Stepping through the gates of Paradis in Avowed feels like waking from a fever dream—one moment you’re collapsing from a mysterious ailment, the next you’re being resuscitated by concerned healers who seem to know far more about your destiny than you do. As soon as I regained consciousness in the infirmary, the city spilled its hidden stories into my lap. Among the first was a young woman named Remei Gardiola, hovering near the exit like a moth drawn to the faintest glimmer of authority. She needed help smuggling two elderly friends out of Paradis, and her pitch was woven with just enough desperation to make me curious. That’s how I stumbled into the side quest Escape Plan, a morally tangled thread in the vibrant tapestry of the Living Lands.
Unlike more straightforward tasks, Escape Plan offers a genuinely branching path—one that can earn you not just loot but also influence with certain factions, or wrap you in a quiet tragedy if you choose the wrong kind of justice. Here’s how I navigated it, and how you can too.
The Quest’s Genesis: A Whisper in the Crowd
After my near-death experience, I barely had time to adjust the straps on my gauntlets before Remei approached. She spoke of Glaedwine and Leoflaed, an older couple whose past misdeeds were catching up with them like a pack of hounds following a scent trail that never went cold. Paradis was no longer safe; they needed to flee to the lawless haven of Thirdborn. Remei’s request came in two parts: fetch the Land Deeds required for their passage, and find a rare bloom called Ondra’s Kiss, said to soothe failing eyesight. It felt like assembling a key made of fog and petals—fragile, but essential.
Gathering the First Piece: Land Deeds in the Sparrowhawk’s Nest
The deeds were stashed in the Sparrowhawks’ district, a cramped, hostile corner of Paradis. If you’ve been focusing on the main story, entering this area can feel like poking a beehive with a short stick. But I had been wandering side paths, and the gate guards barely glanced at me—a reminder that in Avowed, your reputation is a shadow that walks ahead of you. Inside, I found the document lying next to an unfortunate soul who had already been silenced by rival hands. Picking it up was like plucking a loose thread from a tapestry that someone else had already started unraveling. No fight, no fuss—just a grim reminder that the Living Lands devour the unwary.
Following the Glow: Ondra’s Kiss East of Paradis
The second ingredient required a short pilgrimage. I teleported to the Gods’ Gate Beacon, the closest fast-travel point outside the city walls, and turned directly east. The wilderness here is deceptively calm—no clawing xaurips, no lurking specters, just a gentle sun and the rustle of leaves. Ondra’s Kiss isn’t hidden in a dark cave; it sits like a lighthouse made of luminescent petals, visible on the map as a glowing beacon of soft blue. I half-expected a guardian or a riddle, but the flower stood alone, waiting. Plucking it felt oddly ceremonial, as if the Living Lands themselves were handing me a compass needle pointing toward mercy.
The Couple in the Shantytown: Negotiating with Ghosts
With both items in hand, I headed to the shantytown southeast of Paradis—a ramshackle collection of leaning shacks that overlooks a noisy bar. Glaedwine and Leoflaed were holed up in a tiny room, their faces maps of worn hope and regret. They confirmed my haul, but then dropped a new complication: the mercenaries they’d hired to smuggle them to Thirdborn had suddenly doubled their price. My role morphed from courier to diplomat.
At the small dock where the mercenaries waited, I spotted a face that stopped me cold. Ilora, the sharp-tongued rogue from the prologue, was standing among the crew. If you freed her from the prison cell on that chaotic starting island, she remembers. Seeing her there felt like finding a familiar song in a foreign language—Ilora vouched for me instantly, her presence oiling the rusty hinges of negotiation. Without her, I might have had to pay the difference out of pocket or let things turn bloody. With her support, the original deal was honored, no coin spent.
You can, of course, choose to kill the mercenaries and seize the boat yourself. It’s a brutish solution, and while it gets the couple their escape route, I doubt you’ll ever see them safe in Thirdborn’s dusty alleys. They seem like people who vanish the moment you look away.
The Steel Garrote’s Shadow: A Betrayal’s Empty Reward
Perhaps you’re the type who believes past crimes should never fade. If so, Escape Plan offers a dark alternative. You can march straight to Captain Aelfyr in Paradis—an officer of the Steel Garrote—and inform her that two escaped murderers are hiding just outside the city. Aelfyr’s eyes light up like someone about to close a ledger. She dispatches a squad, and the couple’s fate is sealed. This choice wraps up the quest immediately, netting you nothing but a handful of XP. No loot, no rare materials, and it forecloses any chance of recruiting Elowe as a spy for the empire later. It’s the kind of decision that reminds me of pruning a plant so harshly it never blooms again—clean, efficient, and utterly barren.
Rewards and Final Thoughts
If you help Glaedwine and Leoflaed escape, your pockets will feel the difference. Here’s exactly what I received:
| Reward | Quantity |
|---|---|
| XP | 329 |
| Softwood Branch | x10 |
| Pelt | x10 |
| Paradisan Ladder | x2 |
| Iron Chunk | x10 |
That Paradisan Ladder in particular is a rare upgrade material, and in 2026’s hardened economy of post-launch Avowed, every scrap of it is worth more than a handful of common coin. The XP pushes you closer to your next level without a single unnecessary scuffle.
What I love about Escape Plan is how it doesn’t hand you a moral from a pulpit. The elderly couple aren’t saints—they have blood on their hands—but the Living Lands themselves promise a second start, like fresh snow covering old tracks. This quest tests whether you believe that promise applies even to those who’ve done ugly things. And then it tests whether you’ll follow through when the mercenaries turn greedy and old alliances resurface.
In the end, I walked away from that shantytown with my conscience intact and my crafting bag heavier. Ilora’s unexpected cameo was the sugar that made the medicine sweet. Whether you save the couple or turn them in, the result stays with you far longer than the 329 XP. In Avowed, helping hands sometimes carry the heaviest ghosts.
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