Gaia Rock

Gaia Rock (ガイアロック, Gaia Rock) is a mandatory dungeon-style location in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. It is one of the four Elemental Rocks scattered across Weyard, and is the elemental rock of Venus. Located near the village of Izumo on the islands of Nihan in the Great Eastern Sea, Gaia Rock is referred as Mt. Mikage (フジ山, Mt. Fuji) by the locals of Izumo, and is the main site of a subplot involving characters from Izumo; the other Elemental Rocks, in contrast, do not have much involvement in plot progression at all. It is based on the real-world Mt. Fuji.

Gaia Rock can be completed as soon as the Lemurian Ship is acquired and the Great Eastern Sea can be explored. It is a uniquely laid-out dungeon that can easily deceive players into believing it is much more straightforward than it actually is: The large "main entrance" at the base of the rock leads through a straightforward series of rooms and hallways into a chamber at the end where NPCs and an impossible boss battle are at. But it has a full exterior portion like the exterior portions of the other three Elemental Rocks, and once the Dancing Idol key item is collected at the top, a series of additional dungeon rooms in the interior are to be opened up, and the puzzles solved within weaken the boss at the end. After all that, then the boss is to be properly challenged, and the important reward for defeating it is the Sand Psynergy, which is needed to progress through Ankohl Ruins afterward.

Walkthrough
When you enter Gaia Rock's location on the world map, the large black entrance at the mountain's base would lead you through a series of rooms that eventually lead into the room with the Serpent boss battle. If you go inside and prematurely get to the chamber (consult the below section To the Serpent), a brief cutscene triggers, but the Serpent boss is currently impossible to defeat on account of restoring several thousand HP each turn. You therefore would have to leave the room and retreat to the gaping entrance of Gaia Rock so as to begin the actual "dungeon."

Exterior
From just in front of the large, dark entrance into the mountain, go left behind the trees to find a wall ladder. Climb it, push the earth pillar you find two spaces left, and make it fall into the gap, then climb up and down onto the gray tile where the earth pillar is now right next to. Use the Move Psynergy to shift the earth pillar one space right onto the gray tile. Go right, climb down the wall ladder at the right side of the screen to return to the ground level, and go all the way back left to climb up the left wall ladder again. You can now use the top of the earth pillar to hop across to the right, and you will be led to the wall ladder leading off the top center point of the screen. Climb it to get to the next screen.

In the first screen above the base entrance, climb up the right wall ladder and the green vine, and climb up the wall ladder beyond that to get to the top-right part of the screen. Two dangling green vines are visible off to either side of the screen, and climb down the left vine to be lead to a chest containing a Nut. Climb back up to the top, and slide down the cliff slide to the left of the left vine. Immediately climb up the twisting wall ladder, and go a fair distance left until you get to another series of wall ladders leading downward. As you climb down, note how a whirlwind-spouting moai-head statue causes a dangling vine to swing back and forth. When you get to the dangling vine right below that, cast the Whirlwind Psynergy while facing the vine from the right and then press A to swing across a gap. Visible at the left is an earth pillar behind a rock; use Move to remotely move it one space left. Whirlwind-and-swing back to the right, and climb the lower-right vine and proceed left until you are led to the earth pillar you just pushed left. Push it one space further left so that it falls onto the gray tile, then climb up the remaining two wall ladders and exit the screen off to the left.

The next screen is a maze that is quite linear, and it should be clear at a glance why it would be useless to swing across the first vine you immediately see. Climb down the wall ladder immediately below yourself and down the ivy below that, hop left twice, and climb up a wall ladder and vine. When you get to a point where you can either climb up another wall ladder or swing across a dangling vine to the right, pick the right route. Go up, swing across another vine to the left, and exit off the top part of the screen.

The next screen presents you with an obstacle that requires trial and error to pass; the otherwise simple wall-ladder maze to the top has spots that hide moai-heads that instantly pop out as soon as you climb onto said areas and immediately send you back down to the bottom. While setting one of these off makes it remain there and ensures you can pass its general area via unblocked "wall-ladder paths", there is nothing to indicate in advance each of the spots these moai-heads are hiding within. This wall can be passed with simply enough tries, but the easiest way to avoid triggering a head trap is as follows: Hug the right ladder-paths at first fork, then when you get to a fork between a narrow path to the left and a wider path to the right, take the left fork. At the next segment with the mass of climbable wall-ladders, the right swath of ladders is a pointless dead-end, so climb straight forward through the 3v3 part to the left until you reach solid ground. The remainder of this screen gives you no choice but to lead you off its upper-right edge amongst the rocks.

Now that you're in the final screen of the exterior portion of Gaia Rock, hop right across the visible earth pillar to get to a chest southeast of it containing an Apple. Return to your starting point in this screen and climb down the wall ladder below it, get to the base of the earth pillar, and Move it all the way down. Climb back up near the starting point again and hop across the earth pillar at its new position. You will now follow an ultimately linear path toward the circle of ring pillars surrounding an empty white podium; as the  Golden Sun  series should have conditioned you to do by this point, cast the Reveal Psynergy within this ring pattern to make an invisible idol on the podium visible. Interact with it to gain the Dancing Idol rare item, which is crucial for both completing Gaia Rock and getting a reward afterward. Cast the Retreat Psynergy to return to Gaia Rock's base.

Interior
With the Dancing Idol in your inventory, enter the large, black entrance at the base of Gaia Rock. The hallway you enter features an empty white podium identical to the one the Dancing Idol was occupying at the peak of Gaia Rock's exterior, which should convey to you that you must Use the idol on it. The two dragon-head statues shift their respective positions to reveal two new entrances. Enter the doorway to the right and follow its twisting hallways to an area where a mass of weeds grouped up in the center of the floor invites you to use Cyclone to clear them way. This will make the weeds reform themselves into hovering "leaf platforms" that respectively alternate between their positions in midair.

Return to the main hallway with the podium using Retreat and enter the left doorway this time, which will lead you right to where you can hop onto these floating leaf platforms. Hop from the lower-right point of your elevated space onto the leaf platform as it comes to a stop just to your right. When it floats down to its bottom position, hop right. When that platform floats down, walk one space right. When that platform floats right, walk one space right. When that platform floats up, walk one space left. When that platform floats up, walk one space right. Finally, when that platform floats up, hop up to exit the room's north end.

The next room features the first two puzzles that will reward you with weakening the Serpent boss at the end of the dungeon. Past the twisting hallway, take the right fork to get to the lower level with the visible dragon-head statues and a podium are visible. Cast Cyclone on the five weeds to uncover a hole that makes the beam of sunlight currently shining onto them pass through the hole, which a cutscene shows having an effect on the Serpent underneath. Then, use the Dancing Idol on the white podium to make the left dragon-head statue shift positions and allow a second beam of sunlight to shine through another hole. With two lights now shining into the final chamber, go back south to the fork and take the left path up to the next floor.

In the next floor, casting Cyclone on the square mass of weeds uncovers a Mad Plant monster that you immediately fight, and felling it makes it drop a Potion. Go down into the next room, which is a hallway featuring a wall-mounted maze of climbable wall ladders featuring the same moai-head traps as what had tormented you in the exterior portion. Before beginning your eastward climb, enter the door to the right of your starting point to make it to an empty white podium surrounded by weeds; place the Dancing Idol here to make a third light shine into the Serpent's chamber, then return to the hallway.

As you begin your climb east along the wall-ladder maze, first take the thicker, lower "path". Then, when you have three "ways right" to choose from, choose any path other than the center one to get to the area where there is a 4x3 arrangement of ladder tiles. Avoid the two tiles at the bottom right corner of the square and you should make it to the right end of the wall-ladder path. Whirlwind-swing your way right with the dangling vine and enter the nearby door. The room you reach features a large spider web with an empty white podium on its center; simply use Cyclone on any of the plants in this room to send the podium into the earlier room below, and slide down the wall slide into the pit to return to said room. Use the Dancing Idol once more on the new podium to shine the fourth and final light into the Serpent's chamber. With the boss fully weakened, this portion of the Gaia Rock dungeon is complete, so cast Retreat to return to the first hallway.

To the Serpent
From the initial hallway in the interior of Gaia Rock, take the pathway up. When you get to a screen where two small earth-pillar-like objects block your path and need to be moved out of the way, Move the lower object two spaces up and one space right, and Move the upper object two spaces right, two spaces down, and one space left. Proceed out of this room's exit.

You have now entered the first of a long series of similar-looking rooms that have multiple exits and small cross-shaped plants at the center of them. Each of these rooms has two of its exits leading back to the first room in this series, with only one exit properly leading to the next room in this series — and if the Growth Psynergy (most easily accessible by trading Venus and Mars Djinn between Felix and Jenna) is cast on the cross-shaped plant at the center of each room, it grows an arrow pointing to the desirably correct exit. The path through this maze is determined by whatever you have decided to name Felix at the start of the game, and what follows is how the path's screens are arranged if his name was left at "Felix": In the initial screen, go left. In screen 2, go up. Screen 3 contains a chest that reveals itself to be a Mimic, and when you fell it, you earn a Game Ticket. From Screen 3, go up. In Screen 4, go right. In screen 5, go up. In screen 6, go right. In screen 7, go right. In screen 8, go down. Screen 9 contains a chest that has a Rusty mace, which becomes the Demon Mace when reforged in Yallam. From screen 9, go right. In screen 10, go right. In screen 11, go up. In screen 12, go right. In screen 13, go right. And finally, in screen 14, go up.

The final chamber features the large, green dragon that is fought as the Serpent if interacted with. Whether you have gotten the Dancing Idol determines which cutscene plays when you first enter this room. Interact with the Serpent to start a challenging boss battle with it; if none of the puzzles in Gaia Rock were solved by this point, the Serpent would heal itself by 2,430 HP at the end of every turn. If you have solved all the puzzles so that four separate beams of sunlight shine into this chamber, however, the Serpent heals itself by a mere 30 HP at the end of every turn. Once you have defeated the Serpent and watched a cutscene, interact with a newly manifested stone tablet to make Felix permanently learn the Sand Psynergy. Immediately use Sand to travel underneath the Serpent's now-petrified body and emerge in the enclosed area to its right, and interact with the tile constituting the rightmost part of the small river of blue fluid to get the Cloud Brand weapon; this is a weapon that a cutscene in Izumo encourages you to return here for, so grabbing it now saves you a lot of time. Gaia Rock is now complete, so Retreat and return to the world map, and return to Izumo.

Enemies
Enemy Formations
 * Group 1: Fire Worm x1-2
 * Group 2: Wight x1, Fire Worm x1-2
 * Group 3: Gnome Mage x1, Fire Worm x0-2
 * Group 4: Golem x1, Clay Gargoyle x1
 * Group 5: Dread Hound x1, Fire Worm x0-1
 * Group 6: Woodwalker x1, Mad Vermin x1, Fire Worm x1
 * Group 7: Woodwalker x1, Clay Gargoyle x0-1
 * Group 8: Woodwalker x2

Collectibles
Exterior:

Apple: Found in a chest near the area where you can find the Dancing Idol. Dancing Idol: At the peak of the exterior, there is an empty pedestal surrounded by a ring of log pillars. Cast Reveal to see a dancing figure, which you can obtain as an item. Use it on any similar-looking pedestals in the interior portion to make progress in the interior of Gaia Rock. Nut: Found in a chest in the first screen off the ground level screen.

Interior:

Sand: This Psynergy is the reward that presents itself following the boss fight with the Serpent. Inspect the stone slab that emerges out of the ground.

Cloud Brand: Right after getting the Sand Psynergy after the boss battle, immediately cast it to transport yourself to the end of the trail of fluid, then inspect the end of the stream with the A button. Rusty Mace: Found in the chest later on in the winding multi-room path towards the most interior room. Sunshine will reforge it into the Demon Mace.

Background and Story
Gaia Rock is the Elemental Rock of Earth, just like Air's Rock, Aqua Rock, and Magma Rock, and since Air's Rock in particular is stated to have stood on Weyard since the world's beginning, it can be assumed the same holds true for Gaia Rock. The people that lived near the mountain, those that settled the town of Izumo, came to regard the mountain as sacred ground, likely because of the presence of carved chambers within the mountain. Within the deepest chamber of Gaia Rock has slumbered a large dragon which they named the Serpent, and they interpreted the beast as the divine guardian of the island. The peoples of Izumo had apparently concluded that the Serpent is a creature blessed with eternal life, and that this life is provided to it by an aura mysterious to them that permeates the grounds of the mountain. The people named the mountain Mt. Mikage, which in their original tongue translates as "the undying mountain", a reference to the perceived immortality of the Serpent.

