Is there any way you can post a compilation zip or rar file of all the files? Including your absolutely amazing currency files? My computer gets a little wonky when trying to save multiple files is why I'm asking.
Yes. When I get a chance I'll compile everything.
Meanwhile...I'm completing write-ups of Ransom in order of appearance. Here is the first column of locations.
01 ~ Residence - Will Sanders
Residence only. Information limited. William Edward Sanders is one of three caretakers at the Palace Beyond the Pond. While the facility is not in use in any real sense, Sanders is allowed to live and work there as a handyman while the property is in dispute. See 'PALACE BEYOND THE POND'
02 ~ Palace Beyond the Pond
The Palace, sometimes called the 'Chandlery' after Glenn Chandler who had it built, can be best described as a semi vacant entertainment venue. It was built to serve as a private, high end, all purpose vacation facility for visitors that could afford to pay for the finer things in life. Chandler was of a mind to make Ransom a vacation getaway spot for wealthy citizens of the Core wishing to 'slum it' out on the Rim. The Palace was built with some residential housing, a restaurant, bar, theater, etc., but the idea failed as Glen Chandler taxed himself too thin by investing in too many ventures at the same time (See RANSOM TOWERS and RANSOM ICE ARENA). The Palace was partially damaged in a Reaver attack in 2516, but restored soon afterward. Much of the potential there remains untapped. The property is in dispute by several warring parties, but some of the original staff have been allowed to remain as caretakers until the dispute is settled. Two families and an unmarried groundskeeper live on the property. The Palace is sometimes 'rented' without proper permission for Ransom gatherings, dances, concerts, etc. by the caretakers, who use the money to supplement there meager stipends.
03 ~ The Seep
The Seep is the oldest, most obvious evidence of ground water and the underlying aquifer at Ransom. The Seep was used as a water source for the very first drill teams and terraformers in the Ransom area. Terraformers considered the site for test drilling, but the ground proved poor, so the first true drilling was moved to Black Rock. Water from the Seep is mixed with waste water from Ransom in the water treatment process, though as a secondary treatment facility.
04 ~ Old Water Treatment & Dirtfish Ponds
The water treatment facility at Ransom's North End is one of the oldest constructions in the Outskirts. While there was and still is a significant aquifer under Ransom proper, the water usage is strictly governed by overlapping Alliance bureaucracies. Ransomites have also agreed to send much of their water shares by pipeline to communities that provide livestock and agriculture to the Outskirts, so water usage in Ransom is kept low by red tape and by choice. To counteract the limits of water usage, the people at Ransom have always maintained some sort of water treatment facility, and this allows them a water source that they can completely govern locally. Early Ransomites agreed to a build and maintain the ponds for their own use and they were later expanded as part of the 'Shachihoko Project', which provides genetically altered fish as a food source and filtering organism for early terraforming ventures. New Canaan is one of only a handful of places where the 'Shachihoko Project' is still active, owing to the success and local popularity of the project's primary, filtering organism, the Dirtfish. 'Dirtfish' is the local slang for the genetically altered carp-catfish engineered by the Shachihoko Project, and now studied by Lindon Research and Technologies. The fish was not widely accepted on other worlds (being a very boney fish) but they thrive on little food and grow to a significant size under poor conditions, so they became a staple of Ransom very early on. Breeding and control of the local population has improved the quality in the quantity of Dirtfish, and they are now considered a local delicacy. Canned dirtfish is a novelty export of Ransom and very few pilots from the inner systems will depart without a can or two it for trade in-Verse.
05 ~ The Island
The Island is part of the Old Water Treatment Facility. A pump house, fish farm and a handful of homes are situated on the island. Dirtfish is canned and processed here and visitors can pay to 'fish' and 'process' their own. There is even a small 'museum' about Dirtfish on the Island.
06 ~ The Great Bunker
When Ransom airfield was first built, the 'Great Bunker' was constructed, both as a shelter and a storage facility for the companies working at Ransom. It is still used for both purposes today. It is the oldest bunker at Ransom, though the smaller 'Icehouse' was completed first.
