• Location: Hope
• Address: East Northerm Crossroad 1
• Surroundings: Adjacent to Hope's vibrant Seedway

Built in December 2626 by the founders of Mikulic Inc., Vinko & Zora Mikulić, the complex married Old-Earth pot-distilling with frontier scarcity. Two handmade copper stills — riveted from cryo-tube sheeting — turned Tandora fruit mash into Slivovitz Superior and Krupnik Gold, each wax-sealed in clay flasks. Output never exceeded 300 bottles per quarter, making the distillery a pilgrimage spot for connoisseurs until, in the Gamma Age the Federal Confederation nationalised alcohol production in 2631. All equipment was then stripped for the state-run Federal Beverages Manufactory. Today only a roofless shell and the cave cellars remain.

• Construction Material: Stacked and reinforced cargo containers salvaged from the Last Frontier, braced with local timber beams and anchored into a raised stone-and-wood foundation to counter river mud and seasonal flooding.
• Floors: 1 ground work-hall + 2-chamber rock cellar + hill-top tasting lodge.
• Design Purpose: Passive temperature control—natural 10 °C airflow in the cellars replaced energy-hungry chill loops. Copper lyne arms vented through the cliff façade, giving the site its nickname “The Singing Pipes.”
• Power Source: Two 5-kW QFBs in a vented alcove drive the still agitators, cellar lights, and office ledgers-terminal; gravity airflow handles cooling, keeping battery draw minimal.

Ground Work-Hall

• Mash Room: Tandora crushers, oak ferment tubs, yeast starter bench.
• Twin Pot Stills (“Vinko” & “Zora”): 800 L wash still, 400 L spirit still fired by reclaimed heater-coil burners.
• Nano-Honey Infusion Bench: Ceramic crocks where Krupnik rested with Virel–spice oils.
• Filling Nook: Hand corker, crimson wax kettle, batch-stamp press.
• Accounts Office: Two battered desks, ledger racks, and a wall safe for lottery fees and wax-seal dies; window looks onto the cart track for bill-of-lading checks.

Rock Cellar (access via iron stair)

• Bonded Storage Chamber: 60 m² rack lined with clay flasks and sample jars; naturally 10 °C.
• Oak-Smoke Kiln: Pit where Tandora pits & Virel pods were oak-smoked.

Courtyard Tasting Pavilion

• Timber-and-canvas lean-to adjoining the south wall; flagstone floor shaded by Tandora trees.
• Sampling Bar: Three-seat counter
• Lottery Lounge: Six upholstered crates for quarterly tasting-lottery winners; panoramic window over Arla valley.

Inside, copper stills glowed amber under oil-lantern light while sweet ester haze drifted above ferment tubs. The sandstone walls wept cool moisture; footsteps echoed against clay tiles scored with decades of barrel drag marks. Wax seals sizzled in the crimson pot, scenting the air with hot resin and Tandora zest. Outside, thin vapour plumes sang faint flute notes as wind whipped through the lyne-arm vents — an accidental, haunting door-chime for approaching guests.

Exohuman Staff

• Vinko Mikulić (Master Distiller): Oversees mash, cut points, oak-smoke profile.
• Zora Mikulić (Operations Lead): Manages lottery lists, quality lab, trade contracts.
• Cellar Hand (1): Rotates crocks, monitors temperature, waxes flasks.
• Harvest Porters (2, seasonal): Haul Tandora crates and nano-honey amphorae from valley groves.

Automated Staff

• Butler Bot – Tasting Host (1): Pours 10 mL samples, explains flavour notes, records guest feedback.
• Cleaning Bot (1): Evening floor scrub and copper-polish cycle.

• Lottery Tastings: First Sunday each quarter, 14:00 – 17:00.
• Trade Dock: New Kourou Courier Service carts accepted Tue & Thu, 10:00 – 12:00.
• Production Shifts: Mash/Distil 06:00 – 18:00 (as fruit supply allows).

• Stone Gate Bar: Iron grate across cart track always locked; keys held by both founders.
• Flask Ledger: Each ceramic bottle logged, wax-stamp matched to ledger before leaving site (discouraged theft).
• Rare Patrol: Guarding Troopers patrol the Hope Region regularly but do not surveil it constantly

Legal interactions:

• Port a wagon-load of Tandora fruit or Nano-Honey amphorae up the steep stone track and help the Cellar Hand weigh-in the cargo.
• As a New Kourou Courier Service employee, collect the quarter-batch crates (max. 25 per run) and sign the ledger before rolling back toward Hope Station.
• Technicians contracted through the New Kourou Robotics Syndicate swap or recalibrate the two 5 kW QFB stacks in the power alcove—routine but delicate work.
• Present a genuine (or convincingly forged) invitation, sample the day’s cuts, and mingle with connoisseur NPCs in the Courtyard Pavilion.
• Lend a skilled hand—or improvised gasket—to Vinko when a still lyne-arm springs a live-steam leak mid-run.

Illegal interactions:

• Sneak into the oak-smoke kiln to steal recipe tablets.
• Swap wax stamps to divert a crate of Slivovitz to the black market.
• Sabotage the lottery draw to guarantee a patron’s win.

• Smoke-House Fire: A kiln flare-up threatens to ignite wooden roof beams — players race barrels to safety.
• Hidden Cellar Cache: Rumour of a secret third chamber holding “Batch 000” casks; locating the camouflaged door could fund (or doom) a campaign.

• Beta Age
• Free State of Settlers
• Hope Region
• Mikulić Inc.
• Space Drinks Inc. – mass-market rival
• Pilswerke Inc.
• Federal Beverages Manufactory (Gamma Age)

Beverages and spirits of Mikulic Inc.:

• Slivovitz Superior
• Krupnik Gold