You will unlock Scadu Altus and be able to progress NPC questlines further after beating Rellana in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. Here's a list of all the things you can do after Rellana and clearing Castle Ensis!

What to Do After Rellana

What to Do After Beating Rellana Walkthrough
Explore Scadu Altus (Optional) Progress NPC Questlines Break Miquella's Seal Defeat Messmer in the Shadow Keep

Explore Scadu Altus

The first thing that you can immediately do after defeating Rellana, Twin Moon Knight is to explore Scadu Altus, which you can access by passing through the north gate of the boss room. This region opens the other half of the DLC map.

You can find the map fragment for Scadu Altus by following the road ahead. Travel north past the Highroad Cross until you reach a road fork. The map fragment should be in front of the large tablet.

Scadu Altus Guide and Map Location

Castle Ensis Can Be Skipped

The blue route shows how to skip Castle Ensis and Rellana through Fort of Reprimand.

As optional parts of the DLC, you can safely skip Castle Ensis and the Rellana boss fight through a hidden route. From the Castle Front, travel southeast until you reach a poison swamp with flower enemies.

Hug the south cliff while heading east and you will eventually find an inactive spirit spring. Unseal it by destroying the rock pile a few steps east from the spiritspring to activate it.

This spirit spring will launch you to a higher area with another spirit spring, which will send you directly to Fort of Reprimand in Scadu Altus.

Progress NPC Questlines

Most NPCs in the DLC will only have the continuation of their questlines after defeating Rellana and unlocking Scadu Altus; some are even only met for the first time in this region.

NPC	Next Interaction After Rellana
Ymir and Jolan (New)	Meet both at the Cathedral of Manus Metyr at Scadu Altus, East.
Dryleaf Dane (New)	Meet him next to the cross at the Moorth Ruins.
Hornsent and Leda	Find both standing beside the Highroad Cross site of grace.
Moore	Find 4 of Moore's forager broods across Scadu Altus.
Fire Knight Queelign	Trigger his invasion at Church of the Crusade and finish his quest at the Shadow Keep, Church District.

All DLC NPC Quests and Locations

Break Miquella's Seal

The next step in the DLC's main story after defeating Rellana, which also progress most NPCs' questlines, is to break Miquella's Seal at the Shadow Keep. This happens when you get close to the Shadow Keep for the first time, either through the front or the east gates.

As a major plot point, this trigger makes NPCs move from their usual spots, which can potentially lock you out of the first interactions with them. Be sure to follow their questlines thoroughly before proceeding!

NPC	Next Interaction After Miquella's Seal Breaks
St. Trina (New)	Meet at the Garden of Deep Purple deep within the Stone Coffin Fissure.
Thiollier	Will either be at the Pillar Path Cross site of grace (where you first met him) or inside the Garden of Deep Purple next to St. Trina.
Redmane Freyja	Found at the Storehouse, Seventh Floor of the Shadow Keep.
Hornsent and Leda	Both will have new dialogue at the Highroad Cross before moving to the Shadow Keep.
Sir Ansbach	Found at the Storehouse, First Floor of the Shadow Keep.
Moore	New dialogue and choice event at the Main Gate Cross before moving.

Somewhere a Great Rune Has Broken Guide

Defeat Messmer

If you've been only following the main DLC story, the next thing to do is to barge right into the Shadow Keep and head straight to the top where Messmer the Impaler is.

This fight can be made easier by progressing Hornsent or Jolan's questlines as they can be summoned as allies against Messmer. You can only choose one to join you, however, as the other gold summon sign will disappear after using either one.

We recommend following Hornsent's questline and assisting him against Leda so you can summon him in this fight. Defeating Messmer along with Hornsent continues his story, where you will meet him next at the Church of the Bud.

Messmer the Impaler Boss Guide

Elden Ring Related Guides

Walkthrough and Progression Route

Story Walkthrough

DLC Walkthrough