Tolbana

Tolbana
Japanese	トールバーナ
Romaji	Tōrubāna
Location Information
VR	Sword Art Online New ALfheim Online
Location	Aincrad
Floor	1
First Appearance
Novel	Progressive Volume 1, Aria of a Starless Night, Part 2
Manga	Progressive Manga Chapter 2
Anime	Episode 02

Tolbana ( トールバーナ, Tōrubāna^?) is the closest settlement to the 1^st Floor's Labyrinth. In the official service of Sword Art Online, players first arrived at this town three weeks after the game had begun.

Description

Tolbana is the second largest town on the 1^st Floor of Aincrad with a size of 200 meters from edge to edge. The city is surrounded by large castle walls and is known for its white walled windmill towers, as well as being the closest town to the 1^st Floor's Labyrinth, situated in a valley at a walking distance of thirty minutes. It consists of three inns, some bars and restaurants, as well as multiple Non-Player Character (NPC) houses. Many water fountains are scattered across the town. The fountain at the center of Tolbana could be considered the largest of the fountain areas, since it was the meeting place for the «First Floor Boss strategy conference».

Chronology

Aincrad Arc

Aria of a Starless Night

This town was first reached by players on November 27, 2022, "three weeks after the official release of Sword Art Online."

After Asuna fainted in the Labyrinth at 04:00 on December 2, 2022, Kirito carried Asuna to a forest "clearing" outside Tolbana so she could recover. Shortly after Asuna woke up a little before 11:00 she rebuked Kirito for his actions, but he did not dwell on it. Instead, he informed the rapier user that the «First Floor Boss strategy conference» was going to be held at 16:00, later that day.

After Asuna left, Kirito was confronted by «Argo the Rat». It was revealed that there was a player who wished to buy Kirito's «Anneal Blade» +6, but Kirito did not wish to pay the hush money of 1,000 Cor to reveal the buyer’s identity.

Kirito soon encountered Asuna again while the latter was eating a loaf of black bread worth one Cor. Kirito joined her and shared some cream with her, the fruits of completing the «Cows of the Counterattack» quest. Asuna embarrassingly scarfed down the enhanced food, and later told Kirito of her previous disposition and what she intended to do for the rest of this life in Aincrad. Kirito only apologized, and the two left for the Boss strategy conference.

After five minutes of waiting, Diavel started the conference. Having jovially introduced himself to those attending, Diavel announced that his party had found the stairs to the 20^th floor of the Labyrinth. After he declared that ascending Aincrad was possible, Diavel was stopped by Kibaou, who requested that any present beta testers were to apologize for leaving the other starter players behind and to donate any money and items as compensation. This topic was concluded when Agil stepped forward and showed Argo's «Strategy Guide by Area», which was freely distributed in item shops across the 1^st Floor. It was later revealed that this information was compiled based on information from the Beta Testers. Kibaou's request was turned down, and the conference adjourned until the next day.

With the Labyrinth’s 20^th Floor and the location of the Boss room mapped out, the Boss strategy meeting continued on December 3. With the quick update of «Argo's Strategy Guide: First Floor Boss edition», Diavel announced that scouting raids were unneeded, and that the information would be sufficient to beat the boss on the first try. Afterwards, parties of six were formed, leaving Kirito and Asuna to form their own incomplete party. They were assigned to back up Group E (Kibaou's Group), and the raiding party set out for the Labyrinth the next day on December 4.

Gallery

The walls surrounding Tolbana.

The gate to Tolbana.

Tolbana's Amphitheater.

Tolbana, with the 1st Floor Labyrinth in the background.

Tolbana at night.

Tolbana aerial view.