The Empire of Vreda is a small, efficient nation, notable for its compulsory military service and irreverence towards religion. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 23 million Vredans are effectively ruled by a group of massive corporations, who run for political office and provide their well-off citizens with world-class goods and services. Their poorer citizens, however, are mostly starving to death while being urged to go out and get real jobs. The populace has reasonably extensive civil rights, although these are mostly aimed at allowing them to buy whatever they like.

The minute, pro-business government, or what there is of one, juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Healthcare. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.4%.

The thriving Vredan economy, worth 1.66 trillion Drakeses a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Basket Weaving industry, with major contributions from Trout Farming, Gambling, and Furniture Restoration. Average income is 72,214 Drakeses, but there is a significant disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 255,615 per year while the poor average 14,730, a ratio of 17.4 to 1.

Crime is moderate, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Vreda's national animal is the Lince.

Vreda is ranked 289,051^st in the world and 2,201^st in the Rejected Realms for Most Extensive Public Healthcare, scoring 528.28 on the Theresa-Nightingale Rating.