Aravi in Skyrim, her video story Options

[Acadian]

A creepy dungeon. Aravi is very aware and cautious about traps and unseen dangers. She’s learned to be very cautious and prudent. Some nice one-shot arrow kills.

It looked like one of those lightning-using draugrs zapped his buddy in the back while trying to hit Aravi. Neat!

She brilliantly didn’t waste any time when disarmed. Just shouted right in that deathlord’s face! Woot!

Ugh. Any sort of puzzling stuff out to make progress, kicks my butt and I don't enjoy trying to figure it out. I’m glad Aravi had the patience to find that ceremonial axe to open the way. Very clever kitty!

This post has been edited by Acadian: May 23 2012, 12:11 AM

[King Coin]

@mALX: Swords and bow! Thanks mALX!

@ SubRosa: You would think a resident of Tamriel would know better than to enter an old tomb. The Deathlord was a lot of trouble. We found out the hard way that a single arrow from her can kill Aravi.

Evel Knevel I always thought the same thing! Thanks SubRosa!

@Grits: Ah, I see. That completely makes sense then. Aravi’s a Khajiit so a locked door is kind of like a challenge.

Disarmed! That was a nasty surprise, but she still was dangerous! I’m actually very happy with how that part came out, it showed her quick thinking. Thanks Grits!

@Acadian: She’s always been cautious, but she was even more so without Kharjo’s heavy armor to get between her and danger. Aravi recovered very well from being disarmed. She’s had practice in Cyrodiil though. The ax was hidden in plain sight. Took a while for us to figure out where it was. Thanks Acadian!

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Some screenshots of Aravi’s northern travels.

Outside of Dawnstar, on the coast. One and Two

With Kharjo, just outside the College of Winterhold.

This post has been edited by King Coin: May 24 2012, 01:19 AM

[SubRosa]

I love the Sea of Ghosts. That first one of the coast is my favorite. You can just make out Winterhold in the distance.

[Grits]

Very nice! I like Two the best, with Aravi's tail neatly curled. It looks like she's having a serious conversation with Kharjo!

[Acadian]

Brrr! Beautiful but very cold looking!

Like Grits, I love how Aravi’s tail is curled behind her.

The last one. . . just a couple of cool cats trying to figure out this magicky stuff.

Thanks so much for sharing these great screens!

[mALX]

These were all awesome shots, but my fave has to be #2 - not just Aravi's tail curled to the camera, but for the scenery - Awesome shots!

[King Coin]

@SubRosa: The Sea of Ghosts sure is pretty. Thanks!

@Grits: I’ve had that pose mod for a while now, but I’m just now starting to put it to use. I love how the tail curls around too. Thanks!

@Acadian: The last one is my favorite. When this is done, Aravi’s going to want to go south for a while! Thanks!

@mALX: I took a ton of screen shots of her sitting on that rock trying to get the perfect balance of Aravi and scenery. Thanks!

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Aravi is defeated by Kvenel and then she is troubled by dreams when she returns to Breezehome.*

TIME: 12:05

*It wasn’t as hard to tell in the preview as it is in the final video, but in her dream she is a vampire.

**Short explanation of Aravi's decision in the video**


This post has been edited by King Coin: May 26 2012, 04:35 AM

[mALX]

I couldn't tell she was a vampire, only that she attacked a roomful of ... urk! She fell !!! But when she returned, was that a dream too? GAAAAH! Now I'll get to see what I avoided so far, lol. This vid was AWESOME !!! Loved it !!!!

[SubRosa]

Looks like those ebony arrows will come in handy. Kneval was a tough fight when Tanit went up against him. I think I had to reload at least once. My did she slice and dice that Restless Draugr after the got hurt and had to retreat! I have never been able to strike that quickly when dual-wielding. I guess my trigger finger is not what it used to be...

So now Aravi wants to be a werewolf? I think I would have just gone back with Lydia instead. Or with Kharjo. Well, at least there are no downsides to be being a werewolf in Skyrim.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 25 2012, 08:30 PM

[Acadian]

Your ability to literally show us what is going on is amazing – particularly since that is all we have to go by due to your video venue. Her wise decision to abandon a fight against Kvenel was clear. As was her trepidation in accepting lycanthropy.

