does the water shrine Guru send them on this mission?here is my theory:the party visits Guru to get advise on reversing Claryssa's spell..the Guru says, yes i can help you but you need to travel through dangerous areas in order to bring me the right plants...am i close Indy?
well you could be close but with the showdown approaching, WHY in the world would they want to go after ingredients to fix a woman who's been in, granted, a bad condition, but for ages.
The "why" question has been asked a couple of time as to why now help Claryssa. Could it have something to do with Nate also (if he has the same thing as Claryssa)...maybe he will help them in some way if they will help cure him and of course Marine wants to help her mom, so if it helps them in the showdown too it would be a no brainer.