The Federation of Carystus is a massive, orderly nation, ruled by Marina Levipedia with an iron fist, and remarkable for its ban on automobiles, complete lack of prisons, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical population of 1.282 billion Carystians 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 enormous, corrupt, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Theophatia. The average income tax rate is 80.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Carystian economy, worth 83.8 trillion taureuses 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 large, well-organized, quite specialized black market in Uranium Mining, Arms Manufacturing, Retail, and Woodchip Exports. 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 65,340 taureuses, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Jollity-related fatalities are on the increase, official Sermon-Free Zones are set-up around the nation's hotels, Bambi has been banned, and at customs baggage gets an x-ray and female travelers get an ultrasound. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Carystus's national animal is the centaur, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its national religion is Sparagmism.

Carystus is ranked 203,402^nd in the world and 8^th in Orion Spur for Largest Gambling Industry, scoring -1.64 on the Kelly Criterion Productivity Index.