Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa

[["Publishing Information",[{"data":"[[Scott McGough]]","label":"Author(s)"},{"data":"September 2004","label":"First printing"},{"data":"978-0786933570","label":"ISBN-13"}]],["[[Kamigawa Cycle]]",[{"data":"''[[Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa]]''\n\n''[[Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa]]''\n''[[Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa]]''"}]],["[[List_of_storyline_sources#Books|Publication chronology]]",[{"data":"Preceded By'''''[[The Fifth Dawn]]'''''\n\nFollowed By'''''[[Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa]]'''''"}]]]

Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa
Publishing Information
Author(s)	Scott McGough
First printing	September 2004
ISBN-13	978-0786933570
Kamigawa Cycle
Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa
Publication chronology
Preceded By The Fifth Dawn Followed By Heretic: Betrayers 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 events and characters

Featured events

• 
  Kami War

Featured characters

• 
  All-Consuming Oni of Chaos
• 
  Ben-Ben
• 
  Godo
• 
  Hidetsugu
• 
  Iki Hisoka
• 
  Kiku
• 
  Kyodai
• 
  Marrow-Gnawer
• 
  Meloku
• 
  Michiko Konda
• 
  Mochi
• 
  Munetsugu Takeno
• 
  Myojin of Cleansing Fire
• 
  Myojin of Infinite Rage
• 
  Myojin of Life's Web
• 
  Myojin of Night's Reach
• 
  Nagao
• 
  O-Kagachi
• 
  Pearl-Ear
• 
  Seitaro and Shujiro Yamazaki
• 
  Takeshi Konda
• 
  Terashi
• 
  Toshiro Umezawa
• 
  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

• Squirle (September 5, 2020). "Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa". Multiverse in Review. Tumblr.