Vele

Vele is an old port city-state on the coast of Grimgar facing the red continent and the Coral Archipelago. The city is a major commerce hub, famous for its riches and for being one of the few truly neutral zones where races from the Alliance of Kings, Humans, Elfs, and Dwarfs as well as many other species live together mostly in peace.

Geography
Vele is situated by the coast, about 500 kilometers North-West of Alterna. The area North of the city is under Orcs' control while the South is a free zone. While it's not enemy territory, the South can still be a dangerous place as many bandits roam the countryside preying on the merchants making business with Alterna. According to Kejiman the area is inhabited by many famous bandit and thief clans: Light, the Crushing Underdogs, Dashbal,... Some of them, like Light, being rogue Volunteer Soldiers, which according to him, are the most dangerous of the bunch as unlike Orcs and Undeads, humans gone astray can be hard to understand and cruel for no good reason.

While the exact size of Vele was never said it seems to be a massive town, with a port large enough for Haruhiro to declare that it had too many piers and boats to even begin to count.

Appearance
Compare to a town like Alterna, Vele (at least its main streets) gives off an air of elegance. The houses are tall, well built, and feature a lot of sculpted or molded elements be they pillar, doors, door frame,... finally even glass windows aren't that uncommon. When it comes to colors, most walls are white but the roofs are vibrantly colored.

History
While Vele's history has, as so far, been left unexplained, it can be deduced that the city is at least a couple of centuries-old since it was already a rich merchant town by the time the following legend happened.

The Legend of Ainrand Leslie's ring
One of Vele's legends speaks of Ainrand Leslie the legendary merchant, master of the elusive Leslie Camp.

Hundreds of years ago, a rich man from Vele once managed to meet the great merchant and tried to get his hand on one of his unique treasures: a ring, unique in that it could call forth great storms. However, Leslie is no ordinary dealer, and his prices are not always in gold.

For that ring, the man had to offer his wife and daughter, which he did without regret. Sadly for him, he lacked the knowledge to call that power when he got back to Leslie, asking for help he was told as follows: "Let me teach you. However, the price will be your new wife."

The man had disliked his old wife and daughter for their age and attitude, selling them for the ring had been a benefice rather than a price, but his new wife he couldn't accept. Enraged, the man snapped and threw the ring on the ground, when he did a great storm, like no other before, arose. When it hit Vele, it destroyed many houses and boats, Leslie vanished and the rich man died inside his ruined mansion.

Inhabitant
People from all races can be seen in Vele, including people from both sides of the war (Human side, or the Alliance of Kings) but also from unaffiliated races like centaurs.

However, because of the many races and numerous travelers and merchants from all horizons, language can at times be an issue, worsening the already present tension between some races.

Level. 13
After the event of level 12 in the Emerald Archipelago, Team Haruhiro is brought to Vele by one of the K&K Pirate Company's boats: the Mantis-go. After a short stay in one of the city's inn they meet Kejiman at a restaurant (or to be more precise he impose himself on them). During that meal, they learn that he is a merchant planning to make a business trip to Alterna and, having noticed that they're a group of volunteer soldiers, he would like to have them work as his escort. Shortly after accepting his offer, the Team leaves Vele by the Sea God gate.

Level. 16
In volume 16 it's revealed that Jin Mogis is planning to conquer Vele. To be more precise, his alliance with Mogado Gwagajin the king of the Goblins of Damuro stipules that Jin Mogis forces will recognize the area south of Damuro as Goblin territory (including Alterna and the Tenryu mountains), in exchange the Goblins will help him take the free city, however, until then Alterna remains human territory.

It seems like that plan may have been suggested to him by Hiyomu on behalf of Leslie.