07 ~ North Aubrey Road
The North Aubrey Road was first called 'The Northwest', but only the oldest residents at Ransom still use the name. The road passes West towards North Aubrey first before winding Northward through Birchwood and the High Meadows. The younger generation at Ransom is slowly mutating the name to 'Naubrey' and the new name will no doubt overpower the old through common usage.
08 ~ The Icehouse
The Icehouse was built as a bunker for the airfield construction teams. While it is not not the first one to be built at Ransom, it was the first completed bunker. Once the Great Bunker was finished, the workers began to use the smaller one for cold storage and it is still stocked with winter ice as an emergency cold storage facility for the community. It is also the location of the Summer Solstice Ice Festival, a shaved ice party that always degenerates into the only mass snowball fight in the verse held in high Summer. Participants gather to eat, dance and then brain one another with snowballs at sunset on the longest day of the year.
09 ~ Residential - The Box-Huts
The Box Huts are made up primarily of giant storage and shipping containers. Many of them have been in place for so long, that concrete structures have been built over them and some of the newest 'huts' are pre-fabs. Like many Rim settlements, with their 'any shelter in a storm' view of habitation, the Box Huts constitute a kind of shanty town for Ransom. While the place is populated by the poorer or 'seedier' elements of the city, the place isn't so large that it has any true micro-commerce or dissenting economic/political establishment. It is considered a walled or gated community in it's own right and there are events and customs specific to the place, but these are few Most Ransomites consider it a sort of burrow to the larger city (which is laughable given Ransom's size). Despite it's dour appearance, the Box Huts are home to some of the earliest settlers of Ransom.
10 ~ Plan A
Plan A is a the Box Huts' answer to a community bunker and events center. It's used all of the time for everything from mixed martial art tournaments to community theater. It was built as a fortified storage facility by the Alliance, and it is one of the most secure, underground retreats in an emergency. Most of the Box Huts nearby are sturdy enough in their own right to serve as bunkers, but everyone prefers to fall back on 'Plan A'. A Reaver would have to be insane to attack Plan A and hope to…oh wait.
11 ~ Old Blackjack (abandoned runway)
Runway 21 is one of the original airstrips built at Ransom airfield. With a significant decline in local 'glide' traffic it was decided not to maintain the runway in favor of shorter, newer ones and it has fallen into decay.
12 ~ Chow God and Jaw Jack’s Fine Fixin’s
'A Requirement of Brothers' ~ The story behind Chow God and Jaw-Jack's Fine Fixin's by William Pace
Chow God and Jaw-Jack's Fine Fixins' might just be the single, most unique eatery to be found anywhere in the Verse. Forget the fact that it's part ship repair shop, part roadside diner. Forget that it's in the Outskirts, which places it smack dab in the middle of nowhere. And just forget the fact that the structure itself is pieced together from a dilapidated machine shop, cafe front and the airframe of a downed B-323 Harpy. The combination of all these facts alone would make it the perfect oddity, even for the Rim, but one fact is stranger still. It's popular.
Chow God and Jaw-Jack's Fine Fixin's appears on more obscure epicurean lists than any other mutation of its kind. Indeed, this weird little grease-monkey/greasy-spoon combination enjoys a kind of zealous cascade of mad pilgrims. People will travel outrageous distances across the known Verse just to try such dishes as the 'Seizure Salad' complete with the house's 'Browncoat Field Dressing'. The slaw and sweet potato fries are spoken about in hushed tones from New Canaan to Santo and the 'Quail-Burger' is reverenced in every dockyard from the Core to the Black and back again. People who have never heard of the Outskirts, let alone Ransom, will travel trillions of kilometers out of their way to wait in line outside the dustiest, ramshackle building every to sway in a stiff breeze just to smell the food. They'll hitchhike and stowaway aboard boats that should have been scrapped years ago just for a chance at the table scraps that fall from this otherworldly lunch counter.
Why do people love the place so much? Perhaps it's the name. Perhaps it's the t-shirts they sell that come with braggin' rights. Perhaps it's the convenience of getting your ride tuned while you eat. Perhaps it's the food itself, which is quite honestly some gorram amazing stuff. Nobody can really say why they love it so much, but to understand the place it helps to know the owners.
