Belinsk

Belinsk's overworld location in Dark Dawn.

Belinsk (首都ベルフネ, Capital Verkhne) is a city introduced in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It is located at the centre of the country Morgal, in northeast Angara, and is its capital city. It is a very large and heavily fortified city that is noteworthy for being populated almost solely by Beastmen. It is built on a waterfront, which give the city its own port and simultaneously acts as a moat for Belinsk's Castle. The city itself is walled and is build around a central plaza, where Vande's band plays. A unique feature thus far in the Golden Sun series is the Opera House located in the city's northwest. Behind the castle is a "museum", though it remains locked for the majority of the game. Underneath the city is a vast set of ancient ruins.

Story

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.

Belinsk' main town square. Belinsk's local minstrel troupe is partially visible at the top.

Prior to being visited in Dark Dawn, Morgal was ruled by Sana, and beastmen were oppressed. However, a revolution was staged by Volechek, whose father had ruled prior to Morgal being conquered, which ended in a battle where the previous Sanan monarch, Lord Kuan, was killed, earning Morgal's secession from Sana. Though no specific force drove them together, the Beastmen gathered in Belinsk, and became the city's populace, while Volechek became their leader. However, Volechek was uneasy about his situation, with the previously hostile Sana to the east of Belinsk, and the increasingly militaristic Bilibin to the west, he felt that the security of the fledgling country Morgal was at stake if he could not acquire a more definitive source of power for himself.

This is when the Tuaparang entered, promising him the power he needed to secure peace for his people. They coerced him into holding Hou Ju and Eoleo captive, the former prompting Ryu Kou and Hou Zan to attempt to infiltrate Morgal and rescue her, the latter prompting Briggs to launch a head-on assault in his sailing ship. Brigg's attack would end with a crushing defeat as his boat was nearly sunk by Belinsk's defences, leading him to desperately seek out Matthew's group as a last resort. Ryu Kou and Hou Zan, however, attempted to sneak into the ruins below Belinsk and enter the castle that way. To this end, they take the Magma Orb from the Mountain Roc before heading into the ruins, with Matthew's group, who opened the ruins via the Arangoa Prelude close behind.

Belinsk is partially covered by the onset of the Grave Eclipse, and the results are already deadly.

However, they quickly realize that the ruins are leading them to a single point, the control room of the sealed Alchemy Dynamo, something Laurel had urged Matthew's group to not activate. Ryu Kou, not caring about this, and seeking only to save his sister, activates the Dynamo. This powers up the Eclipse Tower and starts the Grave Eclipse. It is then that Volechek realizes that he was duped, as the monsters spawned in the shadow of the eclipse quickly start to ravage his town. Matthew's group reunited with Kraden and rescues both captives, before fleeing to the port (though a cut scene can be triggered in the Opera House in order to obtain Crystallux), where Briggs' ship lay waiting, giving them a means of escape. Briggs himself, however, is mortally wounded by monsters and doesn't survive the departure.

In the game's epilogue, Belinsk is showered by the light of the Apollo Lens and the human-born Beastmen turn blond and gain new-found powers, including the so-called power of "light". Sveta, who is revealed to be Volechek's sister, becomes queen of Belinsk in her brother's stead (as he had died firing the Apollo Lens), and is last seen seeing off Matthew's party.

Enemies

Bestiary of Belinsk (Grave Eclipse)
Monster Name	LVL	HP	ATK	DEF	AGI	EXP	Coins	Weakness	Drop	Drop Rate
Dark Scuttler	29	316	310	130	140	1096	147		Weasel's Claw	1/16
Gloom Skorpna (3) (boss)	29	347	316	127	140	1483	147		Crystal Powder	1/16

Enemy Formations

• Group 1: Dark Scuttler x1-4

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

Vendors

Belinsk's inn is located along the southeast edge of the main plaza and costs 14 coins per party member.

Weapon Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Claymore	Long Sword	4000	Attack +70, Unleashes Critical Strike and Spin Strike
Great Axe	Axe	5200	Attack +80, Unleashes Power Charge, Critical Strike, and Berserk Rush
Master Rapier	Light Blade	6800	Attack +86, Unleashes Critical Strike, Spin Strike, and Double Attack
War Mace	Mace	6200	Attack +84, Unleashes Critical Strike, Rolling Attack, and Berserk Rush
Composite Bow	Bow	1600	Attack +65, Unleashes Double Shot and Arrow Shower

Armor Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Armored Shell	Armor	3600	Defense +30
Jerkin	Robe	2400	Defense +26
Knight's Shield	Shield	3000	Defense +28
Heavy Armlet	Bracelet	2000	Defense +25
Steel Helm	Helm	3100	Defense +27
Platinum Circlet	Circlet	4200	Defense +29

Item Shop
Name	Class	Cost	Effect
Herb	Consumable Item	10	Restores 50 HP to one Adept
Nut	Consumable Item	200	Restores 200 HP to one Adept
Antidote	Consumable Item	20	Cures Poison and Venom from one Adept
Elixir	Consumable Item	30	Removes Stun, Sleep, and Delusion from one Adept
Sacred Feather	Consumable Item	70	Temporarily lowers monster encounter rate
Artifacts
Potion	Consumable Item	1000	Restores all HP to one Adept
Psy Crystal	Consumable Item	1500	Restores all PP to one Adept
Water of Life	Consumable Item	3000	Revives one downed Adept

Collectables

Aerial view of Belinsk Castle.

