Zaphias

Zaphias, the Imperial Capital, is a large city located on the south of Illycia in Tales of Vesperia. It is the starting point for the adventure of Yuri Lowell, Repede his trusted sidekick, and Estellise Sidos Heurassein, whom Yuri nicknames Estelle. The city is described as the largest city in the world and it is a strictly hierarchical society with a vacant royal throne.

The Broken Blastia
All is peaceful in the capital until one day a mage steals the core of the Aque Blastia in the lower quarter. Suddenly, the blastia begins to gush out water and the lower quarter starts to flood. Yuri Lowell, a local resident, hears from a young boy named Ted about the situation and decides to investigate the mage, who broke the blastia after hearing that the person responsible is a Mr. Mordio who was living in the royal quarter. He manages to find the theif but he gets away, though he does leave behind the valuables the residents used to pay for the repairs which Yuri picks up. On the way out he has the unfortunate luck of running into Adecor and Boccos of the Schwann Brigade while the thief escapes. He then engages the two in a mock battle reminding them of the basics of combat such as attacking and performing Artes. After Yuri emerges victorious he is caught by the Cumore Brigade and was put under arrest. Yuri surrenders after seeing Repede run with the stolen goods from the lower quarter residents being returned to their rightful owners.

Inside his jail cell, Yuri is talking to An old man in the cell next to him about the events that transpired. The old man is seen by Yuri leaving his jail cell with Alexei Dinoia, the head captain of the imperial knights. The old man then speaks to Yuri about a goddess statue in the palace before departing and leaves Yuri a gift, the key to his prison cell, which he uses to escape. Just as Yuri was about to make his escape, he finds a young lady being harassed by a pair of knights and comes to her rescue. After the knights were beaten Yuri agrees to help the young lady find his old acquaintance Flynn Scifo. While exploring Flynn's room they are met by an assassin by the name of Zagi who had the intention of killing Flynn but ran into Yuri instead. When the fighting was done, Zagi pulls out but tells Yuri that they will meet again. It was after this that the young lady introduces herself as Estellise and with a hearty handshake, the two continue onward.

The scuffle does not go unnoticed as LeBlanc, the lieutenant of the Schwann Brigade catches on to Yuri's actions. Yuri and Estellise then go on to her room so she can change into appropriate travelling attire. Yuri was rather shocked to see her wear an outfit that will make her even more noticable, but decides to accept it. Yuri then offers her a hi-five, which is another sign of friendship and Estellise accepts that. The two proceed to the statue, which Yuri pulls from one side, to reveal a hidden passage which was used by the royal family in case of emergencies and decide to sneak out of the castle that way. Estellise notices Yuri's wound and heals it, and Yuri notices Estellise's Blastia and after exchanging words, the two go down into the sewers. After defeating two groups of monsters in another battle, they proceed and come outside the mansion, noticing that it was morning already.

Before leaving to find Mordio, Yuri and Estellise go to the lower quarter to see how the situation has been while he was gone. Yuri was releived that the water stopped gushing but without the core the residents of the lower quarter will be out of water. Just as Yuri and Estellise were about to leave LeBlanc tries to catch them, only to be stopped by Hanks and the residents of the lower quarter. Yuri was given a map, food and supplies from the residents as a sort of goodbye present and soon he, Estellise, whom he decides to call Estelle, and Repede begin their journey.

Toxic Aer
Upon returning to Zaphias after Estelle was captured by Alexei, Yuri, along with Karol Capel, Rita Mordio, Raven, Repede and Judith find all of Zaphias covered in giant plants and stronger versions of otherwise weak monsters. To escape from the contaminated aer, the party heads to the castle. Inside, Yuri is relieved find the residents of the lower quarter safe from harm thanks to the Schwann Brigade, who are now calling themselves the Raven Brigade. Upon nearing the top the party comes across Khroma who wishes for the party to stop Alexei. At the top of the castle they find Alexei and Estelle, who is now in a trance after being consumed by despair. Alexei unexpectedly frees Estelle at Yuri's request, however she attacks the party due to her power enduced transe and they have no choice but to fight her. During the battle Alexei uses Estelle's power to cause the Shrine of Zaude to rise from the depths of the ocean and leaves. Before he could be stopped by Yuri, Estelle blocks his way and fights him one on one, during which she tells him to kill her. After the battle, Yuri tries once more to reach out to Estelle and succeeds, causing her to regain her consciousness and self, and restore Zaphias. The celebration was cut short as without Alexei her powers went berserk. But the party stops this by combining their strength to keep her power in check, which succeeds. In the aftermath Yuri explains to Flynn that Alexei was heading to Zaude so the party goes to stop him, with Estelle included in the party.

Adephagos
After the defeat of the former commandant of the knights,Yuri finds himself awake in his room and finds Duke Pantarei entering to reclaim Dein Nomos and leaves. He runs into Estelle when he exits the inn and the two try to find a way to keep her power from depleting aer with Rita's help. The next day, as they leave, the party runs into LeBlanc who intends to arrest Yuri unless he rejoins the knights, but is saved by Judith and Ba'ul and they leave for Dahngrest to obtain the Cyano Ciel Crystal from Harry Whitehorse.

At the end of their journey, it was decided that Estelle's friend Ioder Argylos Heurassein becomes the new emperor and establishs peace in the brand new world.

Trivia

 * The Zaphias Sewers are described as "Passages located under the castle. Entry is prohibited. A place infested with rats".