Why are there like three isolated provinces in the middle of the desert? Are they even attackable?
SWMH Random Provinces in Arabian Desert?
- Thread starter The_13th_Ronin
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Yes, they're oases. If you zoom in, you can see roads leading to them from nearby provinces. 
They use "straits" like those that connect the sides of the Bosporus to get from one to the other. Fully navigable. The idea is that having big blocks of land there makes it seem like you actually CONTROL huge areas of desert, where in reality power was concentrated around a handful of oases and well-sites, while the desert cut off communication except along the lines shown.