The Empire of Aethernum is a massive, safe nation, ruled by Emperor Ian Blacksteel with an even hand, and renowned for its daily referendums, sprawling nuclear power plants, and punitive income tax rates. The hard-nosed population of 1.395 billion Aethernans are prohibited from doing almost everything except voting, which they do timidly and conservatively.

The medium-sized, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Education, Law & Order, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Nova Eterna. The average income tax rate is 70.7%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Aetherniam economy, worth 184 trillion Aethers a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is broadly diversified, is led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Arms Manufacturing, and Uranium Mining. Average income is an impressive 132,198 Aethers, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Young people suspect their parents might be a little bit stupid, nephews and nieces of the monarch resort to begging from relatives in palace halls, it is a silent spring in Aethernum, and citizens insist that there's no law against standing downwind when marijuana crops are burned off. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Aethernum's national animal is the Tiger, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its national religion is Atheism.

Aethernum is ranked 12,792^nd in the world and 4^th in Mitteleuropa for Safest, scoring 118.17 on the Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating.