by Robin Furth
The next afternoon, after the starkblast had blown out most of its rage, Tim opened the brown bottle and placed a dropperful of its liquid into the tyger’s mouth. To Tim’s astonishment, the tyger transformed into none other than the magician Maerlyn! Finally freed from the enchantment cast upon him by one of the CRIMSON KING’s servants, Maerlyn folded the dibben into a flying blanket. Telling Tim to hold the feather and think of home, Maerlyn sent Tim off to the village of Tree, but not before telling him to place the remaining contents of the brown bottle into his mother’s blind eyes. He also warned Tim that he must hand his father’s ax to Nell as soon as she could see again.
Tim did as the magician bid, and mighty thankful he must have been afterwards. Unbeknownst to Tim, his steppa had crept into the cottage before Tim’s arrival and had murdered the Widow Smack, who had been caring for Nell during the starkblast. As soon as Tim emerged from his mother’s bedroom, Big Kells grabbed him by the throat, intending to throw him into the fire, but before he could, Nell Kells buried her first husband’s ax in Kells’s thick skull.
W:46 (Tim Stoutheart story), W:67 (Tim Stoutheart), W:106–16 parallel, when da killed), W:117, W:118, W:119 (kiddie), W:120–24, W:124–30, W:131–45, W:145–W:170, W:170–190 (182–83 Water Tim; 186 gun described), W:190–202 (197—son of Gilead and the Eld; 201 as gunslinger), W:202–32 (212 calls self “stupid gunslinger”), W:232–64 (almost shoots Maerlyn/Tyger), W:250–64, W:267, W:268 (Lefty Ross, the left-handed gun, Tim Stoutheart), W:269 (story about reaching the Tower), W:297 (Tim Stoutheart)
ROSSITER
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: FARMERS (SMALLHOLD): STRONG, GARRETT
ROSTOV, DANEEKA (DANI)
See BREAKERS
ROUTHIER RAY
See KING, STEPHEN
ROWENA, QUEEN
See ELD, ARTHUR
ROYSTER, ELDON
See MAINE CHARACTERS
RUBBERBAND AIRLINES
This is IRENE TASSENBAUM’s airline of choice when she flies from NEW YORK CITY to MAINE.
VII:521
RUDEBACHER, DICKY
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES
RUIZ, STANLEY (SHEEMIE)
See BREAKERS
RUIZ, STANLEY (THE ELDER)
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: TRAVELLERS’ REST
RUMBELOW, GRACE
See BREAKERS
RUSSERT, DON
See MAINE CHARACTERS
RUSTY SAM
See MID-WORLD FOLKLORE
RUTA
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES
S
SACRAMENTO BEE
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HIDDEN HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATES
SAITA
See ELD, ARTHUR
’SALEM’S LOT CHARACTERS
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: ’SALEM’S LOT CHARACTERS
SALLOW BRITISH MAN
See BALAZAR, ENRICO: BALAZAR’S NASSAU CONNECTION
SALT HOUSE FOLKS
See DEBARIA CHARACTERS: SALTIES
SALT MINERS
See DEBARIA CHARACTERS: SALTIES
SALTY SAM
See DEBARIA CHARACTERS: SHERIFF’S OFFICE
SAM THE MILLER
See WALTER: WALTER’S ASSOCIATES
SARGUS, JANE
See MAINE CHARACTERS
SAYRE, RICHARD P.
See CAN-TOI
SCHWERNER, MICHAEL
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: ODETTA HOLMES AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT: VOTER REGISTRATION BOYS
SCOWTHER
See WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE: DIXIE PIG CHARACTERS: HUMANS
SCRIMSHAW TURTLE
See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM: TURTLE
SEEKING FOLK
See MANNI
SEJ
See BREAKERS
SELENA
See GODS OF MID-WORLD
SEMINON, LORD
See ORIZA, LADY
SERENITY, SISTERS OF (BLACK AMMIES)
GABRIELLE DESCHAIN, Roland Deschain’s lady mother, was sent to the SERENITY RETREAT in DEBARIA to repent her affair with MARTEN BROADCLOAK, her husband’s advisor and sorcerer. Perhaps this is why STEVEN DESCHAIN distrusted those convent-women so completely. “Serenity, what a joke. Those women are the black ammies. They’d flay you alive if you so much as trespassed their holy doors.” According to the elder Deschain, most of the Sisters of Serenity preferred a longstick to a man. According to the engineer of SMA’ TOOT, they ate men.
