TheBlack Gate This was the Morannon, the mighty fortified gateway believed to bebuilt by Sauron to guard the entrance to the Black Land of Mordor; it was amighty gate that stretched across the Haunted Pass of Cirith Gorgor.The gates opened onto a narrow valley, Udun,and were highly defensible, only successfully assaulted once in their historyby the Last Alliance.

Udun Anarrow valley in the northwest corner of Mordor, where the Ash Mountains meetthe Mountains of Shadow.At one end ofthe valley is Cirith Gorgor and the Black Gate of Mordor (Morannon), at theother end of the valley was the narrow pass called Isenmouthe.There were many Orc-holds, armouries andtunnels in the mountains on either side of the valley, used by the troopsguarding the Black Gate.

DurthangPass A high pass which ran above the plain of Gorgoroth and the Vale ofUdun, allowing traffic from the Durthang fortress to Udun without having to gothrough Isenmouthe.

CarachAngren (Isenmouthe) This was the pass which separated the Vale of Udun from the Plateauof Gorgoroth, formed from spurs jutting out from the Ered Lithui and the EphelDuath.This pass was like Cirith Gorgoralso heavily fortified, and both rocky spurs that overlooked the pass hadfortresses and watchtowers.Across thepass a wall of earth was built, with a great ditch spanned by a single bridge.

Plateauof Gorgoroth Anupland plateau bounded by the Ephel Duath and the Ered Lithui in the North andWest, by the Maegond Spur in the South West and by the Mithram Spur in theSouth East, this was the heart of Sauron’s realm, and was a wasted desert, aplace of broken slag and ash, with many lava pits and choking fumes, asOrodruin stood in the center of the plateau.

DelvishCross Acrossroads in Mordor just before Carach Angren, where the road south from Udun,the road east from Durthang, the road north from the Plateau and the road westfrom the Dark Tower met.
MorothRoad Themain road in Mordor, travelled by many iron shod feet.It ran the length of Mordor, from Udun allthe way south to Nurn.Thousands ofslaves labored to ensure that the road remained clear for armies to use.

AshPlain This was the northern wedge of Gorgoroth, which stretched from Udunto the foot of Orodruin, and from the Morgai in the west to the Gates ofBarad-dur in the east.It was a barrenwaste that consisted of broken rock and burnt stone, and the constant eruptionsof Orodruin tended to go into this area, covering the plain in ash and dust,with many pits filled with foul fumes.

TowerSpur Thiswas a spur of the Ered Lithui upon which Barad-dur was built on the lastmountain, and the spur itself was impassable, with peaks in the range likeneedles.

Orodruin(Mount Doom) The principal reason Sauron decided on Mordor as his dwelling placewas because of the existence of the fiery mountain, which he could harness forhis own purposes.Although a naturalvolcano Sauron seemed able to control its fires, such that when Sauron wasabsent the Mountain lay dormant.

DoomRoad TheDoom road went around the southern flank of Orodruin, so that orcs could travelto Barad-dur from the Morgul Vale and avoid the worst of Orodruin’s eruptions,which flowed north.This road neededconstant repairs from Mt.Doom’s eruptions.

GhashRoad TheRoad of Fire, or Sauron’s Road, ran from the Dark Tower’s huge western gateover a deep abyss by a bridge of iron, and ran straight for a league betweentwo smoking chasms, and then to a long sloping causeway up onto the easternside of Mt.Doom, and after encircling the mountain came to the Sammath Naur.The road was constantly repaired bycountless slaves.Lava from the mountainwas also channeled back to Barad-dur next to the road in the Naur Trench,filling the gulf around Barad-dur except for the great Iron Bridge, it was usedas a final defense of the Dark Tower, and also to feed the fires for thevarious engines in the Tower, the Trench ran virtually straight and parallel tothe road.

SouthGorgor TheSouthern plain of Gorgoroth was often filled with great rivers of molten rock,burnt stone and ash, although ash fumes wer e less common here than in thenorth, hot winds were often a problem.

