Aravi in Skyrim, her video story Options

[King Coin]

@mALX: It’s Markarth, and it’s the Silver-Blood Inn. Glad you like them, and none of them was an obvious favorite to you. That means they all rocked! Thanks mALX!

@liliandra: I love your captions! I saw that song a few months ago, but thanks for bringing it back! Thanks liliandra!

@Acadian: The elven armor was going to be temporary, but I think it has earned its spot as Aravi’s new armor set. Thanks Acadian!

@SubRosa: I retook that screen shot with that in mind, and I think the shots turned out much better. Thanks SubRosa!

@Grits: Research was a close second for me, but I love those outdoor pics. Since everyone said they looked like they were arguing, I retook that one with that in mind. Thanks Grits!

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Argument (retake)

Why are you sitting on the table?

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Aravi wandered the corridors within the upper level of the Hall of Attainment. The College’s newest members, like herself, are given rooms in the lower level. Many of the rooms up here were not in use she could see. Furniture was shoved aside and boxes and crates were stacked in their place. Who knew what they contained? A thick layer of dust showed that they have not been disturbed for some time.

As she walked the halls, began to get a feeling of being observed. Turning, she saw a ghostly wolf behind her, standing in the middle of the passage. Surprise brought her hands up and her body into a defensive stance. Shouldn’t have left my dagger in my room. She felt peculiar walking the grounds of the college armed and armored, so she had changed into the simple dress she kept and left her weapons behind. She was regretting those choices now. Those mages aren’t really unarmed anyways. The wolf just looked at her. When it became clear it did not intend to harm her, she tried something else. She smoothed her dress and kneeled, offering a hand like one would to a dog. It wagged its tail and came to her. She patted its head when it came into arm’s reach. The spectral wolf was substantial, and she ran her fingers through its thick fur coat while it sniffed her over. As she petted the canine, there was a vague sense of familiarity.

An unseen signal caught its attention and it bound down the corridor, disappearing down the stairwell, Aravi completely forgotten. Her curiosity peaked; she followed as quickly as she could in the dress, grabbing bunches of material in either hand. Why did I wear this stupid thing? she asked herself as she descended the winding staircase. Because it is pretty, she allowed. And Kharjo likes it too.

As she reached the last step, she couldn’t tell where it had gone from there. I wonder if…? She drew upon her power as a mortal with the soul of a dragon and spoke: “Laas.”

As the word left her mouth, she felt her soul give it true meaning. It was a strange feeling, but not necessarily unpleasant. Each word in the dragon tongue felt a little different, and as her familiarity with each word grew, the strange feeling diminished. The words she used the most no longer had a peculiar feeling.

Her vision faded momentarily and came back, with silvery-red tongues of flame dancing within every living being. Her eyes were drawn to her own living quarters. The shape of a large Khajiit that she recognized as Kharjo was inside along with what must be the ethereal wolf.

The flames dispersed and she walked to the threshold of her room, her bare feet noiseless upon the cool stone floor. Inside, Kharjo was sitting on her bed, hunched over the wolf and ruffling its fur with his hands. A translucent tongue lolled happily at the attention. Aravi stood in the open doorway and watched them, a small smile on her face.

After a few moments, Kharjo and the wolf noticed her simultaneously. “Aravi!” Kharjo said in surprise. “Look at what this one has learned!” With a yip, the ghostly wolf disappeared in a crackle of energy. After a second of startled silence, Kharjo continued, “This one can summon the spirit of a wolf!”

Aravi’s smile widened at his enthusiasm. “How did you learn that? You told me you didn’t have any skill in magic.”

“This one doesn’t, but his soul is familiar to this one and he is able to call him to Khajiit. The Dunmer Brelyna Maryon showed this one how.”

“That was a specific wolf?”

“Yes, when this one first came to Skyrim to work for Ahkari as a guard, it was a bitter winter. A wolf was following our caravan at a distance and at night this one set out the remains of our hunt for him. This became routine, our caravan would set out bones or some meat for the wolf every night and he became more comfortable with us. After nearly a year and a half, he stopped showing up to get his food. We never knew what happened to him.”

“Did you ever name him?”

“We called him many things, but his most common name in our camp was J’Renrij.”

“What does that mean?”

“You don’t know?” Kharjo had a look of mild surprise on his face, ears perked forward. “It means ‘clumsy bandit.’ We made fun of him, and whenever something disappeared from the camp, we jokingly blamed it on him.”

