Champa

Champa is the name of a village on the southeastern part of Angara. It is the home of Briggs and his family, making it a central location in Briggs' subplot. Because it is surrounded by mountains, the town is only accesable by sea, however, some of the people of Xian are able to cross the mountains and vist the town. It is one of several locations in Golden Sun: The Lost Age that become available once Felix's party sets sail on Piers' boat. Unlike many of these locations, however, it is a mandatory location that must be visited after Briggs escapes from Alhafra (although it can be visited beforehand).

Description
Champa's populace are a seafaring folk, not surprising considering the terrain. They're far from what one would call rich, but they've learned to make due. Because of the hard rocky soil, Champa cannot raise crops and relies on fishing for its source of food. However, due to the recent warming of the ocean's waters, the fish population that had thus far supported Champa had become unreliable. With their food source dwindling, and lacking any real funds with which to buy supplies, Champa fell into poverty and famine.

There are few houses in Champa, and some people live on boats in its harbor. Perhaps the most notable dwellings are the ones cut within the cliffsides. Within the cliffs are several levels connected by a series of stairs. The highest floor houses an immense furance. The caves are reserved for those who support Briggs. Those who do not wish to join his crew live on the boats in the docks.

Obaba, grandmother of Briggs, serves as the town matriarch. However, due to events that occur in The Lost Age, it appears that Briggs and his crew have obtained some power. There is also a mention of elders who appear to play a role in leading Champa, some of whom have recently considered making Briggs Champa's first chief (which, in turn implies that there is, as of The Lost Age, no singular person ruling over Champa).

Vendors
Champa's Inn is the upper left building, located just to the right of the cliff entrance, and costs 18 coins per Adept.

Items
The Golden Ring can be received here if the player rescued Hsu in Golden Sun and transferred their data to The Lost Age. When first entering Champa, Feizhi rushes up, mistaking Felix for Isaac. After some teasing from Kraden (which heavily suggests that Feizhi has a crush on Isaac), Feizhi gives Felix the Golden Ring to pass on to Isaac. However, the player is free to do as he/she wishes with the Ring.

Elixir: Found in the Inn. Lucky Medal: Found in a jar outside the third floor of the cliffs. Sleep Bomb: Found in a barrel in the rightmost room on the first floor of the cliffs. Smoke Bomb: Found in a crate outside the bottom left house (not taking the boats into consideration). Viking Helm: Found in a chest in the ring of graves near the entrance. Reveal must be used to make the chest visible.

The Champan pirates
Champa has relied on fishing to feed its people for years, quite possibly since before even Obaba was born. However, the waters of the Eastern Sea have been growing warm (possibly beginning years before the Elemental Stars were taken from Sol Sanctum), causing the fish population to drop. A combination of the threat of starvation and the fact that Champa has never been very wealthy ultimately led Briggs and his crew to resort to piracy in the hopes of "earning" enough money to buy food for Champa. Briggs piracy was kept a secret from Obaba, as she would have been outraged to learn that Champa had to steal to survive. Sometime during their travels, Briggs and his crew eventually stumbled upon Treasure Isle and cleaned out a good amount of its treasure, more than enough to keep Champa alive and well for quite some time. However, they were blown off course (most likely due to the tidal wave that wedged Indra between Gondowan and Osenia) and crashed near Madra.

Alex's new crew
When the player first leaves Champa (whether before or after Briggs' return detailed below), Alex will appear to "encourage" Felix and Co. to light the remaining Lighthouses soon. To help him in this, Alex has requested the help of Karst and her partner Agatio, hoping they can take the place of Saturos and Menardi in acting as an incentive to complete their quest. Although Agatio and Karst would rather light the Lighthouses themselves, Alex insists on letting Felix handle the task, since Saturos and Menardi failed to solve the puzzles of the Lighthouses and he feared that Karst and Agatio would fail as well. Before departing, Alex informed Kraden that Babi has finally passed away. Although he originally accompanied the party on their quest on behalf of Babi's goal of finding Lemuria, Kraden insists on continuing with them, hoping to confirm a theory of his upon reaching Lemuria.

Briggs' return
After the boat in Alhafra is repaired, Briggs' wife Chaucha and their son Eoleo helped Briggs and his crew escape from jail and hijack the ship, which they take back to Champa with a large amount of money and jewels (presumably their Treasure Isle haul). This brings Champa back from the brink of starvation, but takes its toll as well as many of the villagers become indulgent and quit their jobs. When Felix's team arrives in Champa, Briggs' crew spots them and goes to warn Briggs, fearing that the mayor of Alhafra sent them to take Briggs back. After climbing to the top of the cliffside dwellings, the party finds Briggs and Obaba waiting by Obaba's furnace. Obaba is willing to give Felix and Co. the benefit of the doubt until Briggs preys on her weakness: Briggs insists that if Felix isn't stopped, Briggs will be taken away and "poor Eoleo will be sad." Unwilling to see her grandson sad, Obaba gives Felix the chance to leave. If the player chooses to stay, Obaba summons the Avimander to fight the party off.

After the Avimander's defeat, Obaba discovers Briggs piracy, but with a little convincing from Chaucha decides to let him off the hook. Chaucha mentions that they planned to repay all the towns they stole from, at which point Briggs seems to come down with a cold. This is most likely an attempt to get out of repaying the towns, especially since, according to one villager, Briggs has never been sick a day in his life.

The Trident of Ankohl
By this point of the game, most players will probably have at least one piece of the Trident of Ankohl, since the Center Prong is found in Tundaria Tower, a location which must be visited before Briggs can return to Champa. However, it is possible to defeat the Avimander before collecting any pieces of the Trident, or even to collect all three pieces before ever coming to Champa. Talking to Obaba with at least one piece of the Trident in the party's inventory will spark her interest, and she'll take all the pieces the player has collected. The other two pieces can be located in the Shrine of the Sea God near Daila and the Ankohl Ruins near Champa. Once Obaba has all three pieces, she will throw them into her furnace and recreate the Trident of Ankohl (the player must use Reveal to pick it up), which is neccessary to defeat Poseidon and reach Lemuria.

Cultural References
It is possible that Champa draws parallels to Singapore. However, contrary to what is shown in a recent, popular pirate movie, Singapore is a flat archipelago with few mountains, its highest point being only 545 feet (166 meters) above sea level, whereas Champa rests on a mountainside.