The Entrance to Mordor

Landmarks of Udûn

Mornaur

Durthang

Rhûd Vorn

Anglach

Isenmouthe

The Aesthetics of Udûn





The Land ofis accessible via a large gap between two great mountain ranges;: Ash Mountains) to the North and East and: Outer Fence) to the West and South. This gap is known as: Haunted Pass)., with the power of the, constructed the: Black Gate) across Cirith Gorgor to bar entrance into Mordor.Afterdefeat at the hands of thebuilt two great towers overlookingto keep watch over Sauron and his lands. Over time, however, Gondor's power began to wane and Sauron's began to grow. He would eventually claim these towers as his own and brand them the: Fire Tooth) and: Fang Tower). Thus, theand the Towers of the Teeth would serve as an impenetrable defense for Mordor up until it's destruction at the completion of theAfter crossing, you will finally look upon the valley of: Hell). Udûn was, by far, the most densely populated region in all of. It served as the parade grounds and forges forArmies during both theand the. When the Elves and Men ofmarched on the, Sauron's forces met them upon what would come to be known as: Battle Plains). From Udûn, orcs, trolls, and evil men gathered from all reaches of Mordor and established great forges to wrought their weapons of war.has 5 major landmarks;, the, and thewas the lesser of the two great Forges of. Under the shadow of, the forgeworkers of Mornaur continue to craft weapons of war afterdemise...Similarly to thebuilt a great fortress withinafter theand like the Towers of the Teeth, it too fell undergrasp. Twisted and corrupted, the fortress quickly became overrun by Orcs, Trolls, and Haradrim. If you are strong enough to fight your way through Durthang, you will find yourself on the Northern borders of: Barren Land).is an encampment on the shadow of thewhere theresided during the. Today, the camp sits abandoned.The Forges of Anglach were the greatest Forges in Udûn. With pits of Lava so hot, they almost rivaled Mount Doom.The, or: Iron Jaws) is the southern equivalent to thethat separates the valley ofand the Plateau of: Haunted Lands).Great care has been taken by Standing Stone Games to bring life to an otherwise lifeless area. Across various places in Udûn, there are statues of Balrogs overlooking the landscape.While this may, at first, seem like an innocuous design choice. It actually is a very detailed one. Udûn shares it's name with Utumno, Melkor's first fortress North of the Iron Mountains where he bred Balrogs. Clearly, Sauron did more than just pay tribute via name.Durthang, as stated previously, was built by Men of Gondor. You could easily determine this by architecture alone as this fortress is made of White Stone. yet various parts of it are reinforced by the black steel of Mordor.Udûn was always described as being full of forges and warc bands. LoTRO's rendition is true to form. The entire valley is covered in forges, clouds of smoke arising from furnaces, and camps of orcs, men, and trolls.All in all, Udûn is a fantastic zone and a great starter area for the Mordor Expansion. 10/10. Would play again.