I stumbled upon this quest quite unexpectedly, on a quiet sunny day, while wandering the streets of Paradis.
I saw a man who looked like a merchant on one of the small squares in the southern part of the city. We talked a bit, so I learned that he's an alchemist working on a complicated project that I, with my limited knowledge of alchemy, can't fully understand. By the way, the person sweeping the street in the above screenshot isn't the alchemist I'm talking about.
The alchemist told me that he's stuck in his research becouse he wasn't able to get a rare ingredient called the luminous adra. I said, " No problem, if that thing exists, I will find it for you for a fair price, and the experience I'll get in the process. The alchemist advised me to talk to some scholars here in the city, for they might know where to search.
By the way, the dwarf in the above screenshot isn't the alchemist I mentioned; he's one of the scholars I contacted in search of the luminous adra.
He wasn't very helpful.
In this series of eight consecutive screenshots, you can see a scholar who knew what to do next. She directed me to a strange, foreboding island not far from the city.
It was time to leave the relative safety of Paradis.
In this screenshot, you can see me standing on the hill with a nice view of the island I'll soon have to explore.
Here you can see a shark I came across down on the beach.
On the way down to the beach, I had to survive the encounter with a bunch of highly venomous spiders.
Down on the beach, I fought an entire village of primitive lizard people. I didn't catch any moment of that batlle in a screenshot becouse I was busy fighting.
Here you can see me swimming across the small bay.
In this screenshot, I'm watching the mainland from the island.
The place is called Castol's Folly. That's the name of the island.
Here you can see me walking the path that leads to the top of the hill. The island is dangerous, but the path is bordered by some lovely, colorful flowers. With no enemies in sight, I felt almost serene in that environment.
This screenshot was taken a moment before I killed some hostile smugglers who use the island for their shady business. The following picture ...
... shows one of their camps, about half an hour later.
I love the nighttime atmosphere in this game ...
... especially when the moon is in the sky. It looks like our normal moon at first sight, but this one is bigger, and its features are a bit different.
This screenshot shows the most iconic rock formations on the island.
Here you can see some lovely pinky mushrooms that glow in the dark.
After killing all the bad guys, I find a group of nice, peaceful smugglers who ended up stranded on the island after their ship crashed into the rocks near Castol's Folly.
They had the luminous adra, and since I saved them from the aggressive local gang of smugglers, they gave that thing for free. By the way, adra is a crystal present in many places throughout the game. The luminous adra is a different, more powerful variation of that crystal. I like the imaginary geology of this fantasy realm.
So, what else can I tell you here?
I don't know. It was an enjoyable litlle side quest.
I had a great time exploring the island.
That's all.
In the morning, I was ready to return to the city of Paradis ...
... and bring the alchemist the good news about the luminous adra. By the way, this last shot finally shows his face.