Alhafra

Alhafra (アラフラの町 Arafura Town) is a large port-town on the northern coast of Osenia just north of the Yampi Desert, to the west lie the Osenia Cliffs, to the south the aforementioned desert and Air's Rock and to the east the Balloo Range of mountains. Alhafra is similarly sized to Tolbi, but perhaps slightly smaller or less prosperous. Alhafra is governed by a greedy, overweight mayor who's ambition is to make Alhafra an extremely prosperous trading center, however he is willing to do so through dishonest dealing, notably with the town of Madra in Indra. The town is important to the Briggs sub-plot in Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Vendors
The town's Inn service is provided in the building to the lower right with a fee of 7 coins per Adept.

Collectibles
Apple: In the water pot in the second floor of the inn where Alex stays. 7 Coins: In the lower left barrel in the base floor of the tower in the mayor's manor. 32 Coins: In the upper right crate outside the mayor's manor. Elixir: In a barrel in the upper half of the vertical two-room house in town. Lucky Medal: In a jar sandwiched between two destroyed houses east in town. Reachable after the water dries up following the Briggs boss fight. Power Bread: After Briggs busts out of the prison later in the game, go through *Alhafran Cave to enter the jail cell and check the right pot. Psy Crystal: In a hidden, Revealable chest in the circle of gravestones west in town. Sleep Bomb: In a jar just to the right of the door below the cemetery. Smoke Bomb: In the upper left jar on the wooden pier in Eastern Alhafra. Large Bread: In the back room of the ship while it's still in port after the Briggs fight, use Tremor to make it fall (it may take several tries to position yourself just right). Give it to a kid in the east area of the town area and the townsperson guarding the entrance to Alhafran Cave allows you to pass and explore that optional area.

Background
Alhafra is a seafaring town on the northern coast of Osenia, relying upon the sea for its food supply. It is a particularly prosperous town of considerable size, though it suffered extensive damage as a result of the tidal wave. Prior to the tidal wave there had been contact between Alhafra and Madra, a town just a short boat ride away. Since the tidal wave moved Indra south, it is now only possible to access Madra by the newly formed land bridge. In terms of culture, Alhafra was considerably advanced compared to the rest of the region having just recently developed sailing ships. The only other known town to develop any form of sailing ship is Champa, which uses much smaller ships. Despite all its size and advances though, Alhafra's mayor has a reputation for being extremely greedy.

Tidal Waves and Pirates
Following the tidal wave that struck Indra and Osenia, Briggs and his pirate crew from Champa fled from Indra and sought a boat in Alhafra. They also destroyed the bridge to Alhafra to slow the party from Madra down. The tidal wave, however, had left Alhafra with only the newly built sailboat, and that had suffered damage. The pirates bought the boat and even paid for the mast to be repaired, though it later became clear that the mast was weighted down with too much debris. Thus by the time the mayor of Madra arrived in Alhafra to capture Briggs, he and his crew were still stuck there. However, the mayor of Alhafra was very stubborn in accepting the accusations of Briggs, who had paid good money for the boat. Meanwhile Felix's party had arrived in Alhafra in search of their own boat of their own and, being aware that only Briggs can prove the innocence of Piers,a water adept being held in Madra, they confront Briggs. When he refuses in cooperating, Felix is forced to battle Briggs and his crew. After being defeated and confessing to both mayors, Briggs suggests that, since he had bought the boat with Madran gold, he would give the boat to Madra and he attests to Piers' innocence before allowing himself to be locked up until the boat is repaired.

The Mayor's Greed
While most of the Madran party returned to assure Piers' release from Madra's prison, the mayor and the elder stayed behind to oversee the repairs on the boat. However, Alhafra's greedy mayor refuses to repair the boat despite the fact that Briggs had already paid for the repairs and the pair were forced to return to Madra without the boat. The boat remained unrepaired for quite some time until Felix returned to finish clearing the debris off the mast. Alhafra's mayor begins repairs immediately but is clearly not planning on turning the boat over. His plans amount to nothing, however, as Briggs escapes the prison and uses the now repaired ship to return to Champa

Name Origin
Alhafra is based on the Arafura Sea, a body of water between Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea. The name is either from native Moluccas haraforas, meaning "children of the mountains," or else from corrupted-Portuguese Alfours, meaning "free men," either of which would refer to the inhabitants of the islands around the sea. As Alhafra sits on the part of Osenia that corresponds to the part of Australia just underneath the Arafura Sea, this origin for the town makes sense.

Trivia

 * It is possible to soft-lock your game after fixing the boat. After you have met with the mayor and regained control of Felix you are supposed to get to the dock to see the cutscene where Briggs sails back to Champa. To ensure that you do this the game moves NPCs into positions to block you from leaving Alhafra before seeing this cutscene. However, saving and performing a data recall (holding Start+L while loading the file) will load you in the Alhafra sanctum which is outside of the blockade of people. If you save over your save file there is no known way to get to the Alhafra docks without a cheat device which prevents you from being able to complete the game.


 * In a password enhanced file where Deadbeard has been defeated, after the pirate Briggs flees the town on a ship and departs back for Champa, a pair of swashbucklers will appear in the second floor of Alhafra's inn as the town updates. The moment Felix's party comes in, an optional cutscene will occur where the two talk about how Crossbone Isle was picked clean and its feared ancient pirate ghost guardian was defeated by Isaac, which effectively means Isaac is their leader now, and that is why they are now looking for him so that they can join his crew. Then they will pass by Felix's group as they leave the inn on their search. It should be noted that this cutscene can occur anytime after when it can first occur, meaning that it can be triggered late in the game when Isaac's party has joined Felix's. In that case, though, the cutscene will play out exactly as it would otherwise, and the pirate pair will not realize they just passed by their new "leader" as they leave the inn in search of him.