[hider=Butterfly][center][h3]Stella Kennedy[/h3][/center]
[center][hider=Appearance:]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/0198b4ff-84e1-725e-827b-65db3346d391.webp[/img]

[b]Description:[/b]
Stella is 5'3" (160 cm), with light skin, dark shoulder length hair, and brown eyes. She has a slim and svelte figure, with lightly toned muscles.
[/hider][/center]
[center] [b]19[/b] | [b]Female[/b] | [b]College Student[/b] [/center]
[indent][b]Personality:[/b][/indent]
Stella is driven by an insatiable curiosity and hunger for knowledge, finding interest in many things others might think are boring or pointless. Where her fellow heroes are concerned, she loves to hear their stories, the details of how they acquired their powers, their motivations to do what they do. She is not quick to judgement, even where the villainous are concerned, and tries to see the best in people. Violence is not a first choice of hers, but when it needs to be employed, Stella tries to be swift and decisive.

She has the heart, empathy, and kindness she needs to be a good hero in Paragon City, as well as a determination and fearlessness that will help her overcome villains, and the barriers her own family have put in front of her. As she's still a teenager, she is prone to impatience, sometimes feeling like she's ready for greater things, or being held back, which can sometimes make her reckless or impetuous, but her heart is almost always in the right place.

Outside of hero work Stella is very easy to get along with, always ready to lend a hand or an ear. She's not wildly outgoing, and due to the frequent training of her teenage years she missed out on a lot that other kids got to do, making her maybe a [i]little[/i] bit naive, but she's also a quick learner, and adapts pretty well to whatever environment she finds herself in.

[indent][b]Background:[/b][/indent]
Stella Noemi Kennedy is the only child of one James Kennedy, a former assistant to the Ambassador to Japan, and Hanako Mori, whom he met while working in Tokyo. As James described it, they had a whirlwind romance that led to Hanako wishing to leave Japan behind and see the world with him, a decision that was unlikely to go over well with her wealthy family. Less than a year after leaving Japan behind, Stella was born.

Her childhood was more or less idyllic, growing up with means just outside of Washington D.C., her father continuing his political career while her mother largely stayed home to raise her. When she turned seven, however, tragedy struck the family, as Hanako was killed in a car accident, leaving Stella with only vague memories of her as she grew older. James grew withdrawn for a time, his career plateauing, and he struggled to raise Stella alone.

When she was thirteen, Stella began to grow more and more curious about her mother and her past, and the entire half of her extended family she never got to meet. This coincided with James beginning to move on, and entering into new relationships. Digging though her mother's old things, Stella found a locked suitcase and pilfered it for her own. She'd taught herself to pick locks, and managed to pry it open, finding a mysterious treasure trove of her mother's history, from the time before she ever met James.

In the suitcase was a strange bodysuit, a mask, a pair of ornate bladed fans, and a journal full of entries all written in a bizarre script that wasn't Japanese or any other written language that Stella could identify. The last message was in English, however:

[i]Follow your heart and stay true to yourself. Nothing can stand in your way. I believe in you.[/i]

Her mother had been some kind of superhero? Stella had more questions than ever. Did she know her daughter would find this eventually? Why did she leave her old life behind? To answer these, Stella knew she had to seek out her mother's family. But she didn't know where to start, and her father knew frustratingly little about Hanako's past. Stella kept what she'd learned to herself, feeling bitter towards her father at that time for leaving the memory of her mother behind.

It was only a matter of time until Stella tried to follow in what she believed were her mother's footsteps. At fifteen, she donned the suit, finding it fit her strangely well, masked her face, and took up her mother's weapons, setting out into the night to fight crime. It went about as well as one would expect, nearly getting herself killed when she tried to break up a gas station robbery. She would've been shot if not for the timely intervention of another masked man.

Mori Kenta, he was called, and Stella picked up on the name immediately. He'd been watching her, or watching over her, though he refused to say for how long. He was her mother's brother, and thus he immediately became Uncle Kenta to Stella. Grumpy and aloof, he'd apparently been given the "honor" of bringing Stella into the fold of the Mori clan.

They belonged to an ancient bloodline of mystical warriors dedicated to protecting the world from yokai, demons, and those that sought to summon them and other magical evils. Stella asked countless questions, but only learned that through meditation and many secret techniques, anyone of the Mori bloodline could activate powerful abilities to cut down any yokai, and shield themselves from all manner of magical tricks. Had Stella not discovered the truth, she would've been "allowed" to live a normal life, but now that she'd taken up her mother's blades, she needed to be taught to use them.

