by Robin Furth
E:165–67, E:168, E:177–80, E:180–82, E:183, E:186 (soup), E:188, E:190–92, E:193, E:195, E:200, E:202, E:205, E:206, VI:234
SISTER COQUINA: E:165–67, E:173–77, E:177 (indirect), E:180–82, E:190–92, E:197–99
SISTER JENNA: Sister Jenna is a young black-haired beauty of twenty-one or twenty-two. Unlike that of her sisters, her youth is real, not the result of glammer. Although Jenna is a vampire and participates in her order’s grisly meals, she wishes to rebel against her destiny.
Sister Jenna appeares to be a kind of vampire royalty. Although the other sisters wear bells of bright silver, the ones Jenna wears looked as though they have been smoked over a fire. These dark bells—also called charry bells—are the true sigul of the order, and give Jenna special powers over the doctor bugs.
Jenna falls in love with Roland and betrays her sisters in order to help him escape, but human love is forbidden her. After she helps Roland flee from the hospital pavilion and then elude the evil clutches of SISTER MARY, Jenna’s body becomes cam tam. E:159–61, E:162, E:165, E:166–73, E:174, E:175, E:177, E:179, E:180, E:184–88, E:189, E:194, E:195, E:197–209
JENNA’S MOTHER: Like her daughter, Jenna’s mother tried to escape her fate. She deserted her order and bore a child, presumably to a human man, though it is possible these creatures reproduce by parthenogenesis. Unfortunately, escape was not possible. Without blood to sustain her, Jenna’s mother began to sicken. She returned to her sisters along with her small child. Jenna’s mother died, but the Little Sisters kept and raised Jenna. E:167, E:183, E:184, E:202, E:206
SISTER LOUISE: E:165–67, E:171, E:180–82, E:183–86, E:190–92, E:200–201, E:205
SISTER MARY/BIG SISTER: Sister Mary, also called Big Sister, is the head of the Little Sisters’ order. Like the others of her kind, she is actually more shade than substance.
Although she does not wear the charry bells as does JENNA, Sister Mary’s dominance over her order is complete. Whenever one of them disobeys her wishes, Sister Mary sends them to the nearby cave called THOUGHTFUL HOUSE. Sometimes she even has disobedient sisters whipped.
Out of love for Roland and despair over her fate, Jenna rebels against Big Sister. But outside the glammer-filled pavilion, not even the charry bells are strong enough to defeat her enemy. In the end, it is the sigul-bearing CROSS DOG—not Jenna or Roland—that destroys Sister Mary. E:165–67, E:169, E:175–76, E:177, E:180–82, E:183–86, E:187, E:190–92, E:193–95, E:196, E:197, E:201, E:202–4, E:205, E:208
SISTER MICHELA: E:165–67, E:171, E:180–82, E:188–89, E:190–92, E:200–201, E:205
SISTER TAMRA: E:165–67, E:171, E:176–77, 180–82, E:190–92, E:196, E:200–201, E:205
EMERSON, SONNY
See TASSENBAUM, DAVID
ENGINEER BOB
See CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO: ENGINEER BOB
ESTEVEZ, JULIO
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: DETTA/ODETTA’S “A TRAIN” ACCIDENT
ESTRADA, DEELIE
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: FARMERS (SMALLHOLD): ESTRADA, GEORGE
ESTRADA, GEORGE
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: FARMERS (SMALLHOLD)
ETHELYN, AUNTIE
See KING, STEPHEN: KING FAMILY
EURASIAN HOTEL CLERK
See PLAZA–PARK HYATT CHARACTERS: RECEPTIONISTS: EXOTIC HOTEL RECEPTIONIST
EVANS, BERYL
See CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO
EVERLYNNE OF SERENITY (PRIORESS)
See SERENITY, SISTERS OF
EXCALIBUR
See ELD, ARTHUR
EX LIBRIS, MR.
See TOWER, CALVIN
F
FAGONARD CHARACTERS
Deep in NORTH’RD BARONY’s ENDLESS FOREST sat the great swamp known as the FAGONARD. Not even the people of TREE, who knew the forest better than any other people in Mid-World, dared to enter the swamp. Not only was the Fagonard full of natural dangers such as DRAGONS, but it also contained the deadly leavings of the OLD PEOPLE. Unlike the rest of the Endless Forest, which was filled with the grave, sweet-sour smell of ironwood trees, the Fagonard swamp stank of stagnant water and rotting vegetation. The Fagonard was home to a mutant tribe which TIM ROSS called the MUDMEN. Like the mutant CHILDREN OF RODERICK, the MUDMEN probably once gave their allegiance to ARTHUR ELD.
