s room (×2), master room, pantry; porch-ledger desk for sales.
• Ranch Office: Pedigree ledgers, brand registry, contract files; lock cabinet for sale tags and carrier receipts.
• Restroom (2): AuroraSan stalls; wash-basin.

Barns & Working Yards

• Main Barn (Breeding): Brood stalls, foaling pen, vet corner, grain bins.
• Training Barn: Halter ring, gait lane, hitch posts; saddle and harness racks.
• Feed & Tack Store: Oat/roughage loft, mineral/salt store, tack repair bench.
• Corrals & Sorting Pens: Draft lanes, loading chute to carrier wagons.

Bot Hangar & Power

• Charging Bay: Cradles for Butler Bots and Maintenance Bots; tool racks; firmware spools.
• Pump & Utility Shed: Water tank head, manual backup pump, spare parts.

Yard & Grounds

• Pasture Blocks: Rotational grazing with windbreak rows.
• Loading Apron: Scale plate, canopy bay for private carriers.
• Scrape & Manure Pads: Compost heap; straw stack.

A practical sprawl of timber and stone patched with starship plate: riveted bulkhead doors on stall rows, electric high-bays throwing hard light across dust, and bots humming past chalked brand boards. Leather, linseed, and warm animal breath mix with the tang of machine oil.

Human Staff (family-run, ≈4):

• Kadir & Gloria Jamestown: Breeding plans, sales, contracts, brand registry.
• Two Children (seasonal help): Feed rounds, grooming, gate duty.

Bots:

• Butler Bots: Yard/house errands, feed runs, light handling.
• Maintenance Bots: Fence repair, pump/genset maintenance, barn fixtures.

(Most daily labor was bot-assisted; Exohumans handled breeding, training, and deals.)

• Access: Private ranch; buyers by appointment (courier services, farmers, traders).
• Hours: 06:00–14:00 work block; evening checks at 18:00.
• Sale Windows: Courier inspections scheduled pre-departure days; meat consignments to Hope Meat Inc. on quota dates.
• Seasonal Rhythm: Spring foaling; midsummer wean and light training; autumn sales.

• Perimeter: Post-and-rail with wire runs; corral gates under chain/hasp.

Legal (Beta Age):

1. Inspect and purchase a Hoo mount(pedigree review, temperament test).
2. Contract training refresh or commission a team for haulage trials.
3. Deliver feed/parts or carry pedigree papers to town registries.

Illegal:

1. Brand-forge a prime Hoo; swap sale tags in the office.
2. Rustle stock via cut windbreak lines; jam corral gate latches.
3. Sabotage bots (firmware spool swap) to force night outages before a sale.

• Adventure Hook — The Twenty Vanished At the start of the early shift in the Habitual Belt’s perpetual twilight, twenty Hoos are discovered missing from their barns. Stalls are latched, chains intact, no hoofprints beyond the aprons — no traces. The local Guarding Trooper Station deputizes the party to recover the herd and expose the thieves …

• Free State of Settlers · Land Allocation Office
• Hoos · New Kourou Courier Service · Firetown Courier Service · Hope Meat Inc.
• Federal Confederation · Communardism · Peace Treaty · Alliance of Native Tribes