by Robin Furth
JAKLI: This raven-headed taheen works at the DEVAR-TOI and is often in the company of FINLI O’TEGO and the Devar Master, PIMLI PRENTISS. Jakli has residual wings, which he flaps when he is excited or upset. We can assume that he has arms as well (otherwise he’d have a hard time wielding weapons). Like most of his comrades at the Devar, he is killed by our tet. VII:241, VII:352, VII:358–59, VII:362, VII:371–74, VII:379–82
JEY (GEE, HAWK-HEADED MAN): Hawk-headed Jey is one of the WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE who accompany SUSANNAH DEAN and MIA from the DIXIE PIG to the FEDIC DOGAN, where the two of them are destined to give birth to MORDRED of DISCORDIA. In the chaotic battle which transpires after Mordred’s birth (and after the dan-tete’s first meal, which happens to be his mother, Mia), Susannah shoots Jey. VI:370–84, VII:22, VII:55–69, VII:71
ROOSTER-HEADED TAHEEN (FOGHORN LEGHORN): This taheen works at the DEVAR-TOI. Roland’s tet doesn’t kill him, but old Foghorn finds the thought of life outside of his THUNDERCLAP home extremely daunting. VII:392–93, VII:394
CAT ON LEGS (HOUSE-CAT TAHEEN, DISHWASHER NUMBER ONE): JAKE CHAMBERS decapitates this nasty, hissing dishwasher in the kitchens of the DIXIE PIG. VII:82
RAT-HEADED TAHEEN:
ALIA (NURSE): Although Alia has the head of a rat, she does not wear a humanoid mask. Hence, it seems likely that she considers herself taheen rather than CAN-TOI. As servants of the RED KING go, Alia doesn’t seem so bad. While MIA groans with labor pains in the EXTRACTION ROOM of the FEDIC DOGAN, Alia offers what comfort she can. During the Fedic Dogan battle which takes place after Mordred’s birth, Alia is wounded in the knee. She flees the fray and so survives. We never learn what happens to her. VI:378–84, VII:21, VII:22, VII:56–69, VII:75
ANDREW: See CAN-TOI
HABER: See CAN-TOI
SAYRE, RICHARD P.: See CAN-TOI
STRAW: See CAN-TOI
TIRANA: See CAN-TOI
STOAT-HEADED TAHEEN:
LAMLA OF GALEE: Lamla has the head of a stoat and narrow feet with thorn-like nails. He, his hume companion FLAHERTY, and several LOW MEN pursue JAKE through the MIND-TRAP located below the DIXIE PIG. Although he survives Flaherty’s murderous temper tantrum (which takes place just after Jake manages to elude their posse by slipping through the NEW YORK/FEDIC DOORWAY), Lamla is brought down by Roland’s guns. VII:104–9, VII:111 (posse), VII:112, VII:129, VII:133–35, VII:528
WARTHOG TAHEEN:
DIXIE PIG CHEF: JAKE CHAMBERS encounters this imposing creature in the steamy kitchens of the DIXIE PIG. Warthog—dressed in a chef’s whites—stands seven feet tall and speaks a dialect which is only marginally comprehensible. After Jake kills his HOUSE-CAT TAHEEN dishwasher, Warthog insists that Jake take up dish-scrubbing. Jake resumes his special art of dish-throwing instead and slices off Warthog’s head. VII:81–83, VII:86
WEASEL-HEADED TAHEEN:
FINLI O’TEGO (FINLI OF THE TEGO CLAN, THE WEASEL, THE WEASE): Three-hundred-year-old Finli O’Tego is head of security at the DEVAR-TOI. He stands over seven feet tall, which is damn big, even by taheen standards. PIMLI PRENTISS, the Devar Master, thinks Finli would make a great basketball player. He is probably right, since a taheen like Finli could run up and down a basketball court for hours and not even get winded.
