Aster Rhodes

"*It hurts men to outgrow their swaddling-cloth. It aches to shed old hides. When it runs at the seams, it aches. If you are too weak to bear it, you die.*"
―Aster Rhodes**[src]**
**Aster Miranda Rhodes** is a Malkavian ancilla and Baron of San Gabriel Valley in the Spectre chronicle. As Baron, her chosen Elysium is the abandoned Saint Elijah's Episcopal Cathedral.

## Appearance

Aster's appearance is the source of several misinterpretations about her strength and influence, standing only slightly above five feet tall with long blonde hair and a face whose expression almost always appears innocent and somewhat vacant to the worries of the world that most face. She almost always dresses entirely in white, in what many assume would have been the uniform of the boarding school she attended while she was alive. The white shirt with a frilled collar and matching cuffs compliment the pure and angelic aura she projects. She also wears a long cream-colored skirt with blue accents at the waist.

## Personality

As a member of the Malkavian clan, Aster is slightly different than most other kindred (and indeed, humans as well). For her this manifests as an inability to properly interpret certain emotional and environmental stigma that cause a variety of behavioural changes in her from the average person. She is almost childlike in her innocence and does not understand the negative connotations or consequences that some of her actions have. For instance, she has sired innumerable childer simply because she has the ability to, having an almost supernatural talent for finding people who are dying or who have just died. She is also almost entirely unable to perceive when she is in danger or when her actions could endanger her person. Gage, while being Aster's Keeper of Elysium, acts ofttimes more as the Keeper of Aster, having to follow her around when he's able to and make sure she isn't doing anything she shouldn't be. On at least one occasion, he has literally had to lift her up and carry her away from a fire by which she was entranced.

Outside of her curse, Aster Rhodes is a delightful presence and many wish they could spend more time in the fantasy world she creates around herself. Unfortunately she is stubbornly independent and has a curious nature to match, wanting to wander the city and wilderness on her own as often as she can -- meeting people and exploring places and experiencing things she has never before experienced. There is a mystical quality about her, as if she is more timeless than most other kindred and that she knows more than those hundreds of years older than her. She truly cares for those she meets and there is certainly not a gentler soul in Los Angeles by night.

## Trivia

* She first appeared in *Strawberry Fields Forever*.
* Aster frequently has to be reminded that it's unethical to embrace every dying person she sees. And, whether surprising or not, she has a habit of finding people who are about to depart this world.
* She likes wandering beneath the moon and stars as well as meeting people just one time. Aster dislikes those with inflexible minds.
* Aster drowned while swimming alone in a lake.
* When she was alive, she liked buying a new breakfast cereal every week to try.
* She gets along very well with Tess Delaney, and treats Hugo Becker like a fun uncle. She enjoys seeing them during Baron-related business.