Aela the Huntress (Skyrim)

"Something has shifted in the moons, brother."

- Aela the Huntress

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 deep into the faction's questline. Additionally, she is an expert level Archery trainer, as well as a candidate for marriage and a follower after The Companions' main questline.

Background
When asked, Aela explains her reasoning behind joining The Companions:

"My mother was a Companion. And her mother. And all the women in my family, back to Hrotti Blackblade. I stayed with my father in the woods until I was old enough for my Trial. We hunted everything there was to hunt... Good training. Ma didn't live long enough to see me join, but I fight to honor her and all my Shield-Sisters through time."

Relationships
It is rumored among the Companions that she and Skjor have a very intimate relationship with one another, Njada Stonearm's conversations with Aela reveals this. However, Aela hastily and staunchly denies the relationship.

Other ambient dialogue between her and Skjor reveals that the two go out at night to hunt in beast form. This is forbidden among the Companions, and is the source of their secrecy as well as the rumors about them. She is extremely angry upon finding Skjor's dead body when the Dragonborn attacks the Silver Hand in Gallows Rock. The truth behind the two being romantic is never confirmed.

Interactions
It is possible to encounter Aela before knowledge of The Companions is acquired. She may be found fighting a giant at Pelagia Farm on the outskirts of Whiterun, along with Ria and Farkas. She approves or disapproves of the actions, depending on the amount of assistance given in defeating the giant; only one successful strike is needed to gain her favor. Regardless, she suggests visiting Jorrvaskr and speaking to Kodlak Whitemane about joining The Companions.

Archery training
After the Dragonborn becomes a full member of The Companions, Aela offers Archery training for a fee. She is considered an Expert trainer, and can train up to Archery level 75. Once married, she will still offer training.

Lycanthropy
In order to complete The Companions quest line, the Dragonborn must be initiated into The Circle by becoming a Werewolf. Aela willingly donates blood, which must be drunk. During the transformation, the Dragonborn has a few minutes to run around Whiterun. Both guards and civilians will be hostile, but there are no consequences for attacking anyone. After the transformation, the Dragonborn awakens outside of Whiterun, with Aela standing over them.

She offers her congratulations, noting how difficult the Dragonborn was to control, and divulges information about the Circle's rivalry with the Silver Hand, a fierce group of Werewolf hunters. Together with Aela, a nearby group located at Gallows Rock is raided. The raid does not go as planned, however, as Skjor is slaughtered prior to the raid and found dead in the final chamber. Aela vows to slay whoever killed him. From that point, the Dragonborn can receive special assignments from Aela, who sends them on a series of quests intended to stifle the dramatically escalating feud.

After the Silver Hand assassinates Kodlak Whitemane, the Companions agree that the Silver Hand must be eradicated. In an effort to cleanse Kodlak's spirit of the beast curse, Aela accompanies Vilkas, Farkas, and the Dragonborn to Ysgramor's Tomb, where she helps redeem Kodlak's spirit. A promotion to Harbinger is given to the Dragonborn after the completion of this quest.

Returning lycanthropy
In, Aela is able to give lycanthropy again, if the Dragonborn decides to cure it. Points expended toward the Werewolf skill tree cannot be undone or moved to other skill trees, including the Vampire Lord skill tree. She does this only once.

After destroying the Silver Hand
After destroying the Silver Hand, she becomes a follower and a candidate for marriage while wearing an Amulet of Mara in her presence. She then offers the repeatable "Animal Extermination" missions, as well as the ability to collect the mythic Totems of Hircine, but only if the player character is still a Werewolf, and had not cured themselves during "Glory of the Dead" or "Purity."

Blades
After escorting Delphine and Esbern to Sky Haven Temple, Aela can be recruited into the Blades. Along with two others, she roots out and fights dragons. Becoming a Blade, Aela's default armor changes to Blades Armor and her residence shifts from Jorrvaskr to Sky Haven Temple.

Follower
As a follower, Aela tolerates stealing or murdering innocents. When trespassing, she says they "should not be in here," but otherwise does not turn hostile.

Skills
Aela is a specialist and highly skilled in Archery. Her primary skills are Light Armor and Sneak. Her secondary skills are One-Handed and Speech. It should be noted that she is not good with a shield, and rarely uses one if it is in her inventory.

Equipment
Aela is equipped with the following items when she first becomes a follower:
 * Skyforge Steel Dagger
 * Hunting Bow (not shown in some cases)
 * Whiterun Gate Key
 * Belted Tunic (not shown in some cases)
 * Aela's Shield (not shown in some cases)
 * Torch
 * 800

Weapons
Aela will accept and equip any melee weapon and shield that is better than her default equipment. She is most skilled with bows and one-handed weapons. Aela can use staves and may pick them up from corpses. At higher levels, she replaces her Hunting Bow with an Imperial bow.

Armor
Aela's default armor is Ancient Nord Armor. If married, a copy can be purchased from her shop. Aela equips any armor better than her default set. All followers decide which armor is best by the armor's base value. Like all followers, Aela does not equip upgraded version of her default armor, regardless of statistics or enchantments.

