The Ardok Ranch, situated on the planet Ool within the Chiss Ascendancy, belonged to Cohbo'rik'ardok, who was known by the core name of "Borika," and her husband, Bomarmo. Mitth'ali'astov, a caregiver whose nickname was "Thalias," journeyed to the Ardok Ranch to encounter Borika. She had received the ranch's location via a data cylinder put together by Mitth'ras'safis "Thrass," a Syndic from the Mitth family. The Seekers' Shadehouse, a facility associated with the Seekers program that provided training to the young girls of the sky-walker corps, was also found at the Ardok Ranch. These girls utilized their ability, referred to as Third Sight, to navigate the space beyond the Ascendancy's borders, an area known as the Chaos.
Within the [Chiss Ascendancy](/article/chiss_ascendancy], specifically on the planet named Ool, resided the Ardok Ranch, a property of the Chiss species's nation. Its location was near a small town, nestled between a modest ranch dedicated to packbull, a Chiss-domesticated non-sentient species, and a lake fed by a spring. The ranch itself was constructed at the heart of enclosed land, with barns, feed storage, and other structures encircling it. The Seekers' Shadehouse, a component of the Seekers program responsible for educating the young girls of the sky-walker corps who employed their abilities to navigate the space outside the Ascendancy's boundaries, also known as the Chaos, was also situated on the ranch.
The closest area for interstellar transport landings was over a thousand kilometers from the ranch. The ranch included a porch, and within it was a sizable, inviting room. One corner featured a pair of couches facing an entertainment center, while another had couches and chairs arranged around a firepit. A dining table with six chairs sat at the room's end, with a path leading to a partially visible kitchen.
Leading up to 18 BBY, Cohbo'rik'ardok, also known as "Borika" by her core name, and her husband Bomarmo assumed control of the Ardok Ranch, which included the Seekers' Shadehouse. Mitth'ali'astov "Thalias", who was the caregiver for Che'ri, the sky-walker aboard the Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk, received the location of Ardok Ranch on a data cylinder from Senior Aide Thivik, the senior aide to Mitth family Patriarch Thurfian. The Syndic Thrass was the one who compiled the data cylinder.
Thalias's purpose in travelling to Ool was to find the Seekers' Shadehouse, but because it was not in any of the guidebooks she had looked at, the caregiver decided to go to the Ardok Ranch instead. Borika greeted her on the ranch's porch upon her arrival. The caregiver told her host about Che'ri, a friend who was having issues. Borika quickly figured out that Che'ri was also a sky-walker, saying that the fact that she didn't have a family name was a clear sign. Upon entering the house, Borika pulled out a charric, a Chiss handheld weapon, and demanded to see identification from Thalias, who didn't have any. Thalias gave Borika the data cylinder that Thivik had given her, which made Borika feel better after she looked at it. Borika asked why Thalias had come, and she told her about the situation between Che'ri and the Magys, the leader of a species that lived in the Chaos, who had made Che'ri's Third Sight stronger.
Borika and Thalias talked about Thalias's past as a sky-walker while she was explaining how the Magys got on the Springhawk and how she connected with Che'ri. This made her ask what part of the sky-walker training at the Ranch or its other training sites took away the girls' memories. Borika wouldn't answer, quickly changing the subject to Che'ri and saying that she would look into it but couldn't promise anything. She also said that if Thalias wanted to wait for a response from the Shadehouse, she could stay at one of the inns in the nearby city of Pomprey.
After Borika refused to answer Thalias' question about her memories again, the caregiver finally said that she had come to Ardok Ranch for a different reason: just to meet her. Thalias said that Borika was the older sister of Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn," the Senior Captain of the Springhawk, which she didn't believe at first. After checking what Thalias had told her, Borika told her guest the truth about the sky-walker training: the Seekers program erased the sky-walker's memories to keep them from leaving the program. Soon after, Samakro, the Springhawk's Mid Captain, called Thalias and told her that she needed to go back to Csilla, the homeworld of the Chiss Ascendancy, right away, so Borika took Thalias to the Ibbian Spaceport.
After Senior Captain Thrawn's last stand, where Thrawn's fleet won a key battle against Jixtus's fleet, the Grysk coordinator, Thalias brought Che'ri to Ardok Ranch. Borika told them both that she had been filled in on the story of the Magys and how she had affected Che'ri, and that she was already looking into it. She told Che'ri that she would have to stay at the ranch for a while because sky-walkers were rare, and Che'ri had the most unique record of them all. Che'ri didn't want to stay at the ranch at first, but Thalias said she needed to tell Borika everything about the Magys while it was still fresh in her mind.
The Ardok Ranch was featured in Timothy Zahn's 2021 book Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, which was the last book in the Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy.