Because Every Rose Has Its Video, Rosa's Vid Topic Options

[Grits]

Oh, I love the new sword! It looks like it works very well.

[Acadian]

Used to be Hera the Penetrator. Now, the Decapitator. Folks just seem to lose their heads around your mermaid!

At least we know where the headless horseman came from!

[SubRosa]

Grits: I love the glowing runes on that sword. The same modder made another mod that adds them to the Nordic Hero weapons you can forge at the Skyforge. But the weapons are still all grey. They are just too drab to use. So I used the black draugr sword instead.


Acadian: I think we might call Hera the Red Queen: "Off with his head!". It is all from a perk she finally unlocked that gives you a chance of decapitating opponents.


Hera in her latest suit of armor, Stormcloak Officer gear

Fighting through Solitude

Side by side with the boss

With the war over, Hera was glad to return to a little peace and quiet in Riverwood.

Here is an experiment - this is Hera completely vanilla, no slider settings changed.

Here she is with all the mods I normally use.

Since Hera is really fallen in love with the rustic charms of Riverwood, she made me build her a home there.

Here she is relaxing on the porch

An interior view

She wanted a map of the province, so she can better decide where to go next

I even figured out how to add weapon racks. Here are a few things Hera has acquired

The basement has all the things an adventurer could need. Once I get mannequins figured out, I might add a few so Hera can put her extra suits of armor on display.

[Acadian]

That Nord Hero (?) armor without a helm looks best on her. I see she had the Texas Longhorn tat removed? Heh, seriously, she is a great looking character.

Since I don’t really know what vanilla or modded Skyrim looks like, it all seems nice to me. Her house looks like it fits in.

[King Coin]

Decaps must happen more frequently with two handed weapons than one. Aravi does them rarely.

Draugr greatsword looks cool with the glowing runes.

“You’re a little tall for a stormtrooper”

Hmm… I definitely like the other armors better than the Cloak gear.

Woah big difference between mods and no mods.

Nice map on the wall. I haven’t built any houses yet, but I’ll definitely have to include a map in any that I do.

[Grits]

Hera's house looks great! I love Riverwood.

Don't hate me, but I like vanilla Hera best. (Argh, where's the running away emoticon?!)

Those mannequins are fun for trophy armor. I have duplicates of Rowan and Vorstag's armor on them in Proudspire Manor, so it looks like they put their gear on the racks when they get home. And of course, Allek's walk around the basement.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: The Nord Hero armor is one of the best looking ones in the game, imho. It is too bad that normally you cannot get it without completing the Companions quest line. I made a mod that lets you craft it at any forge instead.

Now that the civil war is over, and she has traveled all over Skyrim, Hera has been feeling a need to explore her elven half. She has realized that there is an entire world out that which she never knew existed. She wants to find her place in it, rather than her foster father's place. So the facepaint went. She is hanging up her Nord Hero armor as well, and her glowy draugr sword. At least for now. She needs to spend some time being an elf.

King Coin: It is funny, no one believed that Hera was an Imperial. But then people in this game usually ignore what you are wearing. You can walk right up an Imperial soldier while wearing Stormcloak armor and they will talk to you the same as normal.

The difference in elves with and without mods is startling. They look like two different races to me.


Grits: Riverwood has always been one of my favorite settlements. You can tell Bethesda lavished a lot of time and effort on it. No surprise, since they guide every new character there with Ralof/Hadvar. Hera finds it to be very peaceful and tranquil. Especially with Faendal around, he is the first other elf she has been able to really get to know and connect with.

These two need to get a room...

Hera warms her hands by the fire in the Ivarstead inn.

She found a new toy, and tries it out on a troll

A beauty shot

Hera discovers that vanilla mannequins are all male in this game. Causing her armor to look completely different that how it does on her.

It's Alive! It's Alive!!!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jun 2 2012, 12:24 AM

[King Coin]

My favorite thing about the inns is the open fire pit.

Never seen that sword before. Mod? Or ebony? Aravi's found ebony quality axes and hammers, but no sword.

Lol! Aravi would totally flip out if she saw a mannequin moving! Seeing that makes me think of mods. Make some 'guardians' for your home that kill anything hostile that comes inside your home and then returns to their spots.

[Grits]

That’s a nice sword! I really like the ebony weapons and armor. Hera’s Elven gear really suits her, though. It looks so elegant. Perhaps more like her future than her past.

Female mannequins would be great! Especially if they did some alchemy and sharpened the blades while you were out. That guy looks kind of active for my nerves. Ugh, now I’m imagining him standing over Hera as she sleeps…

I always enjoy seeing the houses you make for your characters!

[Acadian]

Those two that need a room look like they’ve been at it for years. . . decades maybe!

Did I hear Hera snarl to that troll, “Get your damn hand off my knee!”

Mannequins. . . hmm. I think I would prefer display racks just like the one that holds the Crusader Relics in KOTN. Leave mannequins to the creativity of folks like the couple in your first screenshot or Falanu Hlaalu.

[SubRosa]

King Coin: One thing I love about Breezehome is the firepit right when you walk in.

That was an ebony greatsword, pure vanilla. It was the first I ever saw as well.

Mannequin guardians would be a great idea for a villain to have in a mod. You sneak into their house to steal some plot macguffin, and the mannequins all come to life and attack!


Grits: So far I really like all the ebony gear in this game as well. Though I think Hera is going to stick with the elven equipment for now. It is what feels right for her, at least right now.

Those mannequin's moving around is creepy. It is a common glitch though. You can fix it by leaving the cell, and then reentering.


Acadian: That one of the two friendly draugr was almost as good as the bandits tea-bagging.

Well, I guess taking a troll to the knee is better than an arrow! Sorry, you would probably have to play the game to recognize the meme.

I think I prefer the simple racks like they had for the KOTN armor too. The mannequins can be creepy.


Now how did that mammoth get stuck in there?

Dealing with a necromancer

Another obligatory Whiterun aurora pic

I created a new character to try out the Imperial side of the civil war. Meet Selene, Imperial Battlemage (She killed two other Imperials getting the Jagged Crown. Oops!)

It is great how an Imperial Legionary can walk right into the capital of the enemy, and the Stormcloaks just make small talk.

[Acadian]

Luvs mammoths! Thanks for sharing! I was so pleased to see that they were included in Skyrim.

Selene? She looks nice, despite the round ears.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Jun 5 2012, 03:00 AM

[King Coin]

Great shot of Hera and the necromancer!

I had a beautiful sky the other night. It was cloudy, but in between the patches of clouds, you could see the auroras. It was very nice.

The Jagged Crown, that’s an item Aravi hasn’t seen yet either. I suppose eventually either she or one of my other characters will find it. That’s silly that you can just talk to the cloaks like that and they don’t care. Can you talk to Ulfric? That would be really funny.

This kind of makes me want to make some mods that make NPCs react to your character and other characters. I can foresee some issues with NPCs killing each other already though.

[Grits]

That’s a great shot of Hera and the necromancer! Wow.

Nice hat for Selene. How funny that she’s chatting with a Stormcloak.

[SubRosa]

Acadian: The mammoths are neat. They make the ground shake when they come near. That is a good time to run, since they tend to stomp anything that gets too close.


King Coin: You can only get the Jagged Crown by doing the Civil War. It is one of the early quests. You actually can walk right up to Ulfric and talk to him when you are playing an Imperial. I did it with Selene just to see. Part of that is necessary, as at this point in the civil war you can switch sides, by giving the other side the crown. But if you tell them you changed your mind, you can walk right out with the crown, and they will not even try to stop you.


Grits: A girl's got to have her hair accessories after all...

I think the civil war really jumped the shark when Selene walked into Windhelm in her legion armor, and no one batted an eye. That scripted scene with the two Nord A-holes harassing the Dunmer and calling her a spy was hilarious. Selene was standing right next to them in her legion armor, trying to get their attention. "Hello, I'm in the Imperial Legion!" They even continued to ignore her when the scene ended and they walked off.

I had a few similar occurrences while playing Hera and Hrafn as Stormcloaks. Where they could walk up to an Imperial patrol in the wilderness with no reaction. But nothing as blatant as this. I think I'm done trying the civil war from either side. I might restart Selene at some point just to do the College of Winterhold questline. But no more warring.


A close up of Hera

A long vid of Hera clearing out Ilinalta's Deep

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jun 6 2012, 12:33 AM

[Acadian]

I’m glad Hera has developed a ranged ability (bow). Given the high speed of spells in Skyrim, they seem to steal much of an archer’s advantage. Nonetheless, Hera did well using cover and quick feet to trade arrows for spells with those mages until she could get her blade into them. Looks like you’re having fun with a big two handed sword!

Yay! Azura’s Star!

[King Coin]

Oh no! I saw this and totally forgot about it!

Hera looks really good in the Elven armor. I suppose you can make a different character for the Nord hero armor. The damaged eye is good contrast to the armor.

I love this dungeon. Was very creeped out when I found the skeleton at the entrance.

I enjoyed the dual with the first necro. Aravi has finally earned that perk.

Aaaand the heads will roll!

That necromancer master almost killed Hera!

[SubRosa]

Acadian: Hera's been carrying a bow for a long time, but has not been especially good with it compared to her sword. She put some money into training with it though, and started investing some perks recently. Now she is much better. She also bought one that does 25pts of shock damage, which is much better than she can enchant herself (I think she can get up to 16 points damage from her own enchantments).

This is just the first part of Azura's Star. The really neat stuff is yet to come. This quest was vastly improved in Skryim, and has two possible paths. There is the path Hera chose, and another, that turns it into a black soul gem. Not that any of my characters use soul trap anyway.


King Coin: I really like how Hera looks in the elven armor. She is wearing the gilded version now, which looks the same as the regular version. The Light version lacks the leaves around the shoulders, and does not look quite as good. I think it suits her to a tee. I especially like how her face looks in the helmet, as it gives her head a gentle, rounded appearance.

Maybe Aravi should try out the Nord Hero armor? You can make it at the Skyforge when you finish the Companions questline. Or you can just mod the game like I did to make it anytime, anywhere.

I thought that first, crucified skeleton was creepy too. Especially after reading his journal. Poor guy. There are a lot more sad stories of people like that in Skyrim that there were in Oblivion.

Hera cleanses Azura's Star

Hera and Araena

Hera met up with Borgakh the Steel Heart, and took on Meridia's quest with her.

Hera and Borgakh in action

Finishing off the Evil Overlord

Victory

[Acadian]

I like Azura’s voice! Of course, I like her voice in OB as well.

When she warned that Hera didn’t have the hundred or so years to wait, I wanted to yell, ‘Wanna bet?’

When the baddie told Hera there was something different about her, I groaned. I was afraid he was try that ‘dragonborn’ line on her.

More good footwork and use of cover with that bow!

‘Guardian of the Star’. I like the parallel to the OB ‘Star Bearer’.


Of the screens, I love the first one of Hera and her new friend. Araena seems neat and, with the glow on Hera’s golden armor, she looks ever so much like a mighty Valkyrie!

[Grits]

I love how the inside of the Star looks, before everything explodes in fire. Hera did an awesome job! Nice to see Araena get some company. I had the same thought as Acadian about the hundred years!