Jesse Westmore and Jim Heard go way back. Both men were born and raised in Ransom; the outskirts of the Outskirts. They played together, went to school together and even dated some of the same women. Hell, it's the Outskirts. Everyone dated the same women. In fact it should come as no small surprise then that Jesse's mom and Jim's mom dated the same man. This was not the quiet, courtly dating that you might find in the Core. This was true dating. Dating in a 'little or nothing else to do' sense. Dating in a biblical sense.
Did Jesse and Jim know that they were half-brothers when they teamed up to take down the class bully in starter school? No. Did they know that they were kin when they stole the mayor's hovermule at the age of 13 and crashed it into the Southbound Altrans out of Cove? Nope. They still had no idea they were related when they asked the same girl out to the Big Red Hanger Dance. In fact, Jesse and Jim made it all the way into basic training together, never once suspecting that their mutual father had slept in his share of neighboring beds. Knowing or not knowing didn't change the fact that they were brothers inside and out.
Perhaps their half-blood (thick or thin as it was) just made it impossible for them to go through life without watching each other's back one moment and getting each other into trouble the next. Whatever the reason, Jesse and Jim just seemed to gravitate to one another. This gravitation got them in their share of scrapes over the years, but it saved them from the worst one of all.
The War.
Growing up in the Outskirts had made both of them as tough as nails. It's hard country, where a person lives by the sweat of their own brow and a good man's word is worth a thousand Alliance promises. Neither man had been given any handouts growing up, but each of them had known their share of hardship and good, old-fashioned work. They had also been endowed with a strong sense of independence, so they joined the cause that fought to keep it. They passed through boot camp without a hitch, outperforming almost every other person in their company.
Jesse was quickly grabbed up for the Independent's Corps of Engineers, and as he had both built and blown up his share of things growing up, this suited him just fine. He took to demolitions like a dog to water. Within a few short weeks he was considered the man to have about in a pinch, for no other soldiers in his company could puzzle out the tasks presented them quite like Jesse could. He could fix, or put something in a fix, faster than anyone they had ever seen and nobody came even close to talking as much as Jesse "Jaw-Jack" Westmore.
Jim's rise through the ranks was a quieter affair. He started out as a favorite cook of the company, often serving up grub that his fellow soldiers could not believe came out of a ration tin. Over time he proved to be as good in the field and never lagged behind. He was promoted several times for his natural ability to shepherd men through the toughest of times, rising all the way up to Captain before the Alliance retired him to a labor camp. Still, despite all of the titles given him and the grand adjectives flung upon him, he never escaped his first and favorite nickname. Chow God.
They each saw their share of fighting, as soldiers do. They were each wounded in action, though neither so badly that they left the fighting. They were often stationed planets and systems away from one another and waves by letter or cortex were rare. Each man saw his share of trials and travails, but always apart.
Then came their last battle and their one true test.
Despite being in separate companies, Westmore and Heard both found themselves pinned down in the trenches Northwest of Sudder during the little known battle of New Mohrland. It seems that fate had stepped in once again to unite the two of them on Silverhold. Both of their companies had arrived within hours of each other to route an Alliance power play in the Red Sun System. The Alliance had begun landing troops at Sudder in mass and with a stealth precision that had taken the Independents by surprise. Realizing that the Alliance would gain a foothold that would upset the struggle in that system, Major A. Edward Geary quickly called up every able force to run the Alliance out. He also opted to fight stealth with stealth by placing his forces in the very unsung, but geographically unique community of New Mohrland.
New Mohrland appeared on few if any maps before the war and appears on fewer since. At the time the place boasted just four dozen small families spread out over as many miles, with only a handful of these settled in the township proper. Not only was the place not of any strategic importance, it was not of any obvious importance to anyone but the residents themselves. The only reason that it appeared on any maps at all was due to the fact that it sat near Emery Summit with a steep grade running North and South. This placed the community at the perfect point to serve as a junction for the grav-trains passing between Sudder and Centeridge Docks. New Mohrland was also strategically placed to service the many neighboring mining interests around Emery Summit. Indeed the whole town lived on the economy provided by the rail line and the mines and might have remained alive, but historically unimportant if not for the battle that played out there.