That proved difficult. Had Stella been born in Tokyo with the other Mori she would've been taught from early childhood. Instead she was a fifteen year old who didn't even know the very basics of their ways, and finding "inner harmony" was extremely challenging for a girl in such a tumultuous period of her life. Kenta proved a tough master, uncompromising in Stella's physical and mental training, and like a brick wall whenever she asked questions she wasn't allowed to know the answers to yet, about the clan or her mother. One of the few things he did tell her was that her mother had been known as "Butterfly" among the clan. Stella decided to take the name up for herself.

Four years later, Stella finds herself headed for Paragon City alone, having learned the basics of her clan's ways from Uncle Kenta. Apparently the leader of the Mori clan, known to her only as "the Daimyo," found her progress insufficient. Kenta warned that Stella would be treated as an outsider by her people, not worthy of their knowledge, until she can prove herself on her own. How exactly she must "prove" herself remains a mystery to her, but in the meantime Stella intends to do all the good she can in Paragon City. She gained acceptance to Paragon City University to study history, which is all that her father believes she's there to do. She hopes to learn about her family history, or the history of the demonic forces they fight, when she isn't on the street battling villains.

After taking and passing the Hero Exam, Stella is ready to find her destiny, and unravel the secrets of her family's past.

[indent][b]Civilian Skills:[/b][/indent]
[list][*]Research and memory recall
[*]Lockpicking
[*]Gymnastics
[*]Flute
[/list]
[center][h3]----- Hero Info -----[/h3][/center]
[center][h2]Butterfly[/h2][/center]
[center][hider=Heroic Appearance:]
[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/0198b504-ad2b-740a-be95-d13ff0c707e7.webp[/img]
[/hider][/center]
[center][b]Magic[/b] | [b]Infiltrator[/b] | [b]Level 1[/b] | [b]MAGI[/b][/center]

[hider=Powers & Abilities:]
[indent][b]Superpowers:[/b][/indent]
[i]Wind Manipulation:[/i]
Through her fans and her own inner focus, Stella is able to shape the air around her for offensive and defensive purposes, to complement her own martial training.

[i]Magical Resistance:[/i] 
Meditative techniques passed down through generations of her ancestors allow Stella some resistance against any attacks or effects of a magical or otherworldly nature. She only has access to the most basic secrets of her clan, however, and needs to prove herself worthy before the more powerful techniques will be made available to her.

[i]Weakness:[/i]
She has barely any advantages over a Natural hero, so fists, knives, bullets, and mundane forces can all hurt her as much as any other person, and she needs to rely on stealth, speed, and teamwork if possible in combat. It's only against magical beings and powers that she is unnaturally resistant.

[indent][b]Supplementary Powers:[/b][/indent]
[i]Inner Harmony:[/i]
By beginning the process of achieving inner harmony, Stella has just begun to unlock the hidden power of her bloodline. At the moment, all this means is she's slightly stronger, faster, and quicker to heal than a normal human of her size and build should be.
[/hider]
[hider=Actives & Passives:]
[b]Name:[/b] Wind Slash
[b]Type:[/b] Active
[b]Rank:[/b] ★
[b]Range:[/b] Ranged
[b]Description:[/b] A vertical slice of her fans hardens the air into a sword-length blade, which is launched forward at high speed. Very dangerous at close ranges, but dissipates harmlessly after it travels about 15 meters.
---
[b]Name:[/b] Wings of a Butterfly
[b]Type:[/b] Active
[b]Rank:[/b] ★
[b]Range:[/b] Melee
[b]Description:[/b] Stella uses her fans to launch herself into the air about 10 meters high, potentially in a direction of her choosing. The launch creates a small burst of air around her strong enough to knock back or knock down a normal person standing within a few steps. She travels in a graceful arc, with a smooth landing. Useful for an escape when Stella's surrounded or hurt, or to quickly jump to places normally out of reach.
---
[b]Name:[/b] Huntress of the Arcane 
[b]Type:[/b] Passive
[b]Rank:[/b] ★
[b]Range:[/b] Self
[b]Description:[/b] Stella can sense the presence of magical beings or items within a 30 meter radius, but not their exact location (so something invisible or disguised could still hide from her).
[/hider]
[hider=Inventory:]
[list][*]Superhero Costume (Key item)
[*]Twin Bladed Fans (Key item)
[*]Sanctioned Hero Exam Diploma (Quest item)
[/list]
[/hider][/hider]