True to his nickname, “the Wease” has the head of a weasel complete with fur, large black eyes, and needle-sharp teeth. Like many of the other taheen at the Devar-Toi, Finli likes to wear lots of gold chains. At some point in the past he even docked his tail, a fashion statement he regrets since the act will probably ultimately land him in the HELL OF DARKNESS.
Although Finli is taheen and the Devar Master is hume, the two are close friends. In fact, when EDDIE DEAN puts a wounded Finli out of his misery by shooting him in the head, the dying Pimli Prentiss shoots Eddie. Our tet-mate dies from the resulting head wound. V:573–76, V:610, V:611, V:660, V:702, VII:200, VII:203, VII:204, VII:205, VII:207, VII:212, VII:215, VII:220–27, VII:230–45, VII:261, VII:272, VII:292, VII:297, VII:298–99, VII:300, VII:325, VII:341, VII:343–48, VII:358–59, VII:361–62, VII:371–74, VII:377, VII:380–82, VII:383–84, VII:385
OTHER TAHEEN (NOT DESCRIBED):
GASKIE O’TEGO: Gaskie is the DEVAR-TOI’s deputy security chief—second only to FINLI O’TEGO. Since the two of them share the same clan name, it seems likely that they are related. During the Devar’s final battle, Gaskie is shot by SUSANNAH DEAN. VII:300, VII:356–57, VII:362, VII:371–74
HUMMA O’TEGO: Humma was the Devar-Toi Master who sentenced the CAN-TOI rapist CAMERON to death. Humma lost his job (and possibly his life) after TED BRAUTIGAN escaped the BREAKER prison. VII:286, VII:297, VII:326, VII:343
TALITHA UNWIN
See RIVER CROSSING CHARACTERS
TAMRA, SISTER
See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
TASLEY, HOWARD
See TREE VILLAGE CHARACTERS
TASSA
See WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE: DEVAR-TOI CHARACTERS: HUMANS
TASSENBAUM, DAVID SEYMOUR
David Tassenbaum is married to IRENE TASSENBAUM. According to his wife, David and his egghead friends created the Internet. Since Tassenbaum is associated with NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS (at least we see a Positronics magnet on his refrigerator), we can assume that the “information highway” is an incredibly sinister cultural force. (Hence, be wary of your keyboard.) Both David and Irene are staunch Republicans.
VII:423, VII:425 (indirect), VII:429 (indirect), VII:431, VII:435, VII:469, VII:470–71 (North Central Positronics), VII:482, VII:486, VII:487, VII:490, VII:521, VI:522
EMERSON, SONNY: Sonny Emerson is David Tassenbaum’s friend. They like to go fishing together. VII:470
TASSENBAUM, IRENE (IRENE CANTORA, DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM)
Middle-aged Irene Tassenbaum, a staunch Republican, was born Irene Cantora in STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK. Her computer-wiz husband, DAVID, helped to create the Internet. The two of them are extremely wealthy.
Although they live most of the year in MANHATTAN, Irene and David spend their summers in the old CULLUM cabin on KEYWADIN POND, located in EAST STONEHAM, MAINE. Hence, Irene is in the EAST STONEHAM GENERAL STORE when Roland and JAKE appear there in 1999. Although she seems an unlikely heroine, Irene Tassenbaum plays her own small but important part in the Dark Tower saga.
Kidnapped by Roland, Jake, and OY, Irene drives our three tet-mates first to STEPHEN KING’s house in LOVELL, Maine, then to SLAB CITY HILL, where King is about to be run down by a Dodge minivan. Thanks to her, our tet arrives just in time to save the writer, but since ka always demands that a blood-price be paid if a blood-price be owed, Jake dies in King’s place. While driving bereaved Roland and Oy to New York City so that Roland can meet with the TET CORPORATION, Irene becomes Roland’s lover. At the end of her adventure, Irene returns to her husband. However, she seems to be a changed person; the WHITE has touched her life.
