I can't decide between three of those screenshots which would be my fave! Awesome screen of Aravi in a pose - but the textures in the panorama and the sky one - WHEW !! Awesome !!!

The vid: Holy CRAP! GAAAAAH !!! I thought that zombie was a summon, and when he kept coming after everyone was dead ... I was screaming and shrieking when she started falling, he tossed her across the room once! GAAAAH !!! ARGH !!! He was hard to kill !!!

I was amazed to see them using 100% chameleon too, lucky thing she started fighting from that balcony! Then the dog was attacking her, I think he is the one that knocked her down into the pit with all the enemies. Huge vid, KC !!!! I shrieked and screamed enough that my husb got ticked off, ROFL !!!!

Thanks for the lovely screenshots! Nice tail! I’m with mALX, can’t decide between the poses and the sky.

Leather cuirass, leather boots, and burgundy linens?! That first Dunmer in Bloodcrust Cavern was a fashion don’t.

Those wolves in Fort Vlastarus looked so happy right before Aravi killed them! Oh well, cats and dogs.

Ha ha, the wolves are eating the daedr-- Holy crap, she fell in the vampire mosh pit!! How the heck did that happen?! Good move, strategically withdrawing into the corridor. What the hell, zombie?! The little bath reminder during the zombie battle made me chuckle. Um, I don’t think Aravi is making that smell.

The fatigue mod really adds a third element to fighting. There were times where her health was good, but she was falling down exhausted. Like you would expect after such a fight!

@ Everyone: That battle was going so well until she tripped and fell into the pit. That was another addition by the fatigue mod. It really scared the crap out of me when that happened.

@ Acadian: That was one of the few times I actually remembered those scrolls. I knew there was a reason I wa having Aravi carry them. I really enjoyed the screen of Buffy taking out the wraith. Thanks for sharing it!

@ mALX: That pose was awesome, I’m so glad I DLed that mod. That vamp with the chameleon was difficult to spot. I’m glad Aravi was at least able to kill her before falling in. Oh and nobody knocked her down, she fell because of the fatigue mod. Thanks mALX!

@Grits: Those happy wolves would have happily started ripping into Aravi. We can’t have that. That mod really does make a huge difference. Before, the little green bar could have just been gone for all the attention I paid to it. Now it’s almost as important as the health bar! Thanks Grits!
-------------------------------------------
Aravi leaves after the disastrous battle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pk3cjUChf0
TIME: 7:06

GAAAAH !!! She is still having nightmares !!! ARGH !!! Whew! Those diseases take a hunk out of your health/fatigue/magicka !!! Great vid, I was freaking out wondering if she would make it to safety !!

Argh! Aravi needs to take better care of herself via field medicine instead of charging ahead! She needs to figure out how to keep her fatigue up more diligently. Even the wolves were besting her by the time she got home. Neat how she used the Legion rider to lend a hand! Oh, and the poor thing is riddled with disease! She might consider a trip to the chapel. Then to top it off, those horrible nightmares continue. I'm very worried about her, and surprised Vilja would let her go out by herself.

@mALX: Yeah those nightmares are not going away. Those diseases really cannot be ignored like they could be unmodded right? Thanks mALX!

@Acadian: True on all accounts. She was so lucky to run into a soldier, he handled that wolf quite easily while Aravi could barely swing her sword! Thanks Acadian!
----------------------
Aravi relaxes and rests before heading back to the Fort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-h1mXvO_g8
TIME: 3:43

This vid was oddly chopped up, very unlike your usual editing. To me, Aravi's daily interactions and chores, (etc) are just as interesting as her battles, I hope you're not cutting them out thinking they are boring, because they are not at all - not to me. I enjoy seeing all her moments, from the frightening battle scenes to the internal reflections moments when she is troubled.

I got a kick out of Vilja saying there were no beds she'd care to use, but then you catch her climbing into Aravi's bed as she is waking up, lol. Another thing I thought was strange - that vampire thief in the IC didn't attack Aravi. Kind of makes you worry that he see's kinship with Aravi, but if that was the case then the merchant in Skingrad wouldn't have dealt with her - and she did.

