User:HungryPaperweight/HP's sketchbook

Welcome to my sketchbook. Most people call this kind of thing a sandbox, but I wanted to come up with an at least slightly original name. Anyways, I wasn't planning on using it for much besides templates at first, but right now I can't get my computer to go online and I have to borrow my mom's, so this is the only way I can work on anything at least semi-major. Feel free to look, and if you spot any mistakes (like typos or incorrect info), feel free to fix them (just let me know what you're doing).

=Bestiaries= This is just a place for me to work on bestiaries. For those two or three of you out there who actually care: I look for the monsters myself the old-fashioned way (one random encounter at a time), then I check GameFAQs to see if I missed any. Some people might check GameFAQs first, but several times I've found monsters in areas GameFAQs say they don't appear, and if I check an FAQ first I might stop looking early once I've found all those monsters, meaning I might miss some.

Colosso

 * Main article: Colosso

Tablet Caverns
At least, I think monsters appear in there.

Indra Cavern

 * Main article: Indra Cavern

Haven't found any yet, but I'm gonna double-check...someday...It's pretty low priority, though.

Osenia Cavern

 * Main article: Osenia Cavern

Atteka Cavern

 * Main article: Atteka Cavern

Angara Cavern

 * Main article: Angara Cavern

(East?) Alhafra

 * Main article: Alhafra

Lemurian Ship

 * Main article: Lemurian Ship

Sea of Time

 * Main article: Sea of Time

=Shop= And this is an area for me to experiment with shop templates.

=Elemental Stars merge= One thing I've been meaning to do is work on merging the individual Elemental Star pages (Venus Star, Mars Star, Jupiter Star, and Mercury Star) into their parent article. After all, there isn't much to say about one that can't be said about them all. If anyone disagrees, let's discuss it on the Elemental Stars talk page.

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The Elemental Stars are four orbs of elemental power that play a central role in the Golden Sun series. Each Star is based on one of the four elements. They appear as small, perfectly round objects resembling precious or semi-precious stones. These treasures were guarded by the town of Vale and were hidden deep within the puzzling Sol Sanctum up until the events early in Golden Sun.

Each of the Elemental Stars serve as the source of Psynergy for their respective element:

The Venus Star is the source of Venus Psynergy. Kraden describes it as "the elemental stone of earth." The Mercury Star is the source of Mercury Psynergy, "possessing the power of water's many forms." The Jupiter Star is the source of Jupiter Psynergy, "bound with the wind's fury." The Mars Star is the source of Mars Psynergy, "glowing red with the fire contained within."

The stars are meant to be cast into the centers of the Elemental Lighthouses to release the power of Alchemy. In doing so, the lighthouses will then flare with their respective elemental power. If all four lighthouses are lit, Alchemy will be unlocked and released.

It would appear that the Elemental Stars cannot be held in a person's bare hands, even an Adept's, as they are carried in Mythril Bags throughout both Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. This is less obvious in Golden Sun because a Mythril Bag is removed from the player's inventory each time a Star is obtained. In The Lost Age, however, the Stars do not appear in the inventory directly; instead, a Mythril Bag is equipped to Felix. Its description changes in the later stages of the game, but often the description says that one or more Elemental Stars are being carried in the bag. Based on this it is more than reasonable to assume that Isaac still used Mythril Bags to carry the Elemental Stars despite the bags apparently disappearing.

As would be expected of such plot-centric items, the Elemental Stars cannot be sold or dropped and must remain in the party's inventory throughout the game. This is actually a bad thing from a gameplay perspective as they have no uses either in or out of battle. The Stars only comes into play during storyline-centric moments of the games. At all other times they simply take up an item slot that could theoretically be put to better use. Also, the Mythril Bag in The Lost Age is permanently equipped to Felix: it cannot be removed or even traded to other party members, permanently taking up one of Felix's item slots.

Story
The story of Golden Sun revolves around one group of Adepts who steal the Elemental Stars in an attempt to unseal Alchemy and another group who chase the first group across Weyard in an attempt to stop them, not knowing the first group's motives. Although large portions of the games may pass without so much as a passing mention of them, the Elemental Stars are vital to the series' plot.

