| “ | If you wish to hunt with me, your feet need to be quick and your eyes quicker. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
| “ | I'm ready for the hunt! | „ |
| ~ Aela in Elder Scrolls Legends |
Aela the Huntress is a Nord werewolf, a member of The Companions, and one of five members of The Circle. Residing in Jorrvaskr with the other Companions, Aela offers lycanthropy to other members of the companions who become members of "The Circle". She comes from a long line of women who where Companions, although her mother died before she joined. When she was younger, she lived with her father in the woods and learned to hunt and use the bow until she was old enough to join the ranks of the companions.
Role
The Dovahkiin will first encounter Aela fighting a giant alongside Farkas and Ria at a farm outside of Whiterun. If the Dragonborn approaches, whether or not he/she decides to help them battle the giant, Aela will start a conversation with them and tell him/her about the Companions. If the Dragonborn is interested, they can ask her how they can join, to which she will respond by telling them to talk to Kodlak Whitemane, the Harbinger of the Companions. Her views with this thought will vary depending on how the Dragonborn performs in battle against the giant.
After joining them, Aela can be asked for any jobs needed to perform, to which she will give the Dragonborn the task of exterminating a hostile animal that has invaded a home.
Soon, after performing several jobs, they will be asked to meet her, along with Farkas, Vilkas, and Skjor in the Underforge, a secret chamber located under the Skyforge. There they will be initiated as a member of the circle, a higher ranking group of Companions members who are unknowingly werewolves. After getting used to their new transformation, the Dragonborn will wake up next to Aela outside a fort under control by an enemy group known as the Silver Hand. There, the two of them invade the base to see what the group of werewolf hunters are hiding. To their shock, they discover Skjor, captured and murdered.
Upon returning with a witch head to cleanse Kodlak of his lycanthropy, the Dragonborn will learn that the Silver Hand made a surprise attack while they were gone and ended up killing the harbinger and stealing the shards of Ysgramor's legendary axe.
Upon eradicating the Silver Hand with Vilkas and attending Kodlak's memorial service, she and the remaining members of the Circle decide to travel to Ysgramor's Tomb, where they will respectfully fulfill the recently deceased harbinger's last request of cleansing his lycanthropy. She will be the only member of The Circle besides the Dragonborn who will travel all the way through the tomb to reach Kodlak's spirit. She will be astonished by the fact that Kodlak grants the Dragonborn the title of the new harbinger upon successfully cleansing his wolf spirit.
She is an expert level Archery trainer, as well as a candidate for marriage and a follower after The Companions' main quest-line.
Aela is also a Daedric Worshipper as she worships Hircine the Daedric Deity of hunting, nature, animals and Lycanthropy.
Personality
She is strong, loyal, brave, proud, independent, honorable, fearless, adventurous, strong-willed, courageous and serious. Due to her childhood of living in the woods she prefers to spend her time hunting, tracking, fighting, training and exploring rather than sitting around all day. Aela is dedicated to hunting, fighting and training.
Unlike most members of the Companions Aela sees her Lycanthropy as a gift rather than a curse, much like Serana and her vampirism.
Aela would like to hunt and fight in the afterlife rather then go to Sovgarde like most Nords telling stories, singing and celebrating about their adventures.
Aela the Huntress does not like boasting, cowards or mike drinkers and is a woman who loves action. She is a woman who loves to live the adventure rather than brag and tell stories about it or sing about it. Never knowing when your time will end is very thrilling to her.
She is a huntress who knows how beautiful and dangerous the wilderness can be, so she respects nature and the beasts that are apart of it.
Aela, like the other Companions, likes to earn a fair payment from the jobs that they do. Even though she accepts the reward for her job Aela is the type of person who likes the things she can get from nature more than gold.
While Aela cares for the other members of the Companions and likes her home in the mead hall, Aela does not like drama, squabbling, quarrels, clashes and conflict that happens there, stating that "Ysgramor himself wouldn't have the patience to deal with all the rabble around here."