The Retreat of Serenity was located ten or twelve wheels beyond the town of Debaria along DEBARIA HIGH ROAD. It 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. The women of Serenity served God and the MAN JESUS.
Serenity’s Prioress was EVERLYNNE OF SERENITY, a six-and-a-half-foot-giantess who (according to Roland) was so tall and broad she could have mated with the legendary outlaw prince, DAVID QUICK. When Roland first saw her, sitting on what appeared to be an IRONWOOD throne in front of the retreat’s open gates, her lap was full of needlework and she was dressed in white muslin with a hood of white silk that flared around her head like gullwings. Everlynne’s body was as big as a barrel, and her breasts were so large that each of them could have shaded a baby from the sun. Her voice was rolling, and was almost (but not quite) as deep as a man’s baritone. Her laughter was like moderate thunder, and her black eyes twinkled.
Despite the reputation of her retreat among the GUNSLINGERS of GILEAD, Everlynne greeted Roland and his ka-mate, JAMIE DeCURRY, very warmly. (In fact, she greeted Roland as “son of Gabrielle,” an unusual epithet in father-centered Mid-World.) In Everlynne’s opinion, her retreat had a bad name in Gilead because the men there distrusted women who dared to live on their own. But despite what Gilead might say about her, Everlynne was glad to see two young gunslingers who served the ELD and the WHITE, even if they were extremely young. After all, two of her women—FORTUNA and DOLORES—had been attacked by the SKIN-MAN that Roland and Jamie had come to hunt, and only Fortuna (badly mutilated) had lived to tell the tale. Everlynne thought the skin-man was a soulless skin-man monster from the DEEP CRACKS.
After Roland killed the skin-man, he returned to Serenity and was greeted by Everlynne with a kiss and a hug. (Roland noted that her aroma was sweet: a mixture of cinnamon and thyme and baked goods.) Everlynne and her women had a celebratory feast with the two young gunslingers. Afterwards, in a private meeting in her quarters, Everlynne told Roland about his mother’s last days at the retreat, and how Marten Broadcloak had tried to visit her. Everlynne had sent the scoundrel away, but was fairly certain that he’d managed to meet with Gabrielle secretly. Shortly after this clandestine meeting, Gabrielle had quit the retreat, saying she had a duty to perform in Gilead and much to atone for. However, before she left, she gave the prioress a letter for Roland. She was certain that one day her son would visit Serenity. The letter, which Roland read while alone in Everlynne’s chamber, was blotted and uneven. Roland was fairly certain that his mother was half-mad by the time she wrote it. However, the letter contained one extremely important line which haunted Roland, guilty as he was of matricide, for the rest of his life. That line was I forgive you everything. Can you forgive me?
W:38, W:39, W:41–42 (and longstick/diddlestick), W:43–44 (eat the mens), W:47–W:53 (at the Priory; 49 named) W:61, W:63, W:295
BRIANNA: Briana was one of the Sisters of Serenity. She, ELLEN, and CLEMMIE served food to Roland and JAMIE when they visited the Retreat on their way to DEBARIA to hunt the SKIN-MAN. W:49, W:53
CLEMMIE: Clemmie was one of the Sisters of Serenity. She served food when Roland and JAMIE stopped at the Retreat on their way to DEBARIA to hunt the SKIN-MAN. W:49, W:53
DOLORES: Dolores and FORTUN
A were the two unlucky Sisters of Serenity to be attacked by DEBARIA’s shapeshifting SKIN-MAN. A fortnight and a day before Roland and JAMIE came to the Retreat, the two women had been outside at dusk to close the gate and draw water for evening chores. Fortuna had held the bucket while Dolores had swung the gate closed. But as Dolores was swinging the gate, a creature knocked it wide, grabbed her, and bit her head from her shoulders with its long jaws. The creature had been taller than a man, with scales instead of skin, and a long tail that dragged behind it like a snake. Yellow eyes with slitted dark pupils glowed in its flat head. Its mouth was a trap filled with teeth, each as long as a man’s hand. W:51, W:53
ELLEN: Like BRIANNA and CLEMMIE, Ellen was called by EVERLYNNE to serve food to Roland and JAMIE when they arrived at SERENITY. W:49
EVERLYNNE OF SERENITY (PRIORESS): According to HIGH SHERIFF HUGH PEAVY, Prioress Everlynne was so full of fire that she would spit in the devil’s face if he came to call on her. And if that fork-tailed demon took her down to Nis, she’d be running the place in a month. There certainly seems to be truth in the sheriff’s statement, since Everlynne was the only person other than Roland to shoot the monstrous SKIN-MAN and survive. (That shapeshifting nightmare was tearing at SISTER FORTUNA’s face when Everlynne aimed and fired. The pellets tore away some of the knobs and scales on the monster’s head.) Everlynne also turned away MARTEN BROADCLOAK at gunpoint when he came to call on GABRIELLE DESCHAIN, who at the time was a resident at the Retreat. (Sadly, “the Broad Cloak” as Everlynne calls him, managed to rendezvous with Gabrielle anyway.)
