The Empire of The Inquisition of Thalenthar is a massive, cultured nation, ruled by The Inquisitor with an iron fist, and notable for its museums and concert halls, public floggings, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, cynical, devout population of 1.517 billion Thaylenats are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings."

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized morass — juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Ard Farat. The average income tax rate is 86.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The powerhouse Thaylen economy, worth 128 trillion King's Marks a year, is highly specialized and led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Basket Weaving and Book Publishing. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 84,551 King's Marks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

Diplomatic fallout tends to be much more dangerous than radioactive fallout, corporations have to consult a fifty-page "sanctions spreadsheet" to determine which countries they are allowed to do business with, the government is buying children's books by the thousands, and nobody looks each other in the eye at neighborhood block parties any more. 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, and its national religion is 1st Century Christendom.

Thalenthar is ranked 74,532^nd in the world and 1,675^th in The North Pacific for Highest Average Incomes, with 84,551.04 Standard Monetary Units.