The Theocracy of Letheguard is a huge, cultured nation, remarkable for its public floggings, compulsory military service, and avowedly heterosexual populace. The hard-nosed, cynical, humorless, devout population of 571 million Memthralls 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, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Spirituality. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 45.2%.

The sizeable but inefficient Lethic economy, worth 29.0 trillion Memories 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 a large, well-organized black market in Arms Manufacturing, Tourism, Basket Weaving, and Automobile 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 50,820 Memories, with the richest citizens earning 9.9 times as much as the poorest.

Roosters that herald the rising sun are immediately sent to the slaughterhouse, gun regulations are so strict even staple guns and hot glue guns are illegal, it is illegal to carry an umbrella when the official weather forecast predicts a sunny day, and the military invades any neighboring nation with the gall to criticize its policies. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Letheguard's national animal is the Misthound, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Letheguard is ranked 252,697^th in the world and 382^nd in Refugia for Most Advanced Public Education, scoring 485.2 on the Edu-tellignce® Test Score.