by Robin Furth
Debaria was also the location of the women’s retreat where Roland’s mother, GABRIELLE DESCHAIN, secluded herself while Roland was in HAMBRY. Supposedly she went to the retreat to pray for Roland’s safe return, but—in The Wind Through the Keyhole—we come to understand that she was sent there by Roland’s father, Steven, to pay penance for her betrayal. Earlier in the Dark Tower series we were led to believe that Gabrielle met her lover, MARTEN BROADCLOAK, while in Debaria, and that she was schooled in the ways of deceit while there. (Steven Deschain certainly never trusted the Sisters of Serenity afterwards.) However, despite whatever part Gabrielle played in Broadcloak’s plot to overthrow the aristocratic gunslingers, and to assassinate her husband, it seems that Lady Deschain’s mind was unhinged by the time she reached this far western land. Hence, she cannot be fully blamed for her actions. IV:619, IV:620, IV:655, W:38, W:39, W:40, W:42, W:43, W:44, W:53–106, W:267–300
DELIGHTFUL VIEW: Delightful View was DEBARIA’s only hotel. The view wasn’t delightful, and the beds were full of bugs as big as toad’s eyeballs. SHERIFF PEAVY told Roland that if he wanted to sleep at Delightful View, he should wear a full suit of ARTHUR ELD’s armor. W:66
HIGH STREET: DEBARIA’s High Street was wide and paved, though the pavement was already crumbling away to the hardpan underneath. (Luckily, the High Street also had boardwalks.) Roland thought that the remains of the pavement would be entirely gone within a few years. Nonetheless, there was a good deal of commerce on that road and the saloons were busy. W:53–54, W:98, W:270, W:274
BIDDER-WEE SALOON: When the whores of DEBARIA’s Bidder-Wee grew too old or diseased, they ended up in the wrecked saloons of LITTLE DEBARIA. W:62
BLACKSMITH’S SHOP: The blacksmith’s shop was located across the street from DEBARIA’s LIVERY. It was here that Roland had the silver bullet made that would eventually kill the SKIN-MAN terrorizing the town. W:98–99
BUSTED LUCK SALOON: The Busted Luck was one of DEBARIA’s saloons-cum-whorehouses. Although KELLIN FRYE disliked the place, it was a sight better than the saloons and whorehouses found in LITTLE DEBARIA. It was in the Busted Luck that Roland gave all the horse-riding SALTIES a final drink before making them take off their boots. (Roland wanted to discover how many had spent time in BEELIE STOCKADE.) W:62, W:272, W:273, W:277–80, W:286, W:294
CHEERY FELLOWS SALOON AND CAFÉ: When the woman from DEBARIA’s MERCANTILE asked Roland whether he and Jamie had come to kill the SKIN-MAN, a man standing in front of this saloon retorted that the boys didn’t look old enough to kill a bottle of rye. W:54
HIGH SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND JAIL: HIGH SHERIFF HUGH PEAVY’s office was a little wooden building attached to the much larger stone-built town jail. The jail was in the shape of a T. There were eight big cells down the central aisle and a dozen small ones on the cross quarter. One of the smaller ones was the drunk-and-disorderly cell, where Roland stayed with YOUNG BILL STREETER to keep him safe from the SKIN-MAN. W:54–69, W:95–96, W:98–106, W:267–74, W:274, W:281–94
LIVERY: When SMA’ TOOT went off her rails, Roland promised the ENJIE, TRAVIS, that he and JAMIE would ride to DEBARIA’s livery and get help. The livery was located on the far end of the HIGH STREET. W:44, W:98
MERCANTILE: When Roland and JAMIE first road into DEBARIA, a woman came out of the town mercantile and asked the boys whether they had come to kill the SKIN-MAN. W:54
RACEY’S CAFÉ: There were only two restaurants in Debaria, and Racey’s was the better of them. W:99, W:279, W:294
WIDOW BRAILEY’S BOARDING HOUSE: The WIDOW BRAILLEY ran the last boardinghouse in DEBARIA. Two years before Roland and JAMIE arrived, a drunk saddletramp tried to rape her while she sat in the outhouse. She slit the man’s throat. Although the Justice Man, STRINGY BODEAN, declared her not guilty of murder, she decided she’d had enough of Debaria and returned to GILEAD. W:66
DOOLIN RANCH: The Doolin Ranch was located north of DEBARIA. BELINDA DOOLIN, wife of Rancher DOOLIN, was kidnapped by the CROW GANG and taken to the SALT HOUSES where the gang had their hideout. W:56
HIGH PURE: The High Pure was the high meadowland located northeast of the ALKALI FLATS and AMBUSH ARROYO. W:57
