The Dark Tower Companion: A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy (69 page)

A
RC
Q
UADRANT
O
UTPOST
16 (5)

A medium-security North Central Positronics observation station (or Dogan) near Calla Bryn Sturgis in the Northeast Corridor. It resembles a Quonset hut on a military base. It consists of a control room, a galley and a bunkhouse equipped to sleep eight. Thirty TV monitors show scenes inside and outside the Dogan, as well as several that display feeds from spy cameras hidden in Calla Bryn Sturgis. This Dogan is used to send updates to Finli o'Tego at Algul Siento.

A
RTEN
(4, 4.5)

A river west of Gilead.

A
UDIENCE
C
HAMBER
(7)

The room in Le Casse Roi Russe where the Crimson King sits on a throne of skulls and torments his staff and advisers.

A
YJIP
(5)

The Manni version of Egypt. The Angel of Death killed the firstborn in every house where the blood of a sacrificial lamb hadn't been daubed on the doorposts.

B
AD
G
RASS
(4, M)

A freeland northwest of Hambry. The grass is more than seven feet tall. It smells and tastes good to cattle and horses, but it swells and bursts their stomachs. Children have gotten lost and died in it. Susan and Roland met in an abandoned squatter's hut with a red door hidden in the grass. Roland, Alain and Cuthbert wait in it for Farson's agents to go past so they can ambush them.

B
ADLANDS
(7)

The poisoned and ruined lands between Castle Discordia and the Dark Tower. Nothing grows here, not even devil-grass, though the water from the pumps at fifteen-mile intervals is potable. The weather is cold enough to make people miserable but not enough to kill them. The air is toxic enough to give Susannah skin cancer and Roland pneumonia. They begin at the checkpoint outside Castle Discordia and end at the White Lands of Empathica.

B
ADLANDS
A
VENUE
(7)

Susannah's name for the King's Way, the former coach road between Castle Discordia and Le Casse Roi Russe.

B
AR
K R
ANCH
(4, M)

The deserted ranch where Roland, Alain and Cuthbert stayed while in Mejis. Located northwest of town, not far from Eyebolt Canyon. The barns, most of the stables and the homeplace burned six or seven years ago after the winds shifted during the annual burning at the mouth of the canyon. Only the
L-shaped bunkhouse, one stable and a cook-shack survived. The former owners, the Garbers, gave it up after the fire. It now belongs to the Horsemen's Association. Eldred Jonas picks it for the boys because it's away from the Drop and the oil patch.

B
AYVIEW
H
OTEL
(4)

A hotel in Mejis on High Street where the upper class drinks instead of at the Travellers' Rest.

B
EELIE
(4.5)

A former military outpost west of Debaria that's now a ghost town. The Beelie Stockade was where the circuit judge sent convicts, each of whom received an ankle tattoo, and where public hangings were held. After the militia left and the stockade closed five years before the adventure of the skin-man, harriers—perhaps Farson's men—had their way with the place.

B
EESFORD-ON
-A
RTEN
(4.5)

Hometown of Gabrielle Deschain. It lies on the Arten River between Gilead and Debaria. Some of Gabrielle's people still live there, though some of the residents don't think kindly of Gilead.

B
IG
E
MPTY
, T
HE
(3)

The vast plains west of Lud.

B
LUE
H
EAVEN

See Algul Siento.

B
ORDERLANDS
(4.5, 5, 6, 7)

The civilized territory between the forest at the end of Mid-World and the beginning of End-World at Thunderclap. Approximately seventy Callas are distributed along an arc that follows the branches of the Whye River.

B
UCKHEAD
R
ANCH
(5)

George Telford's ranch in Calla Bryn Sturgis.

B
USTED
L
UCK
(4.5)

One of three saloons in Debaria, where Roland treats the miners from Little Debaria to drinks.

B
USTLING
P
IG
, T
HE
(L)

One of two saloons in Eluria.