The nightmares continue to be a mystery and plague Aravi's sleep - I have been very tempted to go back to that read-me and try to figure out why, lol. Great Vid !! Thanks so much for sharing it, KC. I know you've had a rough week with the PC issues and all !!

This vid was oddly chopped up, very unlike your usual editing. To me, Aravi's daily interactions and chores, (etc) are just as interesting as her battles, I hope you're not cutting them out thinking they are boring, because they are not at all - not to me. I enjoy seeing all her moments, from the frightening battle scenes to the internal reflections moments when she is troubled.

I got a kick out of Vilja saying there were no beds she'd care to use, but then you catch her climbing into Aravi's bed as she is waking up, lol. Another thing I thought was strange - that vampire thief in the IC didn't attack Aravi. Kind of makes you worry that he see's kinship with Aravi, but if that was the case then the merchant in Skingrad wouldn't have dealt with her - and she did.

The nightmares continue to be a mystery and plague Aravi's sleep - I have been very tempted to go back to that read-me and try to figure out why, lol. Great Vid !! Thanks so much for sharing it, KC. I know you've had a rough week with the PC issues and all !!

Moving from scene to scene is good, but in this vid, there were almost too many very small 'scenelets'. I agree with mALX, that for the future, you might be better served lingering a bit longer over a smaller number of scenes. I think it is testimony to your skill with this medium that you can make us feel so endeared to your wonderful Aravi!

It was nice to see her picking ingredients, bathing and just having a relaxing day.

Argh! Those darn dreams continue!

@mALX and Acadian: I thought that the original video had too little happening in it so I showed a little bit of everything that she did. Sorry, I shall not edit a video like that again.

---------------------------------
Aravi returns to Fort Vlastarus and then continues to the next vampire lair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk3j8CPspWg

TIME: 08:39

Whew, she killed them all the first time she was in there !! She was lucky they hadn't respawned, that place was awful !! GAAAAH!! She's already sick, and just started the new ruin !!! ARGH !!!

First off, I am loving this extension to the "Order of the Virtuous Blood" mod a lot - and this new illness one too !!!!! Great Vids !!!! WHEW !!!!

So Aravi went back to Fort Vlastarus and got that note from the vampire baroness. Then to Nornalhurst. Her use of that decayed veteran to fight the vampire assassin archer was brilliant. And my goodness, she sure did some fine shooting there. Wow! And she seems to be doing much better managing her fatique.

This was a great vid!

Buffy's on her way to Nornalhurst to help Aravi (or perhaps get in the way, lol).

Woo hoo, Shadowbanish wine! Hel-lo, Nerussa.

Wow, I was so tense watching Aravi in Nornalhurst, when she said, “Ready and willing” I nearly jumped out of my seat! I found that Decayed Veteran quite scary.

Just finished off The Lost Spires here, so it's time for my review. I'll do my best to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.

It was fairly typical of questlines I have come to expect in Vanilla Oblivion, with the entire story being "faceless hero grows through the ranks and becomes tho only hope for Tamriel's survival." Looking at the big picture, the story itself was fairly weak, as it only actually kicked in at the endgame in the final couple of quests. the rest of it was simply "go there, dungeon-crawl, come back with interesting item."

On that topic, the dungeons were a bit on the lengthy side. If you are only going to have one or two new dungeons in your mod, I can understand them being a bit lengthy, but The Lost Spires adds in almost ten, and they can really drag on at times, especially when the paths diverge. And don't get me started on the Ayleid dungeon added by the mod... that one was ridiculous. What you found at the end was always fun and interesting, but I often found myself getting bored as I crawled for hours on end through the new dungeons. You could probably cut them in half without hurting the experience any.

Then again, good loot requires a long, difficult dungeon, so at least three of the Spire ruins could be left as they are. But when a dungeon's sole purpose is for you to get to the end to advance a quest, which The Lost Spires had several, you gotta rein things in there so you don't bore the player and make him feel all his hard work was done for mere pennies. The longer the dungeon length stretches, the larger the rewards at the end need to become; standard Risk vs. Reward mindset here. Again, I cite the Ayleid dungeon, three levels, each taking about half an hour to explore, all done for a quest item and some generic valuables? How do those ends justify the means? For THAT length of dungeon, I would expect a unique weapon or armor piece for my troubles. See the Mehrune's Razor DLC, one huge dungeon that took a massive amount of time to explore... but you got a wickedly powerful unique weapon for doing it. What if the DLC had simply replaced the dagger with a scroll saying 'now you gotta go here'? How is that worth my time?

In the end, I refused the highest rank because I never really felt any connection to the questline. It was as if The Lost Spires existed in a world of its own, it never really integrated itself into the world that well, and the ending was a bit cliche (but a helluva lot of flash!). You should definitely avoid this one if you like to play dead-is-dead, because you WILL die during the climax. The questline also offers very little roleplay opportunity. My character is not supposed to be able to use two-handed weapons, but at the end, she was forced to because the only weapon that can defeat the boss is a two-handed monstrosity. I just never could get immersed into the questline, and it played out something like I would expect in an action-adventure game, rather than a roleplaying game, although since Oblivion is essentially a hybrid of the two, I can see why that route was chosen.

Final verdict: Entertaining? Yes. Immersive? No. Will I come back for seconds? Probably not.

Hey KC - your in box is full and I can't respond to your last PM !!! URG !!!

@ mALX: She went in ready for war and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had all been killed the first time she went through.

I’m really liking this one too. I am enjoying it much more than the Lost Spires. This one isn’t as polished as The Lost Spires, but I am enjoying the quests much more.

Thanks mALX!

@ Acadian: The use of that zombie against the archer was straight from Buffy. Maybe Aravi should have been helping the archer kill the zombie instead of helping the zombie kill the archer, because it had a lot of fight left in it after the archer went down.

A compliment on her archery from Buffy’s guide carries lots of weight!

Thanks Acadian!

@ Grits: Still need 2 more bottles of the stuff before Nerussa will be happy. They are pretty difficult to find.

The sound set can do silly things like have you speak when you are 3 feet away from something hostile. They never seem to notice though which is good!

Those ‘decayed veterans’ are quite tough. I’m glad Aravi was able to toss it at the archer before having to deal with it on her own.

Thanks Grits!

@ TK: It was a pretty enjoyable mod and I thought those were pretty cool. It was well polished and incorporated sound effects pretty well into the new dungeons.

The dungeons did tend to go on longer than they should. Some of them really had some neat thinks hidden in them if you explored enough. Others just got waay too long and should have been cut down. The maze in that one dungeon, while not particularly difficult to get through, really was nothing more than a time waster.

Some of the quest items you recovered were very awesome and well worth the dungeon for in my opinion.

I probably wouldn’t play it again either, but I am very pleased with the experience I had with it.
--------------------------------
Aravi recently lost her sword in a fight with a marauder (The one in this screen). We searched and searched, but it was lost at the top of a steep hill and it went who knows where from there. So she needs a replacement. These are two swords that I am considering for her. Do you like one over the other? Do you think she should use neither and find something else?
Sword 1
Sword 2
--------------------------------
The Note to the Baroness from the last video if you are interested:
Note
---------------------------------
Aravi continues Nornalhorst.
TIME: 5:36

My vote is for sword # 2

Whoa, that note was a bad sign !!!

Nornalhurst:

I noticed Aravi is doing the smart thing and trying to avoid fights now, sneaking a lot more now that a disease could kill her.

I was amazed at her fight with that lich - the way she was able to use the pillars for cover and keep nailing him with arrows !!! What a fight !!! And she had to keep turning that zombie back on the lich, for some reason he kept losing the spell !!!

Those diseases are really taking their toll, I always wonder why Aravi doesn't chew on the Welkynd Stones, they will restore her magicka in a pinch like those diseases have her in. They won't help her fatigue though.

Holy Cow, what a vid !! And knowing she just went back in for more while still sick ... URG !!! Awesome Vid !!!

You're lucky you are using Fran's mod and not OOO.

If you had OOO, you would've had a VERY nasty surprise waiting for you at the end.

Gosh, both blades are neat. I prefer the red handled one though. As Mrs Acadian is fond of saying about cars, "It's a red one, so it must be faster!"

Thanks for sharing that note. I wondered about it from the last vid. Interesting stuff between the orc and baroness vampires.

More Nornalhurst. That was a magnificent job Aravi did vs that lich. Her speed and footwork to support her bow is stunningly good! Good job also turning that summoned zombie to help.

