The Templar of AESS is a titanic, orderly nation, ruled by Tao with an iron fist, and notable for its free-roaming dinosaurs, smutty television, and absence of drug laws. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 11.294 billion Ashes 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 large, socially-minded government prioritizes Defense, with Administration, Healthcare, and Education also on the agenda. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Stronghold. The average income tax rate is 66.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The large but sluggish Ashen economy, worth 392 trillion Cores 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 a slick, highly efficient black market in Arms Manufacturing, Retail, Uranium Mining, and Information Technology. 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 34,752 Cores, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

There's a literal nanny state for the legions of children taken by social services, the nation operates a "finders-keepers" policy with other nations' citizens, internet moderator is one of the most popular jobs among the nation's more socially awkward citizens, and the wearing and manufacture of fur apparel is banned. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. AESS's national animal is the Bear, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Faith.

AESS is ranked 177,005^th in the world and 14^th in Shinka for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring 126.16 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.