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“It is better for a man to be afraid than happy”

The Sovereign Imperium of Machina Haruspex is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Emperor Sa Karn with an iron fist, and renowned for its punitive income tax rates. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 11.247 billion are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Defence, Law & Order, and Commerce. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Chel de Yorn. The average income tax rate is 100%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, followed by Uranium Mining and Information Technology.

Murder rates are on the rise as the popularity of soylent products grows, the government regularly hires contractors to construct high rise apartments, much of Machina Haruspex's computer network is controlled by a rampant artificial intelligence, and skateboarding is punishable by heavy fines. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Machina Haruspex's national animal is the Tbe, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, its national religion is Tyng Sudran, and its currency is the Credit.

Machina Haruspex is ranked 2nd in the region and 161st in the world for Largest Furniture Restoration Industry.