Gulp. Aravi has the whole level two to clear still.

As promised, Buffy went to Nornalhurst looking for Aravi. She often has trouble spotting traps in the dark, but saw this one while setting up an attack on a vampire (you can see her arrow in flight)- Screenshot 1. Just as Aravi did upon reaching level two, Buffy managed to make it through those swinging blade traps and keep all her bits attached- Screenshot2.

I went looking and found two more swords already in my game. So the vote has been reset. There are the first two:

and:
Sword 3
Sword 4

My vote would be between swords 2 or 4 on looks alone - not sure what their stats are though, lol.

Of the four, I think sword 4 looks the best!

Sword four is so shiny! And I think that blade would suit what I imagine as Aravi’s fluid fighting style. I vote for sword four.

Sword one is my personal favorite, though. It never hurts to have a backup blade!

@mALX: That note shows waaay too much organization among the vampires of Cyrodiil. And whoever is running the show won’t be happy with Aravi that is for sure.

For some reason there are some enemies that are really difficult to command. Zombies are one, and skeleton guardians are another.

Thanks mALX!

@TK: I considered OOO but I didn’t like some of the changes it made. Are some of the things it does optional? I know with Fran’s I was able to pick and choose what parts I wanted it to add/change.

Thanks TK!

@Acadian: Those screens of Buffy are wonderful! Oh if Buffy does manage to find Aravi I hope she doesn’t mistake her for a baddie!

Aravi can really put her bow to work at ranges most archers would be grasping for a backup blade or calling upon magic.

Thanks Acadian!

@Grits: We'll keep all the swords. Maybe some of the others will be rotated in. Thanks Grits!

-------------------------
Well it looks like Sword 4 won the vote. That sword was added by the RealSwords Bosmer weapon pack. It was bought from Daenlin!

Sword 3 was added by RealSwords Khajiit weapon pack. It was purchased at Border Watch.

Swords 1&2 were both added by the Apachii Goddess store mod located in the Waterfront district.

-------------------------
This video picks up where the last one left off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z62oqR0hBrE
TIME: 7:35

Holy Cow, what a battle !!! Aravi did so good at sneaking that I thought she may just slip past them all, was really surprised when she took them on! That place is really dark, I don't know how she sees the enemies, but she always knows - I noticed that she always takes off her night vision to aim, so it kind of gives me a warning that she sees something.

These enemies are really tough, and I don't know if it is the mod doing it or the Francesco's overhaul, but WHEW !!! I literally don't think Aravi will make it through some of these battles!

Man, that blade is worth its weight in gold! You beat the tar out of that Orc with it, and it is still at 100 repaired !! (unless you repaired it off cameral, I keep forgetting you do that a lot, lol.


AWESOME VID !!!!!!

Very smooth effective kitty!

Clever of Aravi to toggle her night vision to better see through that pesky Ayleid mist.

I was delighted to see that Aravi can now get her 'zoom' on when the aims her bow.

mALX is right (well, naturally - she always is) that Aravi's sword is fabulous - she really let that first orc have it! Ouch, that hurt though when she took a power attack from the first orc; I was so glad to see her dodge the same tactic from the second orc. And yay! It looks like she is learning to use fatigue (poisons) to drop her foes.

What really impressed me here was Aravi's growing stealth - in this case, her ability to return to stealth after an engagement, allowing her to take out her foes one at a time. Gosh, this was fun to watch! What a talent you are over at KC Productions!

What a display of bow and blade! Those vampires are so fast, you can really tell here as they have a good distance to run. As mALX and Acadian said, that is a great sword. I love the speed, and the look really suits her. I was also impressed with Aravi returning to stealth, as Acadian pointed out. There was so much cover in there. It would have frustrated the heck out of me, but Aravi really used it to her advantage. The pauses where she took her time waiting for a target gave the whole episode a good pace. I really had a sense of her stalking them. Very enjoyable!!

GAAAAAH !!!! I just noticed this, Buffy helped Aravi in Nornalhurst !!! Holy Cow, a screen/vid crossover !! How did I miss this ???

I'm so glad to see Aravi has got friends to help her out when Vilja is in one of her moods !!! WOO HOO !!

@mALX: That place was really difficult to see in. With the nighteye the bright mist hides anything in it so we had to keep switching to see in the mist and in the shadows.

I was quite pleased with her sneaking ability as well.

Which sword? We went in with neither of her swords repaired to 100%. Maybe you saw some of the daggers? She carried two of those as well and they were not used as of this point.

Thanks mALX!!!

@Acadian: That zoom is so helpful when taking those shots. I’m not sure how she managed before she had it.

I’m surprised too that she was able to basically take them on one at a time. I thought for sure she was going to be charged by the lot of them!

Thanks Acadian! !!

@Grits: Aravi is an all rounder character because I knew I’d like to be able to use a little bit of everything. I compensate by keeping most of her skills relatively low.

I think you could see her getting frustrated when she’d get a shot lined up and then the vamp would walk behind a hunk of rock or a pillar or something. The obstacles work both ways though.

Thanks Grits!

----------------------------
Pics with the new sword:

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/8699/ob...07231512249.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4360/obli...07231518084.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/8009/obli...07231541205.jpg

----------------------------

Picks up where the last video left off. Nornalhorst continued.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdpXNYJrkFQ

TIME: 7:30

GAAAAH! How did she look around the corner and then back at herself hiding there? Did you free the camera with enemies right there? Holy Crap !!! ARGH !!! The crosshairs were bright, what could be seeing her? ARGH !!! A cliffhanger !!!

Holy Cow what a fight at the end! Aravi switches so easily between casting command spells and shooting arrows at these enemies!

This is an Awesome vid from beginning to end, it has to be one of my faves !!! It was really scary to think about freeing the camera so that you had a shot of Aravi hiding on the other side of the wall from that pacing vampire - I've never seen anyone do that before !!! It was a fantastic idea to do that, really bringing home that moment of Aravi's situation, curled up in that alcove - huge moment in the film !!! AWESOME VID !!!!

I like the new sword - very businesslike and suits Aravi well.

In the vid, her sword is working very well on those vampires with that nice fire enchantment. I also like to see her using those damage fatigue poisons. Nice to see her taking a few moments to let her fatigue come up, repair her gear and grab a bite to eat.

For mALX, not sure if Aravi was using TFC or just moving the camera as follows: If you press and hold down whatever key/control that switches you between first and third person views, it will free the camera and you can move it around the character. It's not as flexible as TFC, but it does give you a quick ability to peek around or look at the front of your character without the command console. I'm sure KC will let us know how he did it.

"This place is just too darn creepy. I really want out of here." Buffy's equivalent comment in her game is, "I hate dark places," to which I always find myself answering, "I know, Buffy. Me too."

"My blade will cut ya down to size!" Yay, Aravi! I noticed she gave that last mother of Nornalhurst an extra whack after death just for good measure.

So, Buffy is now wandering around the same lower level of Nornalhurst, hunting vampires and looking for her friend Aravi. Not to worry about friendly fire though. As you can see, she is making sure none of the pink glows she puts in her sights have tails. Screenshot

This was great fun to watch. Thanks, KC!

Great screenshots with the sword! Of course I like the last one best for its sheer badassery.

Aravi did look frustrated when she sort of lingered over her blades in her inventory after she missed that first shot. That’s the part where Jerric would have charged to his possible doom. Awesome catly leap to check behind the platform in that smaller chamber. Then a little bear jerky to stave off the hunger. Almost as good as goblin-style rat. Whew, the Last Mother was a nimble minx. Nice display of excess adrenaline after the fight, as Acadian pointed out.

I love what you did with that camera angle. This was another great video, fun to watch and a good balance of Aravi’s diverse skills. It’s one thing to be able to do those things, and quite another to remember them all in the middle of a fight. Well done!!

@mALX: It was indeed the free camera. I was confident that nobody was going to stumble upon her for the short amount of time it took to record that. I’m glad you liked that. I’ve been trying out new things with the camera recently and for the most part I’ve liked the effects they’ve added.

Aravi has gotten really good at using all of her abilities to the fullest extent hasn’t she?

Thanks mALX!!!

@Acadian: She bought the sword from Buffy’s master! I guess he’s expanded his inventory since Buffy’s been gone eh?

