by Robin Furth
FIRE-RESPONSE TEAM BRAVO: Although they are officially the DEVAR-TOI’s mechanical firemen, Fire-Response Team Bravo are actually better at running people over with their fire engines than they are at putting out fires. VII:363, VII:369, VII:371–73, VII:389, VII:393
NIGEL THE BUTLER (CHUMLEY): When MORDRED DESCHAIN is due to be born in the FEDIC DOGAN, Nigel the Butler (DNK4932 DOMESTIC) arrives in the EXTRACTION ROOM bearing an incubator. However, as soon as he sees Mordred turn into a spider and devour his birth mother, Nigel realizes that such precautions probably aren’t necessary. During the fray which follows Mordred’s birth, SUSANNAH DEAN shoots out Nigel’s eyes (an aggressive but understandable act, since Nigel closely resembles ANDY, CALLA BRYN STURGIS’s treacherous Messenger Robot). Although both Nigel and Andy are ASIMOV ROBOTS, Nigel has a much more sensitive nature. Whereas Andy seems to take a vengeful pleasure in betraying the people of the Callas, Nigel seems positively pleased to help feed and house our tet once they are reunited in the Fedic Dogan. In fact, he finds feeding small animals to Spider-Mordred so distressing that his circuits blow. VII:65–80, VII:111, VII:145–46 (sleeping until next entry), VII:148–49, VII:150–59 (Asimov Robots), VII:160, VII:161, VII:162, VII:163–64, VII:166–67, VII:169 (indirect), VII:171, VII:172 (indirect), VII:176, VII:189, VII:250, VII:541, VII:707
PATRICIA: Patricia was the twin of BLAINE the Insane Mono. She was blue and traveled northwest. Blaine fried her circuits because he was tired of hearing her cry all the time. Although back in The Waste Lands our tet saw the remains of her bright blue train body jutting out of the RIVER SEND near the city of LUD, in the distant past Patricia also embarked from the town of FEDIC in END-WORLD. III:245–49 (speaking of Blaine, probably mean Patricia), III:288–89, III:342, III:346, III:410–11, III:412, IV:4, VI:237, VI:244, VI:269, VII:89, W:13
PHIL: When TED BRAUTIGAN first arrived at the DEVAR-TOI, Phil was his robot driver. His favorite saying was “My name’s Phil, I’m over the hill, but the best news is I never spill.” Not long after Ted met him, Phil ended up on the garbage dump. VII:289–90
SHARDIK: See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM, listed separately
SPIRIT OF THE SNOW COUNTRY: Along with DELICIOUS RAIN, Spirit of the Snow Country is one of the D-line trains that run from the DEVAR-TOI to the DISCORDIA. VII:411
SPIRIT OF TOPEKA: The Spirit of Topeka is the atomic engine (also called a hot-enge) which runs from the DEVAR-TOI to FEDIC. Like BLAINE, it doesn’t require a human driver. VII:531, VII:536–37
STUTTERING BILL: Stuttering Bill (whose official name is William, D-746541-M, Maintenance Robot, Many Other Functions) is the kindhearted robot that SUSANNAH and Roland meet after their terrible ordeal with DANDELO. Like the other ASIMOV ROBOTS we’ve met, Bill has rudimentary emotions. Hence, he is extremely happy to find out that our dwindling tet has freed PATRICK DANVILLE from his prison in Dandelo’s basement. Stuttering Bill gives Roland, Susannah, and Patrick HO FAT II and HO FAT III to speed them along on their journey to the DARK TOWER. Roland fixes Bill’s stutter using the power of suggestion. (It works, even though he doesn’t have access to Bill’s fix-it manual.) VII:661–62, VII:663, VII:664, VII:665, VII:670, VII:679, VII:705–10, VII:715–22, VII:753 (indirect), VII:774 (indirect), VII:801, VII:803
TURNIP-HEADED ROBOT: JAKE comes across this run-down robot in the passage between the DIXIE PIG and the FEDIC/NEW YORK doorway. Once he was a guard. Now all he can do is flash his eyes and croak. VII:89
NORTH STAR
See GODS OF MID-WORLD: OLD STAR
NORTON, SUSAN
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: ’SALEM’S LOT CHARACTERS
**NOT-MAN
When Roland was young, he saw a Not-Man, or an invisible man, hanged for the crime of rape. Evidently, he was very good at sneaking up on people.
NUTTER, ELROD
See SKIN-MAN: SKIN-MAN’S VICTIMS: JEFFERSON RANCH
O
OAKLEY, ANNIE
See GUNSLINGERS, in OUR WORLD
OCEAN FOAM
See DELGADO, PAT
ODETTA
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: SUSANNAH’S OTHER SELVES
**O’DIM, WALTER
See WALTER
OFFICER BOSCONI
See DEAN, EDDIE: EDDIE’S PAST ASSOCIATES
OLD FARTS OF THE APOCALPYSE
See TET CORPORATION: FOUNDING FATHERS
OLD FATTY
See TOWER, CALVIN
OLD FELLA
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK
**OLD MOTHER (SOUTH STAR, LYDIA)
See GODS OF MID-WORLD
OLD ONES (GREAT OLD ONES, THE MAKERS, OLD PEOPLE)
The Old Ones (also known as the Great Old Ones) were the ancient people of MID-WORLD. Their era was long gone even by the time of ARTHUR ELD. The Old Ones had a god-like knowledge of technology and the workings of the universe but they were also a violently destructive people.
As a horrified SUSAN DELGADO said when she found out that FARSON was trying to resurrect the Old Ones’ war machines, “The ways of the Old People are the ways of death” (IV:302). This certainly seems to be true. When BIX, the RIVER WHYE ferryman, went to fetch his steel crank from the UNDERGROUND DOGAN near the GREEN PALACE, he found miles of tunnels filled with the Old Ones’ perfectly preserved artifacts, but the radiation of the place made him violently ill. (He lost his hair and teeth and puked for days.) It was also one of the Old People’s leavings that was responsible for the SALTIE, OLLIE ANG, transforming into the violent shapeshifting SKIN-MAN. As far as we can tell, the computers and killing machines of this ancient race were responsible for the incredible catastrophe that originally poisoned Mid-World, just as their RED DEATH killed the people of FEDIC. Farson’s resurrection of these instruments of war and death succeeded in destroying Mid-World’s civilization a second time.
The company that the Old Ones founded (namely NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS) was responsible for the creation of BLAINE the Insane Mono, ANDY the Messenger Robot, and SHARDIK, the cyborg BEAR GUARDIAN. The Great Old Ones desired to replace the magical DARK TOWER and the BEAMS with technological replicas, and it was their wars, weapons, and pollutants which created Mid-World’s many MUTANTS.
The Old People may have been technological wizards, but in the long run, little good came from their experiments with the time/space continuum. They may have created DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS, but they also built the DOGANS, the sinister equipment found in the DEVAR-TOI, and the diseases (such as the Red Death) which destroyed the people of FEDIC. Unfortunately, the Great Old Ones could well be our own descendants. As Roland so wryly notes when he visits NEW YORK, 1999, that city looks like a young and vibrant LUD. Occasionally, the term Old Ones is used for the ancient vampires known as the GRANDFATHERS.
III:37–39, III:46 (larger than men), III:73, III:240–41, III:244, III:245, III:246, III:284, III:288, III:297, III:342–43 (faces on Blaine’s Cradle), III:362, III:399, IV:23, IV:35 (possible carvers of the Hounds of the Falls of the Hounds), IV:120, IV:294 (called Old People by Susan), IV:295, IV:296, IV:302 (their ways were the ways of death), IV:430 (their weapons), IV:431, IV:484 (as devils), V:100, V:108 (Old People of the forest, not Great Old Ones), V:141, V:144, V:151, V:210, V:339, V:340, V:565, VI:252, VII:25, VII:77 (indirect), VII:92, VII:100, VII:107, VII:108, VII:132, VII:152, VII:156, VII:238, VII:239, VII:537, VII:538, VII:566 (mad), VII:825, W:12, W:64, W:110, W:180 (and Dodge Dart), W:210, W:282
OLD PEOPLE
See OLD ONES
OLD PEOPLE OF THE WEST WOODS
Although the GREAT OLD ONES are sometimes called the Old People, the Old People of the West Woods were a much later and much more primitive culture—one which probably arose after the Great Old Ones destroyed most of MID-WORLD’s cities. Roland and his ka-tet found the Old People’s primitive remains while they camped in this mixed forest located east of the WESTERN SEA.
