Kᴀᴇᴅᴇ

[Source]

**Kaede** often uses the alias **Jade Li** for her interactions with humans and their ilk and presently refers to herself as **Jaden Spektor**. She is a fox spirit, a Kitsune. She has lived as a friend, a lover, a guardian, adventurer, a thief and a trickster in a number of meaningful eras of humanity's development.

It is noted that Kaede, or Kae as referred as by close friends, has nine tails due to her overall age and wisdom. However as she had gotten older she has chosen to forget memories, or more so deleted them and only left fragments behind simply to retain her experiences. In a way, everytime she deleted her memories, she was reborn as someone else.

## Personality

While she doesn't outright underestimate the strength, will and determination of other people, she underestimates their intelligence as her wisdom and experience gives her a large advantage. She often teases and toys with the people she meets, usually coming off as sarcastically aggressive and indifferent. However it eventually becomes clear that her teasing and actions towards others is just her probing people for reactions as she can easily read people based on their body language. She's highly empathic, capable of putting herself in other people's shoes, no matter how ludicrous someone elses thought process may be; she will find a way to make them make sense.

### Dominant Behavior Patterns

Kaede is highly observant and doesn't hesitate to show off her intellect. Though when someone worth her time actually needs help, she will go out of her way to help others. She doesn't like it when people suffer, so if she can ease or end the suffering of another individual, she will do so.

## History

Kaede was born on the Island of Okinawa sometime after the beginning of the 1400's. As a fox spirit, she was enshrined within the confines of a mysterious hidden lake. A village would send young men to tend to it, keep clean and well dressed. Because of their vigilance and kindness, she protected their travelers and brought great harvests upon them. However, after a long storm her shrine had been destroyed and despite it being rebuilt within a single week. Her protection, her generosity and her fertile harvests vanished from the people's lands.

The people of the village believed they had been abandoned by the fox spirit and after a decade, forgot the shrine's location. Then a dozen years after that, it seemed that the village itself began to trade pelts of animals, mainly those of foxes. At some point hunters converged on the old shrine grounds; rediscovering the hidden lake.

Out of respect and their written traditions, the two huntsmen rebuilt the shrine and Shinto-priest resealed the fox spirit. Once more the village felt her hand with coming prosperity and wealth. However, visitors from the mainland came searching for the fountain of youth or a cure all elixir. This unrecorded encounter brought the travelers to the hidden Lake and its shrine.

### Tale of Two Men

The travelers from the mainland vandalized and desecrated the shrine grounds as the mysteriously shimmering water from the lake made no effect on their ailments and desires. They had failed in their task to find what they sought, and as they burned the shrine's seals, the enshrined fox came to life.

At first the fox went unnoticed by the two men and went on to be completely ignored until she left the open doors of the shrine itself. Short on food, the two men almost immediately heard the presence of the spirit and gave chase. Not knowing what she had done wrong, the fox panicked and ran. However that panic soon turned to joy, and her fleeing became playing.

The men chased the fox for hours, and no matter how quickly they caught up or what kind of tricks they used, the she-fox avoided capture. And then, that's when she was cornered on the shore of the lake. The two men were diagonally closing in from either side. She found herself to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. At the time she had no training in the arts of fighting, so all she could do, was hope she could learn to swim on the dime.

Kaede retreated into the mysterious waters of the hidden lake and became completely submerged. The men, ankle deep couldn't believe their eyes as the fox simply disappeared without a trace. No bubbles, no indication of drowning. The fox just disappeared... Until two fox ears popped out of the water, the color of light maple wood accompanied by short hair of the same color. A young girl emerged before them, dressed in a shrine maiden's attire.

From there, it didn't seem the men held anymore interest in eating her, but their attention didn't waiver. Both of them gave chase, tripping one another however, just to get to her. Of course, she ran from them, dodged their hands as she slipped by them. She touched their faces as it was a new experience to finally have a human body after being enshrined for so long. Physically she teased them, learning their language simply from their bickering.

