Table of Contents
Races | Industry | Buildings & Organizations
FOGWOOD SAWMILL TIMBERYARD (Beta Age)
Overview
- Location: East Forestry Spur (outside the town wall), Morningstar, Asari Region
- Address (historical): East Spur, km E10 — “Fogwood Gate & Yard”
- Surroundings: Sited on a maintenance track with wagon access to the in-town Fogwood mill and partner workshops.
The Fogwood Sawmill Timberyard was the out-of-town staging ground for the private firm Fogwood Sawmill Inc. during the Beta Age. Crews (exohuman and robotic) mustered here, inbound logs were scaled and decked, and sealed consignments rolled to the company mill and to partner shops such as Hussaini Carpentry Inc. Fogwood operated under preferential logging rights brokered through the Trade Guild of New Kourou and faced mounting protests over aggressive felling in Honga ancestral cycles. After the Peace Treaty and the founding of the Federal Confederation (2632–2633), the yard was nationalized and reconstituted as the Federal Timber Yard (FTY).
Operations profile (Fogwood regime):
- Mechanization: Heavy reliance on Manual Labor Bots (MLBs) and Maintenance Bots (MBs); human foremen and scalers supervised.
- Harvest intensity: ~3,000 ha harvested / 15,000 ha managed forest annually (pre-war ceiling set by company licenses).
- Post-Treaty changeover: Bots withdrawn; quotas reduced to 1,500 ha / 7,500 ha under Native oversight at the successor FTY.
Architectural Significance
- Construction Materials: Timber gantries and capstan frames on Atrana stone footings; gravel hardstand; plank sheds; sheeted windbreaks.
- Floors: Single-storey sheds and open decks; lofted tally room above the gatehouse.
- Design Aesthetic: Linear, high-throughput yard (Gate → Scaling → Decks → Load-out) optimized for bot + mule traffic lanes.
- Lighting (Beta Age practice): Mast lanterns and QFB-powered floodlanterns enabled bad weather turns despite perpetual twilight.
- Ventilation / Acoustic Control (Passive): Open sheds with wind baffles and cork notice walls; no powered HVAC.
- Energy Use: Bot traction and winches; hand/mule capstans; QFB tools at saw/chain benches; analog + bot telemetry ledgers.
Building Structure
- Gate & Weigh Point: Permit board (company licenses), weighbeam, guard kiosk.
- Tally Loft (Office): Parcel maps, scaling ledgers, Trade Guild seals; bot dispatch console.
- Scaling Deck: Measure sticks, calipers, species/grade charts; bark & slab bays.
- Green Log Decks (A/B/C): Species/grade stacks with chocks; drip channels; shade screens.
- Capstan & Yarder Pads: Hand/mule capstans; A-frame yarders for tight turns; sling/chain racks.
- Bot Bay: Charge cradles for MLBs/MBs; spares cabinet; oil and seal kits.
- Tool & Saw Shed: Peaveys, cant hooks, chain sets; resin/grease cupboard.
- First-Aid & Break Nook: Cots, boiled-linen chest; tea stove.
- Lookout Stand: Low timber tower covering decks, brush line, and track.
- Load-Out Lane: Wagon/sledge staging; crate and seal table; manifests to mill/partners.
Look and Feel
Resin and wet bark ride the cool air; capstans creak, bots whirr, mules snort. Floodlantern halos cut bands across perpetual twilight as scalers chalk diameters on end grain and stamp Trade Guild seals. Chain clinks, ledger pages snap, and the track bell sends the next wagon downlane—fast, noisy, and built for volume.
Roles and Responsibilities
Staff & Units (Beta Age snapshot)
- Yardmaster (1): Throughput, safety, license compliance; Trade Guild liaison.
- Foremen (2): Deck flow, shift timing, capstan lanes.
- Scalers / Tally Clerks (6): Measure, grade, ledger entry, seal custody.
- Log Graders (8): Species/defect sorting, chalk marking.
- Teamsters (6): Wagon/sledge haul to mill and partner shops.
- Bot Master / Techs (3): MLB/MB dispatch, charge, repairs.
- Yard Hands (10): Chocks, slings, sprinkle duty, brush line.
