• Location: Public Services Ring, Arla Town
• Address: SE Public Services Ring Road 1
• Surroundings: Next to the Arla Town Market, within sight of the Poseidon Inn ruins

Established in September 2626, the Arla Town Courier Station served as the primary hub for postal, parcel, and message dispatch in the lakeside settlement. Operated under the authority of the Free State of Settlers, it linked Arla’s fishing families and businesses to New Kourou. Before the Great War, the station’s red-painted shutters and steady beat of messengers embodied the rhythm of community life.

The Courier Station was destroyed along with all other buildings of Arla Town during the Native raid by the Trando Tribe during the War, leaving only scattered beams and rusting courier insignia as reminders of its role.

• Construction Materials: Built from salvaged shuttle panels with timber framing
• Floors: Single-storey office with loft storage
• Design: Compact, red-shuttered façade with a raised delivery counter and side loading dock

Basement (accessed via rear ramp):

• Maintenance Workshop: Basic tool bays for wagon wheel and Hoo harness repairs
• Storage Vault: Climate-controlled lockers for high-value cargo awaiting transfer

Ground Floor – Arrival & Departure Hall:

• Delivery Bay: Wide bay doors for incoming wagons; conveyor rollers to move cargo to sorting tables
• Passenger Waiting Area: Wooden benches, hydration trough, and basic timetable board
• Public Restrooms: Two gender-neutral stalls featuring the AuroraSan System
• External Hoo Stable: Covered corral with feeding stations for courier mounts
• Arrival & Departure Yard: A roofed, open-sided forecourt where incoming convoys were unloaded and outbound carts were packed and queued.
  1. Unloading Bays: Clerks and porters inventoried goods as soon as carts rolled in, then moved cargo by hand-truck or grav-sled to the basement lift.
  2. Loading Lanes: Fresh carts were lined up, tagged, and loaded for their next leg — whether a short hop to a nearby reservation or the multi-day haul to Firetown.
  3. Passenger Platform: A raised wooden deck with a step-stool ramp where travelers boarded passenger carts once the animals were watered and harnesses checked.

Second Floor – Administration & Offices:

• Station Manager’s Office: Desk, route maps, Desktop Shortwave Transceiver ( A stationary “Desktop Edition” console with extended power reserves for group communication with other Courier Stations across the ExoHuman Shortwave Radio Network.
• Clerks’ Offices (2): Manifest processing, payment counters, reservation ledgers
• Meeting Room: Briefing space for Cart Guides and visiting Trade Guild or Agency officials
• Staff Restrooms: Two gender-neutral stalls with AuroraSan fixtures

• Station Manager (1): Coordinates arrivals/departures, liaises with the New Kourou Courier Service
• Administrative Clerks (2–3): Maintain manifests, process fees, schedule wagons
• Cart Guides (Variable): Guide caravans to loading lanes and local delivery points
• Stable Hand (1): Tends Hoos, manages feed and harness maintenance

Non-Human Staff:

• Maintenance Crew (2): Two Maintenance Bots service wagons and station equipment
• Cleaning Bots (2): The Cleaning Bots sweeps floors, clear debris etc.
• Guarding Bot (1): The Guarding Bot secures the entrance to the transfer yard and monitors after-hours activity

• Public Access: Passengers and couriers were allowed into designated areas only (waiting lounge, delivery desks). Administrative floors and the warehouse required official authorization.
• Operating Hours: Monday–Saturday: 6:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Emergency transport services were available on-call at night for a premium.
• Operational Rhythm: Morning hours were dominated by long-haul departures. Afternoons and evenings saw incoming deliveries, equipment maintenance, and local dispatches.

• Permanent Guarding Bot: Stationed at the warehouse, active 24/7. Armed with a Guarding Trooper Stun Gun.
• External Patrols: Guarding Troopers conducted daily patrols through the delivery and waiting areas.
• Guest Registration: Passengers and clients were logged into a simple manifest by station clerks.
• Cargo Verification Protocol: All goods over a specific value required dual sign-off by both sender and courier.

• Book passage on the next caravan to New Kourou or Hope
• Check in goods for transport and obtain a shipment receipt
• Escort valuable or time-sensitive cargo as a Cart Guide
• Investigate a misrouted shipment or missing manifest

• Smuggle contraband within timber crates
• Bribe clerks for priority loading or hidden compartments
• Sabotage rival shipments to delay competing merchants

Arla Town Courier Station offers a versatile setting for logistics-focused adventures:

• The Silver Crate - The station’s Guarding Bot sounds a low klaxon: a heavy, silver-lined crate destined for the Funkenberg Fish Factory has been flagged as suspicious. Its manifest still reads “medical supplies,” but the driver swears it rattles like loose machinery — and those cloaked figures trailing the caravan from Hope weren’t ordinary bandits. The Station Manager pleads with the PCs: “Before we send it on, inspect it. If it’s just gear, fine — but if someone’s hiding more… we need to know.” As the crate’s lock clicks open, the station’s shortwave console crackles a garbled alert: “SECURITY BREACH — BOMB DETECTED.” Before the words finish scrolling, a thunderous roar rocks the station. The silver‐lined crate detonates in the foyer, sending shards of polyglass and timber splinters through the assembly hall. When the dust clears, the mangled remains of the Station Manager lie beneath collapsed holo‐kiosk frames, and the building groans under structural stress. The PCs get hired to hunt down the unknown sender of the bomb …

• Beta Age
• Free State of Settlers
• Arla Town
• New Kourou Courier Service
• Firetown Courier Service
• Federal Courier Service (successor, Gamma Age)
• Trade Route
• Hoos

Courier Stations within the Free State of Settlers:

• New Kourou Courier Station
• Firetown Courier Station
• Hope Region Courier Station
• Morningstar Courier Station
• Arla Town Courier Station (not connected to the Trade Route)