Read Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated Online
Authors: Robin Furth
Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (82 page)
V:170
RITZY
The down-and-out town of Ritzy is located four hundred miles west of MEJIS. It is a one-road mining village on the eastern slope of the VI CASTIS MOUNTAINS, fifty miles from the VI CASTIS CUT. Once there were freehold mines in the foothills, but they were regulated out by the VI CASTIS COMPANY.
IV:265–271, IV:348, IV:391, IV:527, IV:545
BEAR AND TURTLE MERCANTILE & SUNDRIE ITEMS:
IV:265
HATTIGAN’S SALOON:
IV:266, IV:267–69
SIX ROARING BARROOMS:
IV:265
TOWN GATHERING HALL/JAILHOUSE:
IV:265
VI CASTIS COMPANY STORE:
IV:265
VI CASTIS CUT:
IV:265
(fifty miles from Ritzy)
VI CASTIS MINES:
IV:265–66
VI CASTIS MOUNTAINS:
IV:265, IV:527
VI CASTIS (TOWN):
FARSON will refine CITGO oil here. IV:431
RIVER BARONIES (AND WAYDON CASTLE)
According to the stories Roland heard as a child, LADY ORIZA, the rice goddess, was born in Waydon Castle near the RIVER SEND. However, in the BORDERLANDS Oriza is associated with the RIVER WHYE. Although Lady Oriza is always associated with a river (rice only grows in flooded paddies), the particular river barony she rules may vary from region to region and from folktale to folktale.
V:325–26
(Waydon Castle)
RIVER BARONY
River Barony, which our
ka-tet
traveled through in
The Waste Lands,
took its name from the RIVER SEND, which flowed through it. According to some MID-WORLD folktales, LADY ORIZA came from River Barony.
III:240, III:379 (West River Barony)
BARONY CASTLE AND VILLAGE:
III:242–43
GREAT PLAINS OF RIVER BARONY:
III:170
(not named yet),
III:281, III:407
JIMTOWN:
A village near RIVER CROSSING. III:228, III:240, III:309, III:346
**LUD:
Lud, which our
ka-tet
travels through in
The Waste Lands,
was once the major city of River Barony. For many years after River Barony erupted in civil war, Lud held out against its besieging harriers. However, as the years passed, the difference between the besiegers and the besieged began to disintegrate. By the time our
tet
arrives, both sides are mad.
When our story begins, Lud has been torn apart by constant warfare for more than a hundred years. The major players in this ongoing battle are the PUBES, who are the descendants of the besieged artisans who stayed in Lud to defend their homes, and the GRAYS, who are the great-great-grandchildren of the attacking harriers. The Pubes practice human sacrifice to appease the god-drums operated by the Grays (with the help of Lud’s sadistic computer BLAINE) and the Grays have dwindled to a gang of murderous, disease-ridden lechers hiding like rats in mazes below the city.
Children, especially boys, are sought out in the decaying and decadent city of Lud. They can be trained as fighters and can be used for sexual gratification. In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
we learn that two thousand years before our story takes place, Lud looked a lot like NEW YORK CITY. Later in the series, we discover that Lud is actually MID-WORLD’s version of this great metropolis. III:164, III:170–72, III:181
(drums),
III:195, III:222–23
(drums),
III:226, III:228, III:233, III:238, III:239–45, III:240, III:242, III:248, III:254–55
(drums),
III:256–57, III:263, III:267, III:268
(drums),
III:269–70, III:274, III:281, III:282
(drums),
III:285, III:287, III:289–302
(cross bridge),
III:302–404
(drums 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317; land of drums, 321, 329, 332–33, 411; 404 leaving on Blaine),
III:405, III:406, III:408, III:410, III:411, IV:16, IV:23, IV:25, IV:28, IV:34, IV:35, IV:62, IV:66, IV:75
(drums),
IV:76
(drums),
IV:663, V:35, V:135, V:141, V:165
(and Mid-World),
V:166, V:178–79
(and New York),
V:225, V:246, V:319
(The Great City),
V:377, V:379, V:512, V:565, V:610, VI:14, VI:67, VI:91, VI:118, VI:152, VI:184, VI:206, VI:244, VI:287, VII:84, VII:109, VII:120, VII:160, VII:502, VII:521, VII:558, VII:590, VII:594, VII:725, W:10–11, W:13, W:31
APPLE PARK:
TICK-TOCK, leader of the GRAYS, remembers visiting this park on the west side of Lud when he was a child. His father took him there to see the cider house and apple press. III:386
CITY NORTH:
The PUBES occupy City North. It is here that they practice human sacrifice in response to the god-drums. III:308–12, III:316–25
(321 named)
CRADLE OF LUD/BLAINE’S CRADLE:
The Cradle of Lud is a magnificent structure of blinding white stone. Despite the fact that its builders died off hundreds of generations before, the walls still clean themselves with endless streams of water. Marching around the Cradle’s roof are the GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM, two by two. The roof’s corners are guarded by dragons, but on its peak, towering sixty feet above an already imposing edifice, is a golden statue of a gunslinger.
