Azura is a Daedric Prince, the Lady of dusk and dawn, and one of the few Daedra the Dunmer regard as a guardian rather than a menace. In Skyrim you meet her the way most mortals do: as a voice and a towering statue. Her shrine stands on a mountain just south of Winterhold, and she is the one Prince who seems to talk about your fate as if she has already read the last page.
In Skyrim
Azura’s Daedric quest is The Black Star. Her sacred artifact, Azura’s Star, has been defiled: the sorcerer Malyn Varen hid his own soul inside it, and until he is gone the Star is useless. Rather than wait the century or so it would take the Star to drift back to Oblivion on its own, Azura sends you straight inside it to banish Malyn yourself.
Once Malyn is defeated she pulls you back out and lets you keep the restored Azura’s Star. The quest also lets you go the other way and keep the artifact tainted as the Black Star. Her statue is at the Shrine of Azura, and the full set of Prince rewards is collected on our Daedric artifacts page.
She is also unusually honest about destiny. Tell her you dislike Daedra peering into your future and she answers, more or less, that Oblivion has watched you since before you were born and that you still have a lot left to do.
Lore
Azura of the Crimson Gate, also called the Mother of the Rose and Queen of the Night Sky, rules the realm of Moonshadow, a place of endless twilight that mirrors her sphere: transition and change, plus a healthy dose of vanity and egotism. Nocturnal is sometimes called her sister, though nobody is sure whether that is meant literally.
The Chimer worshipped her long before the Tribunal rose, and she warned Nerevar that the Heart’s power must never be used for personal godhood. When the Tribunal ignored that, Azura guided the Nerevarine during the Third Era until the Heart was destroyed and her prophecy fulfilled. By the Fourth Era the Dunmer Reclamations movement restored her, Mephala and Boethiah to worship. The Khajiit honour her too, as Azurah, the one who shaped the first Khajiit and tied them to the moons.
Good to know
- Azura’s Star appears briefly at dawn and dusk, low on the horizon below the Steed constellation, according to Dunmer lore.
- Her quest is one of the few Daedric quests where the Prince openly praises you at the end instead of threatening you.
- She has been a recurring figure since Daggerfall, and spoke to the Nerevarine in dreams throughout Morrowind.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim game files, written in our own words.