Like the other Elemental Rocks, Gaia Rock appears to imbue those living around it with the ability to perform Venus Psynergy as Adepts; over the generations, a family was established as Izumo's equivalent to a royal line based on them having learned Venus Psynergy, which to all the people is a mysterious power. The leaders of Izumo have always had the ability to use Venus Psynergy, including the modern-day Lady Uzume, as well as her brother Susa.

When the eruption of Mt. Aleph occurred at the start of Golden Sun, the Serpent awoke from its slumber, at around the time Izumo was holding a festival. Nothing more than a feral beast, the Serpent left Gaia Rock to intrude on the festival and cause mass panic; the Serpent ate all of the food reserves present at the festival before turning calm and returning back to its lair in Gaia Rock. The people of Izumo, of course, were terrified that what they perceived to be their guardian was turning on them, and letting their superstitions take over, they came to believe that the Serpent would only be appeased from here on out if every year a young village maiden would be offered to it as a sacrifice. Some time after the Serpent's initial attack, in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, a lottery system was employed to decide which village girl would be offered, and Kushinada, the fiancee to Susa, was selected by chance. Kushinada accepted on the basis that if she were to run away, the rest of Izumo would be put in danger in her place.

Susa, obviously not pleased with any of this, entered Gaia Rock with the intention to slay the fearsome beast himself. He brought with him massive amounts of barrels containing a deluding fluid named Dragonsbane (the alcoholic beverage Sake in the Japanese version), a fluid which the Serpent is highly content to continually drink; Susa's plan is to weaken the Serpent with enough of the fluid so that he may slay it with the Cloud Brand weapon.

The party of Adepts traveling across Weyard comprised of Felix, Jenna, Sheba, Piers, and Kraden come to the island in search of additional Psynergy to help complete their own quest with, and upon hearing of the plight of those living in Izumo, they decide to make helping Susa slay the serpent an additional objective during their exploration throughout Gaia Rock.They learned that the Serpent is weakened by Sunlight because of how it was only able to attack Izumo during the nighttime, so they solve riddles within Gaia Rock that pour sunlight in to the Serpent's chamber. When the Adepts arrive at the Serpent's chamber, Susa chooses that point in time to stab the Serpent with his sword, but the beast is barely fazed and defeats Susa easily despite all the Dragonsbane it consumed. Felix's party engage the Serpent in a particularly fierce battle, and are only able to emerge triumphant because of both the sunlight and the Dragonsbane Susa spent so much time providing the Serpent with. Susa deals the finishing blow with the Cloud Brand (which he then quickly hides at the scene for Felix to retrieve later as a reward) and the Serpent is turned to petrified stone, and Susa sincerely thanks Felix for his assistance before leaving Gaia Rock to return to Izumo. Felix finds a tablet after the battle and learns the Psynergy ability to turn his body into sand before leaving Gaia Rock himself.

Just outside Gaia Rock, Susa lies down from exhaustion, and reassures Felix when he exits Gaia Rock shortly afterward that he is not dying. Felix's group returns to Izumo, and Susa follows shortly after. With Izumo and Kushinada now saved, Uzume expresses her heartfelt gratitude to Felix, and is only further pleased when Felix presents her a mysterious item he had found in Gaia Rock: A doll that dances on its own, which was designed to allow his group to explore Gaia Rock further and which Uzume seems to have already known of. Uzume says that with the doll, she will be able to explore Gaia Rock on her own in the future.

Trivia

 * Gaia Rock's theme sounds very much like the music that plays in Okami when the Celestial Brush is used.
 * Gaia Rock can be seen, though not visited, in Dark Dawn. It appear more similar in shape to Mt. Fuji in this game, as a conical volcano. The Mars Djinni, Sizzle, can be found on the overworld just south of where the entrance to Gaia Rock used to be found.