Garoh

Garoh, located in south-central Osenia, offers valuable rewards if the party has completed the nearby Air's Rock dungeon and earned its Reveal Psynergy.

Garoh (ポピーチー村 Popiichii Village) is a village that may be visited in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. It is located in south-central Osenia on the outskirts of the continent's central desert, which contains the ancient mountain Air's Rock and the ancient dungeon that lies within it. The locals hide a secret regarding their physiology that they take great pains to conceal when outsiders visit. Their reclusive leader, Maha, has acquired Jupiter-aligned Psynergy powers as a result of Garoh's proximity to Air's Rock, and Felix's traveling party can only meet with him once they climb Air's Rock to claim those powers for themselves.

In-game, Garoh is essentially a pit stop along the player's way toward Air's Rock, but it offers little of mechanical interest until the player completes Air's Rock and passes by Garoh on the way back to more plot-significant activities. Using the Reveal Psynergy that can be earned inside Air's Rock, the party can claim one of the game's Jupiter Djinn, Ether.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age

For all NPC gossip, see Side Scripts.

When the party crosses the land bridge at Osenia Cliffs east into Osenia early in the game, the western and central swath of the continent – as in, what lies west of the Balloo Range of mountains that separate East Osenia from the rest of the continent – can be freely explored on foot. Garoh is located in the rough southeast quadrant of this span of space, just south of the continent's central desert that contains the Air's Rock dungeon. Both locations can be entered as soon as Osenia is accessed, even though the player is likely to proceed through the other desert, Yampi Desert, to reach Alhafra at the north coast of Osenia first. Given the difficulty of the boss battle with Briggs that takes place in Alhafra, it is recommended that the player temporarily leave Alhafra and explore the other locations that are open in Osenia, chief among them Air's Rock and Garoh, to build up power and equipment.

Visiting Garoh is ultimately optional, whereas Air's Rock will have to be completed before the party can properly progress through the expansive Eastern Sea arc of the game once they get their own ship. If the player enters Garoh first, they can be introduced to Air's Rock by conversing with the local population of NPCs and reading their minds. However, Garoh's most valuable rewards (including a Jupiter Djinni) can only be gotten by using Air's Rock's Utility Psynergy reward, Reveal, so knowledgeable players typically complete the dungeon first and then head south to Garoh.

A full view of Garoh when it is first visited. Since it will always be nighttime before meeting with Maha inside the northeast rock formation, the villagers outside wear robes.

The first screen of Garoh, consisting of a series of cliffs with petroglyphs engraved on them, comes across as a small "dungeon" (free of enemies) because you have to push two earth pillars out of the way while heading to the north end. This procedure must be repeated whenever you want to reach the village, and the pillars you moved will block you from heading back south – at least until you enter the screen above it to perform a puzzle reset. Whenever you want to leave Garoh, you will have to climb down the cliff using a different route, pushing two other earth pillars out of the way; again, these pillars will block your way back up until you reset their position by stepping back out into the overworld. By default, whenever the party climbs these cliffs, the color palette of the environment will darken to suggest that it is becoming nighttime, ensuring that the player's visits to Garoh always take place "at night."

The first time the party enters the second screen, with a small lake reflecting the moon in the sky, a cutscene will take place in which the party comes across a werewolf pup from the village up north. In the village itself, everyone outside the buildings and caves are wearing cloaks, but while everyone indoors is dressed as normal, the weapon and armor shopkeepers currently refuse to sell their normal goods to the party. This is not the case with the item shopkeeper in the back end of a network of caves connected to both of the doorways on either side of the sanctum, as well as to stairwells in the armory and the residence just right of that. The sanctum and the inn provide their services as normal.

When you walk up the stairs outdoors, a short cutscene shows a talking werewolf, Maha, exiting the northeast rock formation and reentering it using a Psynergy that the game does not formally disclose is Reveal. New players, particularly those who had not played the first Golden Sun, are thus introduced to the premise and function of a utility Psynergy that exposes hidden doorways, and they may make the connection that they can acquire it at Air's Rock (though the NPC who comments that "those who have climbed Air's Rock claim that they can see the unseeable" is found in Mikasalla, west of Garoh).

Once the player has the Reveal Psynergy, they have the option of heading to Garoh to pick up significant rewards. First, by casting Reveal near a ring of platforms with light-green surfaces at the southwest end of the cavernous complex, you can hop west across it to reach the chest on the ledge at the screen with a lake, which contains the Hypnos' Sword. Casting Reveal at the rock formation Maha entered will allow you to follow him inside, initiating a cutscene that will eventually deposit you back at the inn (though without any refreshed HP and PP meters). This first cutscene with Maha will permanently update the village into its "midday" incarnation, with updated gossip and thoughts from the populace, and the village will no longer return to night when revisited.