When Roland met the six-and-a-half-foot-tall prioress on his way to DEBARIA, he was shocked by her size. He thought her a giantess, one tall and broad enough to have mated with the legendary outlaw prince, DAVID QUICK. When Roland first saw her, sitting on what appeared to be an ironwood throne in front of the retreat’s open gates, her lap was full of needlework, and she was dressed in white muslin with a hood of white silk which flared around her head like gullwings. Everlynne’s body was big as a barrel, and her breasts were so large that each of them could have shaded a baby from the sun. Her voice was rolling, and was almost (but not quite) as deep as a man’s baritone. Her laughter was like moderate thunder, and her black eyes twinkled. Despite her good nature and religious calling, the prioress was always willing to take up arms to defend herself. Strapped to the outside of her calf was a rawhide scabbard. Within that scabbard was a butcher’s knife.
Although the gunslingers of GILEAD did not trust Everlynne or her women since they lived without men, Everlynne welcomed both Roland and JAMIE DeCURRY with open arms. Calling him “son of Gabrielle” (an epithet rarely used in father-centered Mid-World), Everlynne gave Roland a letter which she’d saved for him—a letter from his mother. (Gabrielle had entrusted Everlynne with the missive shortly before leaving the retreat.) Although the letter was disjointed and half-mad, it gave Roland—guilty of matricide—a sense of peace. Evidently, Gabrielle had known about her coming death at her son’s hands and had accepted it. The letter’s final words were I forgive you everything. Can you forgive me? W:47–W:53 (described; 52 daughter of Roseanna), W:61, W:100 (Roland wants to take Bill to her), W:268, W:293, W:295–99, W:300
CAT: When Roland visited Prioress Everlynne’s private quarters, this cat was asleep in a bar of sunlight that slanted onto her desk. That huge oaken desk was heaped high with papers. W:297
ROSEANNA (MOTHER): Roseanna was Everlynne’s mother. Everlynne refers to herself as “daughter of Roseanna.” W:52
FORTUNA (FORTIE; ANNIE CLAY-THAT-WAS): Fortuna and DOLORES were the two Sisters of Serenity unlucky enough to be attacked by the SKIN-MAN. Only tiny Fortuna survived, but her wounds were horrendous. When Roland and Jamie met her, she was clad in a rough gray cotton robe, her arms were crossed over her scant bosom, and her hands were buried deep in her sleeves. She wore no hood, but half of her face was hidden beneath a thick swath of bandages. (A large section of the right side of her nose was gone; all that was left was a raw red channel.) At dusk, a fortnight and a day before, she and Dolores had come out to close the Retreat’s gate and to draw water for the evening chores. Fortuna was the one with the bucket, and so she had lived—barely. After biting off Dolores’s head, the skin-man lunged for Fortuna. Luckily for her, Everlynne heard the younger women’s screams and so came running out with the Retreat’s gun. According to Everlynne, the monster was set to rape Fortuna as well as eat her. W:49–53 (wounded), W:61, W:63, W:88, W:291, W:295–96
SERGIO
See TOWER, CALVIN
SERVOMECHANISMS (LITTLE GUARDIANS)
See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM: BEAR
SHANNIES
See MID-WORLD ARGOT
SHARDIK
See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM: BEAR
SHARPTON, MR.
See BREAKERS: EARNSHAW, DINKY
SHAVERS, GEORGE
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: DETTA WALKER’S ASSOCIATES
SHAW, GRETA
See CHAMBERS, JAKE: JAKE’S FAMILY, FRIENDS, ASSOCIATES AND ALIASES
**SHEB (SHEB McCURDY: PIANO PLAYER)
In the 2003 version of The Gunslinger, we find out that the two piano players named Sheb—one in TULL, one in HAMBRY—are actually the same man. In both stories he works in bars owned by women. (Though Tull’s local honky-tonk bears his name, the place actually belongs to Sheb’s former lover, ALICE.)
