Players must speak with Gowry to complete Millicent’s questline - one where players stand to gain quite a few valuable items upon completion. Gowry is an Elder Sage NPC in Elden Ring whose glory days are behind him. He can be found at his shack in eastern Caelid, located just outside the borders of Sellia, Town of Sorcery. Players will be directed to his shack by two white signs on the ground at the north and south of Sellia, and they would do well to be wary of a Giant Scavenger Dog enemy stealthily sitting in the shadows just beside Gowry’s shack. To avoid a surprise attack from the Scavenger Dog, players can sneak by it, equip the Beast-Repellant Torch item, or defeat it outright before speaking to Gowry.
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Gowry’s Involvement With Millicent
Millicent has a rotting sickness with no cure, and Gowry’s biggest wish is to cure her of her ailment. Gowry claims that he raised her as his daughter after he found her abandoned as a baby in the swamp of Aeonia. Gowry had previously adopted four children with hopes of nurturing them to “flower” as scarlet valkyries for the Empyrean demigod Malenia the Severed, although they did not turn out as anticipated. Upon finding Millicent, Gowry believed she had the greatest potential of all his children to bloom, so he adopted her. However, due to the Scarlet Rot afflicting Millicent, she has no memory of Gowry and thus feels no connection to the Elder Sage.
As an adoptive parent, this has to be the most heartbreaking ordeal for Gowry to go through. He developed a close connection to Millicent throughout her growing years, only to be robbed of any relationship with her due to the external influences of the Scarlet Rot. Showing parental instincts, Gowry feels a sense of responsibility and worry for Millicent’s fate, wanting to save her from her illness after he failed to save her sisters. This is quite the task, as Gowry notes that even demigods with their near-immortality could not resist the rotting sickness.
He is looking to enlist a Tarnished to help him in this uphill fight against the forces plaguing Millicent, offering knowledge of the secrets of Sellia as a reward for the player’s help. Once the player agrees to Gowry’s request, Gowry informs them of Millicent’s dire situation as a hostage at the Church of the Plague, located on the cliff overlooking Sellia. She is held captive by the Pests, who worship her because they believe she is a vessel for the Scarlet Rot.
However, the player needs to collect an important item called the Unalloyed Gold Needle before embarking on the mission to rescue Millicent from the cult-like Church. The Unalloyed Gold Needle will need to be retrieved and brought back to Gowry to fix before being given to Millicent to help her fight against the Scarlet Rot. Players will have to travel a bit to get the Unalloyed Gold Needle, as it can only be retrieved by defeating a field boss, Commander O’Neil. After successful retrieval, Gowry keeps his promise and shares the secrets of Sellia before requesting the player go to give Millicent the needle.
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Difficult Choices and Betrayal
Millicent’s health improves after this, and she comes to Gowry’s shack before leaving town for the Haligtree, even though she is uncertain of her purpose for coming as her memory has not yet recovered. Unfortunately, Gowry avoids her, stating that his role in Millicent’s life is complete, and she must begin her journey to fulfill her destiny. Gowry makes a tough decision - one that can be argued to be selfish desire - as he asks the player to assist Millicent’s “sisters” who had embarked on the journey to the Haligtree before her in a plot to murder Millicent.
Gowry believes that only a heartbreaking betrayal can unlock Millicent’s potential and make her bloom into a flower, sealing her fate as a reincarnated scarlet valkyrie when demigod Malenia ascends into full godhood. Players must make a difficult choice - they can either kill or protect Millicent. If they decide to kill her, they will return to Gowry’s shack and find the Elder Sage seemingly dead. One would assume that the pain of betraying his beloved daughter proved too much for Gowry to bear, even though he achieved his ultimate goal of securing her place as a scarlet valkyrie.
However, if players decide to protect Millicent against her sisters, she will remove the Unalloyed Golden Needle that is preserving her health after prevailing against them. Millicent would prefer to succumb to the Scarlet Rot than to live as something else and will die at a poolside near her old summoning sign. In this scenario, Gowry mourns the death of Millicent and ponders on his failure, wondering if she and demigod Malenia detest him. Either way, old Gowry cannot win in this mission, as in either case, it would result in the death of Millicent, a child he loved.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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