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For this character in The Elder Scrolls: Legends, see Aela the Huntress (Legends).
"Something has shifted in the moons, brother."
―Aela the Huntress[src]

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 vehemently denies the relationship.[1]

Other ambient dialogue between her and Skjor reveals that the two go out at night to hunt in beast form.[2] 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. It is never confirmed that her and Skjor were romantically involved. 

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.[3]

Archery training

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

Lycanthropy

Companion aela

Aela, member of The Companions.

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.[4]

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 Silver Hand encampment 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.[4]

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.[5]

Returning Lycanthropy

In Dawnguard, Aela is able to give lycanthropy again, if the Dragonborn decides to cure it in favor of vampirism. Points expended toward the Werewolf skill tree cannot be undone or moved to other skill trees, which includes the Vampire Lord skill tree. She will only do this once, however.

After destroying the Silver Hand

TESV Aela

Aela, praying at the altar of Hircine.

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. After becoming a Blade, Aela's default armor changes to Blades Armor and her residence shifts from Jorrvaskr to Sky Haven Temple.[6]

Follower

Aela Fires an Arrow

Aela fires an arrow from her bow.

As a follower, Aela tolerates stealing and murdering innocents. When trespassing, she says that the Dragonborn "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 will rarely use one if it is in her inventory.

Equipment

Aela is equipped with the following items when she first becomes a follower:

Aela's Stats
Level 8 → 50
Health 109 → 509
Magicka 50
Stamina 96 → 426
Default Armor Rating 57
Light Armor 31 → 100
Heavy Armor 15
Sneak 26 → 97
One-Handed 28 → 75
Two-Handed 25
Archery 29 → 100
Block 24 → 48
Alteration 15
Conjuration 15
Destruction 15
Restoration 15
Illusion 15
Enchanting 15
Speech 28 → 75
Lockpicking 15
Alchemy 15
Smithing 20
Pickpocket 15

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 will equip any armor better than her default set. Just like other followers, Aela will consider armor as "better" if its base value is higher. Also like other followers, Aela will not equip upgraded versions 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 minimal 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 entered. 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

Conversations

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

Aela4

Aela in battle.

  • 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 Gold 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 Hearthfire.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • When first interacting with her after beating Vilkas in the training yard and bringing her her shield, if one chooses the "I'd kill him before he could draw his sword." option, she says, "Whoa! Slow down there. The Companions don't kill each other over disputes," before her voice takes on a lusty tone and she continues, "I like your fire though. Let us hunt together, sometime." with an emphasis on "hunt."

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Aela the Huntress (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
  3. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.
Click to see the list of bugs encountered
  • Aela may disappear randomly. She will not return by waiting or fast traveling to another location. Activating the miscellaneous quest "Speak to a leader of the Companions." will show a quest marker pointing to Aela.
    •  PC (Fix)   Typing: "prid 0001A697" and then "moveto player" in the console.
  • The quest indicator may not point to the correct location when her shield needs to be returned. She is found in her room at the end on the left and behind the left door at Jorrvaskr.
  • During the quest "Glory of the Dead," Aela may get stuck on the set of stairs after the wolf spirit of Kodlak is fought.
    • Solution: Either asking her to follow upon becoming Harbinger or wearing an Amulet of Mara and propose to her.
  • After turning in each totem for the "Totems of Hircine" quest, Aela prays at the statues. After turning in the final totem, she returns to pray if asked to follow. After placing the totem on the altar, using the wait function for 24 hours makes Aela walk out of The Underforge. Waiting another few minutes should get her to go back to Jorrvaskr, ready for rehiring.
    • Solution: Dismissing her also works, as she then should walk out of the Underforge. Outside the Underforge, the Dragonborn needs to immediately ask her to join them again and then, via the "I need you to do something" command, and tell her to move somewhere. Drawing and sheathing a weapon, then exiting the command mode should get Aela to start walking again to the Underforge. Talking to her before she enters and asking her to follow the Dragonborn again should make her behave normally again.
  • All followers, Aela included, occasionally switch back to their default bow. Even if removed from the inventory via console commands, it respawns.
  • When Aela is married, the "Can you prepare me some food?" conversation option can disappear.
  • Aela continuously attempts to initiate dialogue.
    • Solution: Recruiting her, going outside, dismissing her, waiting one hour, and then recruiting her again.
    • Solution: Paying off bounties in the holds fixes this.
  • Aela may randomly start to run in place while a follower, parting ways does not solve this. She simply slides around and gets stuck in another spot.
  • As a follower, even when given gauntlets superior to her own in base value, Aela has been found to keep using her starter gauntlets instead.
  • She may start sliding across the ground, flying and sinking.
  • Her shield can accidentally be acquired if she is repeatedly bought and sold from as a spouse. She may be able to purchase loot from her spouse without depleting her financial reserves.
  • If she is a follower and another Companions quest is taken, she waits back at Jorrvaskr and cannot rejoin the party until the quest is completed. If the quest is one that is impossible to complete (e.g. killing a dragon that is already dead), she may be permanently gone as a follower.
  • When walking into a wedding with Aela, Vilkas may be waiting at the altar instead.
  • After killing the Silver Hand forces at Gallows Rock and trying to finish the quest by talking to Aela, the only dialogue option will be the one asking for archery training, and that dialogue will just repeat, without the training window showing up, leaving the quest unable to be completed, the archery training and marriage impossible.
  • During "Glory of the Dead," Aela disappears if the cave is cleared before she arrives. Later, a courier brings information regarding her death.
  • After "Totems of Hircine," if she is spoken to as she exits the Underforge, she exits while still talking. Later, a courier brings information regarding her death.
  • When bringing Aela her shield from the Skyforge, she can be found outside Dragonsreach. Giving her the shield will not finish the quest.
  • If Aela's head is cut off by the Dragonborn after gaining her as a follower, there is a rare chance that she will still be alive but be unable to talk to.
  • When married, when asked what she has for sale, her dialogue does not play, but player still can buy from her.
  • Aela as a wife can cook as much food as desired, regardless what day it is or how many times asked.
  • If Dawnguard is installed, Aela may allow the Dragonborn to regain lycanthropy an unlimited amount of times, provided the Dragonborn has cured themselves.

Appearances

References

  1. Dialogue between Aela and Njada Stonearm
  2. Dialogue between Aela and Skjor
  3. Dialogue with Aela
  4. 4.0 4.1 Events of "The Silver Hand"
  5. Events of "Glory of the Dead"
  6. Events of "Rebuilding the Blades"
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