Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (76 page)
Read Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated Online
Authors: Robin Furth
DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE:
The men who owned the DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE didn’t come from DEBARIA; they were rich men from GILEAD. Unfortunately, these greedy men put profit before safety. If they had shut the mine long enough to seal the crack in the salt plug where one of the OLD PEOPLE’s
artyfax
was hidden, the SKIN-MAN would never have come into being. W:282
ROAD TO LITTLE DEBARIA:
A GAMBLER and his Moll were attacked here. W:45
SALOONS:
Little Debaria’s saloons were nasty places. When the SALTIES were drunk on White Blind, they didn’t care if a woman had a nose, as long as she had her sugar-purse W:62
SALTIES ENCAMPMENT (SALTIE TOWN):
The SALTIES had an encampment a few wheels west of Little Debaria. W:85, W:87
LONG SALT SWAMPS:
We don’t know exactly where the Long Salt Swamps were located, but we do know that there were alligators there. W:66
LOW PURE:
In DEBARIA, the foothill meadow located below the SALT-HOUSES was known as the Low Pure. The Low Pure was located east of the ALKALI FLATS and north of AMBUSH ARROYO. The sheepherder YON CURRY was killed there. W:45, W:57, W:63, W:71
RANCHLAND NORTH OF DEBARIA:
Much of Debaria’s ranchland was located north of the town. W:56, W:62–63, W:70
SALLYWOOD:
The settlement of Sallywood was located to the south of Debaria. Although Debaria’s jing-jang used to be able to call all the way to GILEAD, by the time Roland and JAMIE arrived in town it could only reach north to the JEFFERSON RANCH, northeast to LITTLE DEBARIA, and south to SALLYWOOD. W:55
SALT HILLS (SALT ROCKS):
The high hills located north of Debaria were known as the Salt Rocks. The DEBARIA SALT MINES were located in these hills. W:45, W:56–60, W:64, W:70, W:272
DEBARIA SALT MINES (SALT-HOUSES):
To the people of Debaria, the local salt mines were also known as the salt-houses. The salt-houses were caverns in the cliff faces of the SALT ROCKS. (The mining tunnels went down into the earth from the backs of the salt-house caverns.) In the past, miners and their families lived in the salt-houses, though by the time our
story takes place, the salties had their own encampment a short distance from LITTLE DEBARIA. When SHERIFF HUGH PEAVY was a deputy, the CROW GANG had their hideout in the abandoned salt-houses. At that time, all of the salt plugs had worn out, so the mines were empty. Twenty years before Roland and JAMIE arrived in Debaria, the DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE discovered a new plug. Unfortunately, this plug was a lot deeper than the others, and the company drilled too close to some of the OLD ONES’ evil artifacts. As a result, one of the miners who came in contact with the Old Ones’ leavings transformed into the cannibalistic SKIN-MAN. W:45, W:56–60, W:64, W:289
NEW SALT PLUG:
The only active mine in Debaria’s Salt Rocks was opened twenty years before Roland and JAMIE arrived in the dusty railhead town. This plug was a lot deeper than the others, and came too close to some of the OLD PEOPLE’s artifacts. As the old SALTIE, STEG LUKA, told Roland, deep in the new plug, the miners had found a crack in the salt with a green light shining through, an ugly light that pulsed like a heartbeat and spoke with a bitter voice, calling the men to enter. Although the men told their foreman about the light and he saw it for himself, he refused to close the plug. (He knew that the big bugs in Gilead would never agree to cease operaions and lose their profits.) Instead, he had the crew close the crack with rocks. Steg Luka was certain that one of the miners had been tempted to go back and reopen the crack. He turned out to be correct. OLLIE ANG had entered the green light and had been transformed into the SKIN-MAN. W:64, W:278, W:281–82
SERENITY WOMEN’S RETREAT:
