Though it is a part of the central region and remains thus in terms of political spheres and allegiances, Awar Province is culturally southern in many ways. Its original classification as a central province was largely due to the fact that it, like its more northwards compatriots, relies largely on farming to support its economy. Legends say that the prophet Karbod was born in a cot somewhere in the fields of Awar, and hundreds of Karbeans come looking for his birthplace every year
Despite its central culture, many people live a more southern lifestyle than in other central provinces. Most cities are walled and fortified, and crops tend to be sown in smaller fields as a result of the need to protect one's land against marauding Etanans. Awar was very hard hit throughout the war, and agriculture suffered enormously from the pillaging that went on in the later years of the conflict; it is only recently that it has rebounded and gained some measure of influence through trade. What saved it from being completely destroyed was the strategic placement of a major port city, Estallen, right between the mountains, the sea, and the river; thus, it was difficult for raiders to come through in any great force, since they had to slip by the walled city in order to attack the surrounding crops and villages.
The capital of Awar Province is Ubro, which nestles against the mountains on a hill overlooking the gorgeous countryside below. The second-largest business in Awar is livestock breeding, and the sheep fields are idyllic beyond the castle at Ubro. This has, however, earned Awar Province the unfortunate reputation of being a backwater province in a fairly metropolitan region.
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