The Holy Empire of Rousay is a very large, orderly nation, renowned for its infamous sell-swords, ban on automobiles, and stringent health and safety legislation. The hard-nosed, cynical, devout population of 324 million Orcadians 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, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Kirkwall. The average income tax rate is 40.8%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The Rousayian economy, worth 28.0 trillion Bottlecaps a year, is fairly diversified and dominated by the Arms Manufacturing industry, with significant contributions from Uranium Mining, Trout Farming, and Tourism. Black market activity is frequent. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 86,531 Bottlecaps, and distributed extremely evenly, with little difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

Televangelists flaunt their expensive cars when they attend charity events, clergy never mention brand names for fear of losing their government subsidies, there is no such thing as an innocent fling in the Rousayian military, and arts classes now teach children how to sketch the perfect sine curve. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Rousay's national animal is the Tammie Norrie, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Rousay is ranked 22,955^th in the world and 2^nd in Orkney for Most Cultured, scoring 85 on the Snufflebottom-Wiggendum Pentatonic Scale.