He sat and looked at her for a moment. Aravi didn’t say anything, preferring to allow him to form his thoughts. He moved over on the bed and patted the spot beside him. “Come, sit with this one. He would like to hear why you haven’t learned the Khajiit tongue.”

Aravi’s ears flattened to the side, revealing her emotions to Kharjo. He was quick to apologize, “This one didn’t mean offense; he only wished to know why you weren’t taught Ta'agra.”

Aravi replied, “No it’s alright, you didn’t offend me.” She made her ears raise, but it was no more genuine than a forced smile. She sat next to him on the bed, her tail twitching nervously. Should I tell him? She felt ashamed. I should tell him. Otherwise he might think I am hiding something dangerous from him. Again. She really didn’t want to share this story though. He doesn’t really need to know though. I could just lie.

He’d know that I’m lying.

Does it matter?

Yes. Yes, it does.

“I’ll tell you.” She stood and closed the door, then returned to her spot next to him on the bed. I will tell him the truth.

But how much? Not all of it surely.

Most of it.

Kharjo waited patiently, teal eyes never leaving her as she debated with herself.

Trust him. With that thought she decided.

“I don’t remember my parents very well anymore and I didn’t have any siblings. I have no memories of Elsweyr, if I was ever there. We were traveling with a caravan, and I remember that it was cold. My parents and I shared a bed to keep warm; I slept in between the two of them. I remember the smell of straw. The camp was attacked in the night. They must have been killing the sentries, because I remember a scream waking everybody up. I was told to stay where I was and my parents left the tent.”

Aravi looked at Kharjo. He was listening intently, ears perked in interest, and eyes focused upon her.

Aravi swallowed, bracing herself to relive the memory. “Many of the camp were killed. I remember watching strange men piling bodies of familiar people in the middle of the camp. I hid in my tent but my parents didn’t come for me. Instead a man cut it open. I tried to scratch his face, but he just picked me up and hit me.”

She felt Kharjo put a hand on her back. The touch gave her some strength and she continued.

“I don’t remember anything of the raid after that. I don’t know if my mother was killed, taken, or somehow escaped, I never saw her again. They chained up the survivors and took us to Morrowind. At some point, they stopped at a tower and waited for nightfall. A tall, pale man came out when the sun set and bought some of the humans and elves. I later figured out he was a vampire.

“When we reached a slave market in Morrowind, I saw my father sold on the same day. I took longer to sell because I was a child and not as useful. A Dunmer man bought me and took me to a plantation. I was worked in the fields for a few years, doing simple things a child is capable of, until I started my cycle.”

Aravi’s face burned at this part, but she didn’t hold it back. She didn’t look at Khajo either; it was somehow easier to tell him that way, despite his hand lightly touching her back. “Then I was selected for transfer to the house staff. I was taught to clean and cook among other things. I was overjoyed to not be in the fields anymore. However, I learned from the other women that there were other expectations of the household slaves in addition to keeping everything clean. I wasn’t selected to attend the master as often as the other girls; he only wanted me when he had something… strange in mind.”

Aravi got up and went to the small table and picked up a pitcher of water, still not looking at Kharjo. She didn’t want to see his face. She poured some water into a goblet and gulped it down. She drank too fast and started coughing, further embarrassing herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she pulled away from the touch. Still not looking at him, she poured another cupful and drank more slowly. Kharjo gave her space. “If you don’t want to talk anymore, that is fine, this one had no idea you were a slave.”

Aravi nodded. She felt tears running into her fur. Don’t cry.

“For what it is worth, thank you for trusting this one. It was very brave of you, and means much to this one.”

“Just promise me you won’t tell anyone I was a whøre.” Her voice was thick with anger, grief, and shame.

“This one promises.” He sounded like he had something else he wanted to say but he didn’t give it voice.

She heard his footsteps and the door open. He left and gently closed the door. Then she was alone. She went to her bed and laid on it. Normally it is a comforting thing for her, the silence of an empty room. As the minutes passed by, the feeling never came, instead she felt more ill at ease. Kharjo now knows more about her than anyone else ever has in her new life. She never told her best friend in Cyrodiil, Vilja, that she was a slave in Morrowind. Her thoughts lingered on the Nord in the blue gown for a while, always voicing her thoughts without considering them. Aravi missed her.

Then Aravi thought about Kharjo, and realized that his presence was comforting to her. He had become a symbol of stability and strength to her. When she thought of him, the image of a great tree standing strong while a storm blows around it came to mind. She almost laughed at the idea, but she couldn’t find fault with the image. She felt like she could rely on him through anything. When they fought together, even if it was dragon they faced, he never abandoned her. Suddenly, she was glad she hadn’t lied, or told him anything but the truth.

