The Prince's Curse
The guards at the castle entrance let us know that Astos's curse is the cause of the deep sleep the prince is suffering from. Further enquiry tells me he's a dark elf king, who also "carted away the castle's treasures". Sounds like we may have new Garland to deal with here.
Before heading in I try to grab some more intel - I'm told the dwarves live in a cave to the western edge of the Aldean Sea, which I'm going to assume is the one we're currently traversing. They're also friendly, which is nice! Also, apparently Matoya can brew any potion we can imagine, so helping her out might be a good long term plan.
Heading inside, we discover that the prince has been asleep for 5 years at this point. The healer ponders if a concoction that rouses one who sleeps could be made. There might not be quest markers in this game, but they're doing a cracking job of pointing out where to go for what here. Particularly we've not had an equivalent of The Kingâ„¢ in this place.
Looking at the world map, I see a marker that looks like it could be where Astos is hiding out, so we make our way in that direction, though it looks like it could be quite the loop around a mountain range. Fortunately, the enemies are similar with the addition of some Tarantulas, who are also poisonous. Those Antidotes are paying for themselves already.
Reaching the bottom of the area, I see what looks like a hole in the ground. A cave maybe?