Geary, using small vessels and support craft, landed his companies and battalions at a distance from Sudder and used the main rail lines and spurs to unite the forces at New Mohrland. Once there, it was his hope to secure the rails at Emery Summit and intercept Alliance forces traveling along the line. By taking as many prisoners in secret as he could, he hoped to delay an all out battle until more Independents could arrive in support, but the action failed very early on. With so few ground troops and little in the way of special tactical forces and air support, it was impossible for Geary to secret away many prisoners unnoticed. The Alliance had too much support by the time he had his soldiers in play. In the end, Geary only succeeded in rounding up his own people as prisoners for the Alliance. Two of them were Jesse and Jim.
Less than five hours after Geary united his mixed forces at New Mohrland the Alliance was made aware of them. It is suspected that local collaboration led to their discovery, though historians tend to weigh in other deciding factors. Whatever the cause, the Alliance took no chances and within an hour of the discovery, they shelled Emery Summit with heavy artillery and air support. With large numbers on their side at Sudder and support forces out of Centeridge, the Alliance resupplied their lines from both directions by grav-train and transport.
Seeing that the position could not be held, Geary called for 'destruction in retreat'. Jesse's company was called in to sabotage as much of the main line as possible and is credited for the destruction of no less than three kilometers of main and mining rail lines throughout the area. Unfortunately, owing to limited supplies and a zeal understood only by soldiers in the field, Jesse was badly injured when he opted to take out several strategic points along the line at once. Without sufficient materials to detonate their objectives at a distance, Jesse and his team chose to destroy the line without regard to their own safety. Sage Peery, Wyatt Conner, Will Mortenson, Richard "Rickshaw" Dampier, Clay Waters and Jess Westmore were all injured in the undertaking that stalled Alliance support troops out of Centeridge and destroyed 76% of the facilities along the New Mohrland line. Only Westmore and Dampier lived to tell the tale of their deeds that day. Because of their bravery, some 187 soldiers were able to escape to safety before the greater Alliance bombardments.
Within minutes of the explosion that rocked the junction, Jim Heard was informed of the part that Jesse's team had played in it. Fully aware of what awaited him and anyone who went with him to rescue the saboteurs, Jim selected a handful of volunteers and returned to the last known position of Jesse's team. Losing none of his men, but struck by fire three times himself, Jim rescued his friend and fellow soldiers in what was later called 'a requirement of brothers' by General Adaire Baltzer. On the same subject Baltzer said, 'Soldiers see not the dangers before them, but rather the dangers before their fellows. No soldier worth his salt will consider himself when he sees a brother in peril'.
In the aftermath of the battle, Jim Heard was found in the shelter of a drainage tunnel beneath the rail yard. His leg all but amputated by enemy fire, and with a ferocity born of fever and his devotion to Jesse, he wounded three Alliance soldiers with his service pistol before being shot a fourth time himself. Despite mortal injury, he was taken alive along with the many wounded men of his company to a mobile surgical outfit where he recovered all of himself but his right leg below the knee. While still recovering, and just prior to being sent to an internment camp for the duration of the war, he learned by the process of the DNA sampling of prisoners that Jesse was more than a friend. He was heard to say that he needed no such test to tell him what he had known without knowing. He was also heard to say, when asked about his leg, that it was "Better to lose half a leg than a half brother".
Jesse was nearly eight days in a coma before he too learned that the friend he had saved and then been saved by was his kin in more than name.
The two of them spent the rest of the war on the sidelines, content to wait it out, but for one failed escape attempt. In true fashion, Jesse blew up fifteen yards of security fence with a bomb that was called "both questionable and brilliant" by the camp commander. While he did not escape himself, Jesse was responsible for the freeing of 11 soldiers from the camp, 4 of which returned to the fight. Chief among these was Captain Joseph Micah Banks, known after the war as "The Road Runner" for his high speed, cross country forays into enemy territory delivering weapons and supplies to resistance groups in and around Argos on Hera.
Once the war was over, Jesse and Jim returned to the Outskirts to do what they do best: get each other into and out of trouble. They opened up shop in Ransom within a year of their return and have lived there ever since. They also chose to maintain a sense of irony in their lives by courting and marrying two sisters out of New Cumberland. Patrons visiting their fine establishment will find a photo of the two brothers over the cafe counter with the following inscription.