Powers and Abilities
- Lycanthropy: Lycanthropy is a disease that strengthens Aela's abilities just like everyone else who has the disease. Aela enjoying all the enhancements she gets from Lycanthropy and sees it as a gift instead of a disease or curse.
- Super Hearing: Aela's Lycanthropy gives her better hearing in wolf form and human form.
- Super Vision: Aela's Lycanthropy enhances her vision as a wolf and as a human.
- Super Smell: Aela's Lycanthropy improves her sense smell past a normal wolf's smell and a normal human's smell.
- Super Senses: Aela's Lycanthropy doesn't just give her super senses in wolf form but in human form as well.
- Healing Factor: Aela's Lycanthropy helps her heal quicker than an regular person.
- Super Strength: Aela's Lycanthropy gives her inhuman strestrength just like all werewolves.
- Super Speed: Aela's Lycanthropy enhances speed beyond that of a normal wolf and human.
- Lycanthropic Bite: Aela's Lycanthropy gives her a venomous bite just like all lycans.
- Lycanthropic Blood: The disease that turns Aela and others into werewolves can be transferred to people who drink the blood.
- Archery: Aela has shown amazing marksmanship she learned many of her skills from her father who raised her. Because Aela's Lycanthropy makes her eyesight and hearing her improved skills make her a better archer.
- Hunting: Aela was a skilled hunter thanks to her dad her Lycanthropy increased her skills making better than normal hunters.
- Swordsmanship Aela has learned how to use a sword but prefers to use her archery and knife skills instead.
- Knife/Dagger Skills: Aela has learned as a little at an early age how to use a knife and dagger like many hunters.
- Mercenary Skills: Joining the Companions Aela learned many abilities and skills. Like all the members of the Companions she learned how to be honorable and respectful hero working for a fair price. While Aela and the Companions ask for a lot of gold they don't take everything that a person has.
- Thievery: Aela's class is theif these skills help with her sneaking and archery which improve her hunting skills. Her class is theif but because of the Companions mortal code she doesn't steal from any of the good people of Skyrim.
Weaknesses
- Silver Allergy: Although silver is super effective against the undead Aela's Lycanthropy and others who are cursed by the disease aren't undead. But the Silver Hand still use silver weapons because the effect they also have on werewolves.
- Blood Craving: Aela's Lycanthropy gives her and all other werewolves a blood craving. They need to drink blood to have their transformation last longer, they also have to drinkblood to heal themselves.
- Mortality: Unlike the vampirism disease Aela's Lycanthropy doesn't make her or any other lycan immortal. Although werewolves are mortal both vampirism and Lycanthropy these two diseases slow down the host aging process.
Quotes
| “ | Curse? Ha. You're sounding like the old man. I... shouldn't say that. I love Kodlak. I respect and follow him. But he's wrong on this. It's no curse. We're made into the greatest hunters in the land. If he is worried about some mead-swelling after in Sovngarde, he's free to pursue it. I'll take the glories of the hunt right here. | „ |
| ~ Ales the Huntress |
| “ | You're not afraid? Of animals? Come back when you have the spine. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
| “ | Blood on the wind today. Good hunt ahead of us. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
| “ | My mother was a Companion. And her mother all the women in my family, back to Hrotti Blackblade. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
| “ | Get ready trouble ahead. | „ |
| ~ When Aela detects danger. |
| “ | It means resting your haunches in Whiterun more than I care to, do for one. But when it comes time to draw blood there's no one in Skyrim I'd rather have at my back. It means waking up every day knowing that you could die, and having to earn your life by clawing for every breath. I don't know how those cozy lords manage to drag themselves out of bed every day. Why bother if you're not living? | „ |
| ~ Aela saying what it means to be a Companion. |
| “ | You handle yourself well. You could make for a decent Shield-Brother/Sister. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
| “ | You're someone who can get things done. I like that. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
| “ | Glory only awaits those who triumph. And as Companions, are glory must be hard-fought. | „ |
| ~ Aela the Huntress |
Aela the Huntress Gear
- Skyforge Steel Dagger
- Hunting Bow
- Steel Shield
- Ancient Nord Armor
- Arrows