MulburzRoad TheMulburz Road ran south from Barad-dur to the Nurza-shuk Gap,where it merged with the Nurn and MorothRoads.This road was the main supplyroute to the Dark Tower from Nurn, so it was constantly patrolled.

SeregostRoad Alongthis road came the armies of the Easterlings loyal to Sauron, the road led eastaway from the Dark Tower and through the Mithram Gap branched into the EastRoad and Caran Road.

Kirithgal Aplain of Gorgoroth lying south east and bounded by the Mulburz, Seregost andNargoth Roads, it was riddled with dangerous pits that spilled out fire andash, very few could survive a crossing of this plain, it was considered thedeadliest part of Gorgoroth.

NargothRoadThisdeadly road connected the Seregost and Mulburz Roads.

Hidden (Raven) Vale In secret Sauron deposited much of hisknowledge in a secret chamber east of Barad-dur in this vale named for manyravens.Many still search for thisHidden Vale and the secret chamber within.

Plainof the Black Steeds Thenorth eastern corner of Gorgoroth was the least hostile part of the region, andcould sustain life.The plains here hadgrass, which was brittle and filled with nettles & thorns, and here werekept the black horses of Mordor.The black horses of Mordor were bigger thannormal horses, and fed with fell grains and rotted Morgul loam.

Seregost Fortressthat guarded the Mithram Gap, it was a place of lava and red rocks, and namedfor the ‘Blood Stone’ flower.After thefirst Downfall of Sauron at the end of the Second Age, the Uruks took thisfortress and inhabited it for many centuries until their master’s return, sothe fortress was never held by the Dunedain.It was a place of Dark Sorcery, with foundations of molten lava.
MithramSpur A range ofmountains which came down from the Ered Lithui and stretched south eastwards ,and bordered the south eastern edge of Gorgoroth.

DaemonGap Thiswas a secret way across the Mithram Spur, and Sauron used this way for hisspies to keep an eye on things south and east, and of course Sauron also hadspies to watch his spies, always fearful of deceit and treachery.

DaemonAngren A fortress inside Daemon Gap, said to be the abode of IndurDawndeath (one of the Nazgul) in the early Third Age while they prepared fortheir master’s return, it was at the southern end of the Mithram Spur andoverlooked the Plain of Nurn.

Nargroth Afortress at the very end of the Mithram Spur, it looked across a wide gap tothe fortress of Morigost at the base of the Maegond Spur.No one could enter Gorgoroth without beingseen from these two vantage points, which were the southern guard into theplateau.Nargroth was a high mountainpeak with a watch post, and a large orc camp at its base.

Morigost A watchpost built into a large natural opening in the side of the last mountain in theMaegond Spur, it overlooked the western portion of the Gap of Nurza Shuk.

MaegondSpur A smallrange of mountains that jutted out eastwards from the Ephel Duath range.The mountains here were small.

Nurn A large region inthe south of Mordor, bordered on the west and south by the Mountains of Shadow,to the north was the Plateau of Gorgoroth, reached by the Gap of Nurza Shuk,and to the east the land opened up into Rhun.Nurn was fertile due to the large Sea of Nurnen and the rivers that fedinto the Sea, and also because the land here was sheltered from the fumes andash of Mt.Doom by the mountains.Traditionally Nurn was the area where all food for Sauron’s armies wasgrown.

MaegondVale Large semi-fertile valley in the southwest of Mordor, fed by thewaters of the river Guthrant, which flowed into the Nurnen Sea.The northern portion of the valley is rockyand dry, but the southern part (which contains the Guthrant river) was fertileand produced a hard grain used to feed the great beasts of Mordor (such asthose used to carry Grond).The valleywas inhabited by men from Harad during wartime, and also many Mumakil were kepthere.

GuthrantRiver One of four tributary rivers that fed into the Nurnen Sea,originated according to rumour in the dark valley of Nan Ungol at the base ofthe Mountains of Shadow, it flowed across the plain eastwards and then fell ina great rift into the Nurnen Sea.Itswaters were dark, cold and bitter to the taste.