The ancient and recent past
In the ancient past Alchemy and Psynergy were commonplace. Many civilizations thrived during this time and were able to build structures that can hardly even be accessed by the populace of present-day Weyard. As time passed, however, a thirst for power tainted this Golden Age of man and led some to misuse Alchemy for their own selfish purposes. War and strife threatened to tear Weyard apart; mankind was on a road to self-destruction. Fortunately, a group of brave and wise men foresaw this disaster and set out to save mankind by sealing away Alchemy. By removing the Elemental Stars from the Elemental Lighthouses and hiding them away deep within Sol Sanctum, Alchemy was effectively removed from the world, saving it and mankind from itself. However, saving the world also put it in danger, as Alchemy is Weyard's equivalent of a life force. With Alchemy sealed up, Weyard was deprived of its "nourishment" and would slowly erode into emptiness. It was not just Weyard that suffered, but the people as well: Lemuria, although still grand compared to present-day Weyard, entered a spiral of slow but steady cultural decay; it's possible that the sealing of Alchemy is what led the people of Anemos to lift themselves and their city into the sky (becoming the moon, according to Contigo legend); although it may not have happened immediately, by the time the games take place only a small handful of Weyard's population is able to use Psynergy.

Although most people were unaware of Weyard's decay (due primarily to how gradual it was), a handful of people knew that inaction would doom the human race. One such group were the Proxians, Puelle specifically, who had a front row seat to the edge of the world. Knowing that Weyard would vanish if they did nothing, and especially worried since Prox would be one of the first places to go, Puelle sent a group of emissaries to retrieve the Elemental Stars and return them to the Lighthouses, restoring Alchemy to the world and saving Prox and the rest of Weyard from its otherwise inevitable destruction. Upon arriving in Vale they tried to convince the village elders of the world's fate, but the elders either did not or stubbornly refused to believe them and drove them out of town. With negotiations no longer an option, the Proxians scaled Mt. Aleph on their own in order to infiltrate Sol Sanctum and take the Elemental Stars, with or without Vale's consent.

Unfortunately, not only did the Proxian raiding party fail to retrieve the Elemental Stars, but they also triggered Sol Sanctum's final trap: A powerful storm that engulfed both Mt. Aleph and Vale, as well as dislodging a large boulder referred to as the Mt. Aleph boulder. The Mt. Aleph boulder landed in the river that runs through the center of the village, supposedly killing Felix, his parents, and Kyle. Kyle's son, Isaac, ran back to the plaza for help but stopped when he overheard Saturos and Menardi, the only Proxians to survive the storm, discussing their failed attempt. The two Proxians did not notice Isaac until his friend, Garet, started calling his name. Not wanting the villagers to learn of their actions, Saturos and Menardi quickly attacked and defeated the two young Adepts, leaving them for dead. During their escape, Saturos and Menardi came across Felix and the other victims of the Mt. Aleph boulder. For whatever reason, they took the weary Valeans back to Prox with them.

The raid on Sol Sanctum
Three years later, accompanied by Alex, Saturos and Menardi left their home once again to return to Vale, this time with Felix's assistance. Though Puelle did not wish to stoop to such a level, Saturos insisted on holding the adult Valeans hostage to ensure Felix's cooperation. During these past years, Isaac and Garet, along with Felix's younger sister Jenna, have been studying Alchemy under the scholar Kraden. Kraden, in turn, came to Vale on the behalf of Lord Babi of Tolbi to further his own studies of Alchemy. It was on one of their trips to Kraden's cottage that Saturos' party returned to Vale. Though Felix remained at the inn and Alex was in parts unknown, Saturos and Menardi had gone to meet with Kraden (how they knew about Kraden is unclear). As it turns out, the Proxians knew more about Sol Sanctum than even the elders of Vale did. Furthermore, the duo revealed to Kraden that they planned "to set [the elements] into motion" and that "the four Elemental Stars are the key", which seemed to be more than enough to pique the elderly scholar's curiosity. As they left Kraden's cottage, the Proxians encountered Isaac and his friends, whom they apparently did not recognize. After a brief confrontation, Saturos and Menardi allowed the children to continue on their way to Kraden.

Sharing his concerns with the young Adepts, Kraden grabbed some Mythril Bags from his cottage and set off with them to Sol Sanctum to see if Saturos and Menardi truly had been in the Sanctum, unaware that the Proxians and Felix were following behind. After delving further in than Kraden ever had alone and disarming the trap that caused the storm three years ago, Isaac and his companions arrived at the innermost chamber of Sol Sanctum, the very room the Elemental Stars had rested since the sealing of Alchemy. At Jenna's request, Isaac and Garet took Kraden's Mythril Bags and set out to retrieve the Elemental Stars. Kraden took no effort to disguise his excitement when the Venus and Mercury Stars were aquired, so when Kraden failed to respond to their securing the Jupiter Star, Isaac and Garet grew concerned. Their fears were well founded, as Saturos and Menardi had finally surfaced and were holding Jenna and Kraden hostage. The Proxians demanded that Isaac hand over the Elemental Stars to in exchange for his friends' safety. To prove that they would not go back on their word they had Felix reveal himself, since Felix would not allow his childhood friends to come to harm.

