The Empire of Sho-Ol is a colossal, safe nation, notable for its compulsory military service, infamous sell-swords, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, democratic population of 5.476 billion Sho-Olians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Healthcare, Education, and Administration. The average income tax rate is 79.5%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but underdeveloped Sho-Olian economy, worth 217 trillion credits a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. The industrial sector, which is quite specialized, is led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Pizza Delivery. Average income is 39,643 credits, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

The comic book series 'Leader and the Villainous Corporate Cronies' is a best-seller, skin-tone prom dresses are more unpopular than ever, Sho-Olian police have to pay out of their own pockets for bulletproof vests, and every workday begins with group therapy. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Sho-Ol's national animal is the fae, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Sho-Ol is ranked 263,016^th in the world and 176^th in Thaecia for Most Patriotic, with 1.09 flags saluted per person per day.