In the ‘On Strange Shores’ quest, you’ll find a sole survivor in a prison cell called Ilora, who asks you to free her. Garryck has reservations though, claiming smugglers such as her are bad news and could attack you. That poses the question, should you free Ilora in Avowed?
Ilora tells you that she has a boat you may use to escape the island. She promises that she’s not going to try anything funny, and asks you to essentially be a good person and not leave her to die. Garryck, on the other hand, raises the valid point of why she was locked away in the first place and it must have been for a reason.
Should you free Ilora from prison or leave her in Avowed?
Long story short, yes, you should free Ilora. Despite how skeptical Kai is of this smuggler, Ilora is harmless and actually will come to help you out in a side quest you can encounter later on.
In the ‘Escape Plan’ side quest, you’ll have the option to confront some smugglers regarding a fee for ferrying some refugees out of Paradis to Thirdborn. These smugglers are the very same ones that Ilora has been separated from!
If you choose to free Ilora, she’ll tell her superior, Captain Soldis, that you rescued her on Northreacsh and saved her life. Ilora will tell Soldis that she doesn’t want to get on your bad side, and that it’s only two clients so isn’treallythe end of the world.
Ultimately, all of this helps to convince Soldis to ferry the refugees to Thirdborn free of charge. This isn’t an option available to you if Ilora isn’t there, and you’ll instead be forced to pay the difference if you want to help the refugees.
The alternative to helping the refugees either by paying or with the help of Ilora is to report them to Captain Aelfyr who will see that they’re killed and made an example for the rest of the city. We’d consider that the ‘bad’ ending of the quest.
In my playthrough, I’ve not yet seen Ilora pop up in any other side quest or main quest beyond this. However, if she does, I imagine the favors will continue to rain down on me. So, yes, be a good person and free Ilora. There’s nothing to gain by letting her rot in prison, but everything to gain from freeing her.
What happens if you don’t free Ilora from prison?
If you choose to leave Ilora in her prison cell, she’ll come back to haunt you later on. At the end of the quest, you’ll have to battle it out with a mini-boss in the form of a rather hefty warrior called Steadman Ralke. If you don’t free Ilora, she’ll find her own way out and then hunt you down, conveniently finding you as you’re battling Ralke.
This means you’ll end up having to fight them both at the same time, which from experience, can be pretty challenging as you’re just starting on your adventure. If you do choose to leave Ilora and then defeat her in battle, you’ll be able to get the following items from her body:
These rewards aren’t worth the hassle you’ll have to deal with in fighting Ilora. However, the ‘A Last Call’ letter is a letter to her smuggler crew in the hopes she’ll be reunited with them at some point.
That’s everything you need to know on the Ilora choice in the ‘On Strange Shores’ quest in Avowed. For more help on your adventure in the Living Lands, check out our guides onhow to switch between first and third-person view,how to burn brambles, andhow to hide Godlike hair and facial features.
