Read Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated Online
Authors: Robin Furth
Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (72 page)
ZALMAN HOONIK
See
CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS
: ROONTS
ZOLTAN
ZOMBIS
In
Wolves of the Calla,
Roland must hide his knowledge of the WOLVES’ true nature from whatever traitors lurk in CALLA BRYN STURGIS. He does this by telling the
folken
that the Greencloaks are zombis (spelled without the usual
e
), not robots.
V:610, V:616
23
For the gunslinger it had been a stranger death yet—the endless hunt for the man in black through a world with neither map nor memory.
I:140*
My world is like a huge ship that sank near enough shore for most of the wreckage to wash up on the beach. Much of what we find is fascinating, some of it may be useful, if
ka
allows, but all of it is still wreckage. Senseless wreckage.
Roland Deschain, IV:71
Eddie slept. There were no dreams. And beneath them as the night latened and the moon set, this borderland world turned like a dying clock.
V:239
**ALGUL SIENTO
See
ALGUL SIENTO
,
in
PORTALS
ALKALI FLATS
ALL-WORLD
In the time of Roland’s semi-mythical ancestor, ARTHUR ELD, all of the kingdoms of the land—whether part of IN-WORLD, OUT-WORLD, or MID-WORLD—were united under one high king who wore the crown of All-World upon his brow. This king was Arthur, Warrior of the White and the first Lord of Light. Like the great King Arthur of our world, Arthur Eld wielded a magical sword called EXCALIBUR. Arthur reigned during a kind of Golden Age that came (we believe) after the nuclear and chemical destruction wreaked by the OLD ONES.
Even in Roland’s youth, when the In-World Baronies still stood and the gunslingers maintained relative peace by exerting their strength through the fragmenting AFFILIATION, the unity of Arthur Eld’s All-World was only a myth. FARSON (who we believe was the pawn for an even greater destructive force) warred in the west, drawing over to his side many of the embittered, failed gunslingers originally sent to the western lands in disgrace. In
Wizard and Glass,
we learned that Arthur Eld’s original kingdom (known as the ancient land of Eld) was located in the northwest. Ironically (or perhaps quite pointedly) these western baronies were the first to fall to THE GOOD MAN during Roland’s youth.
IV:317, V:486, VI:251
ALORA FARM
AMBUSH ARROYO
APPLE, THE BIG
See
NEW YORK CITY
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
ARC
See
BORDERLANDS
: GRAND CRESCENT
**ARROYO COUNTRY
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS
ARTEN
Roland’s lady-mother, GABRIELLE DESCHAIN, was originally from Arten.
W:37, W:306
BEESFORD-ON-ARTEN:
The town of Beesford-on-Arten was located west of GILEAD along the WESTERN LINE which ran from NEW CANAAN to DEBARIA. In stark contrast to the fertile lands of Gilead, Beesford-on-Arten was a land of scrub and struggling ranches. A few of GABRIELLE DESCHAIN’S relatives still lived in Beesford-On-Arten, but we can’t tell whether or not they were loyal to the AFFILIATION, since many people in Arten supported JOHN FARSON. W:41
ATCHISON
See
ATCHISON, TOPEKA, AND SANTA FE RAILROAD
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
BACK COURTS
See
NEW CANAAN, BARONY OF
: GILEAD
BAD GRASS
BADLANDS
See
CALLA BADLANDS
and
DISCORDIA
,
both in
PORTALS
BANQUETING HALL
See
CASTLE DISCORDIA
,
in
PORTALS
BAR K RANCH
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
: HAMBRY
BAYVIEW HOTEL
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
: HAMBRY
BEACH (LOBSTROSITY BEACH)
See
WESTERN SEA
BEACH DOORS
See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS
: MAGICAL DOORWAYS,
in
PORTALS
BEAM ROAD
Roland and his
tet
follow this road from the GREEN PALACE to the RIVER WHYE, where they meet the ferryman, BIX.
TOOK’S OUTLAND MERCANTILE:
Roland’s
tet
passed this abandoned store while walking toward the RIVER WHYE. Inside they found cobwebs and the skeleton of an animal that might have been a BILLY-BUMBLER. W:4
BEAMS
See
BEAMS, PATH OF THE
,
in
PORTALS
BEELIE TOWN (BEELIE STOCKADE)
BEESFORD-ON-ARTEN
See
ARTEN
BIDDER-WEE SALOON
BIG EMPTY
In the town of RIVER CROSSING, the elderly residents refer to the wastelands beyond LUD as the Big Empty. SUSANNAH DEAN thinks that all of MIDWORLD’s barren lands are a “Big Empty,” and confronting that desolation turned Roland in on himself.
See also
WASTE LANDS
and
DRAWERS
,
in
PORTALS.
III:226, III:243
BIG RIVER
See
BORDERLANDS
: RIVER WHYE
BIX’S BOATHOUSE
See
BORDERLANDS
: RIVER WHYE
BLAINE’S ROUTE
Our desperate
ka-tet
boarded the slo-trans mono BLAINE in LUD, just after EDDIE and SUSANNAH’s shoot-out with the PUBES and JAKE’s escape from TICK-TOCK, leader of the GRAYS. Blaine’s track led southeast, roughly along the PATH OF THE BEAM, in the direction of the DARK TOWER. Although Blaine claimed that he could take our group closer to their final destination, none of them was certain whether they would be able to disembark this Barony Coach alive.
Although probably originally endowed with a polite personality by the GREAT OLD ONES (who in retrospect were much less than great), over the centuries Blaine’s personality fragmented into its component parts, finally evincing some of the cruelty of his Makers. The resulting monstrosity—which our
ka-tet
battled in a life-or-death riddling contest—consisted of a frightened Little Blaine as well as a nasty Big Blaine, who seemed to believe he served the people of Lud best by killing them.
Blaine’s route led through the surreal WASTE LANDS and terminated in an alternative version of our world’s TOPEKA, one afflicted by the terrible superflu found in STEPHEN KING’s novel
The Stand.
Blaine was obviously created to transport the Great Old Ones onto other levels of the Tower, and is an example of the sinister technology created by NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS. For more discussion on the subject of trains between worlds, see the ATCHISON, TOPEKA, AND SANTA FE RAILROAD, in OUR WORLD PLACES.
CANDLETON:
This was the first official stop on Blaine’s route. Luckily for our
ka-tet
the train didn’t actually stop here; otherwise they would have been exposed to the killer radiation levels still pulsing from a nearby Ground Zero.
Although described as “a poisoned and irradiated ruin,” Candleton is not completely dead. Trundling along the corridors of the CANDLETON TRAVELLERS’ HOTEL are turtle-sized beetles, birds that look more like small dragons, and blind, bloated, mutant rats. III:404, III:416, IV:13–14, IV:15
CANDLETON FOUNTAIN:
IV:13–14
CANDLETON TRAVELLERS’ HOTEL:
IV:13–14
ELEGANT BEEF AND PORK RESTAURANT:
IV:13
DASHERVILLE:
Dasherville was the stop before TOPEKA on Blaine’s run. III:404, IV:36
FALLS OF THE HOUNDS:
The Falls of the Hounds was actually a torrential waterfall guarded by two giant stone sculptures shaped like ferocious dogs. (The dogs actually protruded from a point about two hundred feet below the place where the torrential, brawling river tumbled over its drop.)
It was at the Falls of the Hounds that Blaine switched to battery power. His batteries were fired up by the electric-blue energy zapping from the giant hounds’ eyes. III:404, IV:31–33, IV:34–35, IV:41, IV:643, IV:653
RILEA:
Rilea was the stop after Candleton on Blaine’s run. III:404, IV:15, IV:16, IV:22, IV:26, IV:643
TOPEKA:
Topeka was Blaine’s termination point. It also happened to be located in an alternate version of our world’s KANSAS.