Having this first meeting with Maha will unlock the weapon and armor shopkeepers' services, which offer equipment that is officially one "tier" higher than what is sold at Alhafra. The armor shop introduces the Adept's Clothes, Bronze Shield, and Wooden Cap as common pieces and adds the unique Safety Boots to the Artifacts menu, though the only new weapon on offer is the Witch's Wand Artifact (which is far behind the freely collectable weapon artifacts your three party members should be equipped with by this point). Note, however, that Mikasalla's general store, which is available as soon as Osenia is first explored, offers a select few pieces of gear that are significantly more expensive and powerful than the stores at Garoh.

With Garoh now in its daytime version, if you use Reveal to reenter the rock formation and meet Maha again, a longer cutscene will play. You will be given the Jupiter Djinni Ether for your time.

Vendors

Garoh's Inn is the southeastern building in the village that resembles two buildings conjoined, and its service costs 8 coins per party member. This makes it cost 24 coins in the likely event you only have your three starting party members, and it costs 32 coins if Piers is in your party. This doubles to 64 coins near the end of the game, when the party's roster has expanded from four to eight members. The weapon and armor shops, on the other hand, are closed for business until the party initiates its first meeting with Maha with the help of the Reveal Psynergy.

Weapon Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Broad Sword	Long Sword	1000	Attack +40
Hunter's Sword	Light Blade	520	Attack +28
Battle Axe	Axe	280	Attack +24
Heavy Mace	Mace	500	Attack +26
Artifacts
Witch's Wand	Staff	860	Attack +32, Unleashes Stun Voltage

Armor Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Leather Armor	Armor	240	Defense +12
Adept's Clothes	Clothing	850	Defense +18, Max PP +8
Travel Robe	Robe	200	Defense +10
Bronze Shield	Shield	500	Defense +14
Leather Gloves	Gloves	220	Defense +10
Leather Armlet	Bracelet	180	Defense +7
Open Helm	Helm	180	Defense +9
Wooden Cap	Hat	400	Defense +10
Circlet	Circlet	120	Defense +6
Artifacts
Safety Boots	Boot	700	Defense +12, Agility x0.7

Item Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Antidote	Consumable Item	20	Cures Poison and Venom from one Adept
Elixir	Consumable Item	30	Cures Sleep, Stun, and Delusion from one Adept
Herb	Consumable Item	10	Restores 50 HP to one Adept
Sacred Feather	Consumable Item	70	Temporarily lowers monster encounter rate

Collectibles

• Elixir: Found in the water-filled jar inside the Inn, at the upper-right corner.
• Nut: Found inside the barrel just right of the front entrance outside the house on the ledge northwest of the village.
• Sleep Bomb: Found in the blue jar inside the above house on the northwest ledge.
• Smoke Bomb: Found in the barrel nestled just underneath the southeast Inn, where the two "structures" composing the inn meet.

The following collectibles are only made available by bringing the Reveal Psynergy earned at Air's Rock:

• Hypnos' Sword: Found in the chest visible on the left ledge in the screen with the small pond just south of the main village area. Reaching it requires entering the network of cave trails connecting several residences and shops and navigating to the cave's southwest corner, where there is a ring of six green-topped platforms protruding out of a black pit; cast Reveal to be able to hop west across the hidden platform in the center of the ring.
• Ether: Automatically given to the party at the end of the second cutscene with Maha in his abode inside the northeast rock formation, which can only be entered with Reveal.

History

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Garoh is a village of werewolves, a race of humans with the ability to transform into an anthropomorphic wolf by looking at the sight of the full moon. Many years ago in their past, people viewed the werewolves as a cursed race and would burn them alive in a rite known as "purification". Because of this, the werewolves had no choice but to hide in the mountains and mask their curse, or as some people see it, a gift. Whenever travelers come across the mountain and find the werewolf village, the villagers pretend to act as if werewolves don't exist. For Felix and his party, when they arrived in Garoh during a full moon, the villagers had to cloak themselves in order to prevent themselves from looking at the moon.

Maha, the village chief, is alarmed by the arrival of foreigners at a time of night when his people customarily transform into werewolves by looking at the moon.

