Just a Skyrim fanfic: Extended cut

The black star (Side)

(Leonidas's ebony mail now has a smoke ability where it can automatically appear on and off of him at will)

(Leonidas is gliding around in his new ebony mail infused armor. He finally sees a tall statue and lands at the base of it. As soon as he does Aranea walks up to him, because the statue is a shrine of Azura)

Aranea: Azura has seen your coming, traveler. It was not curiosity, but fate that has led you here

Leonidas: Seen my coming? What do you mean?

Aranea: Azura has given me the gift of foresight. I had a vision of you walking up the steps to this altar long before you were born. You have been chosen to be her champion. I know that it is unexpected, but do not worry. It will all unfold as she has predicted

Leonidas: Very well. What does Azura need?

Aranea: You must go to a fortress, endangered by water, yet untouched by it

Leonidas: Are you talking about Winterhold?

Aranea: Yes. And in Winterhold you will find a mage who can turn even the brightest star as black as night. It is cryptic, I know. But Azura's signs are never wrong. Ask if they know any elven enchanters

Leonidas: Then I'm off to find him

(Leonidas leaps off the edge of the stone platform and glides to the nearby city of Winterhold. He then makes the armor fade away as to not attract attention. He walks into the inn to look for anyone who is a mage)

Leonidas: You there. I'm looking for an elven mage who studies stars

Nelacar: Who sent you? Was it the jarl? The college? We agreed that there would be no more questions

Leonidas: Actually, a priestess of Azura sent me

Nelacar: Is that so? In that case... What do you know about souls gems?

Leonidas: You use a soul trap spell to put a soul into a gem. Then they can be used for enchanting or to charge enchanted items

Nelacar: Correct. Soul gems usually break after being used for enchanting, except for one. Azura's star. A daedric artifact that allows any number of souls to pass through it. Some of us wanted to find out how. I was working under Malyn Veran back then. If only we knew what he was really planning

Leonidas: What did Malyn do?

Nelacar: Malyn wanted to alter the star. Disease. He thought that he could store his own soul inside and become immortal. It drove him mad. Students started dying. Eventually, the college exiled him. He took a few loyal disciples to Ilinata's deep and vanished. Look, I don't care who asked you to find that star, but don't take it back to Azura. The daedra are evil. They're the reason Malyn went insane

Leonidas: What makes the star unique? Better than common soul gems?

Nelecar: I've already mentioned how it can function like a soul gem. And it can never get depleted. But, there is another rule that the artifact must follow. You can only store white souls inside of the star, belonging to the lesser creatures. Azura's magic won't allow black souls to enter it. As a mortal, Malyn's soul was indeed black, so part of his work was breaking past Azura's rules. He was close before...well... I've already told you that part

Leonidas: How did Azura drive Malyn insane?

Nelecar: Azura is no ordianry daedra. She commands an entire realm inside of oblivion. The more Malyn worked on that star, thre more she was able to damn him. It started slowly at first. Malyn would see things that were not actually there. Then he would yell at the students over words that they had not actually said. Then I walked in one day and Malyn has killed a student. And in a horrific moment of inspirtation, he started using her soul for his work