That is when the young girl, Kaede, issued them a challenge. To death or surrender should they fight, and for the champion she would be their companion. It was a lie of course, she just wanted them to fight one another for her own amusement. They were none the wiser and fought for three days. These two men collapsed out of exhaustion and found themselves in her care when they awoke; even finding themselves surrounded by the villagers whom tended to the shrine grounds.

After rest and a meal, the men were put back to work, rebuilding the shrine. The fox however decided to move on instead of once again being enshrined in one place. Using her ability to change her visual identity, she went on to learn more skills from powerful fighters throughout the feudal Era and past the Meiji Restoration.

### The Pacific War

During World War II, she didn't have much involvement on the battle field as she avoided fighting. At the time she lived within the mainland of Japan. In time she had become the wife a wealthy clansmen, and soon enough a widow. Her husband was murdered by his own brother for refusing to serve in the Empire's air force as a pilot. She would also bare witness to the slaughter of his family, the only family she had ever known, by Imperial forces.

### After World War III

After the bombs had fallen, Kaede had been wandered the planet alone. She was given the remarkable experience of seeing the spark of civilization as humanity resettled cities and towns. She'd go on to watch the first Mega-City be built and for a period of time became the Governor of New Metropolis in the former state of Delaware before becoming and astronaut and becoming the first Kitsune in space, which wasn't known by many that she wasn't even human.

## Political Information

### Occupation/Affiliation

* Trickster, Thief and Adventurer as Kaede.
* City Governor of Metropolis as Jaden Spektor.
* Retired Astronaut as Jade Li

### Allies

Delegation of 20,000
New Metropolis Police Department

## Skills/Abilities

### Fighting Styles

**Okinawan Kobudō**(*Adept*), literally "old martial way of Okinawa", is the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. Okinawan kobudō refers to the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. These systems can have from one to as many as a dozen weapons in their curriculum, among the rokushakubo (six foot staff, known as the "bō"), sai (dagger-shaped truncheon), tonfa (handled club), kama (sickle), and nunchaku (chained sticks), but also the tekko (steelknuckle), tinbe-rochin (shield and spear), and surujin (weighted chain). Less common Okinawan weapons include the tambo (short stick), the hanbō (middle length staff) and the eku (boat oar of traditional Okinawan design).

**Naginatajutsu**(*Master*), is the Japanese martial art of wielding the naginata.

### Powers

**Kitsune Physiology**, a fox-spirit, who usually gain their powers by living long and keep growing stronger as they age: the more tails a kitsune has (they may have as many as nine) the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. They are often tricksters, with motives that vary from mischief to malevolence, but some act as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and even wives. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Their powers include illusions, shapeshifting (particularly to human form), possession and especially ability to use fox-fire.

* **Age Empowerment**
* **Youkai Spirit Physiology**
	+ Supernatural Bite
	+ Supernatural Durability
	+ Supernatural Endurance
	+ Supernatural Senses
		- Supernatural Hearing
		- Supernatural Smell
		- Night Vision
	+ Supernatural Speed
	+ Supernatural Stamina
	+ Supernatural Strength
	+ Environmental Adaptation
	+ Predator Instinct
	+ Temperature Regulation
* **Claw Retraction**
* **Decelerated Aging/Semi-Immortality**
* **Dream Manipulation**
* **Fox-Fire Manipulation**
* **Flight**
* **Illusion Manipulation**
* **Insanity Inducement**
* **Intelligence Infinitum** as their age increases.
* **Life-Force Absorption**
* **Possession**
* **Shapeshifting**
	+ Gender Transformation
	+ Human Disguise
	+ Size Manipulation
* **Tail Manifestation**

* **Trickster**, one who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. The Trickster openly questions and mocks authority, encourages impulse and enthusiasm, seeks out new ideas and experiences, destroys convention and complacency, and promotes chaos and unrest. At the same time, the trickster brings new knowledge and wisdom. Even when punished horribly for their effrontery, their indomitable spirit (or sheer foolishness) keeps them coming back for more.

### Physical Condition

**Expert Level Supernatural Condition:** Kaede is strong enough to lift construction vehicles and destroy thick and high performance metals, fast enough to run faster than missiles and on water, and even durable enough to withstand most explosions.