The Commonwealth of Vortissa is a gargantuan, orderly nation, ruled by King Richard I with an iron fist, and notable for its sprawling nuclear power plants, compulsory military service, and devotion to social welfare. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 12.219 billion Vortesians 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 large, corrupt, moralistic, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Law & Order, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Saint Monarchie. The average income tax rate is 92.6%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Vortissan economy, worth a remarkable 1,730 trillion Sovereigns a year, is quite specialized and mostly made up of the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Basket Weaving, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Furniture Restoration. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an impressive 141,626 Sovereigns, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.3 times as much as the poorest.

There has been a rapid increase of noise complaints over the sound of buzzing bees, official medical guidelines insist that childbirth is 'almost totally painless', some Vortesians have nicknamed the monarch "Caligula", and the jails are alive with the sound of birdsong. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a very well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Vortissa's national animal is the Wolf, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Vortissa is ranked 20,452^nd in the world and 5^th in United Fascist Workers Association for Most Primitive, scoring 79.7 on the Scary Big Number Scale.