Although GABRIELLE DESCHAIN went to the women’s retreat of Serenity to atone for her sin of adultery, STEVEN DESCHAIN did not trust the secluded sisters who gave her shelter. He called them the black ammies, and said they’d flay a man alive if he so much as trespassed their holy doors. When Roland visited Serenity, he found that it was very different from his father’s description. Not only did he befriend the prioress, EVERLYNNE OF SERENITY, but he found the retreat itself to be very beautiful. Located ten or twelve wheels beyond the town of Debaria along DEBARIA HIGH ROAD, the retreat was the size of a Barony estate and was extremely well tended. The walls of its dazzling white haci were tall and topped with forbidding sparkles of broken glass, but the wooden gates stood open with invitation. Behind the haci, down a narrow creek, was a large green garden and a grape arbor. Unfortunately, neither the broken glass atop the haci walls nor the large wooden gates kept the SKIN-MAN from attacking two of the sisters, FORTUNA and DOLORES. IV:619, IV:620, IV:655, W:38, W:39, W:41, W:43, W:47–53, W:63, W:66, W:269, W:291, W:293, W:295–300
SHEEPHERDER’S LEAN-TO:
This lean-to was located about halfway between the JEFFERSON RANCH and DEBARIA. Roland hypnotized YOUNG BILL STREETER here. W:88–95
TIMBERSMITH FARM:
The SKIN-MAN killed nine people at the Timbersmith Farm, which was located on the HIGH PURE. Among those dead was a young boy whose skull had been smashed so that his brains could be
scooped out. SHERIFF PEAVY found the boy’s head stuck onto a pole. There were tracks all around it. Initially the tracks were those of a big cat, then they transformed into hoofmarks, then into the prints of a giant human being. Finally, they became the prints of a small man. W:45, W:47, W:63
DEBARIA HIGH ROAD
DEBARIA RAIL LINE
DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE
DEBARIA SALT MINES
DEBARIA STREAM
DEBARIA, TOWN OF
DELAIN
DELIGHTFUL VIEW
DESATOYA MOUNTAINS
The town of ELURIA is located in the Desatoya Mountains. Like so many of the landscapes found in the Dark Tower series, both the mountains and the towns dotted through them resemble the landscape of the American Southwest.
E:146
DESOY
FARSON began his career as a harrier in GARLAN and Desoy.
IV:151
DESTRY FARM
DIS
The orange ball of MAERLYN’S RAINBOW is reputed to be in Dis.
IV:437
DOGAN
See entry in
PORTALS
DOOLIN RANCH
DOORWAY CAVE
See entry in
PORTALS
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS
See entry in
PORTALS
DOWNLAND BARONIES
See
GREATER KINGDOMS OF THE WESTERN EARTH
DRAGON’S GRAVE
The Dragon’s Grave was a bottomless crack in the earth named for the great bursts of steam that erupted from it every thirty to forty days. Roland knew of it as a boy, so it is most likely located near GILEAD-that-was.
III:37
DRAGON’S LAIR
See
EASTAR’D BARONY
: DELAIN
DRAWERS
See
DRAWERS
,
in
PORTALS
DROP, THE
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
: HAMBRY
DRUIT STONES
See
STONE CIRCLES
,
in
PORTALS
EAST DOWNE
East Downe was one of the many lands Roland traveled through during his years as a MID-WORLD wanderer. In East Downe, there are walking waters. Unfortunately, they are never described.
VI:234
EAST ROAD
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS
EASTAR’D BARONY
VII:184
DELAIN:
JOHN NORMAN, the young man Roland meets while imprisoned by the LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA, comes from Delain. This kingdom is
derisively known as Dragon’s Lair, Liars’ Heaven, and the home of tall tales. It also happens to be the setting for the novel
Eyes of the Dragon.
According to
The Dark Tower,
WALTER was born in Delain. E:188, VII:184
EASTERN PLAIN (CALLA BADLANDS)
See
CALLA BADLANDS
,
in
PORTALS
ELD, LAND OF (ELDEN KINGDOM)
Eld was the name of the ancient land ruled by Roland’s ancestor, ARTHUR ELD, who later became King of ALL-WORLD. Eld was located northwest of GILEAD, in the northwesternmost reaches of the AFFILIATION. By the time of Roland’s trials in HAMBRY, those ancient lands were already being burned and looted by FARSON and his men.
