Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated

by Robin Furth

  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

  See MEJIS, BARONY OF

  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

  CALLA AMITY: Located north of CALLA BRYN STURGIS, Calla Amity is a farming and ranching Calla. V:135, V:397

  CALLA BOOT HILL: We never learn where Calla Boot Hill is located. However, if EDDIE DEAN ever got the chance, he would slap leather and blow EBEN TOOK all the way to Calla Boot Hill. V:402

  CALLA BRYN BOUSE: This Calla consists mainly of ranches. V:135

  CALLA BRYN STURGIS: Calla Bryn Sturgis is located approximately one-third of the way down the GRAND CRESCENT. A town has existed on this site for more than one thousand years, though its citizens have only been losing their children to THUNDERCLAP’s green-cloaked WOLVES for about six generations. In the novel Wolves of the Calla, Roland and his tet defeat these robotic child-stealers. In the final EAST ROAD battle, where the horse-riders from Thunderclap are defeated, three members of the SISTERS OF ORIZA fight beside Roland and his friends.

  The people of Calla Bryn Sturgis ride donkeys and burros. The men dress in white pants, long, colorful shirts, and dusty sombreros. Both women and men wear the clodhoppers known as shor’boots. There are approximately 140 men in the Calla, if one does not count either ROONTS or the very old. Since some of these men are unmarried farmhands, the female population is probably somewhat smaller. At the time our story takes place, approximately NINETY-NINE prepubescent children are in the town.

  At times, Calla Bryn Sturgis is reminiscent of HAMBRY, the setting for Wizard and Glass, but at other times it bears a strong resemblance to STONEHAM, MAINE, and even ’SALEM’S LOT, MAINE. Perhaps they are all variations of the same town, just ones that exist on different levels of the DARK TOWER. The accent found in Calla Bryn Sturgis is similarly mixed. Some Calla words sound almost Scottish; others are reminiscent of Maine’s Yankee dialect.

  CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIRECTLY NAMED ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES: V:2, V:4, V:5, V:11, V:20, V:24, V:27, V:28, V:29, V:31, V:106, V:109 (Calla), V:111, V:113, V:114, V:115, V:119, V:123–24, V:128, V:129, V:142, V:143, V:147, V:148, V:151, V:153, V:154, V:156, V:158, V:159, V:160, V:161 (Calla-folk), V:166, V:174, V:180, V:188, V:201, V:204, V:206–7 (ka-tet’s first view), V:208, V:210–34 (pavilion), V:237, V:296, V:321, V:339, V:340, V:359 (indirect), V:362, V:382, V:385, V:393, V:398, V:406, V:442, V:467, V:469, V:479, V:481, V:489, V:490, V:493, V:497, V:498, V:499, V:502, V:516, V:547, V:551, V:552, V:555, V:557,
V:561, V:562, V:572, V:577, V:580, V:581, V:584, V:592, V:601, V:602, V:606, V:607, V:618, V:623, V:625, V:627, V:637, V:641, V:642, V:648, V:650, V:654, V:655, V:658, V:679, V:686, V:700, V:703, V:707, V:708, VI:3–43 (setting), VI:63, VI:67, VI:81, VI:84, VI:88 (Calla), VI:92, VI:103, VI:115, VI:122, VI:131, VI:178, VI:179, VI:184, VI:185, VI:187, VI:203, VI:222, VI:237, VI:247, VI:248, VI:252, VI:268, VI:272, VI:273, VI:281, VI:329, VI:339, VI:350, VII:4, VII:14, VII:26, VII:44, VII:73, VII:75, VII:81, VII:120, VII:126, VII:143, VII:146, VII:150, VII:152, VII:153, VII:156, VII:173, VII:207, VII:339, VII:398, VII:404, VII:423, VII:428, VII:473, VII:493, VII:518, VII:540, VII:602, VII:606, VII:627, VII:703, VII:708, VII:710, VII:722, VII:726, VII:743, VII:744, VII:748, W:17; W:307

  ARRA’S SMALLHOLD PATCH: V:361

  ARROYO COUNTRY (COMMALA DRAWS, MAGNETIC HILLS, BATTLE SITE): The arroyo country is the hilly land located northeast of Calla Bryn Sturgis. Here, in a worn-out garnet mine located at the end of a long dead-end canyon, Roland proposes that the Calla folken hide their children while he and his tet ambush the green-cloaked, child-stealing WOLVES. (Roland doesn’t really plan to hide the children in such a dangerous place, but the Calla has too many informants for him to reveal his true strategy.)

