Vereta

Nala was appalled by her current direction in life. After Balow had patched her up and a good night's sleep she figured she'd pack what little she had and left. Then the oddest thought struck her. What if she stayed here at the tavern a little longer? Nala had laughed at that idea. She had realized her flighty nature after her unceremonious removal from Riften forced her to travel. When she first left Riften, Nala travelled from place to place without an actual destination in mind and without fully realizing that she was doing so, as though she were in a trance. She could never find it in herself to settle down and start anew without having the slightest idea as to why she couldn't. She had long come into terms with this though and had decided she didn't particularly mind travelling all across Skyrim. This was why the idea of staying at this tavern for even a day longer felt so alien to her. Yet here she was, sitting crossed legged in the middle of the room Balow had graciously bestowed upon her. She had decided to stay a while longer, but what that meant was unknown to her. As Nala tugged thoughtfully at a strand of hair the door to her room crashed open and in came Balow. "Mornin' lass! It's time fer you to..." He started with a grin before he gave Nala a confused look. "Why're ye sittin' in the middle of the floor...?" Nala grinned sheepishly at Balow as she clambered off the floor and onto her feet. "It's... a habit of mine," She answered. "Right, I'll be waiting fer you so make yerself ready. We have things to discuss," Balow told her before leaving the room. Nala frowned. Despite how kind Balow had been to her since she had met him, Nala couldn't help but feel a little suspicious as to what he may have wanted. She almost felt guilty for feeling suspicious. Almost. Who knows, perhaps she was overreacting. -- When Nala came into the tavern's main room she spotted a bowl of porridge sitting at the bar. Other than her, no one else seemed to be in the room so she decided to help herself. Heck, for all she knew Balow had set it out for her. "Don't mind if I- Ow!" She cried out, cradling her hand. She glared at Balow who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. In his hand he held the offending spoon that he had smacked her hand with and had a mischievous look about him. "A few things need be said before ye eat, lass," He said with a grin. "If ye want to eat then ye will need to work for it." "Was the spoon thing even necessary?" She said as she grabbed the broom Balow offered her. Balow simply laughed and instructed her on what needed to be done around the tavern.

I like your Gears of War signature (I'm a big fan of the series) as well as a few others. Pretty good.

Lesson #1: Photoshop In-Game

Very impressive. I'll be watching.

I'm having issues with Lesson #3. I ran into the problem of 'black' textures when using a new landscape texture in a quad. I attempted to replace one of the textures in the quad like the lesson said to but the texture remains black. Am I doing something wrong? How can I fix this? By the way, I also get a warning message when I load up the exterior cell: "TEXTURE: Could not queue texture 0xbc62449e"

Can't wait for this! I've been putting off learning 3D modelling for too long.

You're names for the faction seem very valid then. I kinda like Remnants of Ansei, but it's your call.

So they are fully organized? They aren't just a rag tag group of vigilantes seeking justice for the Thalmor's crimes? Or have they been significantly reduced?

You're story is really shaping up! If I had to choose, I'd say keep Valerius alive. From what I've read he's your centerpiece, he is what this mod seems to revolve around. The addition of lore-friendly content is always welcome in the community so this is a plus. Naming the faction is a little more difficult, though. Can you give more details on the faction? What are their intentions and such?