See
KANSAS
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
BLOSSIE GROVES
See
NORTH’RD BARONY
: ENDLESS FOREST;
see also
NEW CANAAN, BARONY OF
**BLUE HAVEN/BLUE HEAVEN
See
DEVAR-TOI
,
in
PORTALS
BLUFFS
BOG
See
MID-FOREST
(MID-FOREST BOG)
BOOM-FLURRY HILL
See
CALLA BADLANDS
,
in
PORTALS
BORDER (BORDER DWELLERS)
The Border Dwellers live in this transitional desert area bordering the waterless wasteland of the MOHAINE DESERT. This region was one of the first in which time grew soft.
BROWN’S HUT:
I:15–22, I:64–65, I:72
BORDERLANDS (THE RIM, ARC O’ THE BORDERLANDS, THE CRESCENT)
The Arc o’ the Borderlands is the crescent of land that separates MID-WORLD-that-was from END-WORLD, location of both THUNDERCLAP and the DARK TOWER. In CALLA BRYN STURGIS (setting for the novel
Wolves of the Calla
), the RIVER WHYE divides the green lands of the Callas from the desolate wastes of Thunderclap.
Although the world has most definitely moved on, and the borderlands have moved on with it, the Callas of the Crescent have remained more civilized than the other areas of Mid-World which our
tet
has visited so far. Unlike the mad, warring citizens of LUD (whom we learned about in
The Waste Lands
), the Calla
folken
have roads, law enforcement, and a system of government reminiscent of the democratic process found in New England town meetings. Perhaps the borderlands have managed to hold on to an older way of life because—even before IN-WORLD fell to JOHN FARSON—life in the Rim was always strange.
Despite having remained civilized, the people of the Callas have had to face a menace which those towns farther from the dark land of Thunderclap have never had to contemplate. Every generation, for the past six generations, masked riders have galloped over the River Whye and entered the Callas to steal one of every pair of prepubescent twins. (In the Callas, most children are born as twins, not as singletons.) These GREENCLOAKS, or WOLVES, deliver the children to the servants of the CRIMSON KING, who cull their brains for the chemical which causes twin-telepathy. When the children are returned to their homes (and most are sent back), they are ROONT, or ruined.
V:11, V:113, V:135, V:386, VI:7, VI:122, VII:21, VII:214, VII:716
(Arc o’ the Borderlands)
ARC, THE:
See
GRAND CRESCENT
,
listed below
ARC QUADRANT:
According to the rusted steel plate of the CALLA DOGAN, the area of the borderlands which our
tet
visits was once known as the Northeast Corridor Arc Quadrant.
See also
DOGAN
,
in
PORTALS. V:564, V:565
BIG RIVER:
See
RIVER WHYE
,
listed below
BOG:
See
MID-FOREST
(MID-FOREST BOG),
listed separately
BOOM-FLURRY HILL:
See
CALLA BADLANDS
,
in
PORTALS
CALLA (CALLAS):
According to SUSANNAH DEAN, the word
Calla
means street or square. In the borderlands, Callas are towns. There are approximately seventy Callas in the borderlands. They form a mild arc, known locally as the GRAND CRESCENT. This crescent is approximately six thousand miles from tip to tip. As you travel north, toward the lands where snow falls, the towns are smaller. The people who live in them wear wooden shoes and make good cheese. They tend to farm and raise sheep. CALLA BRYN STURGIS (situated approximately one-third of the way down the Crescent) is a farming and ranching Calla. Farther south, the Callas consist of vast tracks of ranchland. There are mining Callas, manufacturing Callas, and pleasure Callas. All of the Callas near Calla Bryn Sturgis are attacked by the WOLVES of THUNDERCLAP once each generation. V:135–36
(Callas in a mild arc, north and south of Calla Bryn Sturgis),
V:332, VI:88, VI:377, VII:21, VII:52,
VII:142, VII:152, VII:232, VII:233
(Calla-bound),
VII:300, VII:412, VII:558, VII:594, W:10