NurnRoad The main road in Nurn, from the Nurza Shuk Gap to the fortressof Nurngost on the shores of the NurnenSea.

NanUngol Little is known about this valley in the south western corner ofMordorwhere the Mountains of Shadowmeet the Ered Glamoth, but the rumours are that those who enter do not return,victims of the numerous Spiders residing here, which according to legend arethe offspring of Shelob.

ThaurRoad Thisroad branched off the main Nurn Road and led to the fortress of Thaurband.When it reached the Sea of Nurnen the roadwound down the great cliffs that boarded the western side of the sea.

Thaurband A hugefortress on the western coast of the Sea of Nurnen, home to hundreds ofthousands of orcs, men and slaves during Sauron’s rule.Many ships would dock at Thaurband to offloadsupplies, which were then taken north for Sauron’s armies.

SlaveFields Muchof Nurn was taken up by these huge fields that were planted and tended byslaves, producing immense quantities of food to feed Sauron’s armies.

DaemonRoad This road linked the moretravelled Caran and Nurn Roads, it was used mainly by messengers from the DarkTower as a fast way, and because it travelled over rough terrain it was notused by armies or large groups.

Nurngost Fortresson the northern shore of the Sea of Nurnen and also a port for unloading ofsupplies by ship, it had great docks, although this fortress was not as largeas Thaurband.

CaranduinRiver Central river that flowed from the mountains of the Mithram Spurinto the Sea of Nurnen, its waters were cold and deep, and as the largest anddeepest of the four rivers, it was used to supply goods up to a port nearSeregost and then transported along the Seregost Road to the Dark Tower.

GreatEast Road This road ran from Seregost all the way into the Eastern Desolationand beyond, was well travelled by orcs and men coming from Lithlad.

CulduinRiver Smallest of the four rivers that fed into the Nurnen Sea, flowedfrom the Ered Glamoth, it was dry for much of the year but was often floodedduring rain.

NurnenSea Great inland sea that dominated Nurn, its western coasts were sheercliffs, but the other coasts opened onto fertile plains.

EredGlamhoth These mountains formed the southern border of Mordor, separating itfrom Khand.

Caran Asmaller outpost on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Nurnen.This was always where a slave was firstbrought if they were going to work in the slave fields of Nurn.Slaves were either the lowest tribes of orcs,or they were men from southern & eastern lands –there were not many slavescaptured in wars.

CaranRoad Ranfrom Caran on the Sea of Nurnen until it intersected the Khand Road, thenheaded north to Seregost.

SirilithRiver Riverwhich ran from Nan Morlith westwards across Lithlad to the Sea of Nurnen, thelongest river in Mordor, with many small vessels along it bringing supplies toMordor.

KhandRoad Thisroute was the main road to the lands south and east of Mordor, and was used bySauron secretly as a way of getting armies to Mordor without the Western landsknowing.

Lithlad The third regionof Mordor, it is a dark and desolate plain, whose eastern borders are notclearly defined as it merges with the Eastern Desolation.

SirlithRoad Formost of its length runs close to and sometimes over the Sirlith River.Used as a major trade route to N.Mordor,along with the river.

CarnTelloth Accordingto legend this mountain which stands apart from the Mithram Spur was to begiven to the dragon Smaug if he accepted Sauron as lord, as Smaug’s lair.

NanMorlith A small set of mountains jutting out eastwards from the MithramSpur, it surrounds the Vale of Fell Beasts.It has large towering rock formations that the fell beasts use to perchon.

Valeof the Fell Beasts In this sheltered vale lived these creatures that Sauron when hediscovered them, looked after with meats etc.The Creatures lived in sheltered caves in the mountains around thisvale.

FellRoad Secret way known only to Sauron’s most trusted servants, and to walkon this road without Sauron’s leave usually meant death at the beaks of thefell beasts that lived here.

EasternDesolation Not much is known about this area, a blasted wasteland scoured bywind and sun.