The Mother Empire of Retro Lyra is a gargantuan, cultured nation, ruled by Rodrick Jones with a fair hand, and notable for its museums and concert halls, daily referendums, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic, cheerful, devout population of 25.428 billion Retro Lyrans hold their civil and political rights very dear, although the wealthy and those in business tend to be viewed with suspicion.

The government — a sprawling, bureaucracy-choked, liberal, outspoken morass — juggles the competing demands of Education, Environment, and Social Policy. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Hollo Caverns. The average income tax rate is 92.2%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The Retro Lyran economy, worth a remarkable 1,731 trillion Zeldian Rupees a year, is extremely specialized and solely comprised of the Book Publishing industry. Average income is 68,112 Zeldian Rupees, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.4 times as much as the poorest.

A sledgehammer and a spray can are seen as the default tools of political debate, guide dogs for the blind have been seen using government websites, Catherine Gratwick's campaign support is considered seminal, and playing an online nation simulation game legally obliges you to buy the creator's latest novel. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Retro Lyra's national animal is the llama with hats, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Retro Lyra is ranked 97,495^th in the world and 7^th in The Empire of Friendship for Most Scientifically Advanced, scoring 86.85 on the Kurzweil Singularity Index.