Kalay

Kalay serves as a useful hub settlement in Golden Sun and remains relevant to a side quest after making the first trip to Tolbi to the west.

Kalay (カレイの町 Kalay Town) is a prominent town featured in Golden Sun and mentioned in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It is located in south-central Angara at the midpoint between Xian east across Lamakan Desert and Tolbi west across the Karagol Sea. It owes its economic prosperity to the business acumen of its founder, Master Hammet, who simultaneously established the Silk Road trading route stretching between Xian and Tolbi. It is the hometown of Ivan, a member of Isaac's party in Golden Sun, who has lived in the care of Hammet and his wife, Lady Layana.

A critical bridge north of Kalay that gets destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Aleph forces the traveling company of Saturos and the band pursuing them, led by Isaac, to wind clockwise through Angara until they respectively pass through Kalay from the east. Before resuming their pursuit of Saturos into Gondowan and toward Venus Lighthouse, Isaac and Ivan learn from Layana that she has not yet freed Hammet from the thief settlement of Lunpa to the north. Layana discloses a secret regarding Ivan's true place of birth and urges Ivan to continue his journey to fulfill his role in a prophecy related to Isaac's ongoing quest for the Lighthouses. Even so, some time into the party's time spent in Tolbi and upper Gondowan, the player may decide to return to Angara to pursue a side quest to return Hammet to Kalay on their own.

In Dark Dawn, taking place 30 years later, Kalay is mentioned as a land that continues to exist despite the destruction and tumult wrought upon Weyard in the wake of the Golden Sun event. Despite the game taking place on the reshaped continent of Angara, Kalay's region is not explored or observed directly during Matthew's quest. Kalay is only mentioned as where both Ivan and fellow party member Jenna now reside.

In Golden Sun

For all NPC gossip, see Side Scripts.

Upon taking the west exit of Lamakan Desert back out into the overworld, the player has access to Kalay to the west and three other overworld icons clustered around it, though none of these three locations have any function if they are entered right away.

• Kalay Tunnel Entrance, represented by a cave icon northwest of the town, will always remain blocked off when entered from the outside.
• Gondowan Cave, represented by another cave icon southeast of Kalay, is a connective route between Angara and the continent of Gondowan to the west, and it can only be opened up from the Gondowan side once the Karagol Sea is crossed.
• Kalay Docks, located at the east shore of the Karagol Sea southwest of Kalay, currently houses the ferry that will take the party across the sea once the plot calls for it.

Additionally, a newly reconstructed bridge north of Kalay allows the party to revisit any earlier area in the game and clear out side content like Vale Cave and Vault Cave. The party can also randomly fight battles within the tiny forest in the round "island" west of the exit of Lamakan Desert until they fight and collect the Venus Djinni Vine.

Initial visit

The player's overarching objective following Lamakan Desert is to take the ferry at Kalay Docks west across the Karagol Sea to Tolbi's area of northern Gondowan. This requires fulfilling the rather cryptic step of entering Kalay's Inn and talking to the innkeeper from behind his counter so that he can ask you whether you are also going to Tolbi. Regardless of whether you answer Yes or No, when you next attempt to take either of the exits back out into overworld from the main town area, a long cutscene will show a tour group heading off toward the ferry at Kalay Docks so that they can watch the Colosso competition in Tolbi. This is technically the only mandatory task in Kalay.

Near the front entrance to Kalay's bustling main square.

Of course, there are other things that should be done in Kalay before heading to the ferry at the Docks, including obtaining several valuable collectibles. In the tiny southwest cemetery underneath a tree with a dangling Nut that you can Catch, you can get a much stronger Vial from the closed jar just right of the lower-right gravestone. The weapon shop introduces the Great Axe as a common item, and its Artifacts menu introduces the Frost Wand. The armor shop introduces the Heavy Armlet, Jerkin, and Mail Cap as common pieces that can be used to patch up defense statistics.

At the northeast corner of the main town, you can hop right across a gap from a two-story stone building through a broken piece of the railing onto a grassy ledge so that you can find a statue covering a cave entrance. Cast Move to shift it one tile to the left to gain access to the rather sprawling, maze-like Kalay Tunnel, which currently has gates blocking off access to other areas but allows you to reach the Mars Djinni Scorch by pushing a statue in front of a waterfall.

The first time you approach Hammet Palace off the top end of Kalay's main town area, a series of cutscenes will play that further establish Ivan's backstory and role as a member of your party. It will be explained that Master Hammet remains captive in the village of Lunpa far to the north, though your abilities will not be able to return him to Kalay at present. Once you regain control of the party in Layana's throne chamber, you can explore the palace and find the useful Water Jacket in a chest in the room west of the monocled advisor in the main hall. In the opposite-facing room at the east end of this hall, you can find a Nut in the barrel closest to the lady in front of the fireplace at the lower-right corner.