Sunlight spilled through the spaces between the wooden boards of the stable, illuminating particles in the air. It was a warm day at Mill Tavern, at least by Skyrim standards, and Ferrin had decided to get some work done. What he wasn't expecting was the sight that greeted him when he entered the stables. A Khajiit girl was laying in one of the stable's hay piles. A pelt was draped over her and Ferrin could hear her light breathing from where he stood at the entrance. He glanced around the stable, his eyes brushing over the horses as he wondered what he should do. "Uh... Hey you!" Ferrin called at the Khajiit girl. Her head shot up and she quickly locked eyes with him. "You're, uh... Not supposed to be here..." Ferrin trailed off as the Khajiit girl gave off a light chuckle and relaxed her body. She turned herself so that she was facing him, wincing as she did so. She gave him a toothy grin. "I suppose I'm not." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. Ferrin glanced away nervously before returning his gaze onto her. For all he knew this girl could have been dangerous... "I-" "Ferrin!" Balow shouted from the tavern door. "Ferrin, what are ye doin' boy? Get to workin'!" Ferrin glanced behind him at Balow then quickly back to the Khajiit girl who had lost her grin and was now nursing her ribcage. "You should probably get to work, boy." She said with a faint smile that faded when Balow showed up behind Ferrin. "What's this?" He said with a semi-surprised expression. "Ferrin, what's this girl doing here?" Ferrin was about to reply when Balow walked briskly up to the girl before kneeling down to inspect her. Nala felt slightly indignant at Balow's intruding inspection but couldn't find the will to resist. After all, she was sleeping in the man's stable without having paid him a single septim. "You're hurt." He said simply. Nala replied with a nod. "You folk are awfully good at stating the obvious, aren't you?" She said with a grunt of pain as Balow removed her hand from her ribcage to inspect it. He gave her a dumbfounded look in reply to her comment before letting loose a hearty laugh. "He he, that we do lass! Ferrin! Help me get the girl into the tavern." He said as he helped her up from the hay pile. -- "Fool-girl, what in Shor's name were ye doin' walkin' about in this state?" Balow asked Nala. She winced as Balow carefully wrapped her ribcage with gauze. "I didn't mean to be if that's what you're asking," Came Nala's snarky reply. "Watch yeself, girl," Balow warned her. "It was only cute the first time. Ye were also sleepin' in a man's stable without payin' him coin." Nala sighed and stared at the bear pelt draped on the chair in front of her from where she sat. She realized she was being unfair, rude even. This man, whose name she didn't even know, was treating her wounds when most who were in his position would have thrown her to the wolves. He didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of her bad mood. "I'm... sorry. I've had a rough night." She said with an apologetic smile. Balow did not reply and instead continued to wrap her with gauze from behind until he finally finished. "There," He said as he stood up. "That should do it. Now as for the payment..." Nala winced at the word 'payment.' "I'll be taking this," He said as he picked up the tattered bear pelt. Nala looked at him dumbfounded before she began to protest about how the pelt was worthless but was cut off by Balow. "With this here pelt ye can stay here in this room until you've healed," He said as he was leaving the room. " M'name is Balow, by the way. You get to bed now, ye hear?" "Yeah... Oh! I'm Nala!" Nala called out, but Balow was already gone. Nala sat on the stool in a stupor. She wasn't used to people being kind to her. She was unsure if this was some kind of trick. She was used to people always asking for something, even when they didn't necessarily earn the right to that something. Balow was something else... Something she hadn't happened on often enough. 'growl' Nala looked down at her stomach as it growled loudly for her attention. She frowned and gingerly stood up from the stool before making her way out of her new room. Perhaps Balow would be kind enough to give a free hot meal to a poor, injured Khajiit, she thought.

Are you sure you want to label them as bandits? Bandits burn, murder, pillage, etc. For an ex-soldier and, from what I can tell, an honorable man Valerius doesn't seem the type to lead that sort of group. Perhaps he's heading what he would call a rebellion against the Aldmeri but what an outsider would call a ragtag group of upstarts? As for the handkerchief, how about his wife's wedding ring instead? There's a lot of potential for your story to grow passed what you have. For example, what if the Aldmeri dispatched a small group of agents to silence Valerius and his group and when the player enters the tower the Almderi are in the process of getting rid of them. When the player reaches Valerius after fighting through the Aldmeri, perhaps even Valerius' group with the right incentive, he seems to have lost his will to live after having lost everything to the Aldmeri and is given new purpose by Marcus' proposal. My two cents.

I could give it a go. I've never really worked with this sort of thing but I do have some experience with graphic arts. If what I do doesn't live up to your standards you could always not use it. I'll send a PM your way when I get done with it.

