@mALX: Thank you mALX! When you get a chance to play, you should try those textures on Maxical. They are stunning!

I can’t wait for a body texture replacer of the same quality.

@SubRosa: She’s always supposed to have green eyes, but at the beginning I couldn’t tell what color it was and ended up with amber/orange. I have some red/green color blindness.

Taking those nude shots was fun. It occurred to me that bright light could be used to hide just as much as shadow could be. The moon was just beautiful. Thank you SubRosa!

@Grits: I suppose it would have been slightly better than her current bow if she took it and upgraded it. It was heavy however and she didn’t like it.

Thank you! It was a spontaneous photo shoot, and they turned out so much better than the ones I had planned on taking.

@Acadian: Thank you Acadian! I’m going to eventually have to find a mod to change her back to white, but for now that’s as close as she’s going to get to a snow leopard. Glad you like he little scar, I think it fits who she is very well. Like I said to SubRosa, it occurred to me that bright light could be used to hide just as much as shadow could be. I’m glad they turned out as well as they did. It was lots of fun taking those shots.

#############################

Aravi makes her way south after being rejected from the College of Winterhold. Whiterun is her ultimate destination.

TIME: 11:09

I loved that fort, not sure how Aravi got in so close without being attacked! Maxical had to kill three or four before even getting to the point Aravi got to without being seen !!! That was one tough fort to enter, all archers and mages !! And Kharjo! I am loving this vid! Awesome job, KC !!

I find that fort very tough, it was good thinking for Aravi to head up hill. Nice catly leaping down at the end. Yay, she got her bound sword!! Take that, you college mages.

But the best part… Kharjo!! Oh, Aravi started running when she saw the Khajiit! I love how he told her to be careful. This is a great episode, Aravi making her way through Skyrim.

Another great sniper shot at the beginning here. Followed by an excellent magic sniper shot. And it looks like that second one got two of the baddies to fight one another!

The bows make a nice, deep sound when they are fired.

Oh that chick really hurt Aravi! Run, run away!

So is there no way to hotkey Aravi's healing spell? I know that Bethesda nerfed the system of hotkeys, but have never understood just how they changed it.

Whoo! leaping lizards! erm, kitties! Those were some fun looking jumps she made going down through the fort.

Isn't Aravi going to pick up any the spent arrows laying around?

Now she has her bound sword and dual flurry. I take it she can put the bound sword spell in each hand, and then dual wield bound swords? I imagine that would take a lot of magicka though.

Maiq is back! His voice sounds weird after Oblivion. And I see he is still spouting the company line. You can see that Bethesda anticipated people hating them removing attributes. Now it kind of makes one wonder if they did that just to piss people off? The same as them destroying Vvardenfell.

Hey, its those wandering Khajiit again! Another reminder of FO3, and the traveling merchants in that game.

It was fun to watch Aravi fighting and traveling. Nice work with her bow. And it looks like she used an illusion spell. I see her footwork while trading fire is still pretty good.

Nice to see M’aiq and even better to meet Kharjo!

Your vids are always such a pleasure to watch.

@mALX: She got close with her natural Khajiit stealth! The skeletons are pretty weak, it’s the mages you have to watch out for.

Her rejection from the College turned into a blessing really. She wouldn’t have been on that road with the Khajiit otherwise. Thanks mALX!

@Grits: That fort is pretty tough and it’s situated that unless you want to take a long detour, you have to go through it to get from Winterhold to Windhelm.

I liked Kharjo instantly when he said his amulet could be replaced, but a life couldn’t be. Thanks Grits!

@SubRosa: I haven’t been able to hotkey anything. 1-8 are reserved for hotkeys but they either do not work, or I just don’t know how to hotkey things. That favorites menu thing isn’t very helpful either because I end up clogging it up with every weapon, spell, and shout Aravi knows.

Aravi only picks up steel or higher quality arrows. She seriously has so many iron arrows that she no longer picks them up. And unlike Oblivion, you can’t sell any arrow for at least 1 septim, so there is no point to collecting them.

She could summon a bound sword in each hand if she has enough magicka to do it. I do not think she does however.

I really like the new Khajiit voices. I found the ones in Oblivion to be grating.

