Order of the Songbird

Samurai of the order of the songbird are artists, scholars, and poets. They treat battle as a beautiful art form; many of these samurai seek pacifistic means of defeating their foes.

Even samurai of this order who kill their opponents do so with respect, considering such a fight to be an act of poetic tragedy.

Edicts: The samurai must never destroy art unless doing so is part of an artful act or performance of her own. She must respect the skill of her opponents and never desecrate or purposefully humiliate a foe. If she takes a sapient life, she must create a piece of art, performance, or poem in honor of the fallen creature or creatures in order to memorialize what she has taken from the world.

Challenge: An order of the songbird samurai gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC and a +1 sacred bonus on saves against the attacks and abilities of the target of her challenge. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 class levels the samurai has. The samurai must be wearing light or no armor, not using a shield, and carrying no more than a light load to gain this benefit.

Skills: An order of the songbird samurai adds Knowledge (religion) (Int) and Perform (Cha) to her list of class skills. The samurai adds half her level to Craft checks and Profession (gardener) checks.

Order Abilities: A samurai belonging to the order of the songbird gains the following abilities.