It was the free camera, I haven’t even heard of the method you just described until now.

The line is actually “This place is too dark and creepy” but I always hear it as you do. Makes me think maybe the subtitles are incorrect. As much time as she spends in those dark and creepy places you would think she would get used to it. It must just be nerves.

I’m happy you and Grits liked the little extra whack that vampire got

Oh and I’m relieved that Buffy’s very careful about checking for tails. With Buffy’s ability with the bow, one shot is all it would take to kill my khajiit.

Thanks Acadian!!!

@Grits: You just got to this video and here I am posting another

Glad you liked the screenshot. I added that one at the last second.

Ugh! I cannot believe Jerric ate the rat!
The ‘display of excess adrenaline’ after the fight was just natural. I’m sure Jerric’s done the same several times.

Thanks Grits!!!

---------------------------

The completion of Nornalhorst

TIME: 6:07

I was glad to see Aravi tending to her fatigue a little better in this one.

Holy Troll Dung! My heart went to my throat as soon as that last fellow turned around to spoil Aravi's sneak attack. Oh my! Orc + battle axe + vampire = nightmare! Aravi took quite a beating. I'm so glad she prevailed and made it out of there with most of her fur. That last fight was a close call!

Oh my goodness! An orc with a giant axe!! For a minute I thought that was the Battle Axe of You’re Screwed. I’m with Acadian, I was jumping out of my seat when he turned around! What a bloodbath.

I had to giggle, the poor guy in the locked coffin was buried with no pants. Maybe he was one of the pantsless vamps of Fort Carmela.

Nornalhorst was a neat ruin, and a fun quest to watch. I think Aravi deserves another break to go swimming with Vilja!

I was in shock, first from that Orc using a spell like that - I did not expect that at all, and it knocked Aravi flat on her back instantly !!! Then at the amount of blood that flew from Aravi's head THREE TIMES from that Orc's hammer !!! I honestly didn't think she was going to make it out of there !!! That really freaked me out, and now she has a disease from him !!!! GAAAAAH !!!!

Your filming was great in this, I don't know how you were able to keep it up for that whole fight, I would have lost the vid or the fight one !!! All I can say is ... WHEW !!!!!

@Acadian: Aravi built up her fatigue before going into that fight and it really didn’t make a heck of a lot of difference. That was a horrible fight! Did you see all the blood fly? I didn’t until mALX pointed it out!

Thanks Acadian!

@Grits: That fight would have been the other way if he didn’t turn around. Building up Aravi’s fatigue didn’t make much of a difference either.

Oh Aravi does take a break after this. She goes to Anvil!

Thanks Grits!

@mALX: When that spell knocked her over I was really surprised. It didn’t even have a paralyze effect. That orc knocked her over quite a bit now that I think of it.

Oh man I didn’t even notice all the blood until you pointed it out!

Thanks mALX and I’m glad you’re back with us!
------------------------------

Aravi leaves Nornalhorst and gets to the safety of Skingrad.

TIME: 7:18

I'm glad Aravi had a safe trip back from Nornalhurst.

Nice use of third person. It's tougher when she's fighting I know, but for a quieter sequence like this, I'm glad to see more of it.

Loved how you are using the camera to pan out now, like when Aravi went passed Derelict Mine.

Ooooh! That darn Alval Uvani. What a dirtbag. It's no wonder Aravi drew a dagger on him. We've learned that he actually is loathe to back up his bluster, so Buffy usually whacks him with a demoralize spell. It doesn't help much, but it does make her feel better to see him whimpering away.

Wow! Aravi's bedtime check reveals she is still quite the sick kitty.

Great fun to watch, as ever!

GAAAAAH !!! It happened again !!! Miss Buffy was in there helping Aravi and I missed the screenshot - AGAIN !!!! URG !!!! Be careful Buffy, we are all anxious for both you and Aravi !!!!

Uh oh, disease! Oh, this is not good! I was afraid her yelp of pain was from the daylight, and sure enough ... urg !!! Poor Aravi !!! Really great vid - an Awesome job showing Aravi's reactions when she realized what it could be bringing her pain !!! Her fear was palpable !!! Awesome job KC !!!


@ Acadian - Lol, Buffy getting a kick out of Alval Uvani whimpering in fear, lol !!!