I really like the wandering Khajiit merchants. They have set routes, so this one wasn’t the same one that Aravi met last time. This one has a route that goes from Dawnstar, to Windhelm, then down to Riften and back. Thanks SubRosa!

@Acadian: She used a frenzy spell basically which got those two necros going at each other. I’m still not used to the slow down with the bow so she wasn’t as quick to get out of the way of some of those spells. There is a perk that lets you move quicker with a drawn bow, but I’m not sure if Aravi will go for that one. It’s buried in one of the branches in the archery tree.

I’m very pleased that Aravi ran into Kharjo. I was at a loss at that point as to what Aravi should do and by chance Kharjo was on the road. It worked perfectly. Thanks Acadian!

#######################

Some screen shots again. I was very happy with how these turned out.
They are blue and a little blurred around the edges because that is how the night eye Khajiit power looks. It was too dark to not use nighteye or some form of illumination.

Screen 1

Screen 2

Screen 3

Screenshot two is my absolute favorite, you could not have timed it more perfectly to catch the action of her in such detail while the background shows the blur of her movement - Awesome shot !!

These are great action shots! The color makes them look especially neat. Two swords!! Aravi rocks.

I could not take using the night eye. It gives me a headache just looking at the stills.

I agree with mALX (always a wise idea). The way you caught both the action and got close to her face in Screen 2 was stunningly good! A beautiful screenshot that captures Aravi so well!

@mALX: Thanks! #1 is my favorite. To me, it looks like a dramatic shot from a movie or something.

@Grits: I thought the coloring was neat too. Thanks!

@SubRosa: Sorry to hear that.

@Acadian: Thank you, those new face textures really let you get close to her face for some good shots.

#########################################

After her rejection from the College of Winterhold, Aravi felt aimless. So when a guard for a Khajiit caravan told her of his stolen amulet, she decided to go get it.

Her journey to the bandit hideout. (This one is mostly to show more of the world of Skyrim. Skip it if you wish.)
TIME: 4:48

When she arrives, she carefully starts making her way through the hideout.
TIME: 11:35

A compilation of little travel scenes that show several different Skyrim sights - Love it !!

On Solitude - I didn't like being stuck watching the beheading that way, felt kind of drawn into it against my will.

I loved that cave, hope I didn't mess up getting Kharjo by clearing it in advance of the quest !! It was pretty exciting that Aravi cleared that whole cave with only one actual fight! Maxical got battered as heck in that cave !! Can't wait till she brings the necklace back to Kharjo !!


Wow, Aravi is leveling up quickly! Awesome vids !!

I enjoyed Aravi’s walk through the snow. It was nice to see her warm up at the Imperials’ fire. Not quite everything is trying to kill her. Ugh, not a nice welcome to Solitude. An ugly scene plus bad memories for Aravi. It would be hard to relax in the city after that, but also hard to relax in the wilderness where something might eat you while you’re sitting in your camp chair.

That guy on the bridge was a great shot! I love Broken Oar Grotto, there are so many ways to approach the situation with the ship and scaffolding. Aravi’s patient use of Fury was masterful, and fun to watch.

Oooh, magicka ring! Yay.

I really enjoyed this video, watching Aravi whittle the red dots down from the shadows.

I have the same problem with movies in 3D. They give me a headache, and make me feel slightly nauseous.

Look, Imperial soldiers who are not trying to cut off Aravi's head! That is a pleasant change.

The ship on the shore was really cool. One thing I like about Morrowind is all the ship wrecks around Vvardenfell.

Hmm, that second camp did not look nearly so inviting, with the blood and chewed up remains laying around.

You can catch the butterlies? That is neat!

The welcome in Solitude was not so good either. That was a chilling example of the civil war. Too bad for that fella that a dragon did not show up to rescue him. They can be handy that way. The writer in me cannot help but to dissect the scene, and admire how the devs used it to not only show us the civil war, but also tell us how Ulfric killed the previous king - in a duel according to Skyrim custom. I do not blame Aravi for wanting to get away from the scene. Other people's civil wars are ugly affairs, often with no right or wrong side.

That scaffolding inside the cave as pretty neat. So was Aravi's long range magic shot at the guy on top of it.

