Host

Host is an original fictional character who first appeared in New Mutants: Last Class.

Background
It's a common misconception among those who have come to know Sunna Njallsdottir since she became a mutant that she was once a normal girl before her eerie powers drove her into some dark and introspective depression. The truth is that she was always a rather grim and morbid child, though her powers probably didn't help any.

Sunna grew up in Reykjavik, the daughter of a trauma surgeon and an investment banker. With busy parents and no siblings to play with, Sunna learned how to entertain herself. Friends are nice, but she has always been equally happy in the company of a good book.

And it was while reading a book that Sunna first discovered her mutant ability. Upon reaching the final pages of novel, Sunna found herself uncharacteristically overcome with a bittersweet mixture of emotions. They were not her own emotions, she soon discovered, but were instead those left behind by people who had borrowed and completed the book before her. Moved by the story's conclusion, they left their feelings on the paper like a signature - and somehow Sunna was able to read them as easily as the print.

As it turned out, the book was only the beginning. Sunna began to find similar impressions on all sorts of objects, and could even perceive the emotions pouring off of people themselves in what she would describe to her parents as multi-coloured auras.

Her parents were initially shocked, but were determined to be supportive. When they learned that the X-Men had reopened the Xavier Institute for student admission, they made the necessary arrangements to send their daughter.

New Mutants: Last Class
Sunna was one of a dozen new students to arrive at the Xavier Institute on orientation day, in addition to another dozen or so students who had been scooped up by the X-Men since new mutants such as her began appearing around the world. She was a little overwheled at first, dazzled by the rainbow lightshow of emotions emanating from the crowd of young mutants. However, some of the existing students had taken it upon themselves to help make the newcomers feel welcome, and Sunna was promptly invited on a shopping trip with a small group of other girls. Led by Andrea Richmond, Sunna joined Sveta Kitarov and Andie Picton in what turned out to be just the sort of light-hearted icebreaker she needed to start feeling at home at the Institute.

The school's "squad system" training program held little interest for Sunna, who did not see any combat or future X-Man potential in her abilities, but with Andrea's encouragement, she wound up taking pitty on Elixir, an advisor who had been having trouble gathering a full squad of his own. Along with Barry Rubino, Karl Schuler, Millie Gross, and Camille Moreau, they formed the "Wallflowers" squadron, named after a beloved former student.

Timeskip and the Last Stand
As she had predicted, Sunna was of little use to her squad - what she had not expected was how frustrated this made her feel. Though she cared nothing for the golden trophy on display in the front foyet, Sunna had begun to form strong bonds of friendship with her squad mates, and found the excitement and enthusiasm radiating from each of their auras to be strangely.. infectious. The Wallflowers were the undisputed underdogs, and Sunna felt largely responsible for the team's struggles.

But all of that changed the day her History class took a field trip to a museum in New York City. Sunna found herself spellbound, staring at the psychic impression left behind on an elaborate Renaissance-era sword on display. She had never seen such a powerful aura on an item before - it was bright and colourful, like the sort she would ordinarily see on a living person. It called out to her from behind a velvet rope and she lingered behind the tour group just to stare at it.

Later that night, back at the school dorms, Sunna received an unexpected knock on her door. When she answered, she found the hallway empty - except for the sword, just lying there on her doorstep, wrapped in a cheap red bow. The thief had obviously intended to remain anonymous, but she knew immediately that it was her squadmate, Karl - his psychic impressions were all over the bow, and besides, who else could have pulled off such a heist? He must have seen her staring at it, and had used his powers of displacement to steal it for her.

From the moment she touched it, she knew it wasn't just a psychic impression or aura.. it was more like a human soul, or at least an impression of one so vivid that she could feel its presence in her own mind. She shared the man's memories, his personality... even his abilities.

Sunna confronted Karl and made him return the artifact, but thanked him for his thoughtfulness and willingness to risk such a crime for his squadmate. Sunna repayed the favor in the Danger Room, using her borrowed mastery of swordplay to help the Wallflowers step up their game. It was only then that she accepted a codename, choosing "Host" to encapsulate her newfound ability.

Sunna was one of the young mutants who did not participate in the climactic battle known as The Last Stand of the X-Men. She remained in Wakanda to help form Unity, becoming a founding member.

Powers and Abilities
Sunna is a Beta-level mutant. She has the telepathic ability to read psychic impressions off objects, enabling her to recall information about the thoughts, memories, and the emotional state of those who have handled objects before her.

The ultimate expression of this power is Sunna's ability to take in the powerful impressions that people leave behind at the moment of their deaths. She likens these special imprints to souls, though they are simply incredibly detailed psychic impressions that can span large portions of a person's living memories. Sunna is capable of storing an unknown number of these imprints in her mind, and is able to "access" them one at a time, gaining portions of the deceased individual's memories and even their learned abilities, in addition to temporarily taking on aspects of their personalities. Since developing this ability, Sunna has assembled a small collection of imprints, ranging from that of a 15th century French master swordsman, to that of her late father, an experienced trauma surgeon.

Sunna is also able to read the emotional states of others, which she perceives as colourful auras emanating from their person, particularly about the head. Unlike the other aspects of her powers, this one cannot be deliberately shut off; as a result, Sunna cannot help but interpret the emotions of those around her, which some might find unsettling.

On her own, Sunna is experienced in hand-to-hand combat, though her powers grant her access to a wide assortment of other abilities.

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