Tarakis
Tarakis — The Encounter
Wandering swordsman who speaks the words forgotten before birth · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Tarakis
They called him Tarakis on the roads, though the roads keep no birth-name. He speaks what was forgotten before birth, syllables that surface in dreams and dissolve at waking, and those who travel beside him find their own oldest memories loosened from the silt of the mind. The straw hat hides eyes that have watched too many seasons; the blue robe is patched in a dozen provinces. He does not seek quarrels, but draws when a wrong demands answering, and the draw and the cut are a single breath, faster than the eye that follows it. Villages leave rice at crossroad shrines for him, half in gratitude, half in fear, for the words he murmurs while passing have a way of unmaking certainties. He carries no banner and owes no lord. He follows resonance, the pull of an echo only he can hear, and where that echo leads, his blade goes too.
Run Tarakis in Sixty Seconds
- Open with Unsheathing Step. First time he draws, he slips 15 ft. past the frontline (no opportunity attacks) and lands his first Katana strike with advantage on a back-rank target.
- Kill-priority is the spellcaster. A landed Katana shuts off reactions (DC 14 Con), so neutralize Counterspell-and-Shield types first.
- Spend the whisper every turn. Words Forgotten Before Birth (-1d6, no action) is best saved for the party's biggest save or the rogue's to-hit; it costs him nothing.
- When bloodied, fade and pivot. Use his 40 ft. speed to peel off, then punish anyone who chases with Silent Pivot's free strike at the end of their turn.
- Three ways to run him: a road-shrine guardian players negotiate with, a hired blade flanking a flagship boss, or a haunting recurring duelist who keeps escaping to test them again.
Tarakis
Medium humanoid (any race), neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEUnsheathing Step. On his turn, the first time Tarakis draws his blade he may move up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. His first weapon attack after drawing this turn is made with advantage.
Words Forgotten Before Birth. When a creature Tarakis can see within 30 feet makes an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, he may whisper a half-remembered word (no action, once per turn). The creature subtracts 1d6 from the roll. A listener swears the syllables were familiar, though no living tongue still holds them.
Actions
Multiattack. Tarakis makes two katana strikes.
Katana. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10+4) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Silent Pivot (Reaction). When a creature Tarakis can see ends its turn within 5 feet of him, he may make one katana strike against it.
A stooped figure in a wide conical hat and faded blue robes, leaning on a sheathed blade as if it were a walking staff, his whiskered face mild until the steel sings free.
Tarakis, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINECarried Word (signature). Once per short rest, Tarakis repeats one of Tarakis's forgotten words aloud. One creature she can see within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by her until the end of its next turn, unable to take reactions.
Actions
Short Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage.
Reactions
Shadow the Master. When a creature Tarakis can see attacks Tarakis, she may impose disadvantage on that attack roll if she is within 5 feet of him.
A wide-eyed wanderer who attached herself to the old swordsman at a crossroad shrine and now echoes the words she cannot understand.
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.
Open by closing with Unsheathing Step for an advantage strike on the spellcaster or archer, then back off behind cover. Use Words Forgotten Before Birth to spoil the party's first big save. Run him as a hit-and-fade duelist, not a brawler; pair him with a couple of road-bandit minions to control space.
Open against whoever the party relies on to act first; the Katana's reaction-lock plus Silent Pivot punishes melee that crowds him. Kill-priority: the enemy healer or controller, since his whispers blunt their key rolls. He is a skirmisher, not a centerpiece, so deploy him alongside a heavier flagship threat or a squad so the party can't simply gang him.
Slot him in as the elite duelist beside a bigger threat or within its lair, peeling off to lock down the party's frontline striker with reaction denial. Lead with Words Forgotten Before Birth on the enemy's signature save each round. Do not run him solo at this tier; he is the blade that guards a greater menace, not the menace itself.
Put Tarakis 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 Tarakis?
His home build is CR 6 (2,300 XP) for a tier-2 party (levels 5-10): AC 16, 120 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. The sheet also scales down to CR 2 for tier 1 and up to roughly CR 11 for tier 3 without changing his traits.
Can Tarakis be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a neutral wanderer who follows resonance rather than loyalty, he makes a natural reluctant guide or temporary ally. Use Mei, the Crossroad Foundling as a lighter companion stat block, or run Tarakis himself as a powerful sidekick who fades back into the road once the debt is paid.
Is Tarakis a boss, or an add-on?
An add-on. He is a deadly skirmisher and duelist, not a solo centerpiece; he lacks the legendary action economy to survive a focused four-player party alone. Pair him with a bigger flagship threat or a supporting squad and let his reaction-lock and whispers harass the party's key actors.
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.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
Played Tarakis at your table? Log in with your Obsidian Tavern account to leave a balance note, a war story, or a file issue — the sharpest reports get the block revised.
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