The Grand Card Collector of Empire of Caldrasa is a mammoth, efficient nation, ruled by Empress Viivi III with an iron fist, and notable for its pith helmet sales, ubiquitous missile silos, and complete absence of social welfare. The hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 5.337 billion Caldrasi are ruled with an iron fist by the corrupt, dictatorship government, which oppresses anyone who isn't on the board of a Fortune 500 company. Large corporations tend to be above the law, and use their financial clout to gain ever-increasing government benefits at the expense of the poor and unemployed.

The tiny, corrupt, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Industry, and Administration. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of New Constantinople. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 2.8%.

The frighteningly efficient Caldrasian economy, worth a remarkable 1,286 trillion Cards a year, is broadly diversified and led by the Retail industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Information Technology, and Gambling. Black market activity is frequent. Average income is an amazing 241,116 Cards, but there is a vast disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 1,659,533 per year while the poor average 12,475, a ratio of 133 to 1.

Office thieves tell their employers kleptomania is a pregnancy symptom, freighter lifeboats have been replaced by state of the art marker buoys so divers can recover the cargo after they sink, money grows on trees, and not showing enough enthusiasm for mutual assured destruction is a court-martial offence. Crime is pervasive, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Empire of Caldrasa's national animal is the cat, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its national religion is Nethelism.

Empire of Caldrasa is ranked 37,737^th in the world and 19^th in The Wellspring for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 4,330.52 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.