VII:423–33, VII:434–38, VII:441–43, VII:444–45, VII:449–65, VII:469–71, VII:475–90, VII:504, VII:510, VII:520–25, VII:535, VII:573
TAVERY, FRANCINE
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: OTHER CHARACTERS
TAVERY, FRANK
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: OTHER CHARACTERS
TAXI DRIVERS
TAXI DRIVER NUMBER ONE: When JAKE, CALLAHAN, and OY are propelled through the UNFOUND DOOR into 1999 NEW YORK, this dashiki- and fez-wearing driver almost hits Oy. Jake threatens to shoot him. VI:309–13, VI:322
TAXI DRIVER NUMBER TWO: This Jamaican cabbie takes CALLAHAN and JAKE to the TWIN TOWERS. They don’t tip him very well. VI:333–34
TAXI DRIVER NUMBER THREE: SUSANNAH/MIA’s driver takes them to Sixtieth and Lexington, close to the DIXIE PIG. VI:347–49
TAXI DRIVER NUMBER FOUR: This driver drops JAKE and CALLAHAN off near the DIXIE PIG. VI:338
TELFORD, GEORGE
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: RANCHERS
TENTACLED MONSTER
See DEMONS/SPIRITS/DEVILS (LESSER DEMONS
OF THE PRIM)
TET CORPORATION (KA-TET OF THE ROSE)
In Wolves of the Calla, the Tet Corporation is nothing more than a white lie fabricated by EDDIE DEAN. Although the lie is for a good cause (Eddie wants CALVIN TOWER to sell the Vacant LOT to his spontaneously incorporated ka-tet so that they can save the magical ROSE from the destructive SOMBRA CORPORATION), it is nonetheless an untruth. No Tet Corporation exists, and although SUSANNAH DEAN is an heiress in her own where and when, the newly formed Tet has no way to access her HOLMES DENTAL INDUSTRIES fortune to pay for the expensive SECOND AVENUE plot which they wish to buy.
However, sometimes ka’s will works through such odd twists of chance (and through the seemingly silly utterances that escape the mouth of a ka-mai). Although in 1977 (when Eddie spins his tale in the back room of the MANHATTAN RESTAURANT OF THE MIND) Tet is no more than a pipe dream, by 1999 (the KEYSTONE YEAR in the KEYSTONE WORLD) the Tet Corporation is a powerful reality.
Through the efforts of JOHN CULLUM (the dan-tete that Roland and Eddie meet in EAST STONEHAM, MAINE, in 1977), the lawyerly skills of Calvin Tower’s friend AARON DEEPNEAU, and the financial clout of MOSES CARVER, Susannah Dean’s godfather, Tet takes form in our world. When Roland visits the corporation in 1999, it is housed in 2 HAMMARSKJÖLD PLAZA, a towering black building located on the former Vacant Lot. Just inside the building’s lobby is a small, protected garden called the GARDEN OF THE BEAM. In it grows the sacred Rose. Just as Eddie and Roland had envisioned and hoped back in 1977, when they held their final long palaver with John Cullum in LOVELL, Maine, Tet has accomplished its three major tasks. It has protected the Rose; it has watched out for the writer STEPHEN KING; and it has screwed Sombra Corporation whenever possible.
When Roland holds palaver with Moses Carver, MARIAN CARVER, and NANCY DEEPNEAU in Tet’s headquarters in 1999, they give our gunslinger a Patek Philippe pocket watch engraved with three symbols—a key, a Rose, and a Tower. According to the psychic GOOD-MIND FOLK whom Tet employs, the watch will either stop or run backward once Roland gets close to the DARK TOWER. These three leaders of the Tet Corporation also give our gunslinger a copy of the book Insomnia and return AUNT TALITHA’s gold crucifix to him (the one Roland gave to John Cullum and which spoke to Moses Carver in the voice of Susannah Dean). The book is the only one of the three gifts which Roland does not take on his journey. (He leaves it with IRENE TASSENBAUM.) True to the Good-Mind Folk’s prediction, the Patek Philippe runs backward once Roland reaches the end of his journey.