The Cradle of Lud—which was the GREAT OLD ONES’ equivalent of GRAND CENTRAL STATION—is the home of BLAINE the Insane Mono. Praise the Imperium! III:303, III:316, III:322–25
(Eddie and Susannah make Pubes bring them here),
III:329, III:331–34, III:340–50, III:360–65, III:372–73, III:381, III:382–85, III:393–400, IV:67, IV:71, IV:75, V:38, VII:77, VII:492
GRAYS’ CASTLE/GRAYS’ MAZE/CRADLE OF THE GRAYS:
This winding mess below the city looks more like a trash midden than the headquarters of the GRAYS. In order to build it they dragged old cars, old computers, and even sculptures and fountains from other parts of the city. This varied pile acts as a kind of barrier, but one full of trip wires and booby traps. Located in the eastern part of Lud, the Cradle of the Grays is essentially the kingdom of the very nasty ANDREW QUICK, also known as TICK-TOCK. From here the Grays operate the god-drums, whose frenzied beat drives the PUBES to sacrifice each other. III:304–8, III:312–16, III:325–31, III:334–40, III:350–61
(357 named),
III:365–72, III:373–78, III:378–82, III:385–90, IV:647
GREAT ROAD TO LUD:
See
GREAT ROAD
GREAT WALL OF LUD:
III:405
HANGING FOUNTAIN:
III:313–14, III:328–29
LUD BRIDGE:
See
SEND RIVER:
SEND RIVER BRIDGE
LUDWEG:
The town of Ludweg is located north of Lud. JOCHABIM, the hume dishwasher whom JAKE CHAMBERS meets in the kitchens of the DIXIE PIG, originally came from Ludweg. VII:84
PLAZA OF THE CRADLE:
III:331–34, III:341
SEND BASIN NUCLEAR PLANT:
Lud computers control this area as well. III:379
STREET OF THE TURTLE:
See also
GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM,
in
CHARACTERS. III:309–12, III:316–25, III:331–34, III:341
RIVER CROSSING:
River Crossing is the last outpost of civilization in River Barony. Its citizens are ancient but this does not stop them from trying to keep the old ways alive. Over the years they have had to keep their gardens and well-tended homes and meeting places secret from the harriers who pass through, burning, killing, and blinding as they go. River Crossing is ruled by the matriarch AUNT TALITHA. The old folks of this town tell our
ka-tet
everything they know about the lay of the land, give them a wonderful meal, and then send them on their way toward Lud. Talitha gives Roland her silver cross and asks him to lay it at the foot of the DARK TOWER. III:225–45, III:245–51, III:253, III:254, III:257, III:258, III:270, III:276, III:284, III:288, III:309, III:310, III:329, III:383, IV:14, IV:31, IV:52, V:55, V:78, V:110, V:134, V:192, VI:111, VI:117, VI:118, VI:182, VII:50, VII:120, VII:126
(a forgotten town),
VII:473, VII:802
CHURCH OF THE BLOOD EVERLASTING:
III:227, III:232–45, III:232–49
LANDING, THE:
III:227, III:240
RIVER ROAD:
III:228
SEND RIVER:
The Send River flows through RIVER BARONY. Roland’s
katet
travels along the Send River through much of
The Waste Lands
and then crosses it in order to enter LUD. (Below are some specific references.)
