Flower and Sword
How about conducting battle, but with flowers in lieu of weapons? There were monks who did ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement, following a war. There was once an actually famous monk in Kyoto, Japan circa 1594 with exemplary ikebana skills. A shogun, or lord, invites him to do ikebana for him. Responding to the request the monk goes to Gifu castle, but a below average performance leads to shogun's wrath.
See full company information