Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-46.233.112.99-20161220220903/@comment-25101089-20161222124830

All things Rhûn:

Rhûn: Sindarin for 'East'. A name for all lands to the east of Rhovanion/Wilderland. Also, the name of a smaller specific region centred around the Sea of Rhûn (Sindarin: Rhûnaer).

Palisor: Apparently Quenya for 'Flat Land'. A name used by Tolkien in the early stages of his legendarium for the central region of Middle-earth. In Palisor lay the Cuiviénen where Elves awoke. The region where Men awoke was east of Palisor.

The name Palisor does not appear to be used in the 'final' version of the legendarium, but since it originated from the Master himself, it seems a good choice. In the mod we will use it to refer to the central steppes of Rhûn: the lands between Dorwinion in the West and the Orocarni in the East. Consider it a 'Near Rhûn'.

Sea of Helcar: A great inland Sea of Palisor during the First Age, formed in the breaking of the northern Lamp of the Valar. Cuiviénen was a bay on the shores of Helcar.

Since the cataclysms of the Elder Days, it is unlikely these lands still exist in the Third Age. The Sea of Helcar appears to have shrunken, its remnants being the Sea of Rhûn and Núrnen, and thus Cuiviénen is also gone. So, it is very unlikely that these features will appear in the mod.

Orocarni: The Red Mountains, which we all know and love. Four of the seven Dwarf-fathers awoke here, and from their lineages came the four Dwarf-clans of the East: the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots. In the mod, these will probably all come under one 'Red Mountains' faction, but with some differences within that faction.

On the slopes of the Orocarni grew the Wild Wood, called Taur Rhúnen in the mod. This is where the main Avari civilisation will be placed.

Uttermost East: Another term from the early legendarium. This refers to the lands east of Palisor; that is, Rhûn east of the Orocarni. In Quenya, the name is Oronto, and that name sounds nice as well, so perhaps we will use this for the region instead, or for a sub-region of the Uttermost East, or even a nation / faction of the East.

In the dawn of Arda the mountain Kalormë stood in the Uttermost East. As with the Sea of Helcar, it is possible this mountain no longer exists. Then again, mountains are often more durable than water, so who knows.

The Uttermost East is also perhaps referenced in The Hobbit where Bilbo says he will go to the Last Desert in the East of East and fight the Were-worms if he has to. This may just be a Hobbit legend, but there's nothing else there to conflict with it, so the Last Desert will eventually be a region in the mod.

Hildórien: Quenya for 'Land of the Followers'. The region in the Uttermost East where Men awoke. As with Cuiviénen, this probably no longer exists and thus will not appear in the mod.

Harhûdor: An entirely invented name for the South-lands of Rhûn, which roughly correspond to the Indian subcontinent. This name is Sindarin for 'South-East-land'. I believe it was invented by a person on this very wiki. We liked the sound of it, so we will be using it in the mod. There is nothing in the lore that relates to this region. But, of course, we do have some plans.

Mountains of the Wind: A range of mountains in the central regions of Middle-earth. These are only found in the very earliest versions of the legendarium. You can read about it here; the old maps are quite fascinating.

Furthermore, even in that old version of the lore, these mountains were very ancient, existing before the awakening of the Elves. Even Beleriand did not exist back then, let alone such famous innovations as Númenor or the Round World. So, if these mountains were not utterly destroyed in the Wars of the Valar (and bear in mind that the shape of the entire landmass was changed) some ruined remnant of the range may still exist in the Third Age, perhaps separating Palisor from Harhûdor.

Khand: A country southeast of Mordor. The Variags came from here. You can see on the current map where it will eventually be placed.

And now:

Easterlings: Any of the various peoples who lived in Rhûn (not to be confused with the Easterlings of the First Age, who lived east of Beleriand). 'Easterling' is a generic term like 'Haradrim'. Arguably, even the Avarin Elves and Orocarni Dwarves were Easterlings. This is reflected in the mod by the 'Easterling' title, which at present is unlockable with Dorwinion, but will also be unlockable with any Eastern faction, as is the situation with Harad titles.

In the lore, besides those mentioned above, there were the Wainriders and/or Balchoth, who lived in Palisor and around the Sea of Rhûn, and sometimes in Wilderland too. We will be adding these into the mod in some form. We will also be adding other invented Easterling factions to fill the regions that are left empty. The 'movie Easterlings' will also appear in some form.

There are concept maps of Rhûn which have almost as much detail as the entire current Middle-earth. Some people would do terrible things to see those maps...