The Always Changing Shapes of Feux is a titanic, cultured nation, ruled by Debussy with an iron fist, and renowned for its disturbing lack of elderly people, keen interest in outer space, and complete lack of prisons. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless population of 16.914 billion Comrades 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 medium-sized, corrupt, socially-minded, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Education, Industry, and Defense. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Adytus. The average income tax rate is 99.3%.

The frighteningly efficient Feuxian economy, worth a remarkable 8,709 trillion Francoes 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 an enormous, deeply entrenched, fairly diversified black market in Tourism, Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. 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 a breathtaking 514,917 Francoes, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Trade policy consists of ganging up on the new guy, jaywalking is punishable by public flogging, train stations have more platforms than a 1970s disco, and imitation is the sincerest form of felony. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Feux's national animal is the Phoenix, which soars majestically through the nation's famously clear skies, and its national religion is Axiotarism.

Feux is ranked 810^th in the world and 34^th in Lazarus for Most Cultured, scoring 400 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.