JEFFERSON RANCH: Soon after ROLAND DESCHAIN and JAMIE DeCURRY reached DEBARIA, the SKIN-MAN struck again. This time he massacred the people of the Jefferson Ranch. All told, he killed sixteen proddies, the COOK (BILL STREETER), sai JEFFERSON, Jefferson’s WIFE, and his two DAUGHTERS. The Jefferson Ranch was located ten wheels due north of the town of Debaria. It had a wide stock gate with JEFFERSON posted over it in white birch letters. Near the entrance was the shakepole fence of a horse corral, which stood near to the big house. A half mile or so north, standing atop a little hill, was the bunkhouse. W:69–87, W:91–95 (Young Bill’s hypnosis vision), W:270, W:278, W:280
BIG HOUSE: The SKIN-MAN killed sai JEFFERSON’S WIFE in the kitchen of the big house. Her body was under the table and her half-eaten head was by the pantry door. Jefferson’s two DAUGHTERS lay halfway between the house and the barn. Roland and SHERIFF PEAVY questioned YOUNG BILL STREETER under the big house’s willow tree. W:69–87, W:91–95 (Young Bill’s hypnosis vision)
BUNKHOUSE: The Jefferson Ranch bunkhouse was located on a little hill a half mile north of the big house. By the time ROLAND, JAMIE, SHERIFF PEAVY, KELLIN FRYE, VIKKA FRYE, and TRAVIS (the ENJIE of SMA’ TOOT), arrived at the Jefferson Ranch, the bunkhouse door was unlatched and was swinging back and forth in the alkali-wind. Most of the SKIN-MAN’s carnage was discovered in the bunkhouse. The dismembered bodies of sai JEFFERSON, COOKIE, and sixteen PRODDIES were found there. W:69–87, W:91–95 (Young Bill’s hypnosis vision), W:268
TACK SHED (ABANDONED HOSTELRY): Roland and JAMIE found YOUNG BILL STREETER hiding in this abandoned tack shed under a pile of old tack. (Many years previously, this tack shed had been a hostelry and a jackleg veterinary.) Located on an uphill lane north of the bunkhouse, it was the perfect place for the SKIN-MAN to tether his horse before he transformed into a monster. After slaying almost everyone at the ranch (and becoming injured in the process), the flesh-eating shapeshifter staggered into this tack shed. It was here that Young Bill spied the killer’s feet and ankles as he transformed back into a human being. Although Billy didn’t see the skin-man’s human face, he did see the blue ankle ring that he had tattooed around his ankle as well as the scar that bisected it. This proved to be the skin-man’s undoing. W:78–87, W:91–95 (Young Bill’s hypnosis vision)
LITTLE DEBARIA: The poor and run-down town of Little Debaria served the needs of the SALTIES, or salt miners, who mined salt from the nearby SALT ROCKS. (Little Debaria was located in the foothills of the Salt Rocks.) There were two saloons in Little Debaria, and they were both nasty places. When the whores who served DEBARIA’s whorehouses became too old or diseased, they ended up in Little Debaria. (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.) Although the DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE was owned by rich men from GILEAD, the company store (and most of little Debaria) was owned by a nasty character called SAM SHUNT. W:45 (indirect), W:55, W:62, W:64, W:85, W:270, W:275–77 (and Shunt the Cunt), W:289
COMPANY STORE: The DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE’s company store belonged to a man named SAM SHUNT (known as Shunt the Cunt to the miners). As well as the company store, Shunt owned the bars, the whores, and the skiddums, or shacks, where the miners slept. Twice a year, he set up races for the miners—footraces, obstacle course races, and horse races. He took the entrance fees out of the miners’ wages to pay his expenses. The winners got a year’s worth of debt forgiven at the company store. However, Shunt charged the other miners such high interest rates that he never lost out. W:275–76
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 hid
den, 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
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
DEBARIA RAIL LINE
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
DEBARIA SALT COMBYNE
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
DEBARIA SALT MINES
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
DEBARIA STREAM
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
DEBARIA, TOWN OF
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
DELAIN
See EASTAR’D BARONY
DELIGHTFUL VIEW
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
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
See NORTH’RD BARONY
DIS
The orange ball of MAERLYN’S RAINBOW is reputed to be in Dis.
IV:437
DOGAN
See entry in PORTALS
DOOLIN RANCH
See DEBARIA, BARONY OF
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
E
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 w
ere 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