RANSOM FALLS
AX.GHW.14.06
A Hidden World Location Supplement
LOCATION TYPE: Rural County Seat
POPULATION: ~11,000 (city); ~18,000 (county)
REGION: Northern Illinois, ~15 miles from the Wisconsin state line
DISTANCE: 3.5 hours drive north of Shelford by county highway
GENRE CATALOG: AX.GHW — Hidden World
A Note on Scale
The Shelford supplement describes a city with organizational infrastructure; a BUA satellite office, a Threshold Society waystation, a Safe Harbor chapter. Ransom Falls has none of that. What it has is older and less visible: families with territorial roots going back generations, a community that maintains itself through relationships rather than institutions and a set of informal arrangements that have kept the Veil intact in a county of eighteen thousand people without a single classified filing.
The contrast is intentional. In Shelford, the hidden world runs through organizations. In Ransom Falls, it runs through people. These are different kinds of places with different kinds of vulnerabilities and the party will feel the difference when they arrive.
Quick Reference
Key Locations
| Location | Address | Function | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osk Landscape Supply | 4800 County Road 12 | Stage 4 combat location; Teya's hiding place | Vera Osk |
| The Dispatch Bar & Taproom | 8 Calder Street | Neutral back room; Threshold Society arrangement | Roy Vasek |
| Kessler's Diner | 14 North Main Street | Community information; no hidden world awareness | Bud Kessler |
| The Harland Inn | 2140 Route 47 (18 mi south) | Nessa's staging location | No contact |
| Morrow River shelf | 1 mi north of town | Liminal thin place; territorial marker | Vera (territory management) |
| Old county poor farm | 2 mi east, County Road 9 | Resolved haunt site; historical significance | Hector Merazo (records) |
| Northern territory | 8-12 mi north of town | Pack territory; Obsidian interest site | Mirel Osk; Petra Osk |
| Carver County Courthouse | 1 Court Street | Historical records; Obsidian LLC deed | Hector Merazo |
Who to Call
| Need | Contact | How to Reach |
|---|---|---|
| Community orientation, Skinchanger matters | Vera Osk | Osk Landscape Supply or her residence |
| Neutral meeting ground, quiet location | Roy Vasek | The Dispatch, ask for Roy, mention Threshold arrangement |
| General town intelligence | Bud Kessler | Morning counter at Kessler's |
| County records access | Hector Merazo | Courthouse recorder's office |
| Sheriff's department response time | ~8 minutes from station to warehouse | Response window for Veil management |
Distances and Drive Times from Ransom Falls
| Destination | Distance | Drive Time |
|---|---|---|
| Harland Inn (Nessa's staging) | 18 miles south, Rt 47 | 22 min |
| Shelford (party's base) | 200 miles south | 3.5 hours |
| Wisconsin state line | 15 miles north | 18 min |
| Interstate highway (east) | 20 miles east | 25 min |
| Nearest hidden-world institutional presence (Briar Passage Books, Shelford) | 200 miles | 3.5 hours |