Iron Arrows, 149. I see why she is not picking them up anymore!

Was she using night eye while sneaking down from the scaffolding? I was wondering why it looked so blurry. Then there was a sound effect, and things went back to normal. So I am assuming that was it. That night eye shader is something begging for modders to fix.

And another great sniper shot!

You certainly level up a lot in this game.

Uh oh, its two-fisted John Woo time! Chow Yun Cat strikes!

I see she has her Amulet of Mara on. I hope Aravi is not hoping to find a mate in that cave!

A lovely view on the coast there at the end.

What a nice collection of Skyrim travels in the first vid. I like how the snow blows and the vegetation waves and how smoke lazily filters up from the fires. I’m proud of Aravi for not catching the butterfly – I bet that was hard for a cat to resist. And welcome to Solitude – and a beheading. I don’t blame Aravi for backing away from that.

Broken Oar Grotto was neat! It reminds me of Sundercliff Watch (Oblivion DLC Mehrunes Razor). Aravi certainly fought like a mystic archer here! Start a fight with magic, then congratulate the victor with an arrow. Gosh those Skyrim illusion spells sure race across the screen – I’m used to them lazily swirling toward a foe giving them plenty of time to dodge. Oh, and then she got several one shot kills! I’m sure Kharjo will appreciate getting his amulet back.

Beautiful work, KC!

@mALX: As you saw, Aravi left before the execution was complete.

Kharjo’s amulet seems to appear in several different caves. Each time I’ve done that quest, the amulet has been in a different place.

I was a little worried about that cave when Aravi got the quest there. The last time she was there (in a different save) it was a very tough cave. I was very happy that she got through it relatively easily. Thanks mALX!

@Grits: Bad memories is right. I don’t think she was ever more terrified than when she was up at the block herself. Every other situation she has been in, she could at least do something. Glad you mentioned that.

I was at first disappointed that Kharjo’s amulet was in Broken Oar just because of the distance, but it was a lot of fun to do. Thanks Grits!

@SubRosa: The shipwreck was very cool. Aravi explored the inside naturally.

Aravi’s been keeping neutral in the war. She doesn’t want to get involved with someone else’s conflict; she has enough as it is.

I don’t like the sound effect for nighteye, or the 60 second time limit on it. That’ll be changed as soon as I can. The shader doesn’t bother me though.

Aravi isn’t aware of what the Amulet of Mara means in Nordic culture. To her, it simply has a useful enchantment. Thanks SubRosa!

@Acadian: It was tempting to catch the butterflies, but Aravi didn’t want to kill them.

Aravi’s Buffiest episode! I warned her to be careful in there because I remembered that place being a real challenge before. Like Grits said, the dungeon is very cool. There are some side tunnels that didn’t make it into the video as well. Glad you liked the illusion spells! Thanks Acadian!

##################

No videos today, I’m not ready to post the next episode yet. If all goes well today, I’ll have it tomorrow.

Here are a few screen shots though.

Aravi in her cold weather clothing.

Aravi and Kharjo ran into some of the Companions and traveled with them for a while. Aravi may consider joining them now after having fought with them.

Bear attack!

Making sure Kharjo didn't break anything.

The Amulet of Mara has an enchantment besides attracting prospective brides and grooms? What does it do?

There were a lot of mods for Oblivion that made the Khajiit night eye toggleable. I am sure they will start popping up in Skyrim once the construction set comes out. The thing I do not like about using spells/abilities for night eye is that they have a bad tendency to expire in the middle of a fight. Or you walk out of the cave and into the bright sunlight with another 40 seconds to go on it. What you can do now is learn a dispel magic on self, and cast that when you want to turn it off.

Aravi looks so happy in her new clothes! Or maybe she is smiling because she made a friend there in the background? What is that outfit called? It really looks outstanding on her.

More spiders. Yeeeuch

Aravi, Aravi Crockett, kilt her a bear when she was only three!

Love the cold weather outfit. The hood looks especially cozy. That is a very pretty picture of Aravi!

Vilkas and Ria!! That is so neat! I had a similar encounter today, it was really fun. I love the ongoing quests for the Companions.

The last one is my favorite. These are great, KC!

I’m with Grits – love the cold weather outfit with hood. Kharjo is really looking like the Cat of Steel. I hope he is developing into a good tank for our feline scrapper. Aww, how wonderful of Aravi to keep Kharjo all healed up!

Dunno how things work in Skyrim, but in OB I do the same thing SubRosa mentioned. All Buffy’s utility spells are for 120 seconds. She almost never lets them time out; rather she simply casts a dispel spell on herself when she is done with the effect.

GAAAAAH !!!! I absolutely LOVE the first screen !!! I'm going to say my fave of all time !!! Love them all, but that one is AWESOME !!!!

@SubRosa: Oh sorry, I forgot to elaborate. The Amulet of Mara has an enchantment that decreases the amount of magicka it costs to cast healing spells.

The night eye activates and deactivates with the push of a button, but it still times out in 60 seconds if you leave it which is really annoying and silly in my opinion.

She’s wearing fur armor. There are three variations of it in the game and all of them have the same stats. This one covers the most out of the three because it has sleeves. The headwear came from a mod, but it’s just a retextured item that’s already in game. Thanks SubRosa!

@Grits: Thank you Grits! So that was Ria? Aravi recognized Vilkas, but not Ria.

@Acadian: Kharjo’s been a wonderful companion for Aravi. Unfortunately for him, he usually gets pounded on by whatever baddie they encounter while Aravi slips around and kills them. That’s what the heavy armor is for though! Thanks Acadian!

@mALX: Thank you mALX! I love that one too. It’s so peaceful with the snow falling in the background.

##########################

Original post pulled for work. Sorry people.

Enjoy this instead. I commissioned someone to do a picture of Aravi over on Deviantart.com. I think she did a beautiful job on it.



Link to the picture on DA.

Link to artist's profile.

I love the background music when Aravi first arrived outside the fort - and love Kharjo's voice, too !!

Loved the way Aravi handled those skeever behind the bars, ROFL !!

I have not been in this fort yet !! Looks like a great dungeon dive !! Awesome Vid !!!


I noticed a few nits in the story (POV), but love the content of it !!! Great addition to us getting to know more about Aravi !!

Love the drawing of Aravi !! Your friend did an Awesome job !!!

That picture of Aravi is incredible!!! The artist has really captured our quiet and mysterious but lovable Khajiit!

Most Excellent! Julienya really captured Aravi well!

A couple more screen shots:

Blade and magic 1 & 2

Any guesses on which dungeon that was?

Love the #2 best, what a face shot !!! Eerie !!!

Love the gentle smile in Aravi’s drawing. The artist did a beautiful job!

Is that Yngvild? Great shots, like mALX I especially like the second one. With her wide eyes, she gives that sense of delving into the unknown.

I have no idea where that could be. Though I have noticed that they seem to like to put those silo-like rooms in the caves, that go all the way to the surface and let in the sunlight.

The second pic is really outstanding. I just love the knowing expression on Aravi's face!

Those are very cool, KC! I really like the 'magic in the hand' animations in Skyrim.

@Everyone: Thanks! Everyone liked the second one, but I prefer the first.

the cave: Steepfall Burrow

##########################

This takes place after Aravi returns Kharjo’s amulet. He offers to travel with her, and she accepts.

Aravi pulled open the door to the inn and held it tight when the vicious wind tried to tear it from her grasp. Behind her, Kharjo grabbed the door. “Go in,” he said. “This one has the door.” Inside, Aravi wiped her feet on the already sodden mat and stepped aside. Kharjo pulled the door shut as he came in, cutting off the flow of cold air into the inn.

While Kharjo stomped the snow off of his steel clad boots, Aravi went to the counter to get rooms for the night. Kharjo looked around the room and noted the expressions on the faces of the regulars. They were content to frown and turn their backs on him. He noted a few of them checked that their coin purses were still where ever they were supposed to be. He chucked to himself. That was a mild reaction to a Khajiit. He glanced towards the counter and saw Aravi was still talking to the innkeeper. The Nords were leaving her alone, so he chose an unoccupied table near the hearth in the center of the room and sat with his back towards the fire.

A serving girl reluctantly came to him and took his order. The Khajiit might not be liked in Skyrim, but the septim was more than welcome.

