In the beginning, Gvante was little more than a fishing and whaling town, which produced its own boats out of necessity. Some historians believe that broad similarities in regional dialects indicate a relationship between the original settlers of Gvante and the nearby Dalish, which is not unreasonable; however, any likeness between the two cultures has been eroded away over millennia, and the coastal province nurses a low-key rivalry with its mostly landlocked neighbor, in contemporary times�a relationship in which Greendale cannot be bothered to invest.

Though the staunchly independent realm submitted only grudgingly to Regnan annexation, its role has become more prominent as the Federation has evolved. In modern times, Gvante is a powerhouse of industry, laying claim to the frigid but mineral-rich hills west of Arcadia, which are mined for elements critical to Federation science and magic. Coastal trade and export of these materials fuels the mercantile government of the city-state, which is driven by an oligarchy of guilded bodies interested primarily in profit over people. Of course, Regnan oversight means this attitude brings Gvante into continual conflict with the policies of the Federation, but several centuries of censure and sanctions still haven't fully purged the corruption from the province's halls of power. The Shipwrights' and Fishmongers' Guilds, for example, have a close partnership in Gvante, forming a major political bloc that often overwhelmingly dictates the city-state's affairs.

Long famous for its skilled smiths thanks to its ownership of mines further up the Bone Coast, Gvante is home to a substantial industrial complex. Once the main rival for Del'Hanas in the shipbuilding trade�its lighthouse remains a wonder of the known world�the western realm has unwillingly ceded that domain to the Hanasi as metalwork has become steadily more necessary and profitable. Unlike the sleek, elegant vessels made to ply the more temperate waters of the White Sea, western ships are huge and sturdy, meant to withstand the icy storms and massive waves of the Discordant Ocean. Of course, compared to Hanasi corvettes, these are sitting ducks in naval combat, constructed for durability and cargo space over evasion�a fact not lost or unremarked-upon by the Hanasi, who view the lawlessness and piracy of Gvante as a personal affront.

While most products of fishery are distributed internally, the export of steel and steel goods surpasses even the masonry business of Arcadia's quarries. Most of the Federation's firearms are cast in Gvante, and�as of 517LL�almost all of its new cannons. In a city of unscrupulous merchant lords and secret crime bosses, where the primary motivator for loyalty to the Twinned Throne is not being enslaved by the Serene Empire, the steelworks have become one of the most heavily-guarded and -observed manufacturies in the world, with veteran Streghe ever alert for theft, treason, and imperial espionage.

Likewise with Camp Smokestack, a little rough-and-tumble town built around the extraction of ore from a significant portion of the nearby Sentinel Mountains and a key component of the recent war effort. Ingots are smelted there and shipped down the dangerous, tattered, ice-choked length of the Bone Coast to Gvante, where it can be distributed to the proper factories under eyes handpicked by the Twinned Throne. While hazardous in the extreme, the forbidding geography of the region, with its frequent, violent arctic hurricanes and lethal ice floes, helps discourage the notion of Serene ships rounding the Nom Kordor to attack from the north.