III: 170–71, III:176, III:223, III:241, III:256, III:283, III:285, III:288–302, III:310, III:311, III:363, IV:28, IV:31, IV:53, IV:100, V:325
SEND RIVER BRIDGE (CROSSING TO LUD):
In
The Waste Lands,
our
tet
had to cross this dilapidated bridge to enter the city of LUD. Unfortunately, the child-snatcher GASHER was waiting for them on the far side. EDDIE and SUSANNAH think that the Send River Bridge resembles the GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE in NEW YORK CITY. This bridge was made by LaMERK FOUNDRY. III:241–42, III:256–57, III:268, III:285, III:287, III:288–303, III:380, VII:502
TOM’S NECK:
A town located near River Crossing. III:240
WEST RIVER BARONY:
BLAINE (who is actually the computer-brain behind all of Lud’s computers) controls this area. III:379
RIVER CROSSING
See
RIVER BARONY
RIVER FIELD
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS: JAFFORDS LAND
RIVER ROAD
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS
RIVER SEND
See
RIVER BARONY
RIVER STREET
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS
ROADSIDE FIELD
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS: JAFFORDS LAND
ROCKING B RANCH
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
,
and
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS
ROCKING H RANCH
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
: HAMBRY
ROSALITA’S COTTAGE
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS: OUR LADY OF SERENITY
ROSS-KELLS STAKE
SALLYWOOD
SALT HILLS
SALT-HOUSES
SALTIE TOWN
SANTA FE
SEAFRONT
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
: HAMBRY
SEND BASIN NUCLEAR PLANT
See
RIVER BARONY
: LUD
SERENITY WOMEN’S RETREAT
SEVEN MILE
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS
SEVEN-MILE ORCHARD
See
MEJIS, BARONY OF
: HAMBRY
SHARDIK’S WOODS (SHARDIK’S LAIR)
See
GREAT WEST WOODS;
see also
BEAMS, PATH OF THE
,
in
PORTALS
SHAVÉD MOUNTAINS
The Shavéd Mountains are located northwest of GILEAD. FARSON intended to battle the AFFILIATION here.
IV:378, IV:430, IV:465
SHEB’S
See
TULL
SILK RANCH ROAD
SON OF A BITCH
See
BORDERLANDS
: CALLA BRYN STURGIS: JAFFORDS LAND
SOUTH PLAINS
The MUTANT minstrel CHEVIN OF CHAYVEN—one of the CHILDREN OF RODERICK—once called the South Plains his home. Although his tribe originated in lands far from those Roland ever knew, Chevin’s people gave their grace to Roland’s ancestor ARTHUR ELD in the days before the world moved on. EDDIE DEAN assumes that the South Plains are in MID-WORLD, so I have placed them here as well.
VII:51
SOUTH SEAS
The RIVER WHYE, which runs through the BORDERLANDS, eventually flows into the South Seas.
V:136
SPEAKING RINGS
See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS
,
in
PORTALS
SQUARE YARD
See
NEW CANAAN, BARONY OF
: GILEAD
STAPE BROOK
STOKES BURYING PARLOR AND SMITHY
STONE CIRCLES
See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS
,
in
PORTALS
SUBURB OF NOWHERE
This is EDDIE DEAN’s term for the area northwest of the RIVER WHYE, where he, ROLAND, SUSANNAH, JAKE, and OY travel at the beginning of
The Wind Through the Keyhole.
Other than BIX, the RIVER WHYE ferryman, most of the people in this area stay well hidden. However, Roland does catch sight of a frightened woman with two children and a MUTANT farmer with a jerking tentacle attached to one corner of his mouth.
W:4
SWAMP
See
MID-FOREST
(MID-FOREST BOG)
**TAUNTON
In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
it is the people of Taunton, and not the people of FARSON, that HAX and THE GOOD MAN’s followers try to poison.