Livy, Venice 1493
From Medieval Woodcuts - see Picture Credits

Those rare and unusual visitors to Mordor - unusual in the sense that they’ve returned to their homelands without being broken by the Dark Tower - have often ruminated on the barren environment found in Udûn and Gorgoroth, and contrasted that with the Barad-dûr’s ability to field an army of unparalleled size.

The leeward latitudes of our Dark Lord’s realm contain a basin into which several watersheds drain, forming the Sea of Nûrnen. These waters, despite being choked with mine-tailings and silt from erosion produced by poor land-use practices, are bordered by soils fertile enough to coax a subsistence diet from the surrounding fields. Favorite among this produce are those edible members of the nightshade family: tomatoes, peppers etc...

Also found in the sea itself are those aquatic species that thrive in a high-salinity eutrophic environment: kraken and a delicacy unique to the Sea of Nûrnen, fisshh...

Written by Slave2the1_Ring