With little choice left, Garet took the Stars and handed them over to Alex, who had just arrived. Although Garet expected the hostages to be freed immediately, Alex and Saturos made it quite clear that he and Isaac were to bring them all the Elemental Stars, including the Mars Star. This turned out to be a grave mistake on Alex's part (on multiple levels), for as soon as the Mars Star had been removed from it's resting place Mt. Aleph began experiencing volcanic activity, beginning in the Elemental Stars' chamber. Fortunately, the Wise One arrived to keep the mountain under control. Knowing that they would be no match for the Wise One even if Mt. Aleph wasn't in danger of erupting, Alex suggested taking Jenna and Kraden with them, knowing that if Isaac and Garet survived they would come to rescue them, bringing the Mars Star with them.

The Wise One, however, knew Alex's true goal: to absorb the power of the Golden Sun, the burst of energy released above Mt. Aleph when the beacons of the Elemental Lighthouses merge to form the Stone of Sages, granting him immortality and omnipotence. Preparing for the worst, the Wise One imbued some of the as-yet-unformed Golden Sun's power into the Mars Star, which in turn would grant Isaac a fraction of the Golden Sun's power should it ever be formed. The Wise One then instructed Isaac and Garet to take the Mars Star and flee before Mt. Aleph erupted. With the young heroes running as fast as they could, the Wise One opened a fissure in Angara that would divert the lava flow, protecting Vale.

The Wise One's mission
Later, after Isaac and Garet informed their parents, the Mayor of Vale, and the healers about what happened in Sol Sanctum, the Wise One communicated with the Great Healer telepathically. He described Alchemy as "a terrible power", one which could bring about the end of the world. He left out the part about how leaving Alchemy sealed could possibly doom Weyard as well, possibly as a test of Isaac's virtue; if Isaac and his companions could accept the truth about Alchemy rather than blindly following the Wise One's orders, then they may be able to prevent Alchemy's abuse. In the end, the responsibility of retrieve the stolen Elemental Stars, as well as the decision whether or not to in the first place, rested in the hands of Isaac and Garet. Unsure of what to do, Garet left the decision up to Isaac. Although players are allowed to refuse, the canonical desicion is that Isaac accepts the Wise One's quest.

=A little help, please!= I had this idea a while back for a new article. It started as just some random idea, but before long I realized that it could actually turn out to be one of my best ideas yet.

Here's the plan: Animals. An article that goes into detail about real-life animals as they appear in the Golden Sun series. I've already made some progress on it, but events in the real world have ground my progress down to a halt. Plus, my inability to access the internet whenever I want doesn't help any.

This is where I need help. I'm going to post all the progress I've made so far below, and then you guys can pick up where I left off. I wouldn't be suprised if Erik takes it upon himself to finish the job, but everyone is free to add ideas. In fact, I encourage people (even you, Erik) to edit what I've done, that way we can compare ideas (you can use the talk page too, of course, especially since some of my notes may only make sense to me). Oh yeah, the "animals vs. monsters" section could do with a makeover, and I have been considering removing the "mythical animals" section.

Well, here we go:

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Animals in the Golden Sun games aren't much different from animals in real life. A wide variety of animal species familiar in the real world can be found throughout Weyard. These animals range from domestic pets such as cats and dogs to more wild and free animals such as dolphins and turtles. It is reasonable to assume that there are many more species in Weyard that have been taken directly from real life but simply haven’t been mentioned in-game yet.

Although there are many different types of animals, a far less substantial number of animals are encountered throughout the games when compared to the number of humans. It even appears that the number of animals in Weyard is decreasing. Evidence of this is given throughout Golden Sun: The Lost Age: ocean fish are becoming more and more scarce, forcing seafaring people like the Champans to look for other ways to survive; wildlife, particularly those hunted for their meat, appear to be vanishing from the area around Kibombo, and no doubt in other areas as well. These mysterious disappearances may be due largely (though not entirely) to the release of Psynergy Stones after the eruption of Mt. Aleph; it is confirmed by Laurel early in Golden Sun that the Psynergy Stones have turned many animals into monsters.