I appreciate the brief explanation to help flesh out Aravi’s logic. Tragically, it makes sense for Aravi. I hope it rids her of the vampiric taint, and that the price of turning to the dog side is not too high for our kitty to bear in its stead.

Her night romp through the tundra was impressive! I must selfishly confess that I’m pleased you so brilliantly worked out a way to show us the path of the wolf in Skyrim!

[Grits]

That was weird, the burnt corpse looked like it was holding a scroll. What a scary escape from Kvenel the Tongue.

You really conveyed that Aravi’s decision was not made lightly. The beast blood should get rid of any lingering vampire, but she still did not seem thrilled about accepting it.

It looked like she had a good first run on the tundra, though. Poor chickens! They must be traumatized living so close to Jorrvaskr. Now we know why the Grey-Manes’ cow looks so nervous.

Aela’s comment about taking the blood of her foes must have been uncomfortable for Aravi. It was good to hear the reassurance that Aravi can control her beast blood rather than being subject to surprise transformations. Exactly as Acadian said, your ability to show what Aravi is going through is amazing. I look forward to seeing where this new path takes her.

[SubRosa]

Have you seen this mod? A Were-Panther would sound more appropriate for Aravi to turn into than a werewolf.

[King Coin]

Explanation of the previous video:
When Aravi went to sleep, she had a dream of her vampire (the fragment of the disease that has been within her since before she left Cyrodiil, also the cause of all of her vampire nightmares) being killed by the werewolves. Werewolves are immune to disease, including vampirism. Accepting the curse of the werewolf will instantly cure all diseases and even a full vampire will be cured. Aravi decided to accept one curse to be rid of another.

@mALX: Hopefully it is now a little more clear. Aravi hadn’t turned into a vampire; only in her nightmares was she ever a vampire. The dream was symbolic of the end of the vampire problems she has had. It wasn’t very clear unfortunately. Thanks mALX! Werewolves (or I should say werecats) are a lot of fun!

@SubRosa: Kvenel outmatched Aravi and it was very close. If she hadn’t been slowed so much by the frost attack, I wouldn’t have applied the potion.

She did not accept lycanthropy to fight Kvenel, but to be rid of the vampire taint. I apologize that it wasn’t very clear in the video. I probably should have separated the two events into different videos. Lessons learned. She does actually go back to fight Kvenel later with Kharjo.

I looked at the screen shots for that mod you posted and it didn’t look like much of an improvement. I might try it. Thanks SubRosa!

@Acadian: I’m glad the brief explanation helped you understand what happened. I’ll have to do better in the future though. Lycanthropy turns out to be a lot of fun and I’m very pleased to be able to show it. As you guessed, there is a price. Aravi will be relieved to be rid of the taint, but she may decide the price is too high. Thanks Acadian!

@Grits: I found out later that the burnt corpse is holding a scroll and it can be taken with enough maneuvering. It would have been handy.

The chickens! They were lucky Aravi didn’t want to stop running!

Aravi has control over her transformations, but she finds that she needs to let the beast out at times. It’s like a pressure that she can feel building. Thanks Grits!

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

Aravi goes with Aela to combat a group of werewolf hunters.

Time: 12:36

[Grits]

“After Skjor charged in…” That’s when Jensa started running. She was not the brightest werewolf. A bit like Skjor.

Torture tools? Never saw those. That skeever was kind of cute, sniffing the air like the rats in Oblivion.

What an awesome fling of the Skinner guy! Whoa, Aravi seems to have embraced her beast self, but not without a cost. She did not seem happy to see those bodies she fed on.

On one hand she has Kharjo, the Blades, and the dragons, and on the other she's now a part of the Companions' fight. I wonder what she is going to do.

I loved this video! You showed a battle and internal conflict in the same one. Awesome!

This post has been edited by Grits: May 28 2012, 04:54 PM

[SubRosa]

The Silver Hand. Now there is a group of psychos that you do not need to be a werewolf to enjoy killing. I remember when Hrafn first came along them in their place southeast of Dawnstar. They make the Thalmor look civilized by comparison. Looks like Aravi and Aela's archery took care of business in the courtyard.