Sheb of Hambry, and later of Tull, is described as a small, useless man with one gold tooth. He is in love with Alice though she thinks of him as a gelded dog. Jealous that Roland monopolizes Alice’s attentions, he tries to assault Roland with a knife. Later, during the town’s surprise attack on the gunslinger, Sheb uses Allie as a human shield. In the 2003 version of The Gunslinger, Roland recognizes Sheb as the man he met in MEJIS.
I:26–29, I:34–38, I:40, I:45–47, I:47–52, I:58, I:59, I:60, II:126, III:42, IV:171–72, IV:213, IV:216, IV:218, IV:226, IV:349, IV:382–83, IV:403, IV:453, IV:468, IV:505, IV:563, IV:570, IV:628, VII:317, VII:333
SHEEMER, DELORES
See HAMBRY CHARACTERS: TRAVELLERS’ REST
SHEEMIE
See BREAKERS
SHOE SHINE BOY
See TOWER, CALVIN
SI
See RIVER CROSSING CHARACTERS
SIGHE
See MID-WORLD FOLKLORE and ARMANEETA
SILICON VALLEY COKE-HEADS
These guys supply high-tech police equipment to BALAZAR’S MEN.
II:125
SIMONS, FRANKIE
See TREE VILLAGE CHARACTERS
SISTER BLUE
See DEAN, SUSANNAH: ODETTA HOLMES’S ASSOCIATES
SISTER COQUINA
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
SISTER JENNA
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
SISTER LOUISE
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
SISTER MARY
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
SISTER MICHELA
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
SISTER TAMRA
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
SISTERS OF ORIZA
See ORIZA, SISTERS OF
SISTERS OF SERENITY (BLACK AMMIES)
See SERENITY, SISTERS OF
SISTERS OF THE PLATE
See ORIZA, SISTERS OF
SKANK, BANGO
Although we never meet Bango Skank, Roland’s tet sees his graffiti on the MILLS CONSTRUCTION AND SOMBRA REAL ESTATE sign which they find in JAKE’s magic LOT in NEW YORK CITY. While having a seizure in a TOPEKA JAIL CELL, Callahan also comes across Skank’s signature, as does Jake in the tunnels leading from the DIXIE PIG to the MIND-TRAP, which guards the New York/FEDIC DOORWAY BETWEEN WORLDS. SUSANNAH comes across Bango’s writing when she and MIA visit one of the stalls in the women’s bathrooms located in the PLAZA–PARK HYATT hotel. This last bit of graffiti reads, “Bango Skank awaits the King.”
III:121, V:189, V:447, V:619, VI:233 (Bango Skank awaits the King), VI:256 (Bango Skank await
s the King), VII:89
SKIN-MAN (OLLIE ANG)
In The Wind Through the Keyhole we meet one of the most terrifying monsters of the Dark Tower novels. The creature is called a skin-man. According to the reports received by STEVEN DESCHAIN, this legendary monster was massacring the people of DEBARIA. The elder Deschain was not certain whether this demon was real or whether it was a human maniac dressed up in animal skins, but he did know for certain that many people had been killed. As a result, he sent Roland and Roland’s ka-mate, JAMIE DeCURRY, to investigate.
Before setting off from Gilead, Roland visited his old tutor VANNAY, who had been collecting reports about the attacks. According to the missives that Vannay had received from HIGH SHERIFF HUGH PEAVY, twenty-three people had been torn to pieces by the monster. (That number was soon to mount much higher.) In two cases, whole clans had been massacred. Worryingly, the descriptions of the beast were inconsistent. Some witnesses stated that the creature looked like a wolf but ran upright like a man. Others described it as a lion; still others as a tyger. Based upon what he’d read, Vannay believed the creature was both a shape-shifter and a shape-changer. The old tutor had come across other such beasts in Gilead’s old records, and assumed that it was a type of mutant that had worked its way out of the true thread. The truth turned out to be much more terrible.
Roland and Jamie’s first sight of one of the skin-man’s victims came when they visited the Women’s Retreat of SERENITY, on their way to Debaria. There they met SISTER FORTUNA, who had lost half her face to the hungry beast. According to Sister Fortie, the creature had been taller than a man, with scales instead of skin, and a long tail that dragged behind it like a snake. Its yellow eyes had slitted dark pupils that glowed in its flat head. Its mouth had been a trap filled with teeth, each as long as a man’s head. PRIORESS EVERLYNNE (who managed to shoot some of the knobs and scales off the beast’s head with the pellets of her shotgun) added an even more disturbing piece of information: while attacking Fortuna, the beast had an erection. Everlynne was certain that, if she hadn’t chased it off with her shotgun, the creature would have raped Sister Fortie as it ate her.