Torrent: can be found it the port, obtainable by using Move and Cold Snap to form ledges to jump to the Djinn.
Spout: can be found in the building with the healer. Go downstairs and Move bookcases to find a door below the stairwell that leads to Spout.
Pincer: can only be found after playing the Arangoa Prelude, go to the house below the Djinn, talk to the person in bed to get them to get up and fetch tea. This will create a puddle. Douse the fire, Cold Snap the puddle, then climb up the bookcase and jump over to reach the Djinn.
Assassin Blade: found downstairs in the building with the healer, climb atop and move the bookcases to reach.
Storm Gear: located in the city's west, go through the Belinsk Ruins to obtain.
Power Bread: after completing the Belinsk Ruins, a raft can be moved via Whirlwind, granting access to this chest.
Beast Knuckles: found atop Belinsk Castle, and can be obtained during the start of the Grave Eclipse. Ring the bell to distract the guard and head onto the roof to obtain.
Crystal Powder: in a barrel by the docks.
11 Coins: Downstairs in the jar, in the Inn.
Sun Saga 4: In Belinsk's lirary, in the top-right hand corner shelf.
Sacred Feather x 2: Bookcase directly under the bookcase holding the Sun Saga 4. The second one is found in the bookcase of the old beastman couple's home.
Muni Robe: Found in the wardrobe of the old beastman couple.
Herb: Found within the north barrel of the healer's house, upstairs.
Dried Lizard: Found on the second tombstone of the graveyard.
Nut: Found by the docks in the wooden box.
Khiren Water: Close to the left exit of the docks, there are bozes with a barrel below them, containing some Khiren Water.

Trivia

• The musical troupe constantly playing in Belinsk's square features consistent in-game mechanics. They can play three separate songs on request, each of which sounds less simplistic than the previous song because it involves the active participation of one extra musician, whose respective instrument is reflected in the soundtrack. The default song, "Mountain Roc Rising," only involves the squirrel trumpeter, the bear cellist, and the pig percussionist, and while it is playing, the other musicians will be animated as relatively idle. The next song, "Lake Bycal Moonlight," additionally involves the cat pianist, and the third song, "Rainbow over Koba Desert," involves the vulpine violinist on top of that. When the latter two musicians temporarily leave Belinsk, the latter two songs become unavailable to play, and the option of playing them is re-enabled in sequence when the pianist and violinist are subsequently compelled to return to Belinsk from Border Town and Port Rago, respectively. None of the available recreational songs involve the sixth member and leader of the troupe, the alpaca saxophonist Vande, but he takes part in the plot-relevant Arangoa Prelude alongside all five of the other musicians.
• Although, post-eclipse, the Belinsk Opera House and Belinsk Castle are 'locked from the inside', and Luna Tower is blocked, the walk-through-walls glitch can be used to enter them. The eclipsed overworld soundtrack plays in the Opera House and Belinsk Castle and NPC's within the castle cannot be interacted with (considering slap is not available for the bell).
  • Firstly, the castle can be entered from; Belinsk Ruins using its left and right entrances in the city, the spot where slap was used to free Eoleo from the cage (left exit) and finally, where Eoleo was saved from execution (south exit). The player can return to the castle from the slap spot but not from the execution spot. However, if Belinsk Castle is exited from its main entrance, it will leave the player where the post-eclipse cut-scene waiting for Sveta began.
  • Secondly, the Opera House can only be entered from its south entrance and once exited through the front, it will lead the player directly to the entrance of Belinsk to trigger the farewell cut-scene.
  • Thirdly, Luna Tower can be accessed by passing through Belinsk Ruins. If exited from where Eclipse is found, it will lead the player outside the post-eclipse Luna Tower entrance which is blocked from outside. However, if exited normally (from the blocked area), the player is lead outside the tower to an eclipsed Belinsk and can be re-entered upto the Alchemy Dynamo. At this point, if the player leaves for the docks and later decides to exit, Karis will prevent the player from going anywhere, essentially getting them stuck. Additionally, if the player enters Belinsk Castle from the main or left entrances and exits through the main or south exits, or enters and exits any other house/shop, it will lead the player back to post-eclipse Belinsk.

Origin and Cultural References

• Belinsk's Japanese name refers to a common city-moniker in the Russian Far East – "Verkhne". The most likely candidate for the inspiration of the name is Verkhneudinsk, the historic Russian name for what is now Ulan-Ude, just south of Lake Baikal (the inspiration for Lake Bycal in the game).
• Belinsk seems to be a different take on reducing the name Verkhneudinsk down, starting with the the V-B and R-L associations in Japanese (Beruhune + insk = Belhuinsk = Belinsk).
• Belinsk's architecture and geographical location north of Lake Bycal seem to take more inspiration from fellow regional capital city Irkutsk, which incidentally sits along the Angara River that flows out of Lake Bycal and forms the headwaters of the Yenisei Valley.
• The Yenisei flows into the Kara Sea, and the giant gulf north of Belinsk seems to represent what would happen if you raised the sea level and flooded the low-lying northern Siberia tundra, with its various long islands and peninsulas being the mountains and hills that divide the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Kolyma Rivers.