Even though her default armor is Heavy Armor, she is unskilled in Heavy Armor usage, and receives minimum protection from it. She is highly skilled in Light Armor, and benefits significantly from Light Armor.

Clothing
Aela can be forced to wear clothes, although the process must be repeated every time a new area is investigated. First, armor must be forced into her shop inventory by giving her a better suit. Proceed to buy both sets of the Ancient Nord Armor, to finally replace the armor that was given to her at first by clothes.

Dismissing
When Aela is dismissed as a follower, she returns to Jorrvaskr by default. If she has been asked to move into a home through marriage, she returns there instead. If she has been recruited for The Blades, she returns to Sky Haven Temple. When Aela has returned to her home, she unequips any weapon and armor she has received, keeping them in her inventory instead. Her inventory must be altered to re-equip the items.

Quests

 * The Silver Hand
 * Retrieval
 * Striking the Heart
 * Totems of Hircine
 * Animal Extermination
 * Stealing Plans

Aela's leisure time
Aela: "You wanted to see me?"

Kodlak: "I worry that you've been spending too many nights out."

Aela: "Where I go is my business. If you have a concern about my honor, bring it before the Circle."

Kodlak: "You forget yourself, young one."

Aela: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. Just... these hunters. We're all on edge."

Kodlak: "That's why it's best to not mistake foolhardiness for bravery."

Glorious hunt
Kodlak: "How goes the hunt?"

Aela: "Skjor's heard rumors of a bear the size of a mammoth in Hammerfell. We're going to seek it out."

Kodlak: "What glorious prey. Come back alive, and with stories to tell!"

Aela: "Always."

Foolish younglings
Skjor: "All these younglings scampering around."

Aela: "Worried one of them is going to take your place?"

Skjor: "Some of them might try. But that's not what I'm worried about."

Aela: "What then?"

Skjor: "That they might get themselves killed."

Aela: "By you?"

Skjor: "They should be so lucky."

Tonight's hunt
Skjor: "Are you prepared for tonight's hunt?"

Aela: "I've been thinking we need to be more... discreet."

Skjor: "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing."

Aela: "You know the old man doesn't like it. Let's just not be too obvious."

Whispers of intimacy
Njada: "I've heard some rumors... about you and Skjor."

Aela: "And if you want to keep having ears, you'll pretend you didn't."

Njada: "Is it not allowed?"

Aela: "It's not exactly forbidden, but even so... it's not true. So that's that."

Steadfast defense
Aela: "How do you manage to hold your ground like that?"

Njada: "You have to remember, it's not about strength. It's about leverage."

Aela: "But strength doesn't hurt."

Njada: "Well, no. I'm just saying there's more to defense than muscle."

Quotes

 * "I've heard you may actually be stronger than you look. Perhaps we can hunt together someday."
 * "Blood running hot?"
 * "Are you on a hunt?"

Trivia

 * Aela, Legate Rikke, and several other female characters are voiced by Claudia Christian.
 * She can be exploited for Archery training, like any other follower that offers training. This can only be done at the end of the Companions' storyline, after obtaining the rank of Harbinger. Talk to her and pay for training. After the training that she can offer is maxed out, ask her to be a follower. Talk to her again and to trade some things with her. Trading is a good opportunity to take back all of the training from her inventory. Once trading is done, she can be released as a follower, and she will leave.
 * As a follower, when requested to do so, she will not attempt to steal. Likewise, this is also the case when ordered to attack non-aggressive characters, stating, "I don't do that."
 * She is the only member of the Circle who refuses to be cured of Lycanthropy after "Glory of the Dead."
 * Aela appears as a spouse on the trailer of.
 * If the Dragonborn becomes a vampire, she will occasionally say "Something has shifted in the moons, Brother/Sister." This may persist even after being turned back into a werewolf.
 * If the Dragonborn is not wearing any armor Aela will sometimes, like many characters, say "Put on some clothes, you damn fool."
 * During "The Silver Hand," after the Dragonborn wakes up and Aela starts conversation, she remarks that, "You caused more trouble than Farkas during his first transformation," even if the Dragonborn had hid during their transformation.
 * When conversing with her before the raid of Gallows Rock during "The Silver Hand," asking, "Is there a cure?" will prompt a derisive laugh from her and, "You're starting to sound like the old man," before she sighs and remarks, "I shouldn't say that."
 * Aela calls Sovngarde "a mead-swilling afterlife."
 * When starting the Totems of Hircine questline, she mentions how Skjor had found a book detailing the Totems, and he had mentioned this to Kodlak before Kodlak started looking for a cure to his Lycanthropy, though afterwards had not brought it up again. When Aela says the word "cure," she says it with disdain, showing that although she was willing to go with the other Circle members to cure Kodlak because "that's what he wanted," she still thinks that it was wrong that Kodlak wanted a cure in the first place.
 * When getting the final leg of the Totems of Hircine questline, she states that everybody can be bought, and that everybody also has a "pain threshold," indicating that she may have tortured someone to get the location of the final Totem.

Appearances


Aela de Jager Aela la Chasseuse Aela la cazadora