The Pelennor Fields surrounding Minas Tirith were crossed by a main road connecting most of Gondor's fiefs, known to the local inhabitants as the South Road.
It was broad and paved with thick stone slabs, allowing travelers and armies to move much faster.
Along its eastern side, a strip of lush green grass ran parallel to the road, providing a place for horses and cavalry to gallop.
Even with horseshoes to protect their hooves, galloping over stone paving was good for neither the horses nor the road.
Countless smaller paths crisscrossed the fields, connecting the many farms, orchards, and cultivated plots to the South Road.
It was the turn of spring and summer, and many Gondorians were working the fields on either side of the road. Merchants and farmers also drove wagons laden with stored grain to nearby markets to sell.
The farthest point the South Road reached was the Hill of Erech, west of Lamedon.
Atop that hill, a vast spherical black stone lay half buried in the earth. Known as the Stone of Erech, it was the stone that had witnessed the King of the Mountains swear allegiance to Isildur.
After passing through the beautiful, prosperous valley of Lossarnach, the South Road reached the northernmost river in Lebennin, the River Erui.
It was the shortest and fastest-flowing river in Gondor, and it had also witnessed the moment of the kingdom's decline.
For the bloody civil war that had swept across all Gondor had ended at this river's ford.
Now, an army of Men, Elves, and Dwarves was taking a brief rest nearby.
These were, of course, the reinforcements led by Allen and Círdan.
The waters flowing down from the White Mountains replenished the army's water supplies.
Nearby, a broad expanse of well-watered grassland also offered the horses a