Great shot of Buffy on the vampire hunt, it’s great to see that cuirass put to use protecting our bowgirl. I would suggest a black hood to cover her shining tresses, but I know that’s crazy talk. I’m cracking up over Buffy’s solution to Uvani’s nastiness.

Poor Aravi, that felt like a long, exhausting walk back to town. It was really neat the way the camera was above those maple leaves! And then the sun hurt her? Oh no! She had to run! And then Alval Uvani was a complete jerk! I was rolling when she pulled her dagger, but halfway worried that she’d use it. Her room was pretty, but I thought oh no, windows, I hope the light doesn’t hurt her! Whew. This video really shows the cost to her, it's still not over when the last vampire falls into dust.

@Acadian: I am glad you liked the 3rd person views I provided. I certainly enjoyed trying out new camera angles.

Buffy has a great way of dealing with that twerp. Aravi really wanted to kill him. I had to remind her of her state of health and the eager guards to get her to back down. It was very close though!

She was very sick. Her fatigue was low and she was receiving sun damage as soon as the sun rose.

Thanks Acadian!!!

@mALX: You don’t miss a thing! Yes as soon as the sun rose, Aravi knew things were bad. Only one disease makes you burn in the sun like that. She had to run despite her exhaustion or die.

Thanks mALX!!!

@Grits: I’m glad you enjoyed the camera angles as well! I recorded that one a while ago and have used that camera angle since then, so if it was unpopular, well I’m stuck with it in future episodes!

Yes the sun burned her. Her condition worsened with all that close contact to vampires.

And when she pulled the dagger, she was going to use it. I really had to fight her to not do it. She was in no condition to take him and then there are the guards and jail and all that.

Thanks Grits!!!
---------------------------------
Aravi tries to rest.
TIME: 2:43

She decides a trip to Anvil is in order.
Video 1 *
TIME: 4:31
* A note on this one: that orc guy didn’t just disappear like it appears. He annoyingly walked away while I was reseting the recorder.

Video 2 **
TIME: 3:14
** These second two videos were supposed to be one, but MovieMaker kept crashing for some reason and I had to split it into two videos. Sorry for the inconvenience.

It strikes me now how foolish of Uvani to threaten to turn Aravi’s bones to ash, since that’s what she had just done to all of those vampires.

I don't want to accidentally spoil anything, so:

Uh oh, another nightmare !!! GAAAAH !!! Did she die in it? That was an eerie ending to it !!! The nightmare of attacking a friend - and then dying - WHEW !!! That was so vivid as a dream sequence! And that she woke up crying - poor Aravi. These nightmares are really getting to her.


I don't blame Aravi for wanting to go to Anvil ... GAAAAH !!! Those sheep freaked me out when they attacked! I did not expect that at all !!! I don't blame Aravi at all for avoiding fights on the road like that, if she gets a disease there will be no place to go get healed up and cured !!

GAAAAH !!! That courier really came at a weird time, lucky she didn't get attacked too, lol. I'm afraid with Maxical there, she would have jumped in slashing without thinking twice, poor courier, lol. Aravi really keeps a cool head in combat !!!


These vids are AWESOME !!! If I have to pick a fave it would have to be the dream sequence one - very powerfully done, especially with Aravi waking up crying !!! You are doing such wonderful work with these vids !!!

Wonderful job with the effects in that dream sequence!

Caught in a lose / lose discussion with Vilja about her hair.

Oh noes! Now she has to watch out for sheep at night!

Aravi's getting very good at sneaking, like up on those bandits. I'll bet she's looking forward to a nice night at the Gottshaw Inn. I wonder what the letter from Kendrel is about?

Wonderfully done (as always). I again enjoyed your camera effects such as panning out or up.

@Grits: Ha! Well put about Uvani.

Sheep of all things! That was even weirder than when she was attacked by the horse a while back.

Aravi thinks those nightmares are worst part of fighting the vampires.

Thanks Grits!

@mALX: She did dream of her own death, but not only that, of betrayal as well.
The sheep were weird! How many times do you just walk by the sheep in the game without a second glance?

Note to any messengers: it is worth your life to wait for Maxical to CALM DOWN before approaching her

The nightmare is my favorite as well. It was the most fun (and tricky) to make. I look forward to the opportunity to make one.