C
ALLA
(4.5, 5, 7)

A prefix for the approximately seventy towns that occupy the six-thousand-mile Grand Crescent or Arc along the River Whye in the Borderlands to the west of Thunderclap. The Callas have existed for more than a thousand years. The region is civilized, with roads, law enforcement, trade routes and a system of government. The people aren't woodsy, preferring the cleared farmland of the Callas, and they aren't travelers, either. The towns get smaller north of Calla Bryn Sturgis due to increasingly cold climates. Those to the north of Calla Bryn Sturgis include Calla Amity (farming and ranching), Calla Sen Pinder (farming and sheep), and Calla Sen Chre (where the Orizas are manufactured) and others noted for cheese, where people reputedly wear wooden shoes. To the south are Calla Lockwood (farming and ranching), Calla Bryn Bouse (ranching), Calla Staffel (ranching) and Calla Divine. Other Callas are known for manufacturing, fishing (Calla Fundy), mining and gambling. The Manni live in Calla Redpath.

C
ALLA
B
RYN
S
TURGIS
(4.5, 5, 6, 7)

One of seventy or so villages spread along the Grand Crescent. It sits between the forest at the end of Mid-World and the wasteland and desert that lead to Thunderclap one hundred wheels to the east, four thousand miles from the South Seas on the banks of the Devar-Tete Whye, the eastern branch of the Whye River. It has a population of between seven and eight hundred. For the past two centuries, Wolves from Thunderclap have ravaged it, stealing one of each set of twin children, which are the rule rather than the exception. To the northeast of town lies Manni Redpath and the hill country with arroyos and garnet mines. See also Calla.

C
AN'
-K
A
N
O
R
EY
(7)

The field of roses where the Dark Tower stands. Also called the Red Fields of None.

C
ANDLETON
(3, 4)

The first stop on Blaine the Mono's route after he leaves Lud. A poisoned and irradiated ruin overrun with mutated insects and animals. A few
nuclear-powered robots still run, though they've had no people to serve for the last 234 years. Blaine's sonic boom destroyed some of the things that were still standing in the town.

C
AN
S
TEEK
-T
ETE
(7)

The Little Needle. A sharp upthrust of rock (or butte) visible from both Thunderclap Station and Algul Siento, though it is about eight or ten miles away. Sheemie teleports the
ka-tet
to a cave on its slope after they come through the door to Thunderclap Station. A larger cave below them is a war chest of weapons for the battle of Algul Siento.

C
ASSE
R
OI
R
USSE
, L
E
(7, M)

The Crimson King's castle, located on the far side of Discordia from the Castle on the Abyss. It is built of red stone that darkened to almost black over the years. Towers and turrets burst upward in a way that seems to defy gravity. The castle is sober and undecorated except for the staring eye carved into the keystone arch over the main entrance. The doors and windows are oddly narrow. Walter o'Dim visited the Crimson King here once and saw him monitoring Stephen King through one of the glass balls in his possession. The castle is in poor upkeep, with two of the eight overhead walkways collapsed into the courtyard. By the time Roland and Susannah arrive, the Forge of the King has gone out and the Crimson King has killed all his staff and fled for the Tower, leaving behind Rando Thoughtful. They never enter the castle. Their palaver is held on the bridge that spans the castle's moat.

C
ASTLE
D
ISCORDIA
(6, 7)

Also known as Castle on the Abyss. Located deep in End-World on Shardik's Beam, southeast of Thunderclap and northwest of Le Casse Roi Russe. Between its inner keep and the outer walls lies the dead town of Fedic. Outside its walls is a great abyss filled with monsters. The bridge that spanned the abyss collapsed long ago. One door beneath the castle opens into todash space, used by the Crimson King for his bitterest enemies. The Red Death that killed Fedic may have arisen from an experiment gone wrong inside the castle. Mia imagines she's in the castle's kitchen and banquet hall when Susannah forages for food at night. A tapestry in the Dixie Pig shows Arthur Eld and his knights dining at the same banquet table.

One passage from Fedic runs beneath the castle, ending in a one-way door that opens on the Calla side of Thunderclap. Another dark passage—taken by Roland, Oy and Susannah—leads to a carriage road to Le Casse Roi Russe through the Badlands. Monsters from the abyss try to break into these passages. At least one succeeded.

