The Dark Tower Companion: A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy (72 page)

Crossovers to Other Works:
Lud is mention by Dorcas in
Rose Madder
. She tells Rosie McClendon that she has seen bodies on fire and heads impaled on poles along the city's streets. In the coda to
Song of Susannah
, Stephen King ponders writing the novel and wonders whether it is Mid-World that Rosie falls into when she goes through the painting.

L
UDWEG
(7)

The city or town north of Lud that Jochabim comes from.

M
ALL
, T
HE
(7)

The park in the middle of Algul Siento.

M
AYOR'S
H
OUSE

See Seafront.

M
EJIS
(L, 1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)

A Barony more than five hundred miles east of Gilead, with the Clean Sea on one side and a desert on the other. Its capital is Hambry. The two dominant industries here are fishing and horse breeding, but it is also the site of oil fields long thought to be dormant. When he was fourteen, Roland was sent here by his father to keep him out of harm's way. Instead, he discovers that most of the big men in town are working for John Farson. He meets and falls in love with Susan Delgado, encounters the witch Rhea and discovers a part of Maerlyn's Rainbow. The Barony has a Mexican flavor, both in the family names and in some of their language. King identifies it as an analog of Mexico in the coda of
Song of Susannah
.

M
ID
-W
ORLD
(L, 1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)

Roland believed this was a fantasyland, but eventually reaches its borders. Following the Path of the Beam, it is defined by Lud on one end and Topeka
on the other. Roland calls it one of the large kingdoms that dominated his world a long time ago, a place of hope, knowledge and light. Eventually, the term becomes synonymous with all of Roland's universe, though technically it refers to only a specific region. Once the
ka-tet
reaches the Borderlands and Calla Bryn Sturgis, Roland believes he has left Mid-World.

M
ILLBANK
(4)

A place to eat in Hambry.

M
OHAINE
D
ESERT
(1, 4.5, 7, M)

A desert located a thousand wheels west of Gilead. The Western Line of the railroad used to run this far, but in the days before the fall of Gilead, the tracks were either destroyed by nature or taken over by outlaws.

N
A'AR
(1, 4.5, 5, 7, M)

The Mid-World equivalent to hell. Also known as coffah.

N
EW
C
ANAAN
(1, 4, 4.5, M)

Gilead's Barony, the innermost of the Inner Baronies.

N
IS
(4.5, 5, 7)

The land of sleep and dreams. Sometimes the word also refers to hell. It's also the name of the Crimson King's horse.

N
ORTH
F
IELD
(5)

The place in Gilead where the gunslingers in training practiced archery.

N
ORTH
F
OREST
K
INNOCK
(4.5)

Also known as the Northern Aerie. Once known as the Gateway of Out-World. Location of the low-security North Forest Kinnock Dogan, Outpost 9, in Bend Quadrant of the Endless Forest, on the edge of the Great Canyon. The Dogan is a round, metal-roofed building next to a tall tower made of metal girders with a red light blinking at the top. Though it has existed for a thousand years, according to Daria, the Dogan is offline, possibly because of magic. A starkblast destroys the tower but leaves the Dogan untouched.

N
ORTHERN
A
ERIE
(4.5)

See North Forest Kinnock.

N
ORTH'RD
B
ARONY
(4, 4.5)

The section of Mid-World far north of New Canaan. Tree is located at the farthest edge of this Barony. It's thousands of miles from Mejis, according to Susan Delgado. Said to be in flames because of John Farson.

O
AKLEY
(4)

One of the towns where Clay Reynolds and his gang tried to rob a bank a year after Roland left Hambry. Six of the ten people in his gang were shot dead by the sheriff and his deputies. Coral Thorin was among those killed. Clay Reynolds and the other three survivors were hanged.

O
DD
L
ANE
(Odd's Lane) (7)

A lane in Westring that intersects with Tower Road. Joe Collins lives about three-quarters of the way down the northeastern arm of the lane.

O
LD
Q
UARTER
(4)

Part of Gilead where vendors sold their wares.

O
NNIE'S
F
ORD
(4)

The rural farming community where Maria Tomas, the maid at Mayor House in Mejis, came from.

O
UR
L
ADY OF
S
ERENITY
(5)

Father Callahan's church in Calla Bryn Sturgis. A low, simple log building with a cross over the door. It has narrow windows of plain glass and an ironwood cross at the front of the sanctuary, which consists of pews on either side of the main aisle. It has never been consecrated.

O
UTER
A
RC
(L, 4)

Also known as the Outers, the Outer Baronies and the Outer Crescent. The group of eastern Baronies that includes Mejis. Said to be less sophisticated than the Inner Arc, which includes Gilead. In addition to horse breeding and fishing, they were also the source of coffee for the Inner Baronies.

O
UT
-W
ORLD
(3, 4, 4.5, 5, 7)

Territories far west of Gilead, domain of John Farson and other outlaws. Shardik originated from there. Sometimes used to refer to any Barony, like Mejis, that isn't part of the Inner Baronies.

P
ASS O' THE
R
IVER
(4)

A town near Hambry.

P
ENNILTON
(4)

A town in New Canaan. Alain Johns, in his guise as Richard Stockworth, says he's from there.

P
LAZA OF THE
C
RADLE
(3)

A large city square in Lud. The Cradle of Lud, home to Blaine the Mono, sits in the middle.

P
LEASANTVILLE
(7)

The town built at the south end of Algul Siento for the benefit of the Breakers. It has one main street containing the Gem Theater, Henry Graham's Drug Store & Soda Fountain, Clover Tavern, Pleasantville Bake Shoppe, Pleasantville Book Store, Pleasantville Shoes, Gay Paree Fashions, Hair Today, and other shops. Pleasantville Hardware Company is a front for Fire-Response Team Bravo.