This forest-dwelling tribe hunted with bows and arrows and lived in awe of SHARDIK, the great BEAR GUARDIAN. Shardik thought of them as t
rap-setters and forest-burners, but they regarded him as both a demon and the shadow of a god. They called him MIR, which meant “the world beneath the world.”
III:19–21, III:29
OLD SPLINT
See TREE VILLAGE CHARACTERS
**OLD STAR (NORTH STAR, APON)
See GODS OF MID-WORLD
OMAHA
A one-eyed gambler who died with a knife in his throat at a Watch Me table.
IV:72
O’MEARAH, GEORGE
O’Mearah was one of the NEW YORK cops who patrolled the area in front of CLEMENTS GUNS AND SPORTING GOODS. His partner’s name was CARL DELEVAN. The two of them were hoodwinked by Roland while Roland was in JACK MORT’s body.
II:343, II:346, II:347–59 (354 unconscious), II:368 (indirect), II:371–77, II:378, II:380
OPOPANAX
See APPENDIX I
ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS
See DEMON ELEMENTALS
ORIZA, LADY (LADY OF THE PLATE, LADY RICE)
In some parts of MID-WORLD, Lady Oriza is considered to be a mythical heroine. However, in the BORDERLANDS, she is the pagan goddess of the rice. According to local folklore, Oriza gave birth to the first man, and from this man’s breath came the first woman. To honor Oriza’s part in the creation of the human race, the old folks of the Calla still say, “Can-ah, can-tah, annah Oriza,” which translates as “All breath comes from the woman.”
According to another old tale, Lady Oriza’s father, LORD GRENFALL, was murdered by the infamous harrier GRAY DICK, and the beautiful Lady Oriza swore to take bloody vengeance. Cloaking her true motives in veils of seduction, she proposed that she and Dick share a conciliatory feast at WAYDON, her family castle. To prove her good intentions, she stated that they should each leave their weapons—and their clothes—at the door.
Not surprisingly, Dick accepted the offer. During the second toast, both Dicks stood at attention. “May your beauty ever increase,” he said. To which Oriza replied, “May your first day in Hell last ten thousand years, and may it be the shortest.” Then, flinging her specially sharpened dinner plate at him, she sliced off his head.
A female society called the SISTERS OF ORIZA was formed in honor of Lady Oriza’s triumph. Although they may originally have been a sisterhood of warriors or priestesses, by the time our story begins, they are essentially a ladies’ auxiliary that practices throwing their deadly, sharpened plates. Interestingly, their plates (known as Orizas) closely resemble DETTA WALKER’s forspecial plate. However, the fine blue webbing which decorates the Orizas is in the form of the young oriza, or seedling rice plant. Two of the rice stalks cross at the edge of the plate, forming the great letter ZN, which means both “here” and “now.” This segment of the rim is dull and slightly thicker so that the plate can be gripped without danger. The titanium Orizas are manufactured by the women of CALLA SEN CHRE and have a whistle underneath them so that they hum as they fly.
Like that of many gods and goddesses, Lady Oriza’s vengeful nature surfaces frequently. Both she and her sister wished to marry LORD SEMINON, the god of the prewinter windstorms. However, Seminon preferred Oriza’s sister and married her. Enraged that her love was rejected—and that a marriage between wind and rice would never take place—Oriza often blocks Seminon’s passage over the RIVER WHYE. This pleases the people of the Calla since it protects them from Seminon’s blasts.