CANNIBAL REPTILES: These hungry creatures have scaly, triangular heads, protruding eyes, and yawning jaws filled with triangular teeth. They have claws on the ends of their stubby front legs and tails which are blackish-green on top and white as a dead man’s belly underneath. Above their snouts are nests of eyes that pulse and bulge. When their long jaws gnash, their teeth sound like stones driven together. The shortest of these beasts is ten feet long, but most are far longer. When Tim shoots one of these monsters (it is trying to eat him), he discovers that its blood is blackish-red. W:192, W:193–198 (half dozen following Tim), W:198 (circling), W:199 (described, nest of eggs), W:201 (shot), W:203, W:211 (scaly), W:239
DRAGON: See DRAGON, listed separately
MUDMEN (PLANTMEN; FAGONARDERS; SWAMP PEOPLE): TIM ROSS first becomes aware of the mudmen of the FAGONARD while he is battling the CANNIBAL REPTILES that want to eat him for dinner. During this confrontation Tim suspects that his mutant onlookers are cheering for the hungry monster, but he soon comes to realize that they are cheering for him. As soon as Tim takes out WIDOW SMACK’s four-shot revolver and shoots the alligator-like reptile that’s lunging for him, the mudmen drop to their knees, place their fists against their foreheads, and speak the only word which they seem to know. That word is hile. Realizing that the mudmen mistake him for a young gunslinger, Tim decides to play the roll of a descendant of the ELD. “Hile, bondsman!” Tim cries to the mudmen on the bank. “I see you very well! Rise in love and service!” Tim’s role-playing works, since the mudmen subsequently row to the tussock where he is stranded and rescue him. However, we can’t help but wonder whether the good-natured mudmen would have rescued him anyway.
Once he sees them up close, Tim realizes that the mudmen aren’t really mudmen at all. They are plantmen. Although they are basically humanoid, with rounded shoulders and shaggy heads, long strands of green and brown moss hang from their arms, torsos, and faces. Shelf-mushrooms and other fungoid growths sprout from their bodies, and many sport festering sores. Though the mudmen are kind, their smell is earthy and enormous. Tim meets sixteen of the Fagonarders, and though he knows that the tribe must have some women as well, he doubts that there are any children. The mutant mudmen are becoming part of the swamp. They are a dying tribe.
As was stated earlier, the only word the mudmen seem to know is “hile,” but they can palaver with one another in a mixture of grunts, clicks, chittering bird noises, and growls. In order to communicate with Tim, their HELMSMAN (who seems to be their best actor) uses a series of gestures and signs. Although they are mutants, the mudmen of the Fagonard are extremely intelligent. Not only have they developed a relationship with the Fagonard DRAGON (they give her offerings of boarheads and other such delicacies) but they also have a sense of their own destiny. Sadly they know that they will die in the coming STARKBLAST.
As a parting gift, the Fagonarders give Tim the NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS Portable Guidance Module named DARIA, who becomes Tim’s computerized guide as well as his friend. Given the mudmen’s respect for gunslingers and the ELD, CONSTANT READERS cannot help but wonder whether the tribe took an oath to Arthur Eld in the longago, much like the mutant CHILDREN OF RODERICK. W:193, W:198–216, W:220, W:226–27, W:229, W:256
BLACK SILK TOP HAT/HELMSMAN: The helmsman of the mudmen’s boat can be recognized by the black silk top hat he wears, the red ribbon of which is so long that it trails over one of his bare shoulders. Long strands of green and brown moss swing from his scrawny arms; more hangs from his cheeks and straggles from his chin. Tim thinks that if the helmsman had not been born in the Fagonard, he might have been handsome. He is broad-shouldered and sturdily built, and though his hands have si
x fingers, his eyes are bright with intelligence. Unfortunately, he was born in the Fagonard. Hence, he is afflicted by the skin diseases common there. Just above his right nipple is an enormous infected sore, which Tim sees burst in a spray of pus and blood. This wound births a spider the size of a robin’s egg and a slick mass of throbbing eggs. Not surprisingly, Tim has to choke back a need to vomit as the helmsman tosses the spider away and scoops out the eggs that the spider had left inside of him.