As far as the games are concerned in a technical area, animals are NPCs (non-player characters) about as much as the many humans populating Weyard. Players, however, will notice two general differences animals have from other NPCs: that their field sprites are much different and that they typically spout an onomotopoeiac word or phrase when you "talk" to them, such as "woof" for dogs or "meow" for cats. This is not surprising since animals cannot speak (or at least not in any language we humans can understand). Their very humanlike thoughts, however, can be clearly understood by an Adept casting the Mind Read Psynergy on them just as if Mind Read is used on normal humans. Animals often possess valuable information and/or insight that only creatures not bound to human society and ethics can properly observe; they can either give players advice or assistance with the games' quest or side quests, point out areas that may be of interest to the player, or supply information about the Golden Sun world in general (which is of little help in gameplay terms, but may be quite valuable to players who want to learn more about Weyard).

List of animal species
The following is a list of all animal species that either appear in or are mentioned throughout the Golden Sun series. This list does not include monsters that closely resemble animals.

Animals in italic text do not appear as NPCs.


 * Birds
 * Cat
 * Chicken
 * Cow
 * Crab
 * Dog
 * Dolphin
 * Fish
 * Penguin
 * Sheep
 * Silkworm
 * Turtle 	(remember Nereid)
 * Whale	(Neptune)

In Golden Sun

 * Vale
 * Vault
 * Xian
 * Tolbi (Spring)

In The Lost Age

 * Mikasalla
 * Gondowan Cliffs
 * Kibombo Mountains
 * E Tundaria Islet
 * SE Angara Islet (bird)
 * N Osenia Islet (cow)
 * West Indra Islet
 * Sea of Time Islet
 * Lemuria
 * Lemuria (Spring)

Animals with names

 * Pengus and Pengulina
 * Lonely George

Trading sequence animals

 * E Tundaria Islet
 * SE Angara Islet (bird)
 * N Osenia Islet (cow)
 * West Indra Islet
 * Sea of Time Islet

Animals and monsters
Despite Laurel's previously mentioned discovery, animals and monsters should not be grouped together, although there are some instances when the two overlap. In a general sense, monsters always appear in battle, and only a few have overworld sprites (most notably bosses). Animals, in contrast, only appear in overworld areas such as towns and dungeons (aside from a few that are only mentioned and never actually appear) and players can interact with them just like they would any other NPC.

There are some situations where the distinction between animals and monsters is blurred. A unique example are the green Apes of Mogall Forest, who have sprites but are never actually battled.

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Many monsters closely resemble animals in appearance and often in name as well. Although it may be pure coincidence, these monsters are most likely either slightly mutated animals or simply animals who have been either very scared or driven mad by the raining Psynergy Stones. It is difficult to say whether these monsters can still be considered animals or if they are only monsters now. Some of these monsters, however, clearly cannot be considered animals any longer, such as the Punch Ant, Rat Soldier, and Lizard Fighter. The following is a list of monsters that might still be considered animals:


 * Ape
 * Calamar
 * Conch Shell	?
 * Devil Frog	?
 * Devil Scorpion	?
 * Dino
 * Dirge
 * Doodle Bug	?
 * Emu
 * Fighter Bee	?
 * Giant Bat
 * Kraken
 * Mole		?
 * Momonga	??
 * Rat
 * Ravager
 * Roc	??
 * Salamander	??
 * Seabird
 * Spider
 * Urchin Beast	?
 * Wild Gorilla
 * Wild Wolf
 * Winged Lizard	?

Animals from mythology
Although they do not exist in the real world, a number of mythological animals also appear in the Golden Sun games, usually as monsters:


 * Chimera---The Chimera monsters are another interesting example: although they do not directly resemble real animals, they are made up of body parts of various animals,. Their most notable features are their heads: goat, lion, and eagle. They also have the tail of a scorpion, their front legs are the talons of a bird, and their rear legs (return...and wings)
 * Dragons
 * Gargoyle	?
 * (Gryphon)
 * Harpy 	?
 * (Hydra)	?
 * (Kobold)	?
 * (Macetail)	?
 * Manticore
 * (Minotaurus)
 * Phoenix
 * (Siren)	?
 * (Troll)	?
 * (Wolfkin)	?
 * (Wyvern)	?

See also: Werewolf

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