V:313, V:321, V:325–27, V:329, V:330, V:331–37 (throwing plate), V:338 (plate), V:360 (by ’Riza), V:361 (Reap charm), V:398, V:467, V:491 (’Riza), V:492, V:495, V:500, V:572 (’Riza), V:576, V:582 (indirect), V:604, V:631, V:642–43, V:644 (plate), V:662 (plate), V:663, V:680, V:685, V:686, V:689, VI:68 (plates), VI:92, VI:95, VI:97, VI:333 (plates), VI:335 (plates), VII:10 (plates), VII:25 (plates), VII:35 (plates), VII:82 (plates), VII:85 (plates), VII:87 (plates), VII:89 (plates), VII:111 (plates), VII:173 (plates), VII:255 (plates), VII:352 (plates), VII:491 (plates), VII:535 (plates), VII:557 (plates), VII:558 (plates), VII:567 (plates), VII:634 (plates), VII:708–9 (plates), VII:726 (indirect)
GRAY DICK: Gray Dick was an infamous harrier who killed Lady Oriza’s father, LORD GRENFALL. Oriza’s revenge was both clever and seductive. Inviting her enemy to a meal at WAYDON, her family castle, she proposed that the two of them eat naked, to prove that they were each weaponless. Nevertheless, Oriza managed to decapitate Dick with one of her specially sharpened plates. V:325–27, V:332, V:398
GRENFALL, LORD: Lord Grenfall was Lady Oriza’s father. Once he was known as the “wiliest lord in all the RIVER BARONIES,” but when Oriza was still a young woman he was murdered by the infamous harrier GRAY DICK. Oriza decapitated her father’s murderer. V:325, V:326, V:327 (father)
MARIAN: Marian was Lady Oriza’s maid. After she left Oriza’s service, she went on to have many of her own adventures. Unfortunately, we never hear about any of them. V:326
ORIZA’S SISTER: Lady Oriza and her sister both sought the love of LORD SEMINON, the BORDERLANDS’ wind god, but Seminon preferred Oriza’s sister and married her. Lady Oriza has never forgiven him. V:642–43
SEMINON, LORD: Lord Seminon is the personification of the prewinter winds that sweep across the RIVER WHYE and into CALLA BRYN STURGIS. According to one old story, Lord Seminon rejected Lady Oriza’s love so that he could marry her sister. Out of spite, Oriza frequently refuses to let the harsh Seminon winds cross into the Callas. V:642–43
ORIZA, SISTERS OF (SISTERS OF THE PLATE)
The Sisters of Oriza, also known as the Sisters of the Plate, honor the goddess ORIZA’s triumph over her enemy, the harrier GRAY DICK. Although in many ways the Sisters function as a ladies’ auxiliary, they also practice throwing their deadly sharpened plates, known as Orizas. Seventy years before our story takes place, one of the Sisters—MOLLY DOOLIN—destroyed one of the Calla’s child-stealing WOLVES. Unfortunately, she paid for the victory with her life.
The Sisters of Oriza are, by far, the fiercest fighters in the Calla. Three of them, MARGARET EISENHART, ZALIA JAFFORDS, and ROSALITA MUNOZ, stand with Roland’s ka-tet against the final Wolf invasion. During that attack, Margaret Eisenhart is killed.
Like the mythical lady they are named for, the Sisters of Oriza are a multitalented group of women. Not only are they the best fighters and cooks in the CRESCENT, but they also serve as the area’s doctors and midwives.
V:331, V:338–39, V:358, V:489, V:493–94, V:496–500 (competition), V:509 (Ladies of), V:575, V:601–17 (present; mentioned directly on 602, 607, 609, 611), V:630, V:641, V:642, V:662–68 (present), V:674, V:679–97, VI:10
ADAMS, SAREY: Fat, jolly Sarey Adams is the wife of the rancher DIEGO ADAMS. Although Sarey is surprisingly light on her feet, Sarey’s aim is not as accurate as that of the other Sisters. Hence, Roland thinks it is too risky to place her on the front line of the EAST ROAD battle against the invading WOLVES. Instead, he asks this Sister of Oriza to lead the CHILD-MINDERS, who hide the Calla’s children in the rice paddies near the DEVAR-TETE WHYE. V:338, V:341, V:399, V:419, V:421, V:483, V:493–94, V:496–500, V:575, V:658, V:662–67 (present), V:667, V:689 (folken), V:693–97 (folken)
DOOLIN, MOLLY (RED MOLLY): Molly Doolin was the wife of EAMON DOOLIN and was the only woman to stand with GRAN-PERE JAFFORDS’s WOLF POSSE against the GREENCLOAKS. Although Molly was seventy years dead by the time our ka-tet entered CALLA BRYN STURGIS, Granpere’s memory of her flinging her plate at an oncoming Wolf—and destroying it—still burns bright. Molly died during her stand on the EAST ROAD, but what she managed to do with her Oriza inspired Roland to draft the Sisters of the Plate to join him in his own stand against those menacing, robotic horse-riders.
