Xalira
Xalira — The Encounter
Jade-Skinned Exile of the Silver Glaive · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Xalira
They name her Xalira, the Exile of the Silver Glaive, cast out from a martial sisterhood that prized the long blade above all. In the old tellings her people were a proud, jade-skinned folk who wandered far from any homeland, soldiers and reavers who measured worth by the keenness of one's edge and the discipline of one's stance. Xalira broke some unwritten law of that order and was sent wandering with only her glaive and her grievances. Where she passes, mercenary companies whisper of a duellist who fights at a hand's reach further than any spear, who turns aside the first stroke as though she had already seen it, and who fells two foes with a single arc when the press grows thick. She sells her blade to the highest bidder and her loyalty to no one, save the memory of the order that abandoned her. Those who hire her learn quickly that her contempt is the cheapest thing about her.
Run Xalira in Sixty Seconds
- Reach first. Her glaive threatens 10 ft. Stand her behind allies and poke; make melee PCs eat an opportunity attack just to reach her.
- Open with a poke, not a charge. Strike at range, then on a miss against her use Severing Riposte to give that attacker disadvantage on its next swing.
- When two PCs cluster, recharge Sweeping Cut. The 10-ft. arc plus a 5-ft. shove resets spacing in her favor; follow with Blade Step to a new flank.
- Kill-priority: the caster. Blade Step past the frontline and put both glaive hits into the softest target; the bonus psychic damage punishes low-CON spellcasters.
- Three ways to run her: lone duellist harassing from reach, paired with Veshik as a sword-kin pair, or as a lieutenant guarding a bigger boss.
Xalira
Medium humanoid, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEReach of the Long Blade. Xalira's silver glaive has reach 10 ft. While she wields it she gains +1 to AC (already included).
Severing Riposte. Signature. The first time each turn a creature within 10 ft. misses Xalira with a melee attack, she may turn the blade aside; that creature has disadvantage on its next attack roll before the start of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Xalira makes two glaive attacks. If both hit the same target, that target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be knocked prone.
Silver Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) slashing damage plus 5 (2d4) psychic damage as the blade keens against the mind.
Sweeping Cut (Recharge 5-6). Xalira sweeps the glaive in a wide arc. Each creature within 10 ft. must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 (4d6+5) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. Creatures that fail are pushed 5 ft. away.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Blade Step (Bonus Action). Xalira moves up to 15 ft. without provoking opportunity attacks, repositioning her reach to threaten new foes.
A lean, jade-skinned warrior with a high warrior's topknot, clad in etched half-plate and bearing a glaive whose silvered head is longer than a short sword. She stands poised, weight balanced, the blade held like an extension of her own arm.
Xalira, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEShield-Brother (signature). While within 5 ft. of Xalira, an allied creature gains +1 to AC. Xalira refuses to abandon a wounded ally and will not flee while one stands.
Actions
Short Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Interpose. When an ally Xalira can see within 5 ft. is hit by an attack, Xalira takes half the damage instead and the ally takes the other half.
A younger sword-kin who followed Xalira into exile, carrying a shorter glaive and a stubborn refusal to leave her side.
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 with reach attacks from behind a wall of allies so the party cannot close on her. If foes cluster, prime Sweeping Cut, then Blade Step away to keep her 10-ft. reach. Kill-priority is whoever lacks reach; pair her with a couple of skirmishers so she is never the lone target.
Open at 10-ft. reach and lean on Severing Riposte to blunt the first melee swing each turn. When two or more PCs bunch up, recharge and unload Sweeping Cut, then Blade Step to a fresh flank. Focus the squishiest caster; run her alongside minions or a heavier brute so she stays a duellist, not a punching bag.
Use her as an elite lieutenant beside a bigger threat, never alone, so the party's action economy is split. Open with reach pokes, riposte the first miss, and chain Sweeping Cut whenever foes gather. Pair her with a flagship boss or a lair full of sword-kin and let her peel off strikers and casters.
Put Xalira 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 Xalira?
Xalira is built at CR 6 (2,300 XP) in her native Tier 2 band, a deadly elite for a party of 5th-10th level. Stat blocks for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) are provided so you can drop her into any table by swapping only the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC.
Can Xalira be a companion or ally?
Yes. Her mercenary nature makes her a natural hired blade or rival-turned-ally. Run her as a guest combatant using the native stat block, or hand the party her companion Veshik as an NPC sword-kin. As a PC ally, dial her down to the Tier 1 numbers so she does not outshine the table.
How do I make Xalira harder without changing her tactics?
Keep every trait and action identical and simply step up to the Tier 3 numbers. Better still, deploy her as a lieutenant beside a flagship boss or amid a knot of sword-kin minions, so her reach control and Sweeping Cut split the party's attention instead of letting them focus her down.
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 Xalira 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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