  The hills above the Calla are magnetic. Not only are they full of old garnet mines, but they are also riddled with many DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS. The DOORWAY CAVE, where the MANNI found an unconscious PERE CALLAHAN, is located deep in the arroyo country. The EAST ROAD battle, where Roland, his tet, and the SISTERS OF ORIZA make a final stand against the Wolves, is located on a stretch of road that also winds north into this hilly land. V:340–42, V:406–9, V:508–9, V:548–52, V:575–76, V:662–97, V:700, VI:23–27, VI:30. See also MAGNETIC HILLS and DOORWAY CAVE, both in PORTALS

  GLORIA MINE and REDBIRD TWO MINE: These two mines are located at the far end of a dead-end canyon. Roland tells the Calla folken that they should hide their children here when the WOLVES attack the town. (In actuality, Roland plans to hide the children in the rice paddies located near the RIVER WHYE.) V:508, V:575–76, V:608, V:615–16, V:663–97

  UNFOUND DOOR: See DOORWAY CAVE, in PORTALS

  UNFOUND DOOR (PATH TO THE): As HENCHICK warns Roland, this long, twisty path which leads through the arroyo country to the UNFOUND DOOR is rather “upsy.” Despite this, the going is clear (and contains some spectacular views). However, the mouth of the DOORWAY CAVE is blocked by a large boulder. Anyone who wishes to enter this cave must first ease himself or herself around this rock. Unfortunately, the bit of free ledge is so small that a visitor’s boot heels will have to dangle free over a two-thousand-foot drop as he or she inches toward the cave mouth. (Ten feet farther down, where EDDIE DEAN almost falls, the drop from path to ground reduces to a mere seven hundred feet!) V:406–9, V:508–9, V:548–52, V:699–703, VI:6, VI:8, VI:23–27, VI:33, VI:41, VI:63–64

  BADLANDS: See CALLA BADLANDS, in PORTALS

  BLUFF: The bluff is located near a bend in the RIVER WHYE. JAKE and BENNY SLIGHTMAN go camping here. Not far from this spot, Jake overhears SLIGHTMAN THE ELDER having a suspicious conversation with ANDY, the Calla’s traitorous Messenger Robot. V:323, V:380–87 (camping), V:558 (tenting place)

  BOOM-FLURRY HILL: See CALLA BADLANDS, in PORTALS

  BUCKHEAD RANCH: This is GEORGE TELFORD’s ranch. V:553

  CAUSEWAY: See CALLA BADLANDS, in PORTALS

  CAVE OF VOICES: See DOORWAY CAVE, in PORTALS

  CAVERRA HOUSE: Home of the Caverra family. V:15

  COMMALA DRAWS: See ARROYO COUNTRY, listed above

  DOGAN: See DOGAN, in PORTALS

  DOORWAY CAVE: See DOORWAY CAVE, in PORTALS

  EAST ROAD: East Road is Calla Bryn Sturgis’s major artery. Although for most of its length it runs from the west to the east, once it approaches the western shore of the RIVER WHYE, it turns and heads roughly north-northeast. (During his trip to the CALLA DOGAN, JAKE CHAMBERS discovers that the East Road originally continued east into THUNDERCLAP. For quite obvious reasons, the Calla folken no longer use this section and it has fallen into disrepair.)

  Many years before our story takes place, JAMIE JAFFORDS and his WOLF POSSE killed a Wolf on the East Road. (Unfortunately, all of the human fighters, save for Jamie, died as well.) In Wolves of the Calla, the East Road is the site of our tet’s final stand against Thunderclap’s child-stealers. V:237 (says west, should say east), V:348, V:360–65 (Wolf posse), V:390–96, V:399–402, V:487, V:492 (main road), V:508, V:561–62 (continues into Thunderclap), V:629–35 (junction with River Road), V:638–44 (directly mentioned on 641), V:654–97, V:703, VI:5, VI:6, VI:10, VI:21–27, VI:31, VI:67, VII:126, VII:142, VII:558

  GARNET MINES: See ARROYO COUNTRY, listed above

  GATHERING HALL: See TOWN GATHERING HALL, listed below

  GLORIA MINE: See ARROYO COUNTRY, listed above

  HIGH STREET: During his brief but terrifying visit to the CALLA DOGAN, JAKE CHAMBERS discovers that either BEN SLIGHTMAN SR. or ANDY the Messenger Robot planted two spy cameras along the Calla’s High Street. (However, it is also possible that an earlier spy planted these cameras.) V:9, V:10, V:13, V:210–12, V:213, V:234, V:238, V:618 (two cameras), VII:423

