From the moment you finish creating your character, Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed asks you to make tough choices. One of the choices you’ll need to make extremely early on is whether or not to free Ilora, a woman who has been imprisoned in a cell and seemingly been left for dead. I’ll walk you through the possible repercussions of this introductory choice.
Where to find Ilora in Avowed
After you’ve created your character in Avowed, determining who you are and why you’re in service as Envoy for the Aedryan Emperor, your ship departs for the coastal city of Paradis in the Living Lands. On the way, you end up crash-landed at Fort Northreach on an island just before reaching Paradis. When you wake up, you’ll be greated by your Orlan compatriot Garryck, who informs you that the ship was fired on by cannons from the fort.
Fighting some lizard-esque Xaurips through this tutorial section eventually leads you to the Fort Northreach jail cell, one of the last parts of the keep that hasn’t fallen apart. There, you’ll meet a survivor of all the carnage in the form of a woman named Ilora. You can talk with her about what happened, and you’ll learn that she’s a smuggler, but that she was imprisoned before everything on the island started falling apart. Garryck is wary of her, but ultimately, she promises to help…if you’re willing to free her from her current imprisonment.
If decide that you want to free her, you’ll need to climb up the boxes in that room. Make your way along the rafters and through the hole in the wall, then drop down into the next room. You’ll find the key to Ilora’s cell, as well as a door leading back in that you can unbar. From there, you just unlock the cell and she’ll join you.
Should you free Ilora from the jail cell?
Yes, it’s a good idea to free Ilora from her cell. She’ll help you in combat as you make your way out of Fort Northreach, meaning some fights against Xaurips and a victim of the Dreamscourge will be easier. Once you reach Paradis, she and Garryck will depart, though you can talk with both of them on the docks before continuing on with your journey.
A few hours later in the game, Ilora will return to help again, depending on the choices you make. In the side quest Escape Plan, you discover some refugees that are wanted by the law. If you decide to help them escape, you have to negotiate with a group of smugglers. If Ilora was freed, it turns out she’s one of the smugglers, and she’ll help you convince her captain to take the refugees with them.
Avowed launches on Feb. 18, 2025 across Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC via Steam, the Xbox App, and Battle.net. As an Xbox first-party game, the standard edition is included day one in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Anyone preordering the Premium Edition of the game can start playing early on February 13. For more details, consult our Avowed preorder guide.
