The Drab Darkness of Night Shadows is a mammoth, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Grim Reaper with an iron fist, and renowned for its disturbing lack of elderly people, pith helmet sales, and public floggings. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 7.889 billion Pacifists 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, moralistic, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Industry. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Vorsikov. The average income tax rate is 72.4%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient Night Shadowsian economy, worth a remarkable 1,703 trillion Callcks a year, is mostly comprised of black market activity, especially in Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Woodchip Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is an amazing 215,959 Callcks, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.5 times as much as the poorest.

Teachers are dying as they attempt to read 500 word essays without pausing for breath, the best way to get the government to U-turn is to squick out Grim Reaper, inter-species marriages are ignored by the government, and young adults still believe that Crills deliver newborns to expecting parents. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Night Shadows's national animal is the Crill, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Night Shadows is ranked 18,399^th in the world and 4^th in Antisipation Refounded for Smartest Citizens, with 70.92 quips per hour.