The serving girl left and Kharjo waited. Moments later, Aravi joined him at the table. Instead of sitting as he did, she sat to face the fire. Kharjo turned to join her and accepted a mug of something he may have ordered from the serving girl who had returned. He sipped at it experimentally. Aravi shook her head at the girl and started unwrapping the soaking strips of cloth from her feet. After placing the cloth near the fire to dry, she stretched out. She leaned her back against the edge of the table and rested her feet at the edge of the hearth. She sighed with contentment and Kharjo could see her visibly relax.

Kharjo wondered why she didn’t wear any boots or shoes, but he kept that question to himself. Instead, he watched her as she enjoyed the flames. She had her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. He let her sit for a while before speaking. “This one wonders, how does Aravi feel so at ease among these Nords?”

Aravi cracked open an eye and looked around the room. “I did something for them the last time I was here. They won’t bother us.” She closed her eye again. The smile had vanished though.

Kharjo thought a moment, then, “the nightmares?”

“Yes.”

For weeks, the people that would meet his caravan at the edge of town complained of nightmares. Then about a week ago, the nightmares stopped. The town’s folk told him that a priest arrived to help them, only he didn’t do anything for days. Then, a Khajiit traveler came to town and spoke with him. They both left for the tower on the hill overlooking the town. That night, there were no nightmares. Kharjo turned his attention from his thoughts back to Aravi. It became apparent she was not going to elaborate however.

He changed the subject. “This one notices you have a Cyrodilic accent. Kharjo has been to Cyrodiil as well.”

Aravi opened her eyes and asked him, “Why did you come here?”

“Ahkari freed me from a Cyrodilic prison, and I was hired to protect her caravan to repay that debt. A word of advice, do not mix alcohol and gambling. Taken together, they will empty your pocket of every septim.”

Aravi smiled at that. Then Kharjo asked, “Why is Aravi here? Surely she would prefer to be home in Elsweyr.”

She didn’t answer him immediately. Kharjo waited and let her think. It was clear she was deciding what she wanted to say and what she wanted to keep to herself. After a few moments, she began speaking. “I do not remember Elsweyr, I left when I was very young. When I was in Cyrodiil, I guess I was a vampire hunter. That wasn’t what I intended to do, but that’s what I did a lot of. It got to be too much though. Then when my best friend left for Morrowind, I needed to leave Cyrodiil. A healer suggested a colder climate would be good for me. So here I am.”

“A vampire hunter?” Kharjo’s ears perked with interest. “This one hasn’t fought those; he goes the other direction when he hears of rumors. What was it like?”

Aravi’s ears lowered. “It was dark and terrifying. They do things to their victims… I don’t know how I did it as long as I did.” She shivered at the memories.

Sensing that the subject was closed, Kharjo asked another question, “Where does Aravi’s path lead?”

“We’ll go to Whiterun. The Jarl has some bounties out that should pay pretty well, even after we split the rewards. After that…”

“And after that?” Kharjo prompted. Another subject she wanted to avoid, Kharjo noted.

“We’ll see.”

Kharjo was disappointed by the reply but was not surprised. Just to see what kind of response he was going to get from her he said, “The road to Whiterun is dangerous.”

“Then we’ll see how we fight together.”

Kharjo grinned. She was not much of a talker, but she isn’t skittish. He could live with that, for now. She did get his amulet back, and from her answer, she probably didn’t just steal it. He was sure those who took it were no longer among the living. He downed the rest of his drink. He made a face when he finished. “Must have been from the spoiling batch.”

“I’m going to bed” Aravi said. “I’d like to get an early start. If you aren’t up, I’ll assume you’ve changed your mind.”

Kharjo set his empty mug on the table and stood up. “Khajiit will be ready. Which room is this one’s?”

##########################


Aravi returns Kharjo's amulet and he offers to travel with her. She accepts his offer and they set out for Whiterun after spending the night at the inn.

TIME: 11:07

I love the background music when Aravi first arrived outside the fort - and love Kharjo's voice, too !!

Loved the way Aravi handled those skeever behind the bars, ROFL !!

I have not been in this fort yet !! Looks like a great dungeon dive !! Awesome Vid !!!


