Calla Bryn Sturgis

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. 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 6000 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, rice 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 pre-pubescent children.Another addition to the town is Andy the Messenger Robot, a lovable servant robot who has inhabited the town for time out of mind. [cite book | last = Furth | first = Robin | title = Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance Volume 2 | publisher = Scribner | date = 2005 | location = Toronto | pages = 208 | isbn = 074325208X ] The majority of the community's children are born as twins. The rare 'singleton' child is a 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. [cite book | last = King | first = Stephen| title = Wolves of the Calla | publisher = Scribner | date = 2003 | location = New York| pages = 135| isbn = 1-880418-56-8]

Due to the enormous importance of rice to the community's survival, many aspect of Calla life demonstrate respect or even mysticism 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.

Notable citizens of the Calla

*Father Callahan
*Andy the Robot

Wolves

Calla Bryn Sturgis has been losing children to the Wolves of Thunderclap for approximately six generations. [cite book | last = Furth | first = Robin | title = Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance Volume 2 | publisher = Scribner | date = 2005 | location = Toronto | pages = 207 | isbn = 074325208X ] 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 '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.

References