Dao 02 by Novaminis

From the crushing depths of the Elemental Plane of Earth, a Dao noble strides forward — hammer in hand, armour etched with the spiralling runes of her domain, expecting tribute and prepared to take it by force.

• ✔ 32mm scale resin miniature, printed fresh to order in the UK
• ✔ Supplied unpainted and ready to prime
• ✔ Compatible with D&D, Pathfinder, and all tabletop RPGs
• ✔ Equally at home on the gaming table or the display shelf

The Dao are among the most imperious of geniekind, and this sculpt captures that cold authority with real flair. She stands in a wide, grounded stance — bare-footed and bareheaded but unmistakably powerful — wearing a layered armour of ornate studded plates and carved skirt panels decorated with swirling flame-and-scroll motifs. Shoulder guards flare outward in the fashion of an earth-court noble, and her forearms are wrapped in heavy bracers. A crown of crystalline rock shards rises from her braided hair, a mark of station in the courts beneath the mountains.

In her right hand she carries a massive stone maul — a squared-off, monolithic warhammer whose weight alone speaks to the strength behind the blow. The other hand is closed in a fist, unhurried and unimpressed. Her expression is composed and unflinching: the face of someone who has never doubted they would win. This is Dao 02, the second sculpt in Novaminis's Dao series, distinguishable from Dao 01 by her closed-fist, hammer-lowered stance — ready to negotiate, until she isn't.

The sculpt is multipart and comes with your choice of plain base or no base, so you can mount her on your preferred basing system or integrate her into a diorama without compromise. She paints beautifully with stone-toned armour and metallic accents, and her deeply carved surface detail rewards layered washes and drybrushing alike.

• Dungeon Masters running Princes of the Apocalypse, Phandelver and Below, or any Elemental Evil arc
• Adventurers who want a genie patron, earth-cult warlord, or Underdark noble on the table
• Painters drawn to deeply textured armour with strong geometric and organic contrast
• Collectors building out elemental encounters or genie-court display pieces

Encounter Hook: The party has descended into a dwarven mine that collapsed three decades ago — only to find it occupied. A Dao noble holds court in the deepest chamber, surrounded by enslaved stone giants, and she informs the adventurers that the ore they were sent to retrieve now belongs to her. She'll sell it back to them, of course. The price? One favour, to be named later.

Details

Sculpt: Dao 02 — hammer-lowered, closed-fist pose
Base options: plain base or no base (your choice at checkout)
Supplied unpainted

Sculpted by Novaminis — a sculptor with a knack for injecting genuine character into creature-type miniatures.

Pairs well with earth giants and elemental servants and Elemental Plane encounters — or explore more from Novaminis.

For Tabaxi adventurers especially — yes, the cats did purr when this one came through. We noticed too.

Ready to add this adventurer to your collection? Order today and we'll print it fresh for you here in the UK.