Weyard

Weyard is the world on which the Golden Sun games take place. It is a flat world, and the water of the oceans continually flows over its edges. In land locked places where there is no water to flow off the edge of the world, there is a sheer drop that goes down for an unknown height into nothingness. The places where the water begins its fall into oblivion are collectively called Gaia Falls. Weyard appears to be based on a flat map of the real Earth ,as it was a couple of million years ago, with the edges represented by Gaia Falls (the continents are in their generally correct locations with the exception of Indra, which was artificially moved by the tidal wave in the beginning of Golden Sun: The Lost Age.)

Details of Weyard's ancient past were revealed sporadically throughout the two Golden Sun games. See Weyard (Ancient past) for full details.

Weyard will be explorable in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, where its status 30 years following the events of The Lost Age will be made apparent. The press release description of the game that came along with the E3 2010 trailer reports, among other things, that by this point, the continents of the world have changed, and new countries have emerged, both due to the effects of the influence on Alchemy on the world. The cultures of the world - at least, what's discernible from screenshots of the game provided by Nintendo at E3 - have advanced far enough in civilization terms that steam technology has been embraced. Threatening the world, however, is what appears to be a side effect of the continued presence of Alchemy, the appearances of anomalous black-hole-like phenomena across the world named Psynergy Vortexes.

The state of the portion of Weyard encompassing Angara and Gondowan is illustrated in a portion of world map shown in a scan of Shonen Jump magazine, showing that many changes have occurred amongst the continents that, in some cases, have even changed some of the continents' general shapes.

=In Golden Sun and The Lost Age=

Continents
Weyard has several continents. It is unlikely that Weyard's continents follow the plate tectonics of Earth, as a tidal wave was able to move the entire continent of Indra southwards and wedge it between Southern Gondowan and Western Osenia.


 * Angara - This is the northern central landmass on Weyard. It is where five of the protagonists from the Golden Sun games hail from. It is also the largest and possibly the most populated continent. Angara bears similarities with Europe, continental East Asia and the Near East.


 * Gondowan - This continent is directly south of Angara. It is where Sheba lived most of her life. Gondowan has similarities with Africa and the Middle East.


 * Indra - The starting location in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Indra is currently wedged in between Osenia and Southern Gondowan. It was located much farther north before an earthquake and tidal wave moved it at the beginning of TLA. Indra bears similarities with India.


 * Osenia - Osenia is currently located to the east of Indra and is the Easternmost continent. Osenia bears slight similarity to Oceania and Australia.


 * Hesperia - A continent in the Great Western Sea, north of Atteka. It is inhabited by people resembling North-American Native Americans.


 * Atteka - A continent resembling South America located in the Western Sea, just south of Hesperia. Contigo and Jupiter Lighthouse are located here. The civilization of Anemos used to reside here.


 * Tundaria - Tundaria is a frigid, Antarctica-like continent at the extreme south of Weyard. It is devoid of habitation and its only feature is Tundaria Tower.

Smaller Land Masses
There are a number of locations scattered around the Great Eastern Sea and Great Western Sea, but are too small to be called continents in their own right.


 * Northern Reaches - A region of pack ice and perma-frozen land in the extreme north of the world. The only known settlement is Prox, and Mars Lighthouse is located here.


 * Lemuria - An ancient island-city in the middle of the Sea of Time. Alchemy remains unbound here. (This appears to be based off the legends of Atlantis and Lemuria)


 * Nihan - A large island in the Eastern Sea east of Angara that resembles real-world Japan. Contains the village of Izumo and Gaia Rock. Later, Izumo is destroyed by a tidal wave, and the village of Yamata takes its place.


 * Apojii Islands - An archipelago of small islands in the Eastern Sea at the very edge of the world and adjacent to Gaia Falls. Contains Aqua Rock and is inhabited by island dwellers that resemble Polynesians or Indonesians.


 * Treasure Island - A large island in the northern part of the Eastern ocean, it contains a dungeon and an optional boss, the Star Magician, in the second game.


 * Kalt Island - A smaller island located south of the Northern Reaches. It contains the Mercury Djinni Gel, and an Apple that is obtainable after the reunion.


 * A number of Islets are located around the seas; the West Indra Islet, N Osenia Islet, SE Angara Islet, Sea of Time Islet, E Tundaria Islet and the SW Atteka Islet.

Bodies of Water
Weyard has many bodies of water, and most are named, with the exception of rivers, which are hardly mentioned at all in the games.


 * Great Eastern Sea - This is the largest body of water in Weyard. It contains Izumo and the Apojii Islands and it surrounds the reefs that border the Sea of Time. Angara, Gondowan, Indra and Osenia all have areas of coastline meeting this ocean.


 * Great Western Sea - This the second largest body of water in Weyard and encompasses most of the western side of the world. The Western Ocean surrounds Atteka and Hesperia. Angara and Gondowan both have coastline along it.


 * Sea of Time - A small body of water in the middle of the Eastern sea, separated from it by large impassable reefs. The Sea of Time surrounds the island of Lemuria and has notoriously wild currents and is covered by a constant blanket of fog.


 * Karagol Sea - An inland sea that is in between the continents of Angara and Gondowan. The Karagol Sea is traversed by trading vessels from Kalay and Tolbi, and is the location of Crossbone Isle. It is possible that the Karagol Sea is based off of the Mediterranean Sea.

Creatures and races
Humanity is primarily the one sapient race located across Weyard in sparsely spread out settlements, and in the wilderness between is all manner of wildlife. At the start of Golden Sun, when Psynergy Stones rain all over the world, the wildlife become savage monsters, and other more fantastic creatures such as the undead (corporeal ghosts, zombies, and animate skeleton) and dragons arise as well. It seems to be implied, however, that monsters did exist in smaller numbers beforehand. It is also known that there was an increase in monsters around the time of the great flood.

Other human-like races are found on Weyard, but certainly not anywhere near as diverse and varied as a high-fantasy world such as Lord of the Rings. One of the visitable settlements is home to a race of mining dwarves, while another is home to a race of humans that transmogrify into lycanthropes when they look upon the full moon at night. The northernmost settlement of Prox is home to a race of cold-resistant humans with lizard-like scales and pointed ears, and a powerful sorcerous command of fire-based Psynergy.

Other sentient life in Weyard includes the certain trees in Kolima Forest, namely Tret and Laurel. Initially they were guardians of the forest to the extent that Tret's death would mean the death of the forest. Falling Psynergy stones gave them both powers but also affected their emotions, and therefore their actions severely. While they were later healed, they still possess their powers. There are other "Elder" trees effected by the Psynergy stones, as made clear by Tret and Laurel.

In addition to the above corporeal creatures and races are a diverse assortment of spiritual entities. Formerly residing in Mt. Aleph and collectible throughout both games are magical creatures called Djinn, which come in four varieties, one for each element. These creatures each have a unique ability based on its element, and their general power can be harnessed by Adepts to bolster their own Psynergy-based powers, or to call upon and summon powerful entities to cause massive damage to the opposition. These spiritual entities are embodiments of their respective elements and take the form of mythical entities prevalent in real world cultures, examples including the Nordic god Thor using an electricity-laden hammer, or a demon duke named Haures, or a deadly Grim Reaper-like entity named Charon. The greatest of these summonable spirits is a goddess named Iris.

Maps
The retail version of Golden Sun shipped with a stylised map of Angara and northern Gondowan, while Golden Sun: The Lost Age shipped with a map of the whole of Weyard, albeit missing the names of many places.


 * reshadgs.tripod.com - A scan of the map that shipped with the with Golden Sun: The Lost Age with locations in English.
 * thelostwaters.com - Scan of the world map of the first game.
 * thelostwaters.com - Scan of the world of the second game.
 * GameFAQs - Taken from the in game map, this map highlights the locations visited in The Lost Age.

=In Dark Dawn=

Geography
After the Golden Sun event, much of Weyard was buffeted by extreme changes. An immediate effect of the re-ignition of the four lighthouses was the annihilation of Vale and the near-complete destruction of Mt. Aleph, though parts of the now-active volcano remain (but are inaccessible by any mode of transport bar flight). Other changes include Kolima Forest moving far to the east and the Goma Mountains rising and splitting the area where Vale used to be located from the rest of Angara. Gondowan was completely severed from Angara and the Karagol Sea joined the ocean. Indra too has been pushed far from its old location, and is now no longer east of Gondowan. Furthermore, rapid expansion after the Golden Sun event has seen the creation of many countries. These include Bilibin, Sana, and Morgal. The Great Eastern Sea now contains both the Otka Sea and the Sana Sea. Other changes include the destruction of Izumo and the settlement of Yamata. Some places that existed but where unmentioned in the previous games include Passaj, Sana and Ayuthay, while new settlements include Kaocho, Harapa and Belinsk. Places simply not mentioned in Dark Dawn but would theoretically could be returning from the first game include Xian and Altin. Perhaps the only area that is almost relatively unchanged by the Golden Sun event is Champa, though it can only be visited during the Grave Eclipse, where it is being dismantled to fuel a large bonfire to keep monsters at bay. Other areas mentioned but not visited include Kalay, Tolbi, Imil, Lemuria and Osenia.

History
Several important events occurred prior to the start of Dark Dawn. Sana's Emperor, Ko, died, and plunged the country into a civil war, leading to the eventual coronation of Unan and the banishment of King Wo, who went on to establish Kaocho, which invaded the nearby settlements of Ayuthay and Passaj, though both endeavours were entirely unsuccessful. Bilibin rose to become a large country, and is now a military power. Belinsk is now the capital of Morgal, after the Beastmen successfully fought for their independence from Sana. They fear Bilibin, and as such, have closed Border Town, severing all contact between the two countries. Immediately prior to Matthew visiting the area, Eoleo, son of Briggs, chieftan of Champa is captured and held captive in Belinsk, as is Hou ju, daughter to the previous Sanan lord who was killed in the Beastmen's uprising. Finally, the people of the warlike, but mysterious, nation, Tuaparang, have become more active, and their agents are seen conversing with the royals of both Kaocho and Belinsk.

People
The most noteworthy new species in Dark Dawn is that of the Beastmen. They include both people turned into beasts, and beasts turned into people and live in Belinsk. Some have the ability to use Psynergy. At the end of Dark Dawn, many of these people are showered with light from the Apollo Lens, turning them blonde and giving them the ability to use "light" powers, as opposed to the usual elemental-based powers wielded by Adepts. Another newly introduced tribe is the "Umbra Tribe", also called "Dark Adepts". By the end of the game, the player is left with scarce few details as to the specifics of this tribe.

Trivia

 * In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, players can travel only across Angara (excluding the northern region of Imil and the most western part probably containing Kalay) and the eastern sea; despite this, normally inaccessible world map locations from previous games are still programed in. These locations include much of Gondowan, parts of Hesperia and Atteka, the Imil section of Angara, and the waters near Prox. However, the only physical areas that are shown on the map are Venus Lighthouse and Mercury Lighthouse.