How to find the Fort Northreach Jail Key in Avowed

Avowed has a few secrets that must be uncovered to progress early in the game. During an early main quest called On Strange Shores, your envoy will stumble into the Northreach prison and meet Ilora, a prisoner who could be a temporary ally or a powerful enemy, depending on your decision. To free her, you must find the Northreach Jail Key to open every cell in the prison.

This article will explain where you can find the Northreach Jail Key and what you can do with it.

Note: This article may contain major spoilers for a main quest called On Strange Shores.

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Where can you find the Fort Northreach Jail Key in Avowed?

Finding the Northreach Jail key isn't that difficult (Image via Sportskeeda || Xbox Game Studios)

The Northreach Jail Key in Avowed can be found within the prison but in a different room. You must first speak to Ilora. She is the only living prisoner and will call out to you asking for help. Initially, she can come across as rude and aggressive. However, she can come around if you do her a favor by liberating her.

Approach Ilora and speak to her. Then, you can find her cell on the same floor. That said, reaching the room will require some finesse. After you talk to Ilora, take a left, and you will come across a locked door. Look around for a wooden platform that you can use to scale up to the upper level. While there is a gap, all it will take is an easy jump to get across.

After jumping across, you can grab a few spoiled items, such as cabbage and cucumber.

Reaching the room housing the jail key is easy (Image via Sportskeeda || Xbox Game Studios)

Smash the wooden platform and you will fall into a room with an interrogation log. Now, you can spot the Northreach Jail Key hanging on the side of the door.

The Northreach Jail Key will be hard to miss once you're in the room (Image via Sportskeeda || Xbox Game Studios)

Inside the room, you can open a chest containing useful supplies like an extra essence potion, Copper Skeyt, an iron chunk, and a common robe. Unlock the door, and you will find yourself in front of the jail cells. Now, with the key in your possession, you have to decide whether to free Ilora or leave her there to rot.

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Should you free Ilora or leave her behind?

There are a few reasons why you should consider freeing Ilora from her cell (Image via Sportskeeda || Xbox Game Studios)

If you had no intention of freeing Ilora from the start, you should skip this part of On Strange Shores altogether. Ilora will remain in her cell and be angrier the next time you see her. She will be part of the boss fight against Steadman Ralke. Other major consequences involve the succeeding combat encounters being much more difficult, considering you are outnumbered.

Ilora can also be involved in a later side quest called the Escape Plan. However, if you don't free her, she will become unavailable, and you will lose the best option for a specific conversation. Ilora is with the smuggler who originally agreed to help the coupe escape during the side quest, and she will put in a good word if you save her.

If you free Ilora, she can be a temporary ally during the early quest and will help your envoy during the boss fight. There are plenty of benefits to freeing Ilora, and if you have already made enough effort, you should free her and make a new friend.

There is no right or wrong approach to these decisions. However, you must live with the consequences. If you do Ilora a favor, she will return the favor later on in the game.

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Avowed is now available on Xbox Series X and S, Game Pass, and PC. For more related articles, check these out:

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