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Background
You'll receive this quest from Aranea Ienith at the Shrine of Azura, located in the mountains south of Winterhold.
Walkthrough
Aranea will tell you that she has known for years that you would visit the shrine, and that it is your fate to complete a task for Azura. Aranea will then ask you to go to a fortress "endangered by water, yet untouched by it" and ask about an elven mage "who can turn the brightest star as black as night." If you press Aranea for details, then she'll speculate that the fortress might refer to Winterhold.
In Winterhold, if you ask Dagur at the Frozen Hearth about elven mages, then he'll direct you to Nelacar, who can also be found in the inn. When you talk to Nelacar, he'll try to deflect your questions, but after convincing him through bribery, intimidation, or persuasion, he'll tell you about Azura's Star, a special soul gem that isn't consumed when it's used, and he'll reveal that it was last known to be in Ilinalta's Deep.
You'll find Ilinalta's Deep at the edge of a lake located to the southwest of Whiterun. Inside, you'll discover that the place teeming with necromancers and skeletons, so it's a good idea to have some sort of magic resistance before taking them on. At the back of the ruins, at the top of the tower in Ilinalta's Deluge, you'll find the
Broken Azura's Star on the floor next to the skeleton of Malyn Varen (#6). When you pick it up, you'll be given two choices:
- If you give the
Broken Azura's Star to Nelacar, then you'll end up with
The Black Star, a permanent soul gem that will be able to absorb white (non-sentient) souls.
- If you give the
Broken Azura's Star to Aranea, then you'll end up with
Azura's Star, a permanent soul gem that will be able to absorb black (sentient) souls, and Aranea will become available as a follower.
However, no matter who you give the broken star to, you'll learn that Mayln Varen is still residing inside, and that you'll need to defeat him to cleanse the star. You'll then be sent inside the star, where you'll encounter Varen. He won't be happy to see you, but he won't be anxious to fight you, either, and so he'll summon three dremora to attack you while he runs away.
The dremora will cast fire spells at you, and so you'll need fire resistance to defeat them. You might also consider running away when you spot them; that way you should only have to face one or two at a time. When you finally reach Varen, he'll cast lightning spells at you, but he'll be all alone, and so he shouldn't be as tough to defeat. When Varen dies, you'll only have a few seconds to loot his corpse, and then you'll be teleported out of the star. When you exit the star, you'll complete the quest and receive the rewards listed above.
Note: Be sure to loot the
Daedra Hearts from the dremora. You might need them for crafting.
1 - Underwater Passage
2 - Book
Floating in the water next to the chest ($) you'll find the book
Breathing Water, which will increase your Alteration skill by 1.
3 - Book
On the table here you'll find the book
A Tragedy in Black, which will increase your Enchanting skill by 1.
4 - Locked Underwater Door
5 - Book
On the table here you'll find the book
The Doors of Oblivion, which will increase your Conjuration skill by 1.
6 - Broken Azura's Star
Exits:
- Doorway between Ilinalta's Deep and Ilinalta's Deluge.
- World exit.