She stood up and went to the door. She opened it and looked around for Kharjo. He was just outside her door, seated on the floor with his back against the wall, waiting. She stepped out and took a seat on the floor next to him. She lightly touched the back of his hand and whispered, “thank you.”

He flipped his hand over and took hers.

This post has been edited by King Coin: Jul 28 2012, 06:50 AM

[SubRosa]

An interesting encounter with a familiar. I wonder who summoned it? Kharjo! So he has gone beyond just using staves now. Very cool. Although there is a certain wry whimsy to a feline summoning a canine.

J’Renrij's history is very neat. Clumsy Bandit is a great name, and I love how they blamed him for everything.

So Aravi does not speak Khajiit? Now she is going to have to spill the uncomfortable beans. Again, I loved her internal monologue as she decided whether or not to tell Kharjo, and what to tell them.



nits:
I saw few minor thing, but only one jumped out:
“Just promise me you won’t tell anyone I was a mother of mine.”
I don't think that is what you meant to write.

[Lycanthropic-Legend]

Why does Aravi hang with Spectral hounds when she can call upon her ancestors in the Hunting Grounds? Oh yeah, because she's not in wolf form, haha. Anyways, a relief it didn't turn out to be hostile.

For some reason, Kharjo made me chuckle. "This one can summon a Spirit Wolf!"
I love the light-hearted dialogue in this chapter.

And we're given a bit of her history in this part, with the revelation of her father being a slave from Morrowind and her as well. I must say, this is very interesting. Her history in slavery and Lycanthropic nature is sort of . . . eerily familiar . Good chapter!

Hehe, @ Subrosa. Stupid censors, I hate them.

[Acadian]

Those are gorgeous screens!

Kharjo has a spirit wolf! How neat! I loved Aravi’s internal debate about revealing the reason for her unfamiliarity with Khajiit ways.

I must say, it was a wonderfully wise decision on your part to have Aravi not speak ‘Khajiit’. Such a distinctive manner of speaking is delightful from Kharjo, but would be challenging for both you and readers if both our cats talked that way. It also gives a wonderful bonus in identifying who is speaking when the two are talking. Again, great choice!

You handled the nature of some of Aravi’s ‘household duties’ as a slave with a perfect mixture of clarity and delicacy, choosing just the right words.

Yay, a mention of dear Vilja!

‘Then Aravi thought about Kharjo, and realized that his presence was comforting to her. He had become a symbol of stability and strength to her. When she thought of him, the image of a great tree standing strong while a storm blows around it came to mind. She almost laughed at the idea, but she couldn’t find fault with the image. She felt like she could rely on him through anything. When they fought together, even if it was dragon they faced, he never abandoned her. Suddenly, she was glad she hadn’t lied, or told him anything but the truth.’
This is beautiful and flows so naturally from what we know of both Aravi and Kharjo.

What a great piece of Aravi fiction!

[Grits]

What a fun way for Aravi to discover Kharjo’s new summoning spell! J’Renrij has a lot of charm, and that was a neat story from Kharjo. A glimpse of caravan life. I love your description of Aravi using her Voice.

You presented Aravi’s emotional tale of loss and enslavement with just the right touch. I thought of her modesty, kindness, and personal dignity that come through so well in her videos as she struggled with what to tell Kharjo. I wonder if that early memory of a vampire nudged her toward her career in Cyrodiil.

Kharjo behaved exactly the way Aravi thinks of him. That was also beautifully done. The little hand clasp at the end!

A wonderful addition to Aravi’s story, KC!

[mALX]

GAAAAH !!! I love "Argument" !!!!!!!

Both Aravi's and Kharjo's background stories were powerfully written - Loved this segment !!! This must have been very hard to write, you did an Awesome job on this !!!

[King Coin]

@SubRosa: I wanted to give Kharjo a unique ability and I thought that his time spent traveling the roads with the caravans would be an excellent reason for him to have a familiar. Aravi’s ashamed of her past even though she had no say in what she had to do, so it took something of her to share that with Kharjo. Thanks SubRosa!

@LL: What a wonderfully creative line! Kharjo was excited about his summoning, so I’m glad it gave you a laugh.

Glad you liked the story of her past. Sounds like you’ve got some Morrowind plans as well, looking forward to them whenever they are complete! Thanks LL!