Subsequent visit

Following the Colosso Finals in Tolbi, you can add the Cloak Ball to your inventory, which bestows the Psynergy needed to wrap up the lingering plot thread regarding Master Hammet. After crossing through Gondowan Cave back into Angara, you can make use of the Cloak Psynergy to enter and complete the optional Lunpa Fortress dungeon at the north end of Lunpa.

Hammet Palace, from where Lady Layana rules in the absence of her husband, is where Ivan learns about his role in a prophecy.

During a cutscene that plays in West Lunpa Cave while escorting Hammet out of Lunpa, you can choose between staying behind at Lunpa or accompanying Hammet's caravan back south to Kalay. Neither choice offers any more reward or convenience than the other because both villages will need to be revisited to claim the valuable collectibles they each will now have on offer. On the other hand, choosing to return to Kalay first is arguably the more interesting option because you will then see a cutscene where Hammet is secretly escorted back into his own palace using the closed-off entrance at Kalay Tunnel Entrance. Your party will then be automatically deposited at the entrance of Kalay.

Regardless of how you return to Kalay, you can return to the throne room in the palace for an extra cutscene that gives further context to the purpose of the Shaman's Rod in Ivan's possession, foreshadowing what it will eventually be used for in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Speaking of which, having completed this side quest in a game file used for the data transfer system will result in a bonus scene late in the second game that will give the party an extra Orihalcon.

The gates inside Kalay Tunnel will have also been opened. Whether you enter the tunnels through the statue in the main town area or a stairwell in the east room, you can now enter a separate area with several chests, including a Lucky Medal, and a similar puzzle involving a statue and a waterfall will let you reach a chest containing the Spirit Gloves. At the far northwest end of the tunnels are a series of stairwells leading up into a cave-like area with a chest containing one of the game's four Apples, and taking the south exit nearby leads you into the blocked-off portion of Kalay Tunnel Entrance, where you can Catch another Nut.

Vendors

Kalay's Inn service is situated at the northeast streetcorner of the main square's paved intersection, across from the armor shop to its west and the item shop to its south, and it costs 15 coins per party member.

Weapon Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Battle Mace	Mace	2600	Attack +56
Battle Rapier	Light Blade	2900	Attack +58
Claymore	Long Sword	4000	Attack +70
Great Axe	Axe	5200	Attack +80
Artifacts
Frost Wand	Staff	5400	Attack +76, Unleashes Frost Bite

Armor Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Chain Mail	Armor	2000	Defense +25
Gauntlets	Gloves	1600	Defense +23
Heavy Armlet	Bracelet	2000	Defense +25
Iron Helm	Helm	1600	Defense +20
Iron Shield	Shield	1200	Defense +20
Jerkin	Robe	2400	Defense +26
Mail Cap	Hat	2000	Defense +23
Silver Circlet	Circlet	1300	Defense +16

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
Nut	Consumable Item	200	Restores 200 HP to one Adept
Sacred Feather	Consumable Item	70	Temporary lowers monster encounter rate

Collectibles

The following items can be collected in town at the same time the Mars Djinni Scorch can be picked up in Kalay Tunnel:

• Vial: Found a closed jar immediately right of the lower-right gravestone in the southwest cemetery.
• 11 Coins: Found in the lower-right barrel inside the small residence at the southeast corner of town.
• Elixir: Found in the first barrel you come across when going downstairs in the Inn.
• Nut: Is seen dangling on a tree just above the southwest cemetery, retrievable with the Catch Psynergy.
• Sleep Bomb: Found in the closed jar above the armor shop and southwest of the fountains at the north end of town.
• Smoke Bomb: Found in the oven in the lower floor of the two-story building at the northeast corner of town.

Meanwhile, the following items can be collected in Hammet Palace:

• Water Jacket: Found in a chest in the large room west of the main hall in Hammet Palace.
• Nut: Found in the barrel closest to the lady at the fireplace in the southeast corner of the east, large room in Hammet Palace.

Later, if Hammet is returned to Kalay at the end of a side quest, the rest of Kalay Tunnel's interior opens up, allowing you to collect a Lucky Medal, a Potion, a Sleep Bomb, 200 Coins, and the Spirit Gloves inside the tunnels, as well as an Apple and a dangling Nut on the closed-off side of Kalay Tunnel Entrance.

History

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Spoiler warning: The following section(s) contain plot details that some people may not wish to learn before reaching this point in the game on their own.

Some time before the events of Golden Sun, Master Hammet, then a fledgling businessman, traveled across Weyard in search of a profitable source of trade. Eventually, he made a long journey to the distant land of Atteka (which was, at that stage, still connected by land to Gondowan, a trip that exhausted him so badly that it nearly cost him his life. He was saved however by a tribe of Jupiter Adepts, presumably residing in or around Contigo. These Adepts gave him some gold doubloons, the Shaman's Rod, the infant Ivan and a piece of advice, to trade silk produced in Xian with the citizens of Tolbi. In exchange, he was tasked with helping Ivan fulfil his future role as one of the party members who re-ignite the four Elemental Lighthouses.