C
ASTLE
-T
OWN
(7)

The town on the outskirts of the Castle of the Crimson King at the edge of the Badlands. The main street is King's Way. The side streets are cobbled. The tilting cottages are narrow and steep-roofed, the doorways thin and abnormally high, like something out of Lovecraft.

C
AVE OF
V
OICES
(5, 7)

The name of the Doorway Cave before the Unfound Door appeared.

C
HEERY
F
ELLOWS
S
ALOON
& C
AFÉ
(4.5)

One of three saloons in Debaria.

C
HURCH OF
B
LOOD
E
VERLASTING
, T
HE
(3)

The tallest building in River Crossing. Though the main sanctuary is a ruin, the basement is neat and orderly. The
ka-tet
holds palaver here with Aunt Talitha and the other town residents.

C
ITGO
(4, 6, M)

Oilfields northwest of Hambry. According to Susan Delgado, they've been there for six centuries or more. Only nineteen of two hundred gantries still pump, and no one has the need or the understanding to repair them. Those that do pump squeak and squeal and can't be stopped. The oil simply runs back down into the wells—or so people think. Most people also believe that the oil is too thick to be useful and that the pipelines are dry. The locals get earth-gas from it to run a few devices like the refrigerator in the Town Hall. They've also been storing up the oil to send to John Farson so he can power the Old People's machinery in his war against the Affiliation. Roland, Cuthbert and Alain destroy the field, thus cutting off Farson's source of oil.

C
LEAN
S
EA
, T
HE
(1, 4, 5, M)

A sea east of Hambry. The local fishermen work there. To the north it is known as the Salt.

C
öOS
H
ILL
(4)

A ragged hill five mile east of Hambry. Home to the witch Rhea, who is often called Rhea of the Cöos. Her hut is below the brow of the last hill to protect it from the wind. A path leads to the top, providing a good view northwest to the Bad Grass, the desert, Hanging Rock, and Eyebolt Canyon, the latter some ten miles away.

C
ORBETT
H
ALL
(7)

The dormitory in Algul Siento where Dinky Earnshaw and Sheemie Ruiz live on the third floor. After the battle, Eddie is taken to the first-floor proctor's suite.

C
RADLE OF
L
UD
, T
HE
(3, 4, 5, 7)

Lud's train station, operated by North Central Positronics and home to Blaine and Patricia the monorails. It stands in the center of a large square at the end of the Street of the Turtle. Its simple square construction of white stone blocks and overhanging roof supported by pillars reminds Eddie of the Roman Colosseum and Susannah of the Parthenon. Unlike the rest of Lud, the station is free of graffiti and cleaned of the pervasive dust by nozzles hidden in the eaves. The top of the building is ringed by sculptures of the Guardians of the Beams in pairs. Dragonlike gargoyles occupy the corners of the roof. A sixty-foot statue made of gold depicting Arthur Eld stands atop the building. He has a revolver in one hand and an olive branch in the other.

C
RAVEN'S
U
NDERTAKING
P
ARLOR
(4)

Mejis's funeral parlor.

C
RESSIA
(4, 4.5, M)

A western Barony. Indrie is the Barony Seat. One of the places failed gunslingers went after being sent west. Farson burned Indrie to the ground and slaughtered hundreds of its residents, including the governor, the mayor of Indrie and the high sheriff. Marten was with him at the time. Eldred Jonas, who was sent west, is familiar with local sayings from Cressia.

D
AMLI
H
OUSE
(7)

A graceful, rambling Queen Anne–style house next to the Breaker dorms at the far end of the Mall from Pleasantville in Algul Siento. Also known as
Heartbreak House or Hotel. Many of the
can toi
live here. The Breakers work in the Study in the middle of Damli. The telemetry equipment in the basement keeps track of the condition of the Beams and detects unauthorized psychic activity among the Breakers. Not all of the equipment works, and a lot of it either has no use or its function isn't understood. The staff has a place on the third floor where they can be refreshed by the euphoria of the good mind created by the Breakers when they work. The infirmary is in the west wing of the third floor. It burns during the battle of Algul Siento.