Great story, what a surprise to get Kharjo's viewpoint instead of Aravi's !!! Great addition to us getting to know more about Aravi !!

do not mix alcohol and gambling.
Good advice! Scylla just heard it from Kharjo last night as well!

A wonderful little piece, as Kharjo and Aravi cautiously get to know one another. Especially nice is that it is from Kharjo's pov. That gives us a look at Aravi from the outside looking in.

Now for the vid. Is Aravi going to cook anything? I cannot remember if the Khajiit's camp has a usable cookpot or not. I found that it can be very helpful. Scylla made some Apple Cabbage Stew the other day that did 10 points of healing!

I am a little surprised that Aravi is still using iron arrows. Is it just because they are so easy to pick up while out exploring?

Aravi was just waiting for that guy on the wall to stand still a moment so she could drop the hammer on him. Her first shot missed, but it did get him to stop. Then her second did the trick!

Kharjo complements Aravi very well. She can stand back and use her bow, while he provides cover with his mace and shield. Looks like he is pretty handy with a bow as well.

That bandit archer on the wall was a tough one!

I am a little dismayed at how they slowed down your movement rate when you use a bow. Have you gotten that perk that lets you move faster with a bow? I was wondering if it actually works.

The Stumbling Sabercat! Great name. I was a little surprised to see that the bandits have an actual tavern in the old fort. And now its two-fisted Chow Yun Cat time!

I noticed that Kharjo's mace makes a slicing sound when he hits people with it...

Whoa! They double-teamed that mage like something else!

Flamethrower on the Skeevers! Just what is a Skeever supposed to be anyhow? It kind of looks like a wolf. Or a rat?

Am I the only one who thinks "Bandit Outlaw" is slightly redundant?



nits:
Surely she would prefer to be home in Elysweyr.
It is Elsweyr. This one gets me every time as well. I always have to look it up.

Welcome to the Arena of writing! I see your stunning talent for vids translates wonderfully to prose. This was a joy to read.

Kharjo’s ears perked with interest. “This one hasn’t fought those; he goes the other direction when he hears of rumors.

Aravi’s ears lowered. “It was dark and terrifying. They do things to their victims… I don’t know how I did it as long as I did.” She shivered at the memories.
Loved this for a couple reasons. First, it was a great review/nod to her past in Cyrodiil. Secondly it showcases your dialogue. I like that you have Kharjo speak traditional Khajiit and have Aravi speaking more conventionally. One advantage of this is that it makes it clear who is speaking just from their words. I also envy your cats because they can gesture with their ears providing you, as a writer, plenty of fun ‘connective’ wording opportunities.

“Where does Aravi’s path lead?”
“We’ll go to Whiterun.
Ooooh! Here, Aravi is making it clear that she welcomes Kharjo and expects him to continue with her.

She was not much of a talker, but she isn’t skittish.
This was fun because it is such a perfect description of Aravi. . . and so totally opposite from the skittish and talkative Buffy.


I had to stop after the first minute or two to write. The opening scene was magic! I love the peaceful cold night and fabulous detail of the Khajiit camp. Neat looking and varied tentage, smoke from the fire, meat cooking on the spit. Ahhhhh. Yum. And I love how Kharjo talks just like you portray his dialect in your writing!

That is one whale of a quiver that holds 175 arrows! I limit quivers to 25, but that is just me and I’m only teasin’ ya.

Kharjo was so cool to slip out to the side to engage that baddie, leaving a clear field of fire for Aravi. A smart cat! Oooh! He did it again – fighting off to one side so Aravi can shoot. How neat!

Bandit Bar! How neat that the bandits look like they really live at that fort.

What a great update this was!

I love reading Aravi’s story! It’s great to see her from Kharjo’s point of view. I can just imagine her stretching her wet feet out to the fire. I enjoyed their conversation so much. It had that getting to know you feel, full of pauses and just enough information. You write the catly mannerisms so well. I love how the ears do some of the talking.

Kharjo’s unease around the Nords was a good reminder of how things are for Khajiit in Skyrim. I also like how he deferred to Aravi. Just like in the videos, she’s taking the lead.