Nala surveyed the ground from her perch high above the ground on a tree. As time went on she’d occasionally hear the sound of people moving about in the forest, shouting at one another to keep pace. Apparently those bandits hadn't given up the search for her just yet. She couldn't fathom why considering all she took with her was the bear pelt. Was it really that valuable? Perhaps she had just hurt their pride and they refused to give up on her for that reason? All she knew was she wanted to be far, far away from them and preferably in a warm, cozy bed. She shivered as the water dripped from her fur onto the forest floor below. It wasn't her best idea but what else could she have done in that situation? Take an axe to the face? Nala pulled the pelt tighter around her, her teeth chattering loudly. It wasn’t the biggest pelt she had ever seen, in fact it was rather small, but the fur was incredibly fine and a rich brown color that appealed to the eyes. ‘It’s also soaking wet and not giving me a lot of warmth, ‘ She thought as she glared at the mass of wet fur. If she didn’t want to become hypothermic she’d have to get a move on. Nala gave a long look around and listened for the sound of the bandits anywhere nearby. When she neither saw nor heard anything she climbed awkwardly down to the forest floor, the bear pelt giving her a lot of trouble on the way down. After a couple of minutes she reached the ground and made her way further away from the direction she had come from. This wasn’t Nala’s first time being chased but it was certainly her first time being chased by bandits. Such loveable lumps the lot of them are… With their axes and their missing teeth. Perhaps she could have them over for dinner one of these days. Nala stifled a laugh at the thought as she clambered over a fallen tree and into a clearing. Nala felt her body stiffen and her eyes grow wide as they fixed themselves onto a bandit on the other side of the clearing whose only response was to stare back at her. They stood staring at one another for what seemed like a long while before Nala bolted only to be cut off by another bandit. He grinned, revealing his filthy teeth and began to chuckle as Nala backed away from him slowly. Once again she found herself in another dangerous situation. When was her luck going to improve? She turned to look at the bandit she had first encountered to see that he had closed some space between them. It was clear to her that she wasn’t going anywhere without having to deal with these two one way or another. Nala gingerly set the bear pelt on the ground before standing ready. She waited patiently for them to make a move as the two circled her like a pack of vicious wolves. She slid passed the sword as it crashed into the ground before narrowly dodging a blow from the axe that followed. While the axe-wielding bandit was recovering from swinging his axe at her, Nala shot a fist out that crashed heavily into his face. He grunted but recovered quickly and swung the axe at her once again only for her to dodge it by somersaulting backwards. The swordsman, who had been preoccupied with removing his sword from the ground, gave up on the sword and drew a dagger from his boot. He roared as he lunged at Nala from the side while she was still recovering from the somersault. She spun under the blade as it cut the air above her and delivered a devastating sweep kick to the swordsman’s legs. The swordsman dropped the dagger as he was swept off his feet and onto the ground with a resounding thump. Nala, still in a crouched position, gasped as the axe-wielder landed a kick on her ribcage and sent her to the ground. Nala sat up clutching her ribs as the axe-wielder approached her with his axe ready. When he reached her, the axe-wielder gave her another disgusting grin before lifting his axe for the killing blow. Just when the axe-wielder moved to swing his axe for the final blow Nala rushed at him from the ground and planted the swordsman's dagger deep into his chest. The axe-wielder leaned onto her small frame gasping, shivering, and staring wide-eyed at nothing. When it was clear he was dead Nala pushed him off of her and his corpse toppled to the ground in a heap. Nala panted as she clutched her ribcage in pain. The swordsman was on his feet again and was eyeing her resentfully. He had recovered his blade. She stared straight into his eyes as she drew an elegant Elsweyrian blade from underneath her cloak. She had never used the blade in a real fight and she had never intended to. It was one of the few items that were found with her on the day she was left on the steps of the orphanage. The swordsman broke their standoff by lunging at her with a vicious stab, which she dodged by leaning to the side while twisting her upper body. She followed up by slashing at the swordsman’s chest with the Elsweyrian blade. He staggered back clutching his chest in pain and growled at her angrily. The fur armor that protected him wasn’t the ideal thing to wear in a fight. It was also in Nala's favor that these bandits weren't the smartest bunch. He glared at her angrily as he roared in a fit of rage and attempted to slash at her with a heavy swing of his sword. Once again, Nala spun under his sword and swept the bandit off his feet, only this time she used a deadly slash of her blade. The bandit toppled over onto the floor groaning in agony and did not get up again. Nala panted heavily as she stood over him and raised her blade high over her head. The bandit stared into her eyes with the fear of death painted on his face. “May the Nine have mercy on your soul, rest in peace...!†She whispered as she planted the blade deep into his chest.

I've played a few companion mods but there are a few I need to get through still. I may just go ahead an play them for some reference material (And to enjoy them of course ). Yes, the thing that I really want to emphasize is his personality and his ability to react to the world/people. I don't know how well I can achieve this but I can try. Of course dialogue is a key component here. I'm almost definitely going to add quests to the mod but I'm not sure if I should do so in the first release of the mod or not. What I'm currently brewing up is how the player encounters him and what he's even named. If anyone wants to throw in a few ideas that would be great. It's always good to have others thoughts on things.

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to play Nehrim. I understand what your saying, though. Often times I find myself alone in the world of TES because no one else seems to be affecting it but me. Having a character that is not a companion but an equal, or at least something close to an equal, will be a refreshing change of gameplay. An awesome idea and one that I hadn't thought of. Thanks.