The Empire of Thalenthar is a huge, genial nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service, devotion to social welfare, and stringent health and safety legislation. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 210 million Thaylenats are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Spirituality, Education, and Defense. The average income tax rate is 82.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but inefficient Thaylen economy, worth 8.02 trillion King's Marks a year, is driven almost entirely by government activity. The industrial sector, which is highly specialized, is led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Uranium Mining, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are reasonably common. Average income is 38,180 King's Marks, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Animal liberationists receive government funding to break into animal research labs, odysseying merchant sailors swear that they've heard sirens in the western seas, there are no more heroes any more, and rumor has it that Leader has won three lotteries in a row. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Thalenthar's national animal is the dragon, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies.

Thalenthar is ranked 25,717^th in the world and 1,003^rd in The North Pacific for Most Cultured, scoring 85 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.