Tolbana
Tolbana ( トールバーナ, Tōrubāna?) is the closest settlement to the 1st 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 1st 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 1st Floor's Labyrinth, situated in a valley at a walking distance of thirty minutes. It consists of an inn, a place where food is served, and several 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
After Asuna fainted in the Labyrinth, Kirito carried Asuna to this town so she could recover. Kirito was rebuked for his actions, but did not dwell on it. Instead, he informed the rapier user that the «First Floor Boss strategy conference» was going to be held at 4PM, 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», 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 1 Cor black bread. 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 20th 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 1st 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 20th Floor and the location of the Boss room mapped out, the Boss strategy meeting continued. 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.