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Some days before Avery Albero's impassioned request for arms an ammunitions, a Delphi Oracle intercity reporter wrote a small column on the Vale:

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The politics of the Vale are unforgiving, so forgive me if this explanation is a little....confusing. As a reporter who has been covering the peninsula for the past 13 years, I'm going to try my best to explain to a Delphian audience the mess that is the Vale. These notes are a gross oversimplification, and I encourage you to purchase my book: Valencia: the Vale Uncovered for a better grasp of the present-day situation.[break][break]

Vale stopped being a monarchy 10 years ago.[break][break]
The monarchic family, the Montagues, still hold considerable wealth and power, and still have the backing of some (but not all) of Vale's nobility. They also are starting to enjoy some popular support following the democracy's decay.[break][break]

The multiparty democratic government has been mostly ineffectual, bureacratic, and corrupt. The original revolutionary leader, Avery Albero, declared three years ago that the revolution "must go on" and split off from the main party. He has since been declared a terrorist.[break][break]

The Cavalry, a powerful coven dedicated originally to serving the monarchy, has instead declared their dedication to "the Vale," and now serves democratic interests and helps the very weak government carry out almost all tasks related to city infrastructure, maintenance, security, and development. A recent damning investigation found that the Cavalry still receives money from the monarchy.
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Crime in the city runs rampant. Many criminal enterprises seem to have immunity, with leaders being arrested and then bailed out by political parties whose interests they serve.
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There is an on-going series of assasinations apparently targetting ex-royal family and nobility, of which no culprit has been determined.
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Over all, the people of the Vale, who we must stand with...stand divided. Many desire a return of their King, many believe the democracy just needs more time to "settle," most are wary of Albero's attempts to launch another civil conflict, and all of them live in fear of unchecked violence, and the possibly disastrous consequences of rampant flooding.