A good use of that Fear spell, combined with what I imagine was an arrow in the back from Aela. I never like using Fear spells in ES games, because it means you have to chase after the monsters to kill them. I got enough of that with necromancers in Oblivion, without using a spell. But when you have someone like Aela to shoot them down, I can see how useful it can be.

Oh, take that Charred Skeever Hide. It has a Cure Disease effect. Oh, I guess Aravi does not have to worry about that anymore.

They kill werewolves but keep skeevers as pets? What a bunch of loons!

Uh oh, there is one of those spike wall traps up ahead. I wonder if Aravi can lure the Silvers into setting it off? I love doing that. Oh too bad, they did not set it off when they ran past.

Neat, I see your cloak mod puts them on the NPCs as well.

Am I the only one who saw "Beast Form" and thought "Breast Form"?

They certainly do the werewolf transformation well. That was cool when she threw that guy across the room! The sepia tone it turns the screen might get old though.

I looked up silver weapons in the wiki a few days ago, and it turns out they do an extra 20 points of damage to vampires, werewolves, and undead. And you can still enchant them on top of that! So they are pretty impressive.

Oh yummy, eating guts.

Looks like Skjor did not make it.

Now I wonder if Aravi is having second thoughts? Was becoming a werewolf any better than a vampire?

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 28 2012, 06:56 PM

[Acadian]

It was neat seeing Aravi use a blade in one hand and spell in the other – a fun change.

As a fan of illusion, I like a short duration fear spell - the perfect chaser for a poisoned arrow. It can send a melee brute scrambling away just long enough to poison another arrow and draw your bow in time for him lumber back for a wash rinse and repeat.

Yikes! The feeding habits of werewolves look. . . messier than those of vampires.

Again, I’m so pleased that you are showing us how werewolves work! Aravi was doing some serious (Silver) Hand slapping. I take comfort in suspecting that she will somehow find the path to move beyond the way of the dog.

[mALX]

What an awesome fling of the Skinner guy! Whoa, Aravi seems to have embraced her beast self, but not without a cost. She did not seem happy to see those bodies she fed on.

I couldn't have said it better. To me these were the two biggest impressions in this film. Aravi was Awesome as a beast, but the cost to her emotionally and mentally was evident at the end of the vid.

Awesome Vid !!!

[King Coin]

@Grits: I wouldn’t say Aravi embraced her beast self, it just kind of took over. She has very little control when she is a beast. She was very sick after she changed back; she threw up all the meat the beast ate. Thanks Grits!

@SubRosa: I actually prefer the fear spell over the calm spell in Skyrim, it wears out fairly quickly and they come charging back into battle. Aela did well putting an arrow into that one’s back though.

Thanks for the tip on the Skeever hide. Hawk feathers are kind of like Oblivion’s mandrake root.

Aravi has some silver swords back at Breezehome. I knew they were good against undead, but I didn’t know they were that good. I tried to use a blacksmithing mod to make them upgradeable, but I couldn’t get the whole mod to work, so I just kept the weapons in storage. I can guarantee that Aravi is having second thoughts. She didn’t imagine eating people. Thanks SubRosa!

@Acadian: Fear is good for thinning crowds too as you saw Aravi use it. It is fun to use a combination of spells and weapons. Aravi generally prefers using her swords though. With hotkeying, I’m sure you could keep someone going back and forth with a bow and spell.

When the werewolf fed, that wasn’t Aravi’s decision. That was all beast. You are right that she will be looking for a way out of this as well. Thanks Acadian!

@mALX: You are totally right about the cost. She took a risk and she knew it when she chose to accept the beast blood. She has very little control when she turns into a beast. She remembers vividly what she did as a beast, as well as the emotions she was experiencing as a beast. She enjoyed eating her prey as a beast, but it completely sickens her as a Khajiit. Thanks mALX!

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These are more screen shots of Aravi’s northern expeditions.

Aravi, alone in the tundra, warming up after a day of hunting.

Another expedition, this time onto the ice sheets to find something. She took Kharjo along.
One and Two

This post has been edited by King Coin: May 30 2012, 04:08 AM

[SubRosa]

I love that second pic, where the light is bathing Aravi.

[mALX]

My favorite is the one called "One" - I picture her getting off on an icesheet in the middle of the Sea of Ghosts to come to grips with the werebeast in her.

All are Awesome shots !!