The Watchfires of Mad-1 is a gargantuan, pleasant nation, renowned for its infamous sell-swords, soft-spoken computers, and suspicion of poets. The hard-nosed, devout population of 26.191 billion Mad-1ians are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

The medium-sized, moralistic government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 36.1%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The strong Mad-1ian economy, worth a remarkable 1,614 trillion $$s a year, is driven entirely by a combination of government and state-owned industry, with private enterprise illegal. However, for those in the know, there is a slick, highly efficient, broadly diversified black market in Arms Manufacturing, Gambling, Tourism, and Furniture Restoration. The private sector mostly consists of enterprising ten-year-olds selling lemonade on the sidewalk, but the government is looking at stamping this out. Average income is 61,648 $$s, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.2 times as much as the poorest.

The government regularly reassures citizens that there are no monsters under their beds, bilingual Mad-1ians are viewed with suspicion, the government is a proud sponsor of the National Gaming Association, and the needs of the living outweigh the needs of the dead. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Mad-1's national animal is the Dolly Varden, which is also the nation's favorite main course.

Mad-1 is ranked 66,136^th in the world and 1^st in Madrid for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 3,333.43 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.