Valua

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The Valuan Empire (バルア帝国 Barua Teikoku) spans the storm-covered continent under the Yellow Moon and is Arcadia's current economic and military superpower.

Information

The once-mighty Valua is still scarred following the Rains of Destruction - one of the results of which was to scatter vast quantities of easily collectible Yellow Moonstone throughout the continent. There is a large hole in the center of the continent, known as the Maw of Tartas; this was the former home of the Gigas Yeligar.

Valua is ruled by Empress Teodora I, and is known for both its capital and for its primary defense: the Grand Fortress, a massive gate which guards the main entrance to the capital. The Fortress rotates open on a regular schedule to allow traders and military ships to enter and leave, while also doubling as the primary military research, development and docking compound of Valua.

Prior to the Rains of Destruction from Galcian , the Valuan continent was massive, dark, mountainous, and full of craters left from the original Rains of Destruction. This makes Valua the only continent in the world to bear them save for the lost City of Rixis in Ixa'Taka . The geography is arranged in such a way so that there is only one way in and out of the Valuan Capital - through the Grand Fortress. However, there appears to be a small gap for ships in the back of the continent, almost like a back door, though it is blocked off by a pile of large boulders. Even if it were passible, it would not lead into the Valuan Capital. Beneath Valua is a series of large tunnels which, before Yeligar awoke, only had one way in and out.

The Valuan Empire suffers horribly during the second Rains of Destruction, which levels the capital, topples the Grand Fortress, and destroys the Palace, killing Empress Teodora I and Admiral Alfonso in the process. Following the defeat of the defector admirals Galcian and Ramirez , Prince Enrique succeeds his mother to the throne and leads Valua down a new path of peace and prosperity while overseeing the reconstruction process.

Technology

Valuan technology is also highly advanced, as its people can use electrical devices such as lightbulbs and electric trains by harnessing the power of the Yellow Moon and its moonstones. Valua's advanced aerospace technology also makes it the world's strongest military power, capable of overwhelming all other nations' militaries within short notice. However, with all this technology, and Valua's upper class mass consumption habits, comes a high demand for energy. Some traveling NPCs in the area immediately outside Valua heavily imply that, several years before Vyse's story began, Valua began to suffer an energy crisis due to local moonstone supplies being almost completely drained, and no new reserves could be found. This would explain the atrocities committed by the Valua Empire: to secure natural resources for their country.

Organization

The Valuan government pursues colonial and militaristic policies, owing to the shortage of Moonstones and other resources that the country has recently experienced.

Government

Valua is governed politically by a monarchy, and militarily by an admiralty, while an aristocracy and a few wealthy merchants and industrialists who are not blue-blooded exert considerable influence on policy.

Valuan Armada

Main article: Valuan Armada

The Valuan Armada is led by a council of admirals, five in all excluding the newly appointed Ramirez, and they are led by a Supreme Admiral who acts as the country's secretary of defense. Each Admiral has a fleet of battleships patrolling a different region of economic and political interest for Valua, while the Imperial throne exercises veto power over the governmental body, as all appointments to high-level positions are approved by Empress Teodora I.

The Armada's ironclad and motor-driven ships can reach higher velocities than sailing ships, and their cannons, mounted on rotating turrets, can fire a wide range of shells from high explosives to elemental bombs. The Armada is known and feared the world over, and its rigid flight formations have become its trademark for a town soon to come under attack.

Locations

Behind the Grand Fortress is the capital city of Valua, divided into Upper and Lower City. The capital appears much like Victorian era London, and has a huge economic gap between the decadent luxury of the Upper City rich to the west, and the squalid, slum-dwelling Lower City poor to the east.

In the center of the circular skyline of buildings floats the Imperial Palace on its own island, and between the two halves of the city is the infamous Coliseum, where criminals, war prisoners, and mercenaries fight to the death for the amusement of the Lower City Valuans ("it feels good to see people in a worse position than us"). Beneath the Coliseum is a network of sewers, known as the Valua Catacombs, which some of the very most impoverished Lower City residents call home.

Enemies

The following enemies are fought onboard the Upper City Train:

Patrol Guard
Royal Guard x2 (Boss Battle)
Galcian (Unwinnable Boss Battle)

Trivia

"Valua" is the Finnish word for "drain, ooze, or stream", which can represent how the excess consumption of Upper City flows down to Lower City for the impoverished to survive on. The name could also be derived from the word “value”, a possible snide comment on the beliefs and priorities for the people of Valua.
Valua seems to be based primarily on the Spanish Empire, owing to its Spanish naming conventions, imperialistic policies and reliance on foreign resources. There is also a certain amount of aesthetic value to support this: the armor used by Armada soldiers seem to borrow from those of Spanish Conquistadors, while the clothing seen worn by the Valuan royals, Admiralty and upper class citizenry also denote Spanish origins.
Valua's role in the storyline can be a general representation or commentary on real world European powers during the Imperialist era. Valua (Europe), a modern tech-driven society, constantly extracts resources abroad from Nasr (the Middle East), Ixa'Taka (the Americas/Africa), and Yafutoma (East Asia) through colonization and military force. Even Galcian's eventual betrayal can be a nod to how Valua's internal conflict (i.e. WWI and WWII) is what marked the beginning of the end of Valua as a global superpower.
A boy in Upper City says "...if they can't eat bread, why don't they just eat cake?" This is likely a reference to an inaccurately translated French phrase commonly misattributed to Marie Antoinette.