Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa

Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa is the first novel in the Kamigawa Cycle, which is continued in Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa and Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa. It was written by Scott McGough and published in September 2004.
==Blurb==
The war with the spirit realm has begun.
In a world of mysticism and honor, a war is brewing. Spirits launch attacks against humans as, in the shadows, a terror lurks just beyond sight.
Michiko, daughter of the warlord Konda, must brave the dangers outside her father's fortress to consult holy monks and the orochi, snake folk with a strong connection to the spirit world. Yet when Michiko meets Umezawa, a thief and black magic user, she realizes that to stop the war that is about to sweep the land, she may have to make alliances with her enemies.
And the most dangerous foes may just be her friends.
==Overview==
Title 	Author 	Publishing date	Set 	Setting (plane)	Featuring
Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa	Scott McGough	September 2004 	Champions of Kamigawa	Kamigawa 	Pearl-Ear, Yoshino, Michiko Konda, Nagao, Munetsugu Takeno, Iki Hisoka, Meloku, Takeshi Konda, Myojin of Cleansing Fire, Terashi, Kyodai, Toshiro Umezawa, Marrow-Gnawer, Eitoku, Chiyo, Uramon, Kiku, Kobo, Hidetsugu, Seitaro and Shujiro Yamazaki, Godo, Ben-Ben, Ichi, All-Consuming Oni of Chaos, Riko, Choryu, Sharp-Ear, Myojin of Life's Web, Myojin of Infinite Rage, Kaze, Ichikawa, Silk-Eyes, Cloud-Fur, Silver-Foot, Dawn-Tail, Blade-Tail, Frost-Tail, Mochi, Uyo, O-Kagachi, Myojin of Night's Reach
==Featured characters==
Vessel of the All-Consuming.jpg|All-Consuming Oni of Chaos
Benben.jpg|Ben-Ben
Godo.JPG|Godo
Hidetsugu.jpg|Hidetsugu
Hisoka.jpg|Iki Hisoka
Kiku.JPG|Kiku
Twwt.jpg|Kyodai
Marrow-gnawer.JPG|Marrow-Gnawer
Meloku.jpg|Meloku
Michiko.jpg|Michiko Konda
Mochi.jpg|Mochi
Takeno.jpg|Munetsugu Takeno
Myojin of Cleansing Fire.jpg|Myojin of Cleansing Fire
Myojin of Infinite Rage.jpg|Myojin of Infinite Rage
lifesweb.jpg|Myojin of Life's Web
Nightsreach.jpg|Myojin of Night's Reach
Nagao.jpg|Nagao
O-kagachi Vengeful Kami.jpg|O-Kagachi
Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor.jpg|Pearl-Ear
CHK Bros. Yamazaki.jpg|Seitaro and Shujiro Yamazaki
Konda.jpg|Takeshi Konda
Terashi's Cry.jpg|Terashi
Toshi.jpg|Toshiro Umezawa
Uyo.jpg|Uyo
 
==Story==
===Prologue===
The story starts on the night of Michiko's birth. Lady Pearl-Ear informs Lord Konda of the news, but he seems very distant and uninterested.
===Part I===
Many years later, Michiko is planning to stop the kami war with the help of her friends, Choryu and Riko, first by going to Minamo School, but to do so she must escape Eiganjo Castle. They manage to leave the castle, but on their way to the school, they are separated from each other and tricked into Lady Pearl-Ear's native kitsune village by her brother Sharp-Ear. There, the forest spirits claim the answer she seeks lies with the orochi, so the group travels in search of them.
===Part II===
Toshi Umezawa is following a gang of nezumi in the Numai swamps, and overhears them speak of their deal with the soratami, thus the soratami start chasing him to silence him. Toshi manages to stop their attacks in the area and his house. Some portents he sees encourage him to ask the council of the ogre sage Hidetsugu.
In Hidetsugu's lair, Toshi is informed that to solve his problem with the soratami, he must consult the budoka monks. So he leaves for the forest of Jukai with Hidetsugu's apprentice Kobo, who joins the Hyozan Reckoners.
===Part III===
The two groups coincidentally meet in Jukai but are attacked by the orochi at the same time and captured. Toshi recovers first and manages to escape, finding Kobo dead. Toshi rescues Michiko who is going to be sacrificed by the Myojin of Life's Web to stop the war. He hides in a cave where he is greeted by Mochi, the Smiling Kami of the Crescent Moon, and the Myojin of Night's Reach, who offers Toshi access to her powers if he becomes her acolyte, which he initially refuses.
The rest of the group recovers and tracks Toshi to his hideout, closely followed by the orochi. The kitsune and orochi are forced into battle outside of the cave. Toshi eventually comes out and finishes off the orochi. The Myojin of Life's Web is summoned, but with the Myojin of the Night's Reach blessing, Toshi unsummons her.
Michiko's companions capture the rogue, but the princess reveals they had made a deal, and he has promised to work for her. Toshi reveals that it was Choryu, not the orochi, who has killed Kobo, and casts a spell on him that sends the mage flying away across the sky. Toshi himself manages to escape by fading into mist.
===Epilogue===
In Shinka, Hidetsugu receives Choryu zooming down from the sky. Hidetsugu understands from the brand on the mage's forehead that he is there to answer for Kobo's murder, and starts to torture him by placing him in his mouth, crunching him with his teeth a few times. He then takes the wizard into his hut, and screams emanate from within as it begins to rain.
==External link==
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