Character Class Details: Caste Warrior Group, Knights Family, Elite Infantry Subgroup

Elite Infantry begin as Freelancers or Freelanders. At third level or later, if they have achieved a reputation for combat prowess and loyalty to their community, a warrior may be blessed by a shaman and inducted into an elite order.
Elite Infantry orders use the blessings of their community's priesthood to imbue warriors with the attributes of the society's sacred animals. Some of their abilities will depend on their bearing a "dudem," an actual hide, pelt, or some piece of the sacred animal on their person. The dudem both identifies the warrior as a member of an elite order and serves to connect them to the spirits that give them their powers.

Unlike other classes, there is no standard XP/Leval progression table for Elite Infantry. Rather, they adopt the same progression table for their Elite class as they use for their primary class. All Elite Infantry divide their experience evenly between their primary class and their elite class and combine their primary and elite hit dice.
Regardless of whether they have their dudems, Elite Warriors fight and save at level = primary and elite levels combined (e.g. an 8th/5th level Fighter/Emu warrior fights and saves as a 13th level warrior).

There are three classes of Elite Infantry: Bird Warriors, Beast Warriors, and Scaled Warriors:

Bird Warriors: Upon being inducted into the elite warrior society of their culture, Bird Warriors will be given a feathered dudem such as a staff, suit, robe, necklace, or headress. Construction of the dudem must be overseen by a clAs long as the BW bears this item, they are able to invoke their Battlespirit powers.
Bird Warriors commit to one order for life and only one set of perks, associated with a specific bird. At 18th level, a Bird Warrior has internalized their avian powers and no longer needs a dudem to invoke them.
Although not Holy Warriors like Paladins, Bird Warriors must stay in the good books of the priesthood. They technically answer to their commanders and civil leaders, but their powers are granted by the gods and, before 18th level, can be taken away at the behest of high priest, stripping the warrior of their elite powers. Once a Bird Warrior has internalized their powers, these cannot be taken away. On the other hand, favour with the temporal authorities (i.e. good standing within the order) is required to continue to progress in the elite class. This means that a Bird Warrior could be kicked out of their order and stop putting XP toward that class but keep the powers they've gained so far as long as they maintain the favour of the priesthood.

Beast Warriors: Upon first being inducted into the elite warrior society of their culture, Beast Warriors will be given a blessed weapon. As long as the Beast Warrior wields this weapon, they are able to invoke their Battlespirit powers.
At 3rd,6th,9th,12th, and 15th level, the Beast Warrior receives a special fur and the ability to take on the powers associated with that animal if they are wearing the fur. For the first fur, the skinning of the animal must be overseen by a Cleric, Druid, or Shaman and the Beast Warrior must eat some of the flesh of the animal before donning its fur. At 6th level, a Beast Warrior may perform the skinning on their own.
At 18th level, a Beast Warrior has internalized their bestial powers and no longer needs a weapon or fur dudem to invoke any of them, including their shirtless abilities and their five battlespirit animals.
Beast Warriors have considerably more freedom than Bird Warriors and after 3rd level may continue to advance without being part of an order. However, what will both stop progress and strip them of their special powers is a violation of the Druidic Directive.

Scaled Warriors: Upon being inducted into the elite warrior society of their culture, Scaled Warriors will be given a necklace made from the teeth, bones, or shell of their special animal. As long as the Scaled Warrior wears this necklace, they take on the traits of the associated animal.
Scaled Warriors commit to one order for life and only one set of perks, associated with a specific animal. A Scaled Warrior may not invoke powers while wearing metal armor. A warrior that falls out of favour with their order can no longer progress in the elite class, but does not lose the abilities they have gained so far.
At 6th level, the SW is given a suit of armour made from the skin/shell of their special animal. The construction of the original suit must be overseen by a Cleric or Shaman, but a Scaled Warrior with armorsmithing and leatherworking proficiency may construct a replacement. This suit will serve the same purpose as the necklace, plus provide the following protection:
Crocodilian: AC 8 (as leather)
Shark: AC 5 (as elfin chain on non-SW AC 9 (as light leather)
Dragon: varies by type, see Armor
Turtle: AC 5 (as turtle plate), stacks with Turtle Warrior AC bonus
Snake: AC 9 (as light leather on non-Scaled Warrior AC 10 (as cloth)

Career

Qualifications

All: Level 3, high Renown/Honour, candidate classes vary by culture

Bird Warrior:  Race: Human, Half-Human, Elf Alignment: (Humans, Half-Humans, Dour Elves) LG,LN,LE; (Pixish Elves, Halfalfs) CG,CN,CE