"Two halves make a whole mess of trouble"
Whatever reason brings you to their diner, be sure to try the brisket. Just ask for it by name. That's if you can remember the alliteration behind this tongue-twisting delicacy's name. The Rim Runner's Rubbed Rib Roast Reprise.
It should also be noted that people visiting New Mohrland today will find a small, but well maintained monument to the men and women who gave their lives fighting to hold the line. While Major Geary was killed in action later in the war, his choice to hold the place has never been questioned by the brave soldiers who survived the battle. When one unnamed veteran of the battle was asked what he thought of Geary's Folly, the soldier replied. "The Alliance didn't win. They gained only what we left for 'em. We won by holding the place against impossible odds and just ask 'em to say different."
13 ~ Despondent Space of Father Moriarty
You could call the Despondent Space of Father Moriarty a church, but you'd fail to define it adequately. The Despondent Space is part temple, part meetinghouse, part dojo and part business front for other things. You're as likely to find the 'Good Book' as you are a swift lesson in mortal combat. All of the hard lessons for this life and the after life, can be experienced at the Despondent Space. And it has to be experienced.
14 ~ Crane Observatory & Research Center
The Alliance built and named the Crane Observatory, though it was first called the Crane Science Center after science historian Bruce Crane. While it was built primarily as a science outpost and observatory during the early terraforming years, it has served many functions. It was the airfield's first real 'tower'. The earliest 'school' at Ransom occupied several rooms on the main floor of the Center. It was one of the first structures to include an interior bunker. It housed the first federal facilities of any number. The original land office was housed here as well as the municipal court and jail. It is still used today for some educational purposes, but most of the center is rented out for private research. The observatory is also used as a siting position for the airfield's inbound and outbound traffic in conjunction with the Dome.
15 ~ Residence - Crance
Residence only. See privacy citation - CRANCE/094.223.6.7721
16 ~ Northwell (Public Water Source - Designation W-8-24)
Northwell is one of several city wells at Ransom that is capped and fitted for pumping. See ADAW-NC-DR2-North/W-8-24.00a/History under 'Outskirts-NewCanaan Wells & Storage'
17 ~ The Cement Pond
An outdoor pool used mainly by the residents of the Box Huts.
18 ~ Residence - Jacob Webster
Residence only. See privacy citation - WEBSTER/081.404.0.0050
19 ~ Residence - Anne Wilkes
Residence only. See privacy citation - WILKES/130.812.3.3022
20 ~ Deadlot
Deadlot is abandoned residential lots from the Alliance occupation during the war. The lot was stripped of materials and fabrication during the post military decline shortly after the armistice was signed. It is considered federally own property, but there are no current plans for construction there.
21 ~ North Plot
This city owned plot is traditionally used to grow supplemental feed grain. It has been rented by lottery to small commercial ventures for the past six years. It is currently being used by Birchwood Sheep.
22 ~ Aerial Marker 1209 (Field Repeater)
This Aerial Marker is used as an electronic sighting beacon for pilots and navigation systems.
23 ~ Northpoint Storage
Private rental storage facility owned by Crance family. See RESIDENCE - CRANCE
24 ~ The Northwest Shed
The Northwest Shed can be summed up in two words. Urban. Legend. Nobody knows who own it, though it was bought, paid for, and is still maintained by an unknown, private, off-world entity or individual. According to the limited public information surrounding it, the shed was purchased and shipped from Osiris. It was paid for in form of digital cash by courier and it continues to be each year. The Northwest Shed was constructed half way through the War, but no one has ever witnessed it being used by anyone or for any obvious purpose. The mystery of the shed is further puzzled by the nearby presence of an above ground power junction box the size of a small ground vehicle. Once a year, a 'technician' or 'maintenance' person is sent to check the grounds and repaint the two structures a placid primer gray. The new painter is hired for this purpose alone, and attempts to learn more from the new, yearly hired hand have proven fruitless. Scans, both legal and illegal, have yielded nothing and even the local feds can't say with any certainty what it is. An employee at Ransom Central Power was once heard to say that the shed draws enough power from the grid daily to run a few appliances or a walk in freezer. The latter possibility was enough to spin a few sinister suppositions about the shed for years.
