Calla Bryn Sturgis
Encyclopedia
Calla Bryn Sturgis is the fictional locale of the first major battle that Roland Deschain
's ka-tet faces on their journey to the Dark Tower, in Stephen King
's epic series. It appears in Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah, and is mentioned in The Dark Tower and the Marvel Comics
The Dark Tower: End-World Almanac.
The Callas are smaller communities located in the area of Mid-World known as the Borderlands. There are approximately 70 different Callas located in the 6,000 mile arc of the Borderlands. This arc is known as the Grand Crescent. Calla Bryn Sturgis is approximately 1/3 of the way down this crescent.
is one of the main products. The town has existed for at least a thousand years. The population of the Calla is not large: around 140 able-bodied men, a slightly smaller number of women, and approximately 99 prepubescent children. Another addition to the town is Andy the Messenger Robot, a lovable servant robot who has inhabited the town since time out of mind. The majority of the community's children are born as twins. The rare 'singleton' child is cause for much envy in the Calla.
Calla Bryn Sturgis, like most of the towns in the Calla Borderlands, is set up similar to the New England town
style, including the use of a town meeting
.
Due to the enormous importance of rice to the community's survival, many aspects of Calla life demonstrate respect for or even mysticism in regards to the crop. A common weapon, sharpened plates (similar to the chakram
) named Orizas or 'Rizas after Lady Oriza (the first user of the weapon), share a name with the genus
for rice plants, Oryza
. The term "Commala" refers to a number of aspects of Calla life, most notably the Rice Song to which Roland danced to win the favor of the Calla's citizens.
for approximately six generations. The Wolves come slightly less often than once a generation. With each visit, the Wolves steal one child from each pair of twins between the ages of 2 and 13. The children are kept for approximately six weeks and are returned to the Calla as 'roont' - they grow to a prodigious size, and have very limited mental capabilities. The roont children generally do not live very long, and usually die in agony.
Roland Deschain
Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society...
's ka-tet faces on their journey to the Dark Tower, in Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's epic series. It appears in Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah, and is mentioned in The Dark Tower and the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
The Dark Tower: End-World Almanac.
The Callas are smaller communities located in the area of Mid-World known as the Borderlands. There are approximately 70 different Callas located in the 6,000 mile arc of the Borderlands. This arc is known as the Grand Crescent. Calla Bryn Sturgis is approximately 1/3 of the way down this crescent.
Community features
Calla Bryn Sturgis is primarily an agricultural community; riceRice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
is one of the main products. The town has existed for at least a thousand years. The population of the Calla is not large: around 140 able-bodied men, a slightly smaller number of women, and approximately 99 prepubescent children. Another addition to the town is Andy the Messenger Robot, a lovable servant robot who has inhabited the town since time out of mind. The majority of the community's children are born as twins. The rare 'singleton' child is cause for much envy in the Calla.
Calla Bryn Sturgis, like most of the towns in the Calla Borderlands, is set up similar to the New England town
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...
style, including the use of a town meeting
Town meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....
.
Due to the enormous importance of rice to the community's survival, many aspects of Calla life demonstrate respect for or even mysticism in regards to the crop. A common weapon, sharpened plates (similar to the chakram
Chakram
The chakram , sometimes called a war quoit, is a throwing weapon from India. Its shape is of a flat metal hoop with a sharp outer edge from in diameter...
) named Orizas or 'Rizas after Lady Oriza (the first user of the weapon), share a name with the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
for rice plants, Oryza
Oryza
Oryza is a genus of seven to twenty species of grasses in the tribe Oryzeae, within the subfamily Bambusoideae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Northern Australia and Africa...
. The term "Commala" refers to a number of aspects of Calla life, most notably the Rice Song to which Roland danced to win the favor of the Calla's citizens.
Notable citizens of the Calla
- Father CallahanFather CallahanFather Donald Frank Callahan is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He originally appeared in Salem's Lot and later the Dark Tower, appearing in The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and finally The Dark Tower...
- Andy the Robot
- Tian Jafford
- Zalia Jaffords
- Margeret Eisehower
- Benny Slightman
Wolves
Calla Bryn Sturgis has been losing children to the Wolves of ThunderclapThunderclap
Thunderclap can refer to:* Thunder* Thunderclap , a fictional superhero created by Marvel UK, a division of Marvel Comics* Thunderclap Newman, a late 1960s rock band* Thunder Clap, a dance move...
for approximately six generations. The Wolves come slightly less often than once a generation. With each visit, the Wolves steal one child from each pair of twins between the ages of 2 and 13. The children are kept for approximately six weeks and are returned to the Calla as 'roont' - they grow to a prodigious size, and have very limited mental capabilities. The roont children generally do not live very long, and usually die in agony.