Vale (city)

*For the other uses of "Vale", see Vale.*

—Emerald Sustrai to Mercury Black

**Overview**
Image Gallery

## Vale

**Vale** is a large city on the western coast of the kingdom of Vale.

Vale has a large port area where passenger and cargo ships dock, including international ships from Vacuo and Atlas. The cargo docks include large-scale container handling facilities, indicating that the port handles large quantities of goods on a frequent basis.

To the southeast lies a mountainous and uninhabited area, but it is also known to contain the ruins of Mountain Glenn, a failed attempt by the kingdom to extend the city's borders. The location was overrun by Grimm and had to be fenced off from the rest of the city.

## Layout

The city of Vale is divided into multiple sectors, having an upper-class district, a commercial district, an industrial district, an agricultural district and a residential district.

### Commercial District

 File:1201 Best Day Ever 07202.png
The commercial district of Vale includes numerous shops for the public catering to a variety of lifestyles and interests befitting its vibrant and diverse culture.

* From Dust Till Dawn - a Dust shop that also sells books, tools, and other related merchandise.
* A Simple Wok - a streetside noodle stand
* Tukson's Book Trade - a bookstore with a comprehensive selection
* Crow Bar - a food and alcohol establishment with live TV access
* Junior's Club - a dance club with nefarious ties
* Clothing store - damaged during Grimm breach on Vale
* Bakery - damaged during Grimm breach on Vale

The architecture of the commercial district appears to vary widely, possibly according to socioeconomic factors. While some areas appear to be surrounded by buildings with well-kept brick façades, holographic street lamps, pedestrian crossing and clear streets, other areas appear to be more low-income, such as those surrounding Junior's Club, which are characterized by metal, bare concrete and power-lines.

### Port

 File:1115 The Stray 02783.png
Vale contains a port in the commercial area that is first introduced in "The Stray" while Team RWBY explores the city.

The docks are fenced with metal railing and, according to Ruby, smell distinctly like fish. Sailboats can be seen in the large body of water the docks border, and several large transport ships are known to ferry sizeable shipments to and from the port. Given that land is visible across the body of water, the port is likely to be at the edge of the main river estuary instead of the ocean.

A more industrial area of the docks is seen in "Black and White", where large cranes are used to unload heavy shipping containers from docked freighters.

 File:Sun running on the docks.png
As stated by Weiss Schnee, students from Vacuo would be arriving for the Vytal Festival on board a ship at the docks. Sun Wukong arrives as a stowaway one of these ships, and the Vale Police Force fails to apprehend him. A Dust shop in Vale is seen to be located in the vicinity. Considering this and the number of people milling around, it is possible that the docks border the industrial and commercial districts.

In "Black and White", Sun and Blake Belladonna return to the docks a couple days later to oversee the unloading of an incredibly large shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas, consisting of dozens of shipping containers. While there, they interfere with a significant theft operation orchestrated by Roman Torchwick and his White Fang allies. Penny Polendina arrives with Ruby in the middle of the fight and brings down several Bullheads.

### Warehouses

 File:Torchwick outside warehouses.png
A section of the industrial district contains warehouses, which are low-traffic enough to be a safe place for White Fang activity, as well as the location Torchwick hides all his stolen Dust.

In "Painting the Town...", a secret White Fang recruitment meeting is held in the warehouse. After Sun and Blake burst through a window and run, they are seen nearing buildings that look similar to houses, suggesting that the warehouse is near the residential area. During the chase sequence as Torchwick follows in the stolen Atlesian Paladin-290, they pass a street outside Junior's Club, suggesting instead that the warehouse is located closer to the commercial district. The presence of the river makes it unlikely for it to juxtaposition both districts.

## History

### Beacon Academy

*Main article: Beacon Academy*
 File:Episode2 00005.png
Beacon Academy, a training school for Huntsmen is founded in the city of Vale. The school's ongoing excellent reputation is a cultural asset to the city.

Vale's culture and importance are further enhanced by one of the four major CCT towers being erected on the academy's campus.

### Mountain Glenn

*Main article: Mountain Glenn*
 File:V2 09 00030.png
Mountain Glenn was an attempt at expanding Vale toward the southeast. It did not have the natural barriers of inner city Vale, but an aggressive perimeter defense was utilized.

The people who lived there commuted to their jobs in the city through a subway system, which helped them stay safe from Grimm. Unfortunately, these methods only proved effective for only a short while, and Grimm destroyed Mountain Glenn. The underground subway leading to the commercial district of Vale was sealed off.

### Criminal Atmosphere

 File:Backing away from Torchwick.png
At the beginning of Year One, the city of Vale saw an increase in crime at the hands of Roman Torchwick. He was recognizable on sight, causing citizens to freeze or back away when he openly walked down a street with henchman.

When Torchwick stepped up his thievery under the orders of Cinder Fall, police presence in the city increased dramatically. As Roman himself put it: "I've got this town running scared. Police at every corner, Dust prices through the roof."

### Breach

*Main article: Battle Pages/Huntsmen vs. Grimm*
 File:V2 11 00065.png
Vale experiences a catastrophe when a train breaks the sealed underground tunnel from Mountain Glenn, allowing several Grimm to breach into the city. Beacon Academy staff and students, with the help of the Atlesian military, efficiently stop the Grimm, but not before the city experiences damage and people are hurt. Glynda Goodwitch is quickly able to set the damage to rights, but the people of Vale feel an increased uneasiness and fear.

The incident causes the governing council to change security measures for the Vytal Festival, placing James Ironwood of Atlas in charge and threatening Professor Ozpin. Roman Torchwick, who had been caught causing the breach into Vale, was put into custody.

### Vytal Festival

*Main article: Vytal Festival*
 File:Vale Vytal Festival.png
The city of Vale hosts the 40th Vytal Festival. The town decorates with banners and balloons the day exchange students first start arriving. According to Weiss, the city also hosts a parade as part of the festivities.

A section of Vale, part of the Beacon Academy grounds, is set up with tents for the festival's fair.

### Battle of Beacon

*Main article: Battle Pages/Battle of Beacon*
 File:V3 12 00189.png
The city of Vale experiences another, more devastating, catastrophe during the finals round of the Vytal Festival Tournament. The White Fang and Grimm facilitated by Cinder Fall invade the city. Roman Torchwick escaped from imprisonment and reprogrammed all Atlesian Knight-200s and Atlesian Paladin-290s to attack people instead of Grimm, causing massive casualties.

The robots are stopped and Vale is secured, but a Grimm dragon, frozen atop the broken CCT tower, continues to attract more and more Grimm to the area. With the Academy lost, a Huntsmen base is set up in the city.

## Other

### Law Enforcement

*Main article: Vale Police Department*
 File:1115 The Stray 03733.png
Vale has its own police department, which has both uniformed and plain-clothes detective sections. Criminal mastermind Roman Torchwick was relatively high on its most wanted list before his death.

However, the capabilities of Vytal's criminal element, including super-criminals and the White Fang terrorist organization, sometimes outstrip the department's ability to counter them, forcing it to rely on the Huntsmen to deal with any of these extreme threats.

### Media

*Main article: Vale News Network*
 File:V3 07 00119.png
The Vale News Network (VNN) seems to be a major source of newscasting in the Vale Region, broadcasting to the people of Vale and even out to the island of Patch. Known newscasters include Lisa Lavender and Cyril Ian.