- Guards (2) & First-Aid Attendant (1): Gate watch, triage.
- Units: MLBs (~40) for traction and lifts; MBs (~8) for rigging/maintenance.
Public Access, Operating Hours and Operational Rhythm
- Shifts: 06:00–14:00 (primary intake), 14:00–22:00 (decking & load-out), 22:00–06:00 (recovery turn under floodlanterns; bots + skeleton crew).
- Convoy Windows: Outbound crews 06:15; inbound scaling 12:00 & 16:00; load-out 13:00–21:00.
- Access: Private yard — workers, contractors, and licensed buyers only (Trade Guild card required).
Services / Operations
Core yard operations and destinations during the Fogwood era:
| Stream / Process | What Enters | Primary Handling | Outputs | Destination / Use |
| ——————————– | ———————————- | ———————————————– | —————————- | ———————————————– |
| Permit & Muster | Crews, bots, wagons | License check, parcel assignment | Cleared crews | Managed parcels (company licenses) |
| Felling & Skidding (off-site) | Standing timber (quota parcels) | Fell/limb (human + MLB assist), skid to track | Tagged logs | Yard gate |
| Gate Intake & Scaling | Inbound log wagons | Measure, grade, ledger, seal | Scaled logs | Decks / Load-out |
| Sorting & Decking | Mixed species/grades | Species/grade stacking, chock & chalk | Green decks | Load-out readiness |
| Moisture Retention | Decked logs | Sprinkle cycles (gravity/QFB pump assist) | Conditioned logs | Load-out |
| Load-Out | Stacked consignments | Seal manifests; chain-of-custody | Routed consignments | Fogwood mill; Hussaini Carpentry; Trade Route buyers |
| Waste & Brush Handling | Bark, slabs, brush | Pile, occasional burn/dump (pre-FWRS) | Fuel piles, mulch heaps | On-site use; later integrated into FWRS |
| Security & Patrol | Yard & brush line | Gate watch, night rounds | Incident notes | Company ledgers / town watch (Beta Age) |
*(No Native Supervisor during the Fogwood era; oversight was by company licenses and Trade Guild auditors. Disputes with Honga nomads intensified as cutting expanded.)*
Security Measures
- Perimeter: Timber palisade, single gate with guard kiosk; lookout stand.
- Controlled Access: The gates are controlled by employees armed with Windstrike Rifles.
- Alerting: Steam/hand siren bell at gate; messenger to town watch / Guarding Troopers.
- Bot Safeguards: Charge cradle locks; movement interlocks after curfew.
- Brush Line: Cleared verge; water barrels staged for quick response.
Player Interaction Possibilities (Legal and Illegal)
Legal interactions (Beta Age):
- Hire on as scaler, teamster, yard hand, or bot technician under the Yardmaster.
- Contract convoy runs to Foogwood Sawmill Inc. or to Hussaini Carpentry.
- Audit manifests as a Trade Guild clerk or negotiate parcel access.
Illegal interactions:
- Swap scaling chalks or forge Trade Guild seals to up-grade loads.
- Siphon QFB charge cartridges or bot spares for the black market.
- Cut beyond parcel lines and replace blaze marks to hide over-harvest.
Tactical Advice for Dungeon Masters
- Adventure Hook — Deadfall at Fogwood Gate: In the perpetual twilight of Asari, a deck stack collapses and kills a grader moments after he flags a load for “irregular marks.” The MLB’s activity log shows a brief manual override at the capstan, yet the foreman swears no one was on the controls. Chalk grades on the timbers don’t match the ledger, and several butt-ends carry a faint Honga trail glyph, hinting the cut crossed licensed boundaries. The Trade Guild hires the PCs to lock the yard, pull the bot’s control core, and run a manifest-by-manifest audit—then backtrack wagons to the stump line to learn whether this was accident, sabotage or a covert harvest in forbidden stands that could spark wider trouble.
Related Pages and Further Information
- Free State of Settlers / Trade Guild of New Kourou
- Guarding Troopers (Beta Age security)
- Federal Timber Yard (FTY) (successor, Gamma Age)
- Federal Wood Plant (FWP) (Gamma Age)