  JAFFORDS’S LAND (JAFFORDS’S BARN, JAFFORDS’S HOME, RIVER FIELD, ROADSIDE FIELD, SON OF A BITCH): The JAFFORDS FAMILY home place is located on RIVER ROAD. As well as their house and barn, the Jaffordses own three fields. River Field grows rice; Roadside Field grows sharproot, pumpkin, and corn; and Son of a Bitch produces nothing but rocks, blisters, and busted hopes. This final bit of information is hardly surprising, since Son of a Bitch sits on loose ground. (Bogarts probably live below it.) V:1–13, V:343–69, V:376–80 (barn), V:396–99, V:401, V:488–92, V:649

  LIVERY: V:159, V:210

  MAGNETIC HILLS: See ARROYO COUNTRY, listed above; see also DOORWAY CAVE and DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS, both in PORTALS

  MANNI CALLA (MANNI REDPATH, REDPATH KRA-TEN, RED-PATH-A-STURGIS): Manni Calla, home of the local MANNI sect, is located approximately two hours north of Calla Bryn Sturgis. In the CALLA DOGAN, JAKE discovers that someone planted two spy cameras in Manni Calla. V:6 (indirect), V:213, V:399, V:566 (two cameras), VI:3, VI:5, VI:6, VI:7, VI:9, VI:35 (indirect), VI:38

  HENCHICK’S KRA (CABIN): Henchick’s home. He lives here with his three wives. V:466

  TEMPA (MANNI MEETING HALL): The MANNI’s Tempa is equivalent to the Calla’s TOWN GATHERING HALL. VI:6

  OLD CALLA ROAD: Although the Old Calla Road used to look like a true road, by the time Roland, EDDIE, SUSANNAH, JAKE, and OY come across it, the road looks more like a little lane. Like so many of MID-WORLD’s roads, it follows the PATH OF THE BEAM. The village of GOOK lies along this road. W:14

  GOOK, VILLAGE OF: According to Roland, a gook is a deep well which any traveler can drink from without let or penalty. When Roland discovered that a STARKBLAST was about to thunder along the PATH OF THE BEAM, he asked the WHYE ferryman, BIX, if there was a place where he and his tet could hide up and wait for the storm to pass. Bix told them about the village of GOOK, which still had a strong stone meeting hall that could probably withstand the starkblast’s powerful but frigid winds. It also contained a large fireplace where they could keep warm.

  Besides the stone TOWN MEETING HALL, which sat at the southern end of the high street, and the deep well from which the town took its name, the abandoned settlement of Gook was completely dilapidated. Along the village high street was a sad cluster of empty, tumbling buildings that ran on for about a quarter mile. Some had been houses, some stores, but in their state of decay it was impossible to tell which had been which. Our tet used the remains of Gook’s timber buildings as firewood so that they could remain warm during the storm. W:14–15, W:17 (deserted village), W:18–31, W:303–5

  GOOK WELL: Gook’s well was located on the far side of the TOWN MEETING HALL, in what EDDIE assumed had once been the town common. Eddie and SUSANNAH went to the well so that Susannah could clean the town meeting hall’s chimney soot from her body. W:21–23, W
:30

  TOWN MEETING HALL: Gook’s town meeting hall was the only building in the abandoned village which remained intact. Located at the southern end of the town, where the village high street forked, the hall was a squat blockhouse-like building constructed of gray fieldstone. It stood hip-deep in overgrown shrubbery and was partly concealed by young fir trees.

  Although swallows (or bin-rusties) had found their way into the second floor, the large downstairs central hall was still sound. Although the hall’s windows were glassless, Roland, Eddie, and Jake were able to use the building’s many tables and benches as makeshift shutters. (They covered the windows on the northwest wall from the outside, so that STARKBLAST’s strong wind would press the shutters tighter.) Rolling her wheelchair into the fireplace, Susannah Dean opened the flue, and was rewarded by a heavy rain of black soot. (Her colorful response was pure DETTA WALKER.)

  While the starkblast raged outside, our tet remained by the fire, listening to Roland’s two intertwining stories. The first of these was the autobiographical tale of Roland’s adventures in DEBARIA, where he and his ka-mate, JAMIE DeCURRY, hunted down a shapeshifting SKIN-MAN. The second story was a MID-WORLD folktale entitled “The Wind Through the Keyhole.” This story told of the early exploits of TIM ROSS (later known as Tim Stoutheart), a young boy who became a gunslinger, despite the fact that he was not born to the line of ELD. “The Wind Through the Keyhole” was Roland’s favorite childhood tale. W:15, W:18–21, W:23–31, W:303–7