@Acadian: Aravi found that story difficult to tell despite how good of a friend Kharjo’s been to her. I agree with what you say about speech patterns and it’s very nice for me that Aravi turned out that way. She would have spoken like a Khajiit if that’s what her past was though. The passage you highlighted was my favorite. Thanks Acadian!

@Grits: I think I need to tell more of J’Renrij’s story too! Presenting a scene like this can be difficult as I’m sure you know, but Aravi and Kharjo really took over the writing when I started. I thought the little hand clasp was silly, but Aravi is still not ready for much more. Thanks Grits!

@mALX: You would think that it would be difficult, but Aravi really took over the writing when I got into her story. I’ll have to add more on Kharjo and his wolf. Thanks mALX!

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Aravi speaks to the College’s librarian about Elder Scrolls.

6:10

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Books:

Effects of the Elder Scrolls

Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls


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Just a question to you, I’ve been updating this thread with a video or a chapter every third day (and screen shots in between if I have them) and while I like doing that, do you all like this pace? Should I add another day to the wait period? I’m also not going to post screen shots on off days anymore.

[Grits]

Drevis makes me want to create a benevolent a Dunmer scholar.

Urag could use some additional conversational responses: Screw you, *smack,* and WTF? Sounds like a trip to the ice fields. *shiver*

I’m good with your current posting pace. When I read/view on my Kindle it sometimes takes me a little while to get back to my laptop and comment, but I always know I can catch up. I love how much your screen shots add to the characters. There is so much detail that I don’t see in the videos or in my games, and you really create moods in your screen shots. And I would love to read more chapters!!

[mALX]

That librarian gives out a lot of quests, I have never gotten one from him that looks for an Elder Scroll though! This is exciting, a new quest !! I am intrigued already, it will take Aravi up in the cold north too! Hope she'll be okay up there with her modded cold exposure effects!

You can post screens at the same time with the vids if you want (imho). Just don't stop posting screens, to me they are an awesome addition to the thread. Like Grits said, you create moods with your shots and tell a story sometimes with them. My request - more of the writing! Your story and writing bring a new depth to your thread and bring us closer to Aravi, to knowing what she is thinking and feeling.

Awesome vid !!!

[SubRosa]

Drevis reminds me of this skit from Amazon Women on the Moon.

Wow, Aravi is swimming in cash! 35k! Most of my characters blow it all on houses or training before ever getting that much.

"The greatest thief in the world wouldn't even be able to lay a finger on it."
This had me laughing. It would certainly be the Ultimate Heist, that is for certain!

Septimus Signus eh? Hrafn remembers him. She bumped into him by accident on the ice. It looks like Aravi is going for a cold swim...

I think your schedule is just fine. Unless you are having trouble keeping up with it, I suggest not changing it.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 30 2012, 09:34 PM

[Acadian]

An orc librarian! I love it! Sort of reminiscent of the bookseller in Leyawiin who grouses, “Buyagoddambook!”: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Bugak_gro-Bol

Speaking of Obivion references, I shared SubRosa’s faint smile at Skyrim’s nod to ‘The Ulitmate Heist’.

I think updating twice a week is serving you well. I would agree that it is better to generally incorporate your screens into your other posts. You are doing a wonderful job of blending screens, vids and prose – and each contributes a great deal. Specifically (as Grits & mALX wisely pointed out), the screens really give us the best studies of Aravi and Kharjo’s faces and do indeed say things the other two media cannot.

[Darkness Eternal]

Orcs and books=Norc. I loved the update, and the music in the beginning brings back so many memories. Real throwback to Oblivion.

Oh oh! Aravi is going to meet that crazy hermit guy that works for that giant Daedric blob! The quest for the Elder Scroll begins!

Keep posting whenever it is convenient for you. We'll be here and we will keep reading. Your updates are good because not only are they entertaining and great, they're kept in a good size.

[King Coin]

@Everyone: So it sounds like my posting pace is acceptable for everyone. I’ll keep it then. I’ll keep doing screen shots, but I’m not posting them separate anymore.

@Grits: I like Drevis too. Aravi likes him despite lying to him about his spell, though she thought he was trying to be funny and not serious. Urag seemed to be in a good mood, he didn’t threaten to kill anyone with elementals this time. Thanks Grits!

@mALX: You wouldn’t have gotten that quest because it is part of the main quest! Aravi will be fine on the ice; she packed plenty of essentials for the trip.

I’m not going to quit doing screen shots, but I will have to post less of them just because I’m combining them with other posts. Thanks mALX!

@SubRosa: Nice skit, I liked it when the bar lady yelled to the room, “Here comes the invisible man again!”

