Cargia was the ancestral homeland of the Cargans, from these hills they rose to bring order to the world, and gather its jewelled crowns at their lord's sandalled feet.
Cargia is a lofty, dry realm, on the eastern slopes of the Black Mountains. The basalt crags do slope to a broken landscape of hills and vales. Cargia shows a profusion of strange rock formations, spindles, mesas, even arches of black stone, give the realm a picturesque and otherworldly feel, and this is further enhanced by the creeks and small waterfalls, the gnarled trees and bushes. The hilly province is cleft by the Durga river, along which a level, sandy valley gives Cargia its only decent farmland.
Urban visitors often complain that there is nothing to be seen there except hills, sheep, surly peasants, sheep dung, grass, more sheep and even more hills.
Though the largest settlement in Cargia is the city of Uccia in the Durgus river valley, the most famous town is the town of Netrum, the cradle of the Cargan empire. Castle Hound in Netrum is a famous tourist attraction.
Cargia is not a particularily rich province. There are herdsmen tending flocks of sheep and goats, and the farmers grow mediocore crops of olives, wine and wheat. Its primary export may be said to be soldiers, for more than a third of the Empire's legionaires are recruited from this province. Many young men leave their native province to seek gold and glory under the horned banners.
To the southwest of the province are the Imperial Cinnabar Mines, wrested from the failing hands of Morbazon after the Magocratic Civil War. Vigilantly guarded and worked by slave labour, these mines require a steady influx of new manpower, as many working them go insane or die.
The men of Cargia have dark or black hair, and are wiry with muscles hardened from the life in the hills. They are often teased by people who claim that they smell of mutton and sheep dung, and some go as far as calling them sheepshaggers. Whoever does so had better be puissant, for the natives of Cargia are as notorious for their short temper and brutality, as they are famous for their strength and fighting skill. Traditionally, the men herd the sheep and till the soil, while the women work at home, cooking and cleaning, as well as spinning and weaving. The woven cloth is usually sent to the cities to be dyed and sold. Most kargans learn to wield short sword and javelin early in life.