Zavela is best known for its chilly rainforest climate, and its silk industry. Harvesting silk (from arachnid-like animals that lose the ability to produce it when domesticated) has always been a risky job, and as such, there is a 'frontier' or 'pioneer' quality to the culture in Zavela. In general silk-gatherers are highly skilled and self-employed, amassing fortunes or debt according to the whims of the market. This has created a climate of individualism, and thus the government in the Forests of Rime has adopted a distinctive rhetorical style to ensure this outlook remains in service to the essentially fascist spirit of the Empire.