IV:181, W:170
ELURIA
Eluria is a small town located in the DESATOYA MOUNTAINS. It is also the setting for the short story “The Little Sisters of Eluria.” Like many of the places in MID-WORLD, it looks like a town out of the old American West. Along its High Street are quite a few wooden shop fronts, including a mercantile, a smithy, a Gathering Hall, a church (complete with bell tower), a livery, a market, and a sheriff’s office. It also has a single hotel
(GOOD BEDS HOTEL),
and two saloons, one of which is called
THE BUSTLING PIG.
When Roland arrives during the heat of Full Earth, the place has been deserted for about two weeks. The only living (or once living) beings Roland finds are the CROSS DOG, a single corpse, and some singing insects.
Although there are no people to be seen, the town’s gates are still strung with garlands of dried flowers and the church doorway with tiny silver bells—decorations which Roland finds both disturbing and eerie. Soon after his arrival he discovers that the town is not completely deserted after all. It is inhabited by the mutant GREEN FOLK and the vampiric LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA.
E:146–58, E:159, E:166, E:173, E:178–79, E:181, E:190, E:193, E:201, E:205, E:209, VI:234
HOSPITAL (RUN BY LITTLE SISTERS):
See
LITTLE SISTERS’ HOSPITAL,
in
PORTALS
LEXINGWORTH:
This is where Eluria’s citizens hang criminals. E:151
RADIUM MINES:
The foul-looking muties known as the GREEN FOLK inhabit the radium mines outside Eluria. E:154
RUINED HACIENDA:
This is where the Little Sisters live during their time in Eluria. E:200, E:201
THOUGHTFUL HOUSE:
In “The Little Sisters of Eluria,” the tyrannical SISTER MARY tells Roland that Thoughtful House is a “home for contagion,” a place where the sick are brought to recover. But like so much that is said in the white tents of the sinister Little Sisters, this is a lie. Thoughtful House is not a house at all but a small hillside cave where Sister Mary sends disobedient members of her order to endure a kind of solitary confinement. The lovely and rebellious SISTER JENNA is forced to spend much time here. E:175, E:185, E:194, E:201, E:206
ENDLESS FOREST
END-WORLD
See
END-WORLD,
in
PORTALS
EYEBOLT CANYON
FALLS OF THE HOUNDS
FAGONARD
FARMING VILLAGES OF THE MIDDLES
**FARSON (TOWN OF)
In the original version of
The Gunslinger,
we learn that the AFFILIATION’s enemy JOHN FARSON (also known as THE GOOD MAN) planned to poison this town when Roland was still a boy. Given the fact that this rather nasty character bears the town’s name, it seems likely that he—or his ancestors—originated here. In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
the town of Farson is replaced by the town of TAUNTON.
I:101, I:102, I:105, I:108
**FARSON ROAD
Farson Road is the name given to the coach road that runs between GILEAD and the town of FARSON. GALLOWS HILL is located here. In the 2003
Gunslinger,
the Farson Road becomes the TAUNTON ROAD.
I:106–11
FIELD OF GIANT YELLOW MUSHROOMS
**FOREST O’ BARONY
FOREST TREES
GADDISH FEEDS
See
:
KANSAS
: TOPEKA,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
GAGE BOULEVARD
See
KANSAS
: TOPEKA,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
GALLOWS HILL
Gallows Hill is located on the FARSON ROAD. HAX, Gilead’s traitorous head cook, is hanged here.
I:106–11, IV:161
**GARLAN, BARONY OF
Garlan is a distant kingdom which seems almost mythical to many of the people we meet in the Dark Tower series. According to AUNT TALITHA of RIVER CROSSING, the people of Garlan have brown skin. According to the COVENANT MAN, there are dragons in this Barony. It is also supposed to be the home of that strange baby-bearing bird, the GRAND FEATHEREX. ELDRED JONAS—Roland’s enemy in
Wizard and Glass
—received a terrible whipping in Garlan. In
Song of Susannah,
we discover that Roland’s grandfather ALARIC went to Garlan to slay a dragon, though that dragon had already been slain by another king. In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
we are told that this kingdom is located west of GILEAD, and that it is a tobacco-growing region.