V:527, V:538, VI:189, VI:201, VI:202, VI:267–70 (merger with Holmes Dental), VI:319, VII:37, VII:48, VII:123, VII:125, VII:146, VII:479, VII:490, VII:496–520, VII:586, VII:812
CALVINS, THE: The Calvins (who took their name in honor of the grumpy bibliophile CALVIN TOWER) are a group of researchers hired by the Tet Corporation to read all of STEPHEN KING’s books. These scholars spend their working time cross-referencing King’s novels by character, setting, and theme. They also trace any of King’s characters who live or may once have lived on KEYSTONE EARTH.
According to the Calvins, the novel Insomnia is of central importance to Roland’s quest since it contains a direct reference to the CRIMSON KING, and since it predicts that the artist PATRICK DANVILLE may play an important part in Roland’s future. VII:509, VII:511–14
CARVER, MARIAN ODETTA: Marian Odetta Carver was born when her father, MOSES CARVER, was seventy. She is a tall, stately black woman with the beautiful but hard face of a warrior. (She stands six foot six.) Marian has been president of the Tet Corporation since her father retired in 1997, at the age of ninety-eight. VII:498–520
CARVER, MOSES: See FOUNDING FATHERS, listed below
CULLUM, JOHN: See FOUNDING FATHERS, listed below
DEEPNEAU, AARON: See FOUNDING FATHERS, listed below
DEEPNEAU, ED: See DEEPNEAU, ED, listed separately
DEEPNEAU, NANCY REBECCA: Nancy Rebecca Deepneau is the granddaughter of AARON DEEPNEAU’s older brother. She is also a high-ranking member of the Tet Corporation. According to Roland, she is a green-eyed beauty. VII:492–520
FOUNDING FATHERS (KA-TET OF THE ROSE, OLD FARTS OF THE APOCALYPSE, THREE TOOTHLESS MUSKETEERS): VII:496–98, VII:499
CARVER, MOSES ISAAC (DADDY MOSE, POP MOSE): Moses Carver (called Pop Mose by his goddaughter, SUSANNAH DEAN) was DAN HOLMES’s accountant and friend. After Dan Holmes’s first heart attack, Moses handled the financial side of HOLMES DENTAL INDUSTRIES.
Moses Carver is one of the three men that Roland and EDDIE choose to found the Tet Corporation. By the time Roland arrives in 1999 NEW YORK, one-hundred-year-old Moses is the only living member of the original founding fathers. He has officially retired, but his daughter, MARIAN ODETTA CARVER, runs the corporation. V:43, V:101, V:102, V:103, VI:268, VI:270, VII:36, VII:37, VII:38, VII:48, VII:119, VII:123, VII:124, VII:125–27, VII:141, VII:496–520, VII:579, VII:654, VII:656
CULLUM, JOHN (SAI YANKEE FLANNEL SHIRT, JOHN OF EAST STONEHAM): John Cullum, called John of East Stoneham by Roland, is the elderly bachelor who becomes Roland and EDDIE’s ally when they fight BALAZAR’S MEN at the EAST STONEHAM GENERAL STORE in EAST STONEHAM, MAINE, in 1977. At first, Eddie refers to him as Mr. Flannel Shirt, but by the end of their acquaintance Cullum has won the respect of both gunslingers. Though he is far from young, Cullum is tough and resilient. A caretaker by trade, he eventually becomes (at least on our level of the DARK TOWER) one of the most important guardians of the ROSE. Although Cullum helps Roland and Eddie defeat Balazar’s men, his role in the larger war between Light and Dark is sizable. It is Cullum who shows Eddie and Roland CARA LAUGHS, the magic door spun from the substance of the PRIM. It is also Cullum whom Eddie and Roland name as executive vice president of the Tet Corporation, the company formed to protect the Rose. Cullum dies of a gunshot wound in 1989. VI:130–82, VI:186, VI:200, VI:209, VI:210, VI:215, VI:270, VI:271, VI:274, VI:285, VI:301, VII:18, VII:19, VII:20, VII:24, VII:31, VII:34, VII:38–48 (38 Waterford dan-tete?), VII:52, VII:114, VII:115–31, VII:141, VII:305, VII:414, VII:423, VII:428, VII:429, VII:432, VII:434, VII:438, VII:469, VII:487, VII:496–98 (498 died in 1989 of a gunshot wound), VII:499, VII:519
