Aster

In human form

In dragon form

Alina (half-sister)

Aster was the draconic daughter of Rhith and Rannu, born in the middle of the war with the Wizard King.

Colloquially known as 'the Azure', Aster was developing a formidable mastery of magic at the onset of the subsequent Time of Chaos.

Aster accompanied her father Rannu in an attempted parley with Vanic, the leader of the kobold rebellion. However, together they were tricked and Vanic used a soul stone to subsume Aster's spirit, granting him her considerable spiritual power.

### Monster in the Well

Upon learning that Alina possessed a soul jar, Rhith asked Alina to recover Aster's spirit from Vanic in his prison within Esgyrn's labyrinth. Alina successfully recovered Aster's spirit from Vanic and provided the soul jar to Rhith. It remains unknown whether Aster's soul and body still exist.

--

**An excerpt from Rhith's discussion with Alina:**

*Rannu and I had a daughter. To the masses, she was known as the Azure, but to us, she was ‘Aster’.  She was my match, and, given time, she would have surpassed me in her mastery of magical power.*

*Aster was born in the middle of the war with the Wizard King. It was a difficult time, but we still found time for love, and to love our newborn hatchling. We were all very close, but Rannu and Aster were closer* *still. We loved her so very much.*

*I was the Imperial Governor of Drakenhall at that time, a willing servant of the Empire that I had fought so hard to protect.  Aster grew quickly in power and strength, although she was still young when the Wizard King was defeated.*

*During the subsequent Time of Chaos, Vanic’s uprising threatened what little peace we had after that horrible war with the Wizard King.  However, Rannu believed that Vanic could be reasoned with, and secretly arranged to meet with him on neutral ground. I uncovered Rannu’s plan, and I feared a trap.  By himself, Vanic was not powerful, but he was wily.*

*I was trying to save Drakenhall from falling to Vanic’s besieging forces – they destroyed the city below the fortress – and I could not leave if the Drakenhall was to hold.*

*And yet, so foolishly, I told Aster of Rannu’s plan. I begged her not to go to him, but I could not stop her.*

*When Aster left, I sent an urgent message to Loffrud and to Tarian.  As I said, I could not leave Drakenhall; my foolish belief in duty to the Empire kept me here. Tarian chose not to heed the call, but Loffrud, who cared not for Imperial cities, always had a soft spot for Rannu.*

*Aster caught up with Rannu, and together they went to meet Vanic, to reason with him, to negotiate a settlement.*

*At that fateful meeting, using a stone of power I still do not fully know or understand, Vanic tricked them and then subjugated them both, leaving them paralysed and at his mercy.*

*Vanic started first upon Aster, using the stone to join and subsume her spirit within his own body, whilst Rannu was forced to watch, upon his knees and paralysed.  It broke him, it broke him like you wouldn’t believe.*

*Loffrud arrived on the scene just in time to save Rannu, but too late to save Aster. Vanic escaped.  Rannu returned to me. I had just managed to hold on to Drakenhall and Vanic’s armies were withdrawing to reorganise, but then I learned of what had happened to Aster.*

*It broke me too.*

*My grief raged within me, it consumed me.  I barely remember the following months whilst my rage ruled over me.  Later, I was told that I had wrought destruction across the Empire. I levelled city after city which had risen against the Empire, to punish them for what they had done to Aster. I was the blue terror, killing indiscriminately those who had been tainted by living*
side by side with traitors and rebels.

*Eventually, the metallics chose to act and forced me into submission.  Consumed, I still do not remember any of the ritual where the geas was placed upon me, forcing me back to Drakenhall and preventing me from acting against the Empire.*

*I set my servants to tracking Vanic down, and eventually, with my intel, Rannu and Loffrud caught him. I implored Rannu not to kill him. Rannu wanted him dead. But Vanic had our daughter’s spirit within him, how could we kill what remained of my only daughter?  For me, Rannu relented, and so instead, Cysgod, Loffrud and Rannu left Vanic alive but imprisoned him deep within the White’s old complex. However, we never found the stone, and so I do not how to reverse what happened to Aster, if reversal is even possible.*

*Rannu and I were never the same.* *It broke him, it broke me, and it broke us.*