P
ORLA
(3)

A land beyond Garlan. The great civil war that reached Lud may have started here.

P
ORTAL OF THE
B
EAR
(3, 6)

The beginning point for the Beam of the Bear. Home of Shardik. Located in the Great West Woods. Brooklyn is its analog in Eddie Dean's world.

P
RICETOWN
(1, 3, M)

A town northwest of Tull. Roland bought a mule here while pursuing the man in black.

R
ACEY'S
C
AFÉ
(4.5)

The better of two places to eat in Debaria.

R
EDBIRD
T
WO
(5)

A garnet mine at the end of a spur from the arroyo that leads to the Gloria Mine outside Calla Bryn Sturgis.

R
EDPATH
(5)

The village two hours north of Calla Bryn Sturgis where Henchick's Manni clan lives. Known as Calla Redpath and Calla Manni. Former home of Margaret Eisenhart.

R
ILEA
(3, 4)

The second stop on Blaine the Mono's route from Lud.

R
IMROCKS
(5, M)

The site of one of the final battles before the fall of Gilead. Alain Johns reported that DeMullet's column was ambushed and slaughtered there.

R
ITZY
(4, M)

A miserable little mining village with one unpaved street, located on the eastern slope of the Vi Castis Mountains four hundred miles west of Mejis. It looks like an ugly lowered head between a pair of huge shrugged shoulders—the foothills. It has a mercantile store and a company store, a combined jailhouse and gathering hall and six bars. Roy Depape found out that the Affiliation Brats were possibly apprentice gunslingers here. It's also where Eldred Jonas planned to rendezvous with Coral Thorin while they were taking the oil tankers west.

R
IVER
B
ARONY
(3)

A Barony encompassing the region around the Send River, which includes Lud and River Crossing.

R
IVER
C
ROSSING
(3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

A town 160 wheels northwest of Lud and 40 wheels from Jimtown on the Great Road, and the last point of trade on the river before the great city. Nominally a part of the River Barony. Except on the outskirts, the town seems dusty but intact. A dozen rickety buildings stand on either side of the road. Led by Aunt Talitha Unwin, its residents are all ancient. It used to take six days to reach Lud by road from there, or three days by river.

R
IVER
R
OAD
(3)

A section of the Great Road that leads from Jimtown past River Crossing to Lud.

R
OCKING
B R
ANCH
(4)

Ranch owned by Francis Lengyll in Mejis. It has a working Honda generator.

R
OCKING
B R
ANCH
(5)

Ranch on the East Road in Calla Bryn Sturgis owned by Vaughn Eisenhart. Benjamin Slightman is the foreman.

R
OCKING
H R
ANCH
(4)

A small ranch south of Hambry owned by Laslo Rimer. It has oxen.

R
OTUNDA
(7)

The part of the Fedic Dogan that contains multiple floors ringed with doorways to many different places and times. Nigel says that five hundred and ninety-five of these doors are currently operational. The place reminds Susannah both of the Cradle of Lud and Grand Central Station. The rotunda features prominently in the Discordia interactive game.

S
ALLYWOOD
(4.5)

The southern limit of the railroad's run from Debaria.

S
ALT
, T
HE
(5, M)

A large body of water east of Jericho Hill. The southern part is known as the Clean Sea.

S
ALT
R
OCKS
(4.5)

The foothills north of Debaria.

S
ALT
V
ILLAGE
(4.5)

The makeshift community south of Little Debaria where the salt miners live.

S
EA
R
OAD
(4, M)

Also known as the Seacoast Road. It runs north from Mejis. Olive Thorin takes Susan Delgado on this road after she frees her because she is sure their pursuers will assume they went west toward Gilead.

S
EAFRONT
(4)

Also known as Mayor's House. A sprawling, many-winged adobe hacienda, the residence of the mayor of Hambry. An adobe arch with the words “Come in Peace” forms the entrance to the estate and gives way to a cobblestone courtyard. Its reception hall is circular, with paneled walls decorated with bad paintings of previous mayors.

S
END
B
RIDGE
(3)

The bridge that spans the Send River west of Lud. It reminds the New Yorkers of the George Washington Bridge. It is at least three-quarters of a mile long and may be a thousand years old. The bridge is supported by two four-hundred-foot cable towers at the center. The distance between the deck and the water is at least three hundred feet at the center. The steel used for the bridge came from the LaMerk Foundry.

S
END
R
IVER
(3, 4, 5)

A major river that flows past Lud. It is approximately two miles wide. Lady Oriza's castle, Waydon, was on the river.

S
END
R
IVER
N
UCLEAR
P
LANT
(3)

A power station on the banks of the Send River in Lud.

S
ERENITY
(4.5)

The retreat run by Prioress Everlynne, ten or twelve wheels from Debaria, where Gabrielle Deschain cloistered herself while Roland was in Mejis. It is a white hacienda the size of a Barony estate. The walls are topped with broken glass. Behind it is a grape arbor, a garden and a narrow creek. Steven Deschain thinks the place is run by black ammies (lesbians). In the Marvel series, the retreat is called Our Lady of the Rose and the sisters worship Gan, the god of the Dark Tower.

S
EVEN
M
ILE
F
ARM
(5)

Wayne Overholser's ranch in Calla Bryn Sturgis.

S
EVEN
M
ILE
O
RCHARD
(4)

A fruit orchard north of Hambry.

S
HAPLEIGH
H
OUSE
(4)

Pimli Prentiss's home at the Pleasantville end of the Mall in Algul Siento. A tidy Cape Cod painted electric blue with white trim, called Shit House by the Breakers. It has gingerbread scalloping around the eaves.