The Dark Tower

The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but size. Size encompasses life, and the Tower encompasses size. — The Man in Black

by Unknown

Purpose / Function

The Dark Tower is the center of all creation. It is said to be Gan's body, and is held up by six Beams of great size and length, visible only by their effects on the lands along their lines - such as patterns in the clouds. These six beams cross at one spot in the universe, and at this spot is the Dark Tower.

Dark Tower Beam Map by Unknown

Architecture

The Dark Tower is surrounded by a huge field of roses called Can'Ka No Rey. Each rose blooms with the light of a thousand suns and each has a beautiful core. The Tower is a six-hundred floor spire made of black stone, and the only entrance is a door of ghostwood, with the words "Unfound" written in glyphs over it.

Sandlewood by Unknown

The tower has a central window which is striated with thirteen different colours which inspired the design of Arthur Eld's crown. In other worlds, the Dark Tower can take a number of forms including a tiger and a black house.

Central Oriel Window in the Temple of Elemental Evil by Chad Watson via Midjourney

Crown of Arthur Eld by Chad Watson via Midjourney

The Rose, however, is not simply a manifestation of the Tower, but a completely separate entity. Lesser floors in the tower are less than atoms to greater floors.

Dark Tower surrounded by Roses by Unknown

Defenses

Dark Tower Beams by Unknwon

As a beam crosses through the Dark Tower, it creates a portal one each side of the Tower as it penetrates through it for a total of twelve portals. Each portal is protected by a guardian animal. These twelve guardians are: hare, bear, horse, dog, eagle, elephant, rat, wolf, turtle, fish, bat and lion. Across the infinite number of worlds, the Tower has only been known to be physically entered through one: Mid-World, however it is rumored that the multi-dimensional Candle Keep has an entrance to a room within the Dark Tower as well.
It is necessary to present a sigul of Arthur Eld in order to enter the Tower and in some legends it is believed the Tower itself gave Arthur Eld his Sandalwood Guns and sword Excalibur.

History

In its earliest history, the Tower was wholly magical, as were its supports, and was intended to stand forever. But the Old Ones (the civilization of man that preceded the events of the series by several centuries), confident in their technology, replaced the magical beams with ones that could be broken, as they were derived from machines. The Tower was also used to link its own world to others, some of which the Old Ones themselves visited to see horrific events as entertainment, and some to conduct business.
The Great Old Ones eventually attempted to topple the Tower as well and replace it with a technological replica under the guidance of Maerlyn by releasing the Prim from large cracks, which then formed in the ground and filled with monstrosities. Two examples of these were Mia and Dandelo.
After the assault on the Tower, the Old Ones tried to make amends by creating the Twelve Guardian Animals. These Guardian Animals were technologically engineered by the Great Old Ones to mend the magic of the Beams that was previously assaulted, thus mixing magic and machine. Legend recounts the journey of Roland Deschain along the Bear-Turtle beam. The Bear is Shardik and the Turtle is Maturin. The Turtle may be the turtle from It which is said to have vomited up the galaxies. Roland's ka-tet eventually confronts Shardik, who has gone insane.
The Tower from then on was assaulted by The Crimson King using Breakers to snap the Beams supporting the Tower. As the Tower is the lynchpin in the fabric of space-time, these assaults have contributed to the world moving on, or slowly decaying and unraveling.
The Tower is Roland Deschain's life long goal. Roland wishes to breach the Tower, climb to its very top room and question whatever God or Demon resides there. It is his sole mission, and thus he is at odds with those that continue the attempt to destroy it. When he reaches The Tower, Roland came upon The Unfound Door, but it quickly changed to "Found" afterwards.

The Dark Tower is located on the Island of Whisp (Nehwon Map 2C, o19) in a region known as Mid-World. It is surrounded by a field of roses known as the Can'ka No Rey.

Dark Tower in Clouds by Unknown

Founding Date

Unknown

Type

World wonder

Parent Location

Mid-World

It is said that the Dark Tower changes its appearance slightly from time to time or that it's perceived differently by different people.

Dark Tower in Field of Roses by Unknown