Most adults will tell you that the shed is only talked about at all because it's so unassuming. If it were more sinister, it would somehow be less so. It's uniform color and lack of use make it interesting only because it isn't. It's just a shed. If it were something more, it would have a fence and more lighting.
Children and young adults will tell you a different story. They'll point out how it sits alone. They'll make a point of describing how solid and well built it is, and on this point the average observer would have to concede, for the shed is built to take a missile strike and the door seems monolithic for a building of that size. The absence of the fence just exaggerates the disturbing loneliness of the edifice in young minds. Children want to assign purpose to everything. It doesn't hurt that the mystery of the place it talked about almost daily as one kid dares another one to 'touch the shed'. Some local clubs require that a new inductee spend a night by the shed, which the Sheriff and Feds allow in good fun.
Still, no one knows what it is for certain, and as long as the taxes and power bills get paid, the local constabulary will not brook any meddlesome trespassers on the plot containing this small, private, ever mysterious shed. After all, property is property.
25 ~ Residence - Thomas Cripps
Residence only. Information limited. Thomas Cripps is about as old as the hills. He has long grey hair, and the clearest blue grey eyes that never did see, because Thomas was blind from birth. He's also a bit of a local mystery, for while he talks about many of the places that he's been to over the years, and though he describes them as well or better than anyone who had seen such places, it's almost impossible to learn anything about the man himself. Still, he's cordial and conversational, and more than this, he's the best damn fiddle player you might ever hope to hear. The man can play bluegrass like a barn can burn. He makes his sole living from playing at almost every public dance, gathering, wedding, funeral or what-have-you. If you need something to tap your toe by, Thomas is your man.
26 ~ The Dump Yard
The Dump Yard is a conundrum. Technically all scrap or garbage should be placed in the hands of the proper recycling or reclamation facilities (if not sold for profit at the handful of junk and scrap dealers spread across Ransom), but people still like to throw things out. Recycling be damned.
27 ~ Residence - Richard/May Krenshaw
Residence only. See privacy citation - KRENSHAW/106.700.7.3284, KRENSHAW/100.560.3.1361
28 ~ Ransom Community Hall
The Community Hall was first built during Alliance occupation at the early part of the War. As a result, it has that oh so nice institutional look that belies a certain lack of imagination. Function without form. Despite this, it is regular used for every possible public and private club and organization you might imagine. You can step through the doors of the Ransom Community Hall and find yourself in a watercolor painting class or a quilting bee. You might learner to cook Core cuisine in the morning, followed by yoga at noon and ending with basic cabinetry. It's exactly what you might expect from a sleepy town community hall.
29 ~ Residence - May Dunnley
Residence only. See privacy citation - DUNNLEY/110.569.1.1873
30 ~ Residence - Wes/Gwenn Hirsch
Residence only. See privacy citation - HIRSCH/090.422.1.3568, HIRSCH/089.989.4.2054
31 ~ Residence - John Bradshaw
Residence only. See privacy citation - BRADSHAW/150.301.2.0009
32 ~ Pate & Zurbruck Properties
The property company of Pate & Zurbruck handles private and public sales of land holdings all over the Outskirts. While must of the land shares for the Outskirts are handled by the land office, P&Z buy a significant portion of these by public auction and sell them privately. They also help develop larger plots made up of adjoining properties for homesteaders that wish to create neighboring communities from the word go.
33 ~ Residence - Anita Crowe
Residence only. See privacy citation - CROWE/100.088.9.3216
34 ~ Residence - Dale Dawe
Residence only. See privacy citation - DAWE/095.244.0.6233
35 ~ Residence - Deann Turnbow
Residence only. See privacy citation - TURNBOW/094.606.8.8590
36 ~ Residence - Mike Chism
Residence only. See privacy citation - CHISM/118.121.2.1007
37 ~ Residence - Ashley/Dawn Nash
Residence only. See privacy citation - NASH/146.418.7.4196, NASH/149.771.3.5757
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