I thought of the exact same thing when the Orc mentioned the thief. Definitely a nod to the TG quest in Oblivion. Aravi does have a tendency to hang onto her money when she gets it. I think she’s around 55k right now… Thanks SubRosa!

@Acadian: I forgot about the seller in Leyawiin! Aravi never visited that town very much, it wasn’t a nice place for Khajiit. Thanks Acadian!

@DE: I’m glad you noted the music, I put that track in to play. There wasn’t any ambient music when Aravi went in there, so I decided to throw some in the video.

Aravi might not meet the blob, bringing the lexicon to the crazy guy is low on her priorities. Perhaps later she will. Thanks DE!

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Aravi travels out to the ice fields north of Winterhold in search of Septimus.

7:03

NOTE: I skip Septimus’ dialog because he is insane and drones on for 10 minutes. Basically, he tells her where she can find an Elder Scroll. Go to the bottom of a specific Dwemer ruin and then go deeper.

[Grits]

I love those glacier noises! So glad you caught that. Although Aravi probably did not enjoy that moment.

Nice job chewing up those bones, J’Renrij! The ice fields are so neat with the horkers, storm debris, and gull noises. Looks like Aravi found a way to keep everyone dry.

Great view of the Dwemer thing on the way down to Septimus’ lair. Oh my gosh, Kharjo’s shrug after Septimus said, “Smoke the glass” or something made me laugh. Good idea for Aravi to warm up while this guy rambles!

[SubRosa]

55k? Aravi must sleep on a mattress stuffed with gold!

I agree with Grits on the glacier noises. I love how they groan and creak, and make you wonder if they whole thing is going to come crashing down.

At least the weather cleared up once Aravi got away from Winterhold. There is a screen tip that says Windhelm is the snowiest place in the province, but Winterhold's weather is set to 100% snow storm, and has no other possibilities.

They found that ruin with the skeletons. And Kharjo summoned his Familiar!

I wonder if the dwemer lockbox is hiding Septimus' sanity as well...

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 2 2012, 08:42 PM

[mALX]

I absolutely love the music when Aravi reached the water, and loved the look of the ice floats. Beautiful! Is that Aravi's tent? Awesome that it has snow on it while it is snowing, very realistic!

Oh, there is Kharjo's summon! I love the howl!

HORKERS !!!!

This was fascinating! Kagrenac - is he saying he has a piece of Lorkhan's heart in there? I am very intrigued by this quest! Awesome vid - but cut off mid sentence, lol.

[Grits]

Oh, I forgot to mention the tent! Only one tent!

[Acadian]

Brrrr! But what a neat and haunting trip across the ice fields. Glad to see Kharjo using his spirit wolf. Loved their campsite! The walruses (horkers) were very cool!

[King Coin]

@Grits: Those glacier noises are really cool, but you are right, they made Aravi nervous. The ice fields really are very interesting to explore. There’s a shipwreck and a guardian stone up there and some other stuff too. Lots of valuable ore to be had for any miners. The guardian stone was very tricky for Aravi to get because there was no way to get there without swimming.

Wow I missed that shrug, thanks for pointing it out! Thanks Grits!

@SubRosa: 61k now. She had more, but then she bought some stuff and got some light armor training. Good thing all that gold doesn’t weigh anything isn’t it?

Aravi can clear the weather in Winterhold with a shout! I like it even better than the weather power in the Shivering Isles.

I was pleased when Kharjo started using his summon after I added it to his spell list. I didn’t have to do anything to his AI to get him to use it. Aravi might be back at that ruin with the skeletons much later. Thanks SubRosa!

@mALX: I love the music in all TES games, and that one you pointed out is an absolute favorite. Yep, that’s one tent option. Aravi usually carries two small tents instead of the big one because they weigh less, but she and Kharjo needed to share a tent to share heat.

I believe that is what Septimus says. Aravi might go back to him, she is kind of interested in that big Dwemer block, but she has no plans yet. Thanks mALX!

@Acadian: It was very chilly, Aravi had to stop a few times to build a fire and warm up! Thanks Acadian!

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Aravi’s decided after the freezing cold of the ice fields, that she would like to go to the much more mild Riften Hold. Before she leaves, she gets to know some of the other students at the Winterhold College.

6:33

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Screen shots!

In the Reach

Torchlight

[SubRosa]

How come we cannot create new spells? Or make scrolls?

Oh boy, its Brelyna, and her test spells. It is a lot funnier watching someone else be turned into a horse. Aravi should have left a road apple behind before Brelyna changed her back...