The werewolves of Garoh are Jupiter Adepts. They gain their power from a mountain called Air's Rock. Air's Rock is a sacred mountain that blesses the element of wind, Jupiter. As a tradition, when werewolves come of age and wisdom, they can choose to climb Air's Rock and learn the power of Reveal, an ability only learned by Jupiter Adepts. Master Maha, the chief of the village, learned Reveal himself but ended up losing his human form in the process. Being the source of the villagers' access to wind Psynergy causes the village to become very dependent on the mountain for Psynergy resources. Without it, werewolves would not be Adepts.

When Felix's party first arrives in Garoh, they see a young werewolf rushing into the village. With their curiosity (or at least Kraden's) getting the better of them, they decide to follow the werewolf. When they approach a peculiar stone structure in the village, Master Maha uses Reveal to come out of the structure and dashes back inside upon spotting them. By having Sheba cast Reveal it is possible to follow him inside the rock, which turns out to be the entrance to a maze-like cavern. While exploring the cave Felix and Co. find the werewolf child running around. By chasing him to the back of the cave, Felix manages to bring Maha out of hiding.

During their meeting with Maha, Kraden begins to explain to him about Adepts and Psynergy, until Maha decides to continue the conversation in the morning. By returning to Maha's cave later, he and Kraden begin discussing how the people of Garoh became werewolves in the first place. Maha believes the ability to transform into wolves is simply an evolutionary defense, similar to how pillbugs and hedgehogs change shape for protection. Kraden then resumes his explanation of Psynergy, ultimately leading up to the Psynergy Stones in Mt. Aleph. Sheba then suspects that the strong winds from Air's Rock may have carried particles of its Psynergy Stones all the way to Garoh, which explains why they can use Whirlwind and Reveal. Master Maha then gives them the Jupiter Djinni Ether to aid them on their journey.

Trivia

• Since Air's Rock can be completed after acquiring the Lemurian Ship and adding Piers to the party, he may already be part of the party when the player triggers the cutscenes with the werewolf pup at the lake and with Maha in his abode. However, while he will appear onscreen alongside the rest of the party, he will not contribute any lines to the proceedings; at most, Kraden will list off his name while introducing the other party members shortly before Maha gives the party the Jupiter Djinni Ether.
  • Leaving Garoh unexplored until the point you begin sailing the Eastern Sea with Piers' ship causes a minor plot hole with the scene when the party first gains control over the ship back at East Indra Shore. Sheba will remark that the party has already encountered werewolves on their journey, regardless of whether the player has actually done so yet.
• Garoh's location on the world map forces Felix's party to pass closely by it either when heading south from Air's Rock or when heading north towards the dungeon. Even if the player instead first reaches Air's Rock by heading south through the one-way exit from the southeast end of Yampi Desert and plays through it, the only way the player can subsequently exit Air's Rock's region of Osenia is to take the route south past Garoh (since it will be impossible to have the Sand Psynergy before Reveal, which otherwise could feasibly allow Yampi Desert to be reentered through its southeast exit). Though this makes Garoh effectively impossible to accidentally overlook on a blind playthrough, the cutscenes with both the werewolf pup outside and Maha inside are technically optional and have no significance to the main plot of the game. The player can feasibly hold off on these cutscenes until the end of The Lost Age, when the party has since doubled in size; even if you choose this point in time to initiate the cutscenes at Garoh, they will proceed as though Felix's party only consists of his early handful of members, and there will be no on-screen appearances by Isaac, Garet, Ivan, or Mia.

Cultural references

Garoh may be based on the town of Yulara in Australia's Northern Territory. This town sits just outside the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which contains the real-world Ayer's Rock, the obvious inspiration for Air's Rock in-game; this is reinforced by the presence of a circuit walk weaving through the park's iconic domed rock formations called the "Valley of the Winds". Notably, the name "Yulara" comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "howling" and also referring to dingos, a lineage of wild canids that roam Australia.

Garoh's English name is related to the French term "garou" (or "loup-garou"--"werewolf"--either way, derived from an old Germanic term), as well as the Japanese term "餓狼" ("garou", "hungry wolf). "Garoh" suggests a stronger nod to the latter, as the French term is pronounced like "roo" where the Japanese term would be pronounced similarly to "row", or "roh"; beyond that, it is common in romanization from Japanese script to replace a letter "U" (for extended vowels) with an "H." The village's name in the Japanese version, is "Popiichii Village", has nothing in common with this etymology, which suggests more of a French origin for the town's localized name. That being said, localization teams are knowledgeable in both languages as a rule, and so they may have drawn upon the Japanese loan-word.