The Transitionary Territory of The Alperian Union is a colossal, efficient nation, ruled by Provisional Seneschal-Marshal Asterion with an iron fist, and remarkable for its closed borders, sprawling nuclear power plants, and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 9.957 billion Alperians are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.

The medium-sized, corrupt, well-organized government is primarily concerned with Defense, although Education, Law & Order, and Environment are also considered important, while International Aid and Spirituality aren't funded at all. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of High Alpia. The average income tax rate is 94.7%.

The frighteningly efficient Alperian economy, worth a remarkable 3,178 trillion Alperian Sterlons a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is an enormous, deeply entrenched, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Book Publishing. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is an amazing 319,239 Alperian Sterlons, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Protesters are up in arms over new nuclear power stations, no-one can foil the ambitions of Big Aluminium, sex education has become an intricate maze of stick figures and complex metaphors, and Provisional Seneschal-Marshal Asterion's told that love often manifests itself through homicidal four-lettered litanies. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. The Alperian Union's national animal is the Alpeagle, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

The Alperian Union is ranked 167,236^th in the world and 3,987^th in the Rejected Realms for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 178.65 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.