In life, Molly Doolin’s fiery personality (not her blazing red hair) earned her the nickname Red Molly. She wore a silver Reap charm around her neck which was shaped like Lady Oriza raising her fist in defiance. When Molly flung her Wolf-destroying plate, she shouted the name of her twin, MINNIE, whom the Wolves had taken to THUNDERCLAP during their previous raid and had returned
ROONT. V:358–63, V:365, V:390, V:485, V:611, V:665, V:679
EISENHART, MARGARET (MARGARET OF THE REDPATH CLAN): Margaret Eisenhart was born Margaret of the Redpath clan. Although her family was MANNI, she left the fold to marry VAUGH EISENHART. According to her father (or grandfather) HENCHICK, she is destined for NA’AR because of it. Margaret is one of the three Sisters of Oriza that stand with Roland during the battle of the EAST ROAD. Sadly, she is decapitated by one of the WOLVES’ light-sticks. We never find out whether she ends up in Na’ar. V:318 (indirect), V:320 (indirect), V:322–25, V:328–42 (of Redpath clan), V:389, V:398, V:399, V:407–8, V:483, V:491, V:493–94, V:496–500, V:601–17 (present; directly mentioned on 602, 607, 609), V:654, V:662–68, V:674 (indirect), V:679–82 (killed on 682), V:689, V:691–94, V:700, VI:3, VI:28, VI:73, VI:80, VI:205, VII:83
JAFFORDS, ZALIA (ZALLIE): Zalia Jaffords is the dark-skinned wife of TIAN JAFFORDS. The two of them have five children—two sets of twins and a singleton. Zalia’s maiden name was HOONIK. Like the other people of the Calla, she lost a twin, ZALMAN, to the horrors of THUNDERCLAP. Though he was bright as polished agate when he was small, when Zalman returned from the dark lands of the east, he was ROONT.
Just as she stood by her husband in his decision to oppose the WOLVES, Zalia stands with Roland and his ka-tet during the Calla’s final battle. Unlike her friend MARGARET EISENHART, Zallie survives. V:8–13, V:15, V:25, V:27, V:28, V:44 (following ka-tet), V:45 (following ka-tet), V:47 (following ka-tet), V:88 (new friends), V:92 (indirect), V:106 (indirect), V:109, V:111–13, V:116, V:122–37, V:142–60, V:162, V:201–10 (present; mentioned directly on 207, 208), V:211–34 (present; mentioned directly on 216, 218, 224), V:236–37, V:338, V:343–46, V:347 (indirect), V:348 (indirect), V:350, V:351–57, V:358, V:376–77, V:379, V:397–99, V:401, V:483, V:485, V:488–92 (present), V:493–94, V:496–500, V:601–17, V:654, V:662–68, V:674 (indirect), V:679–97, VI:205, VI:373
MUNOZ, ROSALITA (ROSITA, ROSA): Rosalita Munoz is PERE CALLAHAN’S housekeeper and (as EDDIE DEAN surmises) his executive secretary. Although Rosalita is a converted Catholic, this doesn’t stop her from having an affair with Roland. Although she herself is childless, Rosalita’s hatred of the WOLVES is ferocious, and she is one of the first people in the Calla to openly support Roland’s ka-tet in their plan to resist these invaders from THUNDERCLAP. Not surprisingly, Rosalita is also one of the female warriors Roland chooses to be on the front line during the EAST ROAD battle.