Not only is Black Silk Top Hat the helmsman of the mudmen’s boat, he is also the individual who calls up the Fagonard DRAGON to accept the tribe’s offering of a boar’s head. (They carry this offering on the boat’s sail-less mast.) He beckons the beast with a sharp, hooting cry, followed by several rapid clicks. It is also the Helmsman who decides to give Tim the NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS Portable Guidance Module named DARIA. W:204–16 (207 described)
CREW: These four men (along with their HELMSMAN), rescue TIM ROSS when he is trapped on a tussock in the watery land of the Fagonard. Although their boat is cobbled together from wood-scraps and rides low in the water, it floats well enough to take Tim across the swamp. Their paddles are made of an orange wood which Tim has never seen before. W:201
HEADMAN: The mudmen’s headman is the tallest member of the tribe. He communicates to TIM that the tribe will die in the coming STARKBLAST. W:203, W:212–213, W:256
TALL, BALD, AND TOOTHLESS: At the request of the HELMSMAN, Tall, Bald, and Toothless runs to the mudmen’s camp. He brings back a waterskin and a small purse of the finest, smoothest leather Tim has ever seen. The Helmsman gives the purse to Tim. It turns out to be the NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS Portable Guidance Module DARIA. W:202–26 (209 described)
TWO TRIBESMEN WHOM HELMSMAN SENDS TO GET FOOD: W:209
SUCKERBUGS: These blood-drinking bugs swarm TIM as he travels through the FAGONARD. While Tim is following ARMANEETA, he is so mesmerized by her loveliness that he does not feel the insects’ stings though they leave bloody splats on his skin. W:193
FANNIN, RICHARD
See WALTER: WALTER’S ALIASES: R.F.
FARADAY, GEORGE
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS
FARADAY, GEORGINA
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: FARMERS (SMALLHOLD): FARADAY, NEIL
FARADAY, NEIL
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: FARMERS (SMALLHOLD)
FARDEN, WALTER
See WALTER
FARDO
See CORT
FARMER, HALF-MUTANT
See MUTANTS: HUMAN MUTANTS (MINOR MUTATIONS)
**FARSON, JOHN (THE GOOD MAN)
When Roland was a boy, the harrier and stage-robber John Farson began to gain followers in the west. Originally from either GARLAN or DESOY, the Good Man opposed the inherited wealth and power of the aristocratic gunslingers as well as what he claimed were the unfair practices of the AFFILIATION, which supported them. Many were attracted to the Good Man’s cause, including failed gunslingers, such as the BIG COFFIN HUNTER, ELDRED JONAS. In The Gunslinger, we saw GILEAD’s head cook, HAX, hanged for his allegiance to Farson.
Despite his quasi-religious status, the Good Man was in actuality a madman who wanted nothing more than to bring death and destruction to MID-WORLD. A bandit who justified his thefts and murders with talk of democracy and equality, he had no intention of setting up a democratic government in place of Mid-World’s reigning order. Like the CRIMSON KING, whose sigul he used and whom he ultimately served, Farson gloried in chaos, and chaos and destruction were exactly what he brought to the civilized lands Roland knew as a boy. At the beginning of Wizard and Glass, Farson had MAERLYN’S GRAPEFRUIT, one of Mid-World’s magic seeing-spheres. Luckily for IN-WORLD, Roland stole it from him, though Roland paid a great price for this theft.
Despite the fact that Hax equated him with Jesus, there was little of the savior in the Good Man. According to HIGH SHERIFF HUGH PEAVY of DEBARIA, one of Farson’s favorite tricks was kidnapping for ransom. His harriers were probably responsible for destroying the town of BEELIE after the militia closed their outpost there, though some of Debaria’s inhabitants—including Deputy STROTHER—refused to believe that the Good Man was responsible for that particular evil. Late in his career Farson was known for his cruelty. According to ELDRED JONAS, the Good Man was dangerously insane. One of his favorite pastimes was playing polo with human heads as the balls.
Unlike the gunslingers, who knew that the OLD ONES’ weapons were too dangerous to use, Farson and his men resurrected the Old People’s weapons and tanks and planned to use them in their final battle against the Affiliation. Luckily, many of these pieces of machinery were destroyed by Roland, CUTHBERT ALLGOOD, and ALAIN JOHNS during their HAMBRY adventures. Ultimately, however, Farson and his men triumphed. At the battle of JERICHO HILL, they killed the last of Roland’s gunslinger-companions, including our beloved Cuthbert Allgood.
One passage in The Gunslinger hints that Farson was actually STEVEN DESCHAIN’s sorcerer, MARTEN BROADCLOAK, who in turn was none other than Roland’s nemesis, WALTER O’DIM. However, by the end of the Dark Tower series we discover that Farson—though mad as the Crimson King himself—was not another incarnation of the demonic R.F., but one of his many pawns.