Beast Warrior: Race: Human, Half-Human, Dwarf Alignment: (Half-Human, Pixish Elf) CG,CN,CE; (Dwarf, Dour Elf) LG,LN,LE

Scaled Warrior: Race: Human, Half-Human, Halfling Alignment: NG,N,NE

Career Progression

All:

xp	Level	d10	Ability
as primary	1	1	Battlespirit 1 Turn (10r) times/day=level
as primary	2	2
as primary	3	3	surprised 1/6
as primary	4	4
as primary	5	5	immune to fear
as primary	6	6	cause fear in all creatures 1hd or less
as primary	7	7
as primary	8
as primary	9
as primary	10	9+2hp
as primary	11	9+4hp
as primary	12	9+6hp
as primary	13	9+8hp
as primary	14	9+10hp
as primary	15	9+12hp
as primary	16	9+14hp
as primary	17	9+16hp
as primary	18	9+18hp	Maximum Elite Warrior Level

Other Benefits

Battlespirit:
All Elite Infantry have a Battlespirit power starting from their induction into the order. This takes different forms depending on class but in each case the Battlespirit state lasts one full turn at a time. Until it passes or all visible foes are vanquished, the warrior cannot be convinced to stand down.

Bird Warrior:
Battlespirit power: Warcry: bonus morale=level, +1 attack/round
Feathered bonuses:

Level	Trait 1	Trait 2	Movement	Hit or Dam	HP
5	+1	+1	+2"	+1	+3
7	+2		+4"	+2	+6
9	+3	+2	+6"	+3	+9
11	+4		+8"	+4	+12
13	+5	+3	+10"	+5	+15
15	+6		+12"	+6	+18
18	+7	+4	+14"	+7	+21

How the above bonuses apply depends on the order type:

Type	Trait 1	Trait 2	Move Bonus	Hit/Dam	HP Boost
Corvid, Parrot, Falcon	Int	Dex	y	Hit	n
Woodpecker, Toucan	Con	Dex	n	both	n
Owl	Wis	Str	n	both	n
Vulture, Eagle, Hawk, Condor	Str	Cha	y	Dam	n
Peacock, Fowl	Cha	Int	n	Hit	y
Ostrich, Emu	Str	Con	n	Dam	y
Crane	Dex	Cha	y	neither	y
Albatross, Pelican	Con	Wis	y	neither	y

Beast Warrior:
Battlespirit power: Beastial Nature: bonus morale=level, +1 attack/round, take on traits of animalskin
Bonuses in beastial state:

Level	Animal Types	Trait 1	Trait 2	Move	Dam	HP	Cold Resistance
1	shirtless only	+1	+1
3	1	+1		+2"	+1	+3	+10%
6	2	+2	+1	+4"	+3	+6	+20%
9	3	+3		+6"	+3	+9	+30%
12	4	+4	+2	+8"	+4	+12	+40%
15	5	+5		+10"	+5	+15	+50%
18	fur not required	+6	+3	+12"	+6	+18	+60%

How the above bonuses apply depends on the hide type:

Hide	Trait 1	Trait 2	Move	Dam	HP	Cold Resistance
Shirtless	Cha	Dex	n	n	n	n
Cervid	Con	Cha	y	n	n	n
Horse	Con	Str	y	n	n	n
Feline	Dex	Str	y	n	n	n
Lagomorph	Dex	Wis	y	n	n	n
Canine	Dex	Int	n	y	n	n
Mustelid	Wis	Con	n	y	n	n
Boar	Int	Str	n	y	n	n
Hyaena	Str	Int	n	y	n	n
Aegodont	Dex	Con	n	n	y	n
Bear	Str	Str	n	n	y	n
Bovine	Str	Con	n	n	y	n
Camel	Con	Con	n	n	y	n
Primate	Str	Dex	brachial	n	n	n
Pinniped	Con	n	swim	n	n	y

Scaled Warrior:
Battlespirit power: Cold-blooded: +1 lethal damage per hit, critical on 18-20

Dudem bonus:

Level	Trait	Swim	Hit/Dam	HP	AC
2	+1
4	+2	+2"	+1	+3	-1
6	+3	+4"	+2	+6	-2
8	+4	+6"	+3	+9	-3
10	+5	+8"	+4	+12	-4
12	+6	+10"	+5	+15	-5
14	+7	+12"	+6	+18	-6
16	+8	+14"	+7	+21	-7
18	+9	+16"	+8	+24	-8

The manner in which these bonuses apply depends on the order of the warrior:

Animal	Trait	Swim	Hit/Dam	HP	AC
Crocodilian	Str	n	Dam	n	n
Shark	Dex	y	n	n	n
Dragon	Wis	n	n	y	n
Turtle	Con	n	n	n	y
Snake	Cha	n	Hit	n	n