AIDAN (YOUNG NEPHEW): John Cullum’s grandnephew. In 1977, he is three years old and full of questions. VI:180
FATHER: VI:158 (folks)
GRANDPARENTS: VI:158
MOTHER: VI:158 (folks), VI:160 (ma)
NEPHEW (UNNAMED SMOKING NEPHEW): In John Cullum’s opinion, his nephew is too young to smoke, so he gives the boy’s stale cigarettes to Roland. Since Roland isn’t used to filters, he thinks that people on our level of the DARK TOWER like to inhale murky air. VI:160
NIECE: VII:41
RUSSERT, DONNIE (FRIEND): See MAINE CHARACTERS, listed separately
VERMONT FRIEND: Cullum used to work with this man at the Maine State Prison. VI:181, VI:182
DEEPNEAU, AARON (CHEMOTHERAPY KID, AIRY, MR. GAI COCKNIF EN YOM, VOICE NUMBER TWO): Aaron Deepneau made his first appearance in the Dark Tower series back in The Waste Lands. In that book he met JAKE CHAMBERS in the MANHATTAN RESTAURANT OF THE MIND, a bookshop owned by his anally retentive friend CALVIN TOWER. Aaron explained Samson’s riddle to Jake, and also informed him about the intellectual importance of riddling. Not only was Aaron a fan of riddles and of Existentialism (when Jake met him he was reading The Plague), but he was also a pretty good folksinger. According to Calvin Tower, Deepneau was hanging around BLEECKER STREET before Bob Dylan could blow more than an open G on his Hohner.
Although he is about seventy years old and ill with cancer when we meet him again in Wolves of the Calla, Aaron has no shortage of healthy courage. When BALAZAR’S MEN threaten Tower’s life because he will not sell the magical Vacant LOT to the SOMBRA CORPORATION, Aaron escapes with his friend to MAINE. Later, and despite Tower’s protests, Aaron writes up the “selling papers,” which bestow ownership of the Lot upon Roland, EDDIE, and the newly created Tet Corporation, a company which he then helps to develop. (On a humorous note
, Deepneau draws up the contract on a piece of paper that has a cartoon of a beaver on it and the caption “Dam Important Things to Do.”)
In Wolves of the Calla, we learn that Deepneau and Tower are destined to save FATHER CALLAHAN’s life when he is attacked by the HITLER BROTHERS in the TURTLE BAY WASHATERIA in 1981. During this adventure, Deepneau and Tower keep their identities secret. Callahan calls Deepneau both “Voice Number Two” and “Mr. Gai Cocknif En Yom.” (The latter name comes from the Yiddish insult which Deepneau screams at the Hitler Brothers. It means “Go shit in the ocean.”)
When Roland visits Tet’s headquarters in 1999, he meets Aaron’s grandniece, NANCY REBECCA DEEPNEAU. Unfortunately, Aaron succumbed to his cancer in 1992. III:115–18, III:155–56, III:279, IV:28, IV:46, V:56, V:58, V:62–64, V:100, V:168–69, V:437–42 (as calvary, as Voice Number Two, and as Mr. Gai Cocknif En Yom), V:447–48 (cavalry), V:471, V:518, V:528, V:530, V:537, V:538, V:542, V:544, V:545, V:550, V:584–85, V:600 (friend), V:623–24, V:626–28, V:703–4, V:705, V:706, V:709, VI:35, VI:36, VI:81, VI:142, VI:163–68, VI:177, VI:183–212, VI:214–16, VI:269, VI:270, VII:18, VII:19, VII:34, VII:37–38, VII:39, VII:48, VII:122, VII:123, VII:125, VII:126, VII:128, VII:141, VII:495, VII:496–98 (lived until 1992), VII:499, VII:513
