Lud is home to two groups of quarreling locals, the Grays and the Pubes. Their names came from the relative ages of the two groups when their war began.
The Pubes were the original inhabitants of Lud and were scientists. Lud was one of the last bastions of science in Roland's world. It became a prime target for harriers. Now, the Pubes have a highly ritualized society. They kill one of their own whenever the "God-drums" start playing. Eddie identifies the god-drums as being the drum track of "Velcro Fly", a song by ZZ Top.