The Most Holy Sandwich

[The Most Holy Sandwich]

Government: national, Representative Theocracy?; Local, varies
At least on paper, the Empire is an absolute theocracy. In reality, there's an delicate balance between the Imperial Bureaucracy, the Ecchlesiarchy, and the Council of Cardinal(which interestingly enough is an elected body similar to the parliaments of most democratic nations). The Military, Cheddar Marines, and Inquisition are generally content to stay out of the fray, save for when it comes time to draw up the annual budget, or when the absurd proclamations and insane ramblings get out of hand.
Local day-to-day affairs are handles by individual provincial governments, which range from socialist collectives to true republics. For the most part, the Imperial government is content to let the provinces rule themselves as long as they meet the tithe/tax quotas, and don't attempt a rebellion.

Total Population: Roughly 60 million (census numbers don't account for recent conquests or people who shoot at census takers)
There's a fairly even mix between humans and various other sentients, though the human population is slightly higher.

Climate/geography: Varies. Generally temperate. Geography consists of mountains, forests, plains, urban centers, small hamlets, and typographical errors. The recent "Bringing Down the House" initiative encourages citizens to build down, rather than up so as not to spoil the scenic horizon. As such, it's quite possible that a sleepy hamlet could be built over a large urban zone.

Major Industries: Arms manufacture, basket weaving, food imports/exports, Automotive exports, novelty goods(Inquisitorial aids), propaganda

Religion: the official religion of the Most Holy Empire is the Church of the Most Holy Sandwich. The Sandwichian church isn't mutually exclusive to the practice of other religions. While not officially recognized, Temples/ holy sites of other religions can be found in most cities.

Fun facts:
[True (mostly, though some of it may be propeganda)]
Much of the Empire's technology is concealed behind a pseudo-medieval facade.
The Piety/heresy cycle Has resulted in a great deal of confusion.
This confusion has resulted in accusations of atrocity and religious oppression by the UN.
The Cheddar marines are elite arm of the Sandwichian military, made up of genetically altered warriors armed with the finest equipment available.
The Empire is noted for it's distrust, bordering on hatred, of the UN. This is the result of a severe case of culture shock. Regardless, the Empire is more than happy to parlay with individual nations.

[Possibly true (at least on a situational basis)]
Most heretics are willing to be persecuted because they get a fat insurance check after the trial and execution by proxy.
The Inquisition has more clout than it lets on. While theoretically the militant branch of the Ecchlesiarchy, the Inquisition is a power unto itself.
The loud speakers, phone bugs and cameras are mostly for show.
In spite of all the rhetoric, the Empire is actually quite tolerant of other religions and societies.

[Blatantly False]
The government is in no way a means of putting idiots and trouble makers someplace where they can't do any harm.
The inquisition is made up of pious individuals who have absolutely no desire for temporal power.
The Cheddar marines aren't involved in a longstanding feud with the Inquisition.

[The Most Holy Sandwich]

Currency
The imperial olive is in fact a form of coinage, rather than a piece of produce. In the past, actual olives were used as currency, but were found to be somewhat impractical as well being perishable.

The current form of the olive is that of an elliptical aluminum coin with a disk of another metal embedded near one end so as to resemble a pitted olive. Olives come in various base ten denominations with varying inserts of bronze. copper, gold, silver or brass varying on their value. The coin is stamped with a date and the image of the current Echlesiarch, a saint, popular cultural icon or a character from Blondie. The other side of the coin bears its value and an inspirational slogan. The surface coin's insert holds a hologram and is etched with microscopic circuitry used in verifying it's authenticty... it also looks cool, and the security features are more of a side effect than anything else.

Meat slicers, Doom-cannons and other esoteric weapons.
Simply put, Imperial weaponry is extremely varied, and often given grandiose names which have nothing to do with their actual function. A perfect of example of this are the Imperial Doom-cannons, which range from Artificial singularity projectors to orbital solar lasers to more conventional artillery. Doom cannons are divided in to various classes and marks depend on how they work and how reliable they are, though there seems to be a tendency to misfile things so these classifications are nothing more than a general guideline at best.

A weapon favored by the Imperial Cheddar marines is the Meat slicer, a device which only vaguely resembles the Deli meat slicers from which it is descended. The meat slicer is a projectile weapon that fires a high velocity "slice" of explosive "sausage", though it can also be used to cut conventional sausage for making sandwiches. When fired the weapon makes a characteristic "SHRAAK!!!", a sound which most beings find to be quite unnerving. this, combined with it's high rate of fire and ability to utilize a wide variety of ammunition makes the meat slicer an ideal weapon for shock troops... though it does tend to annoy the neighbors.

Kersol
The Kersol are a species of tribal humanoids native to the empire which display primarily vulpine and feline traits. They have their own culture and government separate from that of the rest of the Imperial society, which they view as being more than a bit silly. The kersol maintain vigorous industries involving exports, tourism, souvenirs, gambling, blackmail and racketeering, all of which they claim are a vital part of their cultural tradition.