Fearful he would run out of time (as he was given the ambiguous timeline of three years after a great storm that struck only Vale, which occurs in the game's prologue), Hammet traversed the land in search of this item, taking Ivan with him so that he could pass it on as soon as he found it. He never locates the item, and is instead captured by the band of thieves in Lunpa, leaving Ivan behind to re-acquire the Shaman's Rod that was stolen from him by a separate band of thieves in Vault, which unknowingly made Ivan, Isaac and Garet meet, thus putting Ivan on the path toward fulfilling his predestined role. If Hammet is rescued from his captors in Lunpa, he will explain that he did manage to find out that the item the party needs is located in Hesperia. This "something" is later revealed to be the Hover Jade, which is exchanged for the Shaman's Rod after completing the challenge of Trial Road although it is not Ivan, but rather Sheba who acquires the Jade. After the ignition of Jupiter Lighthouse, both parties do combine and hence Ivan is part of the group that fires the final beacon, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

Acting on the advice of the Jupiter Adepts that saved him, Hammet sets up the town of Kalay, between Xian and Tolbi, to exploit Silk Road's lucrative trading potential. This turns out to be a huge success, and Kalay grows to become one of the largest cities in Weyard, and Hammet receives the reputation (as Garet put it) of being the "greatest merchant ever known".

In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

Kalay is not seen in Dark Dawn, but is mentioned as being the new home of Ivan, Jenna, and other refugees from Vale. Moreover, this photo posted by Nintendo America states that Kalay has grown into a country of its own.

Spoilers end here.Those who did not want the plot ruined for them may now continue reading as normal.

Cultural references

Kalay has clear SWANA influences, seen in the architecture and soldiers. Given its location along the Silk Road, with Xian being equivalent to China and Tolbi to Rome, Kalay is probably Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), given Kalay's eastern location on the Karagol Sea and Constantinople's eastern location on the Mediterranean Sea.

The name Kalay may be a reference to the Persian word kāhrēz (كاهریز), referring to the underground aqueducts used across the Middle-East, with a liquid consonant metathesis due to the lack of differentiated L and R sounds in Japanese). Kalay Tunnel's underground aqueducts are a key feature of the town, and therefore a likely origin for the town's name.

Alternatively, Karay may be a variation on Karagol, and thus share its name origin with the Karagol Sea - in Turkish, Karagöl means "Black Lake", is the name of two separate lakes on opposite sides of the Republic of Türkiye, and may be an allusion to the Black Sea itself, one of the possible inspirations for the Karagol.

It should be noted that in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, the Kalay region of Angara has descended down to sea level and broken off from the Goma Region, apparently become mostly a desert with a few rivers, and its new form alludes either to the shape of Türkiye or what South-West Asia would look like without the Arabian Peninsula. A new large lake has formed to the north of Kalay, where an island stood in Golden Sun, potentially reflecting either the Black, Caspian, or Aral Seas as the Karagol has taken on a more clearly Mediterranean shape.

The two rivers east of Kalay are clearly represented in both games, with the great loop of the western river creating the island where Vine may be found in Golden Sun. These rivers may be a reflection of the Mesopotamian Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, or alternatively may represent the great loop of the Kızılırmak River (Red River) in central Türkiye and the headwaters of the Euphrates to its east. These rivers formed the boundary of the core of the Hatti Kingdom, the Hittite Empire, and the Galatian Kingdoms in Antiquity, and modern day Ankara City is also with these bounds, not far from the Red River. Ankara therefore is a third potential name origin for Kalay via Japanese Karay.

Alternatively, Kalay may represent Samarkand further east in Uzbekistan, an area that has also desertified from human diversion of water, has multiple rivers that potentially line up with the orientation and flow of rivers in the original Golden Sun game, and was a Iranian-speaking trade hub on the Silk Road, just over the mountains from the Taklamakan Desert in China. This location would further fit the Kahrez namesake, given the Persian cultural traditions, but is much further from any sea than Kalay is. It's possible that the expansion and opening up of the Karagol represents a uniting of Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas, akin to how the Morgal region reflects what would happen to north-central Siberia if the sea level rose ~100 feet.

A further alternative is that Kalay is a reference to the wetland deltas that feed the Aral Sea and the larger area to the north, south and west of the Arals until reaching Samarkand – known in Antiquity as Chorasmia (Hwârazmiya, Khwarazm, Gorithm) and Greater Khorāsān (Xwarāsān), respectively, the eastern parts of the Iranian Plateau, which were also integral parts of the Silk Road. Both regions have names quite close to Karay in starting sounds, and are further west than Samarkand, thus matching up with the geography of Kalay in regards to the rivers and mountains a bit more. The Khwarasmian Empire ruled much of Persia and all of Khorasan, for a time, and later the delta region was settled by the Karakalpak Turks, another potential name source.

Kalay could feasibly refer to any number of the above inspirations, if not all of them at once. Given the geographical and cultural similarities, Kalay is a representation of the Antiquity and Medieval Middle East, when Silk Road trade brought riches to the region at the crossroads of east, west, north, and south.