Ayabythos
mace-and-pavise bearer, wingless shieldwall of the host
Ayabythos — The Encounter
mace-and-pavise bearer, wingless shieldwall of the host · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Ayabythos
Ayabythos is the shieldwall of the Cult of Metatron, the patient warden who marches at the fore of the host's ground column. Behind its great slatted pavise the cult's lesser servants advance unharmed, and the verdict-bringers loose their light over its shoulder. The cult names it the unmoved step, for it gives no ground and lets none slip past; a bash of its mace pins the fleeing in place until the flock closes. It does not seek the kill so much as deny escape, holding the condemned within reach of the host above. Pried loose from the line it shields, the wall is only a slow soldier with a heavy mace.
Run Ayabythos in Sixty Seconds
- Kill-priority low; it is durable and mostly denies escape, so kill it only if it pins a PC you must free.
- Open with Shield Bash on your most mobile character to lock them in the host's reach.
- When bloodied Brace each turn and hold position; its value is the wall, not the kill.
- Three ways to run it advancing pavise screen for casters, escape-denial pinner, or a chokepoint wall the flock fights behind.
Ayabythos
Medium celestial, lawful neutral
CR 5 · 1,800 XP · GUIDELINEPavise Bulwark. Ayabythos provides three-quarters cover to itself and half cover to one allied cultist directly behind it. It has resistance to ranged attack damage while wielding the pavise.
Hold the Line. Enemies within 5 feet of Ayabythos treat that area as difficult terrain when moving away from it.
Actions
Multiattack. Ayabythos makes two Flanged Mace attacks.
Flanged Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage.
Shield Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Brace. Until the start of its next turn, Ayabythos gains an additional +2 AC against the next attack made against it.
A wingless herald in dark plate raising a flanged mace, the other arm braced behind a tall slatted pavise nearly as broad as itself.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Lead the ground push behind the pavise and cover the cult's casters from ranged fire. Shield Bash a fleeing PC to pin it. Advance with the warband; never break off alone.
Anchor the front and pin the party's most mobile threat with Shield Bash so the heralds can dive on it. Keep an ally sheltered behind the pavise and Brace against big hits. It denies escape; it is not a striker, so keep it within the host.
Form the wall the rest of the cult fights behind, pinning anyone who tries to reach the casters or flee the flock. Brace against the heaviest attacks. Always part of the warband's line, never solo.
Put Ayabythos on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is Ayabythos?
Native Challenge Rating 5 (1,800 XP) at Tier 2. Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) numbers let you fit it to your party.
How does Ayabythos fight alongside the rest of the Cult of Metatron?
It is the host's shieldwall. It screens the cult's casters from ranged fire, pins mobile foes so the winged heralds can strike them, and holds the ground line. It is a defensive elite meant to fight inside the warband.
What is the big slatted shield?
A tall pavise, modeled by Pavise Bulwark for cover and ranged resistance. Ayabythos is an SRD celestial reflavored as a wingless shieldbearer; its kit is pure defense and lockdown.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
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