*

The Khajiit camp is so neat with the big log to sit on! It looked so inviting, the way Aravi was standing to the side so we could see Kharjo and Dro'marash with Zaynabi cooking in the corner of the screen. Kharjo worked very well with Aravi in their first battle, falling back with his bow after the first mace fight instead of charging into the fort like some maniacs I could name. I love how she calmly pulled the arrows out of the tree.

I like the far away camera shot before they went into the Commander Quarters. What a neat fort. I haven’t been in there. I love how Aravi glances back to check on Kharjo before she moves into the next area. She’s already good at being a team.

What a fun video and great story to introduce it!

@mALX: I don’t notice the music as much in Skyrim as I did in Oblivion, but it is marvelous when I do notice it. I love hearing the OST when Aravi is on her own out at night with the auroras in the sky. Very peaceful. Thanks mALX! And thank you for the pointers on the written portion.

@SubRosa: I haven’t planned on putting any cooking in the videos, but Aravi has cooked! She’s made venison stew and horker stew, along with some of the more basic foods.

She uses iron arrows most of the time just because she has so many of them and cannot sell them.

Kharjo and Aravi make a great team together.

Aravi has not been collecting many of the archery perks. I think there is 1 perk in between her and the speed one.

I think a skeever is a rat or a weasel.

I even looked up the proper spelling, how in the heck did that happen? Thanks SubRosa!

@Acadian: Thanks for the encouragement with the writing. The ears are fun, can’t forget about them. Didn’t have the opportunity to use their tails.

Aravi has never seemed to me like she would speak like a traditional Khajiit. She may or may not have ever been to Elsweyr so she wouldn’t have ever picked up that manner of speech anyways.

Glad you liked the Khajiit camp. I should have expected that you would enjoy the camp, because Buffy camps so much.

Kharjo’s pretty smart! Thanks Acadian!

@Grits: Some of Kharjo’s speech was difficult to write, but I think I did alright with their conversation. Gotta love those ears! I was considering having Aravi purr at the fire but decided against that.

I really like how Kharjo uses his bow when enemies are at range.

I was a little surprised when I saw the arrows in the tree she was standing behind. Whoa. Thanks Grits!

##################################

Some screenshots

Just a face shot

What's that?

Just a falmer... and a centurion!

Shooting

These are great, especially the face one. Aravi is so beautiful!

My favorite has to be "Shooting," I love her expression with her ears back!

The What's That? pic was wonderful, with the way the fire lights her.

That's a Falmer? Eeeuuch! I have not seen one yet.

Aravi's bared fangs look great in the shooting pic!

All are great, but I Love the "Shooting" one !!!! Almost eerie !!

Great screens!

I love love love the first face shot of Aravi. That is so her!

I also agree with SubRosa how neat it is to see Aravi's fangs.

@Grits: Thanks! The face shot one is my favorite. Remember how much difficulty I had making her look friendly with the new textures? That one made it all worth it.

@SubRosa: I liked her expression in the “What’s that?” screen. I paused the game for a screen and caught her in mid blink. Looks like she’s squinting to make something out better.

When you encounter the falmer, be wary. They are tough, and their little pets are VERY deadly. Thanks!

@mALX: That one seems to be the pick this batch. The nighteye definitely makes it look eerie. Thanks!

@Acadian: You are right, that first one is how I’ve wanted her to look. I’m so glad I got those textures to work out. Thanks!


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Only one screen this time.

Aravi and Kharjo by the fire.

Absolutely LOVE this screen !! Aravi looking distant, and Kharjo looking like he's wondering what she is thinking about - AWESOME !!

Oh I'm with mALX! That is a great screen. Kharjo is so handsome and Aravi is lost in thought.

Oh, I love this one!! Exactly what they said!

Plus, great armor!

@mALX: You’ve got it! I find myself in Kharjo’s position a lot! Thank you mALX!

@Acadian: I have to agree with you, Kharjo looks good in this one. Thanks!

@Grits: Glad you like. Thanks on the armor too.


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Aravi and Kharjo work through some bounties. Today they are returning to Whiterun after collecting a sword for a friendly Redguard. They get side tracked at a fort however…

TIME: 8:31

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I loved this! It is amazing Aravi can hit as well as she does from so far away with that bow! The hand to hand scene was a total surprise, I kept thinking she was going to pull a weapon out! It looked like she had her claws unsheathed in those first hits too - now that was Awesome !! Also kind of funny how she stood over him after, fists raised and turning side to side, lol.