I:101–2, I:105, I:111, II:126, III:242, IV:110, IV:111, IV:142, IV:149 (bandit who talks of “equality” and “democracy”), IV:151 (began as harrier/stage-robber in Garlan and Desoy), IV:163 (in Cressia. Speaks out against “class slavery”), IV:164, IV:174–78, IV:183, IV:194, IV:196 (and “Good Men”), IV:199, IV:206, IV:262–63, IV:277, IV:302–3 (brings Death), IV:344 (indirect reference), IV:348, IV:351 (attacks nobility, chivalry, ancestor worship. Will use robots), IV:368, IV:378 (insane, plays polo with human heads), IV:386, IV:402, IV:404 (eye sigul; Farson described and compared to Lord Perth), IV:421, IV:422–25, IV:430–33, IV:438 (and pink talisman), IV:443, IV:470, IV:487–88, IV:489, IV:490, IV:496 (Farson’s soldiers), IV:501, IV:518, IV:519 (and Horsemen’s Association), IV:520, IV:522, IV:531, IV:538, IV:543, IV:580, IV:583 (hand-clasping sigul), IV:584, IV:585, IV:589 (his lieutenants), IV:590, IV:597, IV:601 (the last of his men goes screaming into thinny), IV:609, IV:619, IV:621 (Roland sees Farson’s triumph in Wizard’s glass), IV:623, IV:632, V:171, V:612 (The Good Man), VII:135, VII:172, VII:174, VII:528, VII:550, W:36, W:37, W:39, W:40 (land pirate), W:41, W:56, W:102, W:103, W:131 (Good Man and the actions of the Covenanter)
FARSON’S MEN:
FARSON’S NEPHEW: Disguised as a wandering singer, this young man smuggled a poisoned knife into GILEAD. The knife was meant to kill STEVEN DESCHAIN. IV:621
GRISSOM/GRISSOM’S MEN/BLUE-FACED BARBARIANS: Grissom was the leader of Farson’s men during the battle of JERICHO HILL, where the AFFILIATION was defeated. Grissom’s men are described as “blue-faced barbarians.” V:169 (Grissom’s men), V:170, V:171 (blue-faced), V:410 (blue faces), VII:174 (Walter fought with the “blue-faced barbarians”)
GRISSOM’S SON: V:169–70 (eagle-eyed)
HENDRICKS, RODNEY: IV:590–93, IV:594 (general), IV:596–98 (present for battle; 598 swallowed by thinny)
LATIGO, GEORGE: One of Farson’s chief lieutenants. IV:368, IV:371, IV:378 (hired Big Coffin Hunters), IV:381, IV:404, IV:405, IV:421–25 (blond, from Northern In-World), IV:470, IV:484, IV:501, IV:523, IV:528, IV:542, IV:583, IV:584, IV:589–91 (589 we learn his first name), IV:592–94 (and his men), IV:596–600 (600 walks into thinny), IV:623, V:576 (men)
RAINES: Bugler. IV:591, IV:596–98 (not named, but present for battle)
FARSON SUPPORTERS
BETWEEN GILEAD AND BEESFORD-ON-ARTEN (GENERAL): In The Wind Through the Keyhole, we learn that in the scrubland towns beyond Gilead, many of the people are mutants, and many of them support The Good Man, John Farson. When they see Roland and JAIME DeCURRY riding by in the train SMA’ TOOT, they point at an invisible eye at the center of their foreheads, indicating their support for the Good Man. Although some of GABRIELLE DESCHAIN’s relatives still live in Beesford-on-Arten
this does not increase the support for the gunslingers in the area. W:41
FAT MAN WITH ROCK: Outside BEESFORD-ON-ARTEN, a fat man threw a rock at ROLAND and JAMIE’s train, SMA’ TOOT. As the rock bounced off of the closed stable-car door, the man grinned, grabbed his crotch, and waddled away. W:41
FAT MAN WITH ROCK
See FARSON: FARSON SUPPORTERS
FEATHEREX (GRAND FEATHEREX)
The Grand Featherex is a winged being that supposedly lives in the mythical Kingdom of GARLAN. Like the stork, the Featherex brings babies. In The Eyes of the Dragon, we learn that this creature is related to the phoenix.
II:66, IV:151
FEDIC CHARACTERS
The unfortunate residents of FEDIC were annihilated by the Red Death more than two dozen centuries before the WOLVES began invading the BORDERLAND CALLAS. SUSANNAH DEAN’s demonic possessor, MIA (who haunted Fedic before she was incarnated in a human body by WALTER and his cohorts), describes the people of Fedic as stubborn. They must have been. Their town was caught between the haunted CASTLE DISCORDIA, the evil FEDIC DOGAN, and the DEVIL’S ARSE, a crack in the earth in which monsters bred. By the time Mia haunted Fedic, most of the women there were already giving birth to monsters, thanks to the poisons left by the GREAT OLD ONES. However, the one perfect baby born into that town—named MICHAEL—sowed the seeds of Mia’s great child hunger and led to her Faustian pact with WALTER and the WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE.