Thanks mALX!

@Acadian: I considered cutting out the bit with Vilja, but then I wanted to show why Aravi gets so frustrated with her at times!

I have a screen of the message from Kendral but I forgot to upload it before leaving! I’ll get it up as soon as I can.

Aravi did stay in the Gottshaw Inn but that part got cut for some reason. Oops.

Thanks Acadian!

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Aravi passes through Kvatch and heads to Mongrel’s Tooth.
TIME: 4:46

She starts to clear the cave of the monsters.
TIME: 6:30

Oooh! Kvatch looks AWESOME !!! I froze the film to see if that statue was of Aravi, lol.


If Aravi was fighting one of those glowing gas balls with a plain weapon that is why it wasn't dying, Mythic animals need magic weapons to be harmed. I don't know how she can fight so close in with Vilja and not hit her in melee like that !!! Aravi is spectacular in combat, the way she switches so easily from magic to bow to sword is tremendous to watch !!! Oh, and that is the first time I've ever seen Vilja knocked unconscious, lucky she is essential - I don't think she would have survived that fight otherwise. Whatever disease Aravi caught fighting those creatures is sapping her fatigue really badly!

Both interesting vids for very different reasons - Awesome job KC !!!!!

Oh, Kvatch looks great!! Nice to see Savlian smiling.

I like how Aravi gives Vilja a look when she starts griping about this is not what she thought they’d be doing today. Was that the Reman Rune Stone and the Sithian Stone? It looked like Aravi was using them for landmarks. I just read the Daggerfall version of The Real Barenziah, too. Vilja is not kidding!!

Nice work fighting that minotaur with Vilja so close, like mALX said. Oh my gosh, that troll went right in the fire!! Awesome.


Jerric headed to Mongrel’s Tooth Cave to give Aravi a hand. He found imps and evidence of recent mayhem.

Whoa, imps.

It smells like burned troll in here.

That’s odd, this one’s empty too.

Heading deeper in. Aravi? …Vilja?

Two more down.

Heading back to Kvatch. I’m glad it stopped raining. Wait, I wonder if she meant meet her at six bells yesterday evening?

Nice tour of Kvatch! I liked your technique of toggling the camera free to pan around the city.

Then to Mongrel Tooth Cave - where the elite meet it seems! Wow, that first fight showed why we call Aravi a scrapper! Then, roasted primal troll (urg) as the beast fell fully into that bonfire. That land dreugh was pretty scary. I didn't realize there was an imp about, so I thought the dreugh was slinging lightning! Getting some help from Vilja there was a great idea. Mutton mongering riff raff! I echo what mALX said about Aravi's flexibility and skill.

And what a delight to see Jerric show up! Thanks, Grits, for the screens of our handsome mountain of Nord!

So. . . Buffy went to Mongrel's Tooth Cave recently also, searching for the elusive Aravi. Here's a couple snips and screenies from her scrapbook -

"Hmm, from left to right I make these four glows to be: an ogre, a land dreugh and a pair of wills-o-the-wisp. Not a Khajiit in sight; not even a Nord." Screenshot1

"Well, looks like I was right so far. Gosh these guys are big!" Screenshot2

"Let's see if I can command one to kill the other. These things aren't dangerous if you keep your distance." Screenshot3

"I'll congratulate the victor with an arrow, recharge my bow then continue searching for Aravi." Screenshot4

Wonderful job, KC, and thanks for letting us play!

@ Grits - AWESOME !!! The names of the screens tell the whole story !!! This is great - and seeing Jerric in these screens is going to add to the story tremendously - not that you need any help creating visual images !!!

***

@ Acadian - Buffy used magic! WOO HOO !!! I always see her with the bow in screens, this was a great treat - and what a pretty ring on her finger! Great screens and storyline too, Buffy is all about business with that bow in her hand!!!

***

@ King Coin - I forgot to mention that in my comment earlier - I thought that was fantastic how you used the FC to view all of Kvatch being rebuilt - and came back to Aravi and Vilja !!! The first time I saw it I thought ... "hey, that Khajiit looks like Aravi!" - then I saw Vilja and realized what you did! What a great touch that was !!!