The Empire of Norcourt is a gargantuan, safe nation, ruled by Volus Valorrius Harkearean with an iron fist, and remarkable for its vat-grown people, sprawling nuclear power plants, and infamous sell-swords. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 11.189 billion Norcourtians are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

The large, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Education, and Law & Order. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Norcourtia. The average income tax rate is 91.8%.

The frighteningly efficient Norcourtian economy, worth a remarkable 1,864 trillion Kades a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Book Publishing industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Retail, and Information Technology. Average income is an impressive 166,635 Kades, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.2 times as much as the poorest.

Some are born loving old plays and some have old plays thrust upon them, military chiefs are predicting extra funding in this year's budget, student exchange programs are in trouble as everyone wants to leave but no-one wants to come, and foreign lack of enthusiasm for Norcourtian nose-flute disco metal is seen as a reasonable casus belli. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Norcourt's national animal is the Ulca, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is The Elixian Code.

Norcourt is ranked 160,468^th in the world and 16^th in Federation of Allies for Most Extreme, scoring 13.17 on the Paul-Nader Subjective Decentrality Index.