Avowed: Should you let Ilora out of her cell?

During the On Strange Shores quest in Avowed, you'll come across a stranger named Ilora locked in a prison cell. If you choose to speak to Ilora, you'll hear her story of how she was caught smuggling and killed a person infected by the Dreamscourge.

While your traveling companion Garryck isn't convinced by her story, you could feel differently. Maybe you think Ilora is telling the truth and if you help free her, she'll be a huge asset to you during the rest of the On Strange Shores quest. To be sure, though, you can read the guide below to see what happens if you let Ilora out of her cell in Avowed.

Your first inclination might be to keep Ilora in the cell where she's currently imprisoned. This is the advice Garryck gives you and it's the logical way to go, as rarely do people in prison cells not deserve to be there.

So, if you work through all of the dialogue with Ilora, you'll learn she has a boat that can take you and Garryck out of Forth Northreach and to Paradis. At the end of the dialogue, you can choose to say that you're taking the boat and leaving Ilora in the cell.

If you go with this option, Ilora stays in the cell and you and Garryck proceed on with the On Strange Shores. Eventually, you'll stumble across Ilora's boat on a dock, hop on, and sail to Paradis to continue with the main story in Avowed. As far as I can tell, Ilora remains in the cell for the rest of the game, but you don't really gain or lose anything by keeping her there.

On the flip side, if you hear Ilora out and think she's telling the truth about being wrongfully imprisoned, then you can free her by finding the Fort Northreach Jail Key. This is located in the warden's office, which you can access by climbing on the boxes in the corner of the jail, turning right on the platform, breaking some wood in the floor, and then looting the key from a bag by the door.

Once Ilora is out of her cell, she really does lead you to her boat and sail you and Garryck to Paradis. Along the way, she helps fight enemies as a companion. Ilora doesn't play any tricks and won't try and betray you. However, when you get to Paradis, she won't be a companion option anymore.

Also, if you free Ilora, it helps you out later in Avowed during a certain side quest. Ilora vouches for you in front of her smuggler comrades and saves you some money. She doesn't play a huge role in Avowed beyond that, but seeing as she only helps you, it makes sense to let her out of the cell.

All in all, there's no harm in freeing Ilora, but you also don't gain a huge amount from freeing her either. So, the choice is yours in what you want to do with Ilora in Avowed.