I also love that Aravi looted as much as she did in this one! I probably totally missed that cage on the wall, didn't know it was a place to loot !!

Awesome Vid !!

Great shooting from the opposite hill. I could barely even see those bandits, and Aravi hit them!

Oh my gosh, Aravi smacked that guy to death! Khajiit claws, woo hoo! I’ve never been in that fort. I enjoyed the view from the top level ending with a good look at Aravi in her leather gear.

Whoa, footwraps! Nice find for Aravi. What a fun side trip!

First off, loved the pic of Kharjo and Aravi by the fire. He has that "I'm gonna marry that girl one day" look in his eyes.

280 iron arrows! Aravi sure has plenty of ammo!

Is every fort in this game inhabited by bandits? It sure seems that way from my own gameplay. I have found a few watchtowers with either guards or otherwise friendlies in them. But so far every honest to goodness fort has had nothing but bad guys, starting with Helgen.

Aravi used her cat-breath on that first bandit to run up to her! Then it was Chow Yun Cat time! I was a little surprised Kharjo did not move into to intercept that guy. But I saw later that he was busy in an archery duel with the bandits on the wall.

I like the forts in Skyrim much better then Oblivion. In OB they are just a round tower with a weirdly layed out dungeon underneath. In Skyrim they look like real fortresses, with walls, towers, a keep, etc...

Whoa! Aravi was all over that guy on the tower like Muhammad Ali! The Thrilla in Greymoor!

Scylla says she should have taken the Horker Loaf off that guy. It is really tasty when you cook it up with some salt.

Youch! Bear trap. I hate those things!

The thing that really deters me from dual-wielding is you cannot block or bash. But Aravi does pretty well without blocking, even only wearing light armor.

Am I the only one who thinks that "Bandit Outlaws" are a little redundant? Who came up with these names?

They had a troll on the table? Were they making troll-burgers?

Aravi picked an Expert lock with only 3 picks broken? W00T! I vastly prefer this lockpicking system to the old one in Oblivion.

I and the elf on my shoulder were mesmerized by the blue butterfly and the gold one dancing around Aravi during the first part. How neat!

That was some fabulous shooting!

Woot! Aravi unleashed her kitty claws!

What a great panning view you gave us in the middle before Aravi and Kharjo entered the fort proper.

The inside of the fort seems wonderfully full of rich atmosphere and detail.

@mALX: Thanks for soothing her ego, she was embarrassed at how many times she missed. She’s not sure where the arrows were going at that range.

She would have armed herself too if there was more than one, but she was confident she could take that lone bandit with her claws. Thanks mALX!

@Grits: Again, she was having a heck of a time figuring out where she should aim to hit those bandits on the wall. I’m glad you enjoyed the Khajiit hand to hand! Thanks Grits!

@SubRosa: You aren’t the only one to say that about the screenshot of Aravi and Kharjo!

I’ve been in a few forts with necromancers and conjurers. Bandits do hold the majority of them though. I suppose that’s just because they would be more common than magic users.

The orc that charged Aravi got shot in the back by Kharjo. It was hard to see but there was an arrow in his back when he went down. So Kharjo did help her out with him.

Dual wielding with light armor is a challenge. I had to reset the first time because I spread the perks out too much and she didn’t have a high enough damage output to compete later. The second reset went much more smoothly, and this third iteration is the best so far. Thanks SubRosa!

Oh yes and Bandit Outlaw is definitely a weird name.

@Acadian: Butterflies? I had to check, and sure enough there they were.

A Khajiit is never unarmed! I really like the forts in Skyrim. Like SubRosa said, they are laid out the way you’d think a fort would be. They did a pretty good job with the interiors as you pointed out. Thanks!

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Alright, these weren’t very popular over on the BethForums but I really like how they turned out. I got the effect kind of on accident. I was trying to see if I could get a good leaping screen shot and didn’t like the way Aravi looked mid-air. I tried on landing instead and got an intense radial blur when she took falling damage, which I think made a really cool picture. Many people disagree though.
1 & 2

Here’s one of Aravi just enjoying the scenery.