Ice Glider
To: Trader Nirveli Visolela of the Silver Chimera Trading Company
From Shaeun Shontoleen, Royal Explorer of Silver Shadow Keep
My esteemed lady,
I have at last reached the Artic Circle. It is all I expected it to be and more. Snow covers the ground here for most of the year, so thickly in places that it never thaws. Foot-thick panes of ice coat the ocean like flakes of crystal choking the sea life and trapping ships in its grip for months at a time.
Yet it is a place of unexpected beauty and lushness as well. I have lingered here longer than first anticipated to watch the blooming of spring envelop all but the harshest areas with verdant foliage and fragile blooms. Were it not for the killing cold of winter I might consider this place a paradise.
Hot springs erupt throughout the ice producing oases of greenery and small animals much the same as they do in the desert heat. It is here that I encountered one of the most fascinating and beautiful of the ice dwellers: Ice Gliders.
We encountered our first Ice Glider basking in the weak sunlight of the late winter sunlight near one of steaming springs. It stretched barely an arm’s span in length and looked much like a colorfully feathered ribbon stretched out upon a scraggly bush. It seemed oblivious to our approach until a careless tread shook its bush. With a start its eyes flew open and it launched itself into the air with a powerful thrust that sent it air-borne. Stubby wings edged with long feathers unfurled to glide through the air until it dove into the spring with hardly a ripple to mark its passing.
We learned quickly to cautiously approach the hot springs so as to surprise the Ice Gliders basking around them. I managed to capture a few specimens ranging in size from an arm’s length to several dozen feet and sent them onto her ladyship Arianna for further study.
While the ice still holds our ship in its thrall we are taking advantage of this time to study another curious creature whom my crew has dubbed the Sea Goat. I will send a letter to you as swiftly as possible.
Affectionately,
Your Friend,
Shaeun
Fourthmonth, Year of the Sliding Sand
Ice Glider
Type: Small to Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 1-10 d8 (4-75)
Initiative: +3 (Dex)
Speed: 20 foot, Climb 20 foot, Swim 20 foot, Glide 10 foot
AC: 17 (+1 size, +3 Dex)
Attacks: Bite +4 (+1d4 Size) Melee, Constrict
Damage: Bite (1d3 per size category) + Poison
Face / Reach: 1 foot per length (coiled) + 1 foot per length striking
Special Attacks: Improved grab, Constrict (1d3 per size category)
Special Quality: Venom, immunity to normal cold, frozen body
Saves:
Fort: 4
Ref: 6
Will: 2
STR:17
DEX:13
CON:17
INT:1
WIS:12
CHA:2
Skills: Listen +10, Search +7, Spot + 11
Climate / Terrain: Hot springs and tundra in artic climes
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None except themselves
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: Small (1-4 HD) Medium (4-5), Large (5-6 HD) Huge (6-10 HD)
Description: Ice Gliders live from the extreme cold wastes of the Artic Circle to the milder climes of the Iceflow Islands and have been reported in scattered areas around the Frozen Wastes where hot springs break through the permanent crust of snow and frost.
They are warm-blooded with a thick scaly skin overlaid by a short coat of down. Longer feathers flow from the top of the skull to the sides of the jaw and down the length of the body to the end of the tail. Modified ribs stretch out into simple wings covered with a fan of stiff feathers that allow gliding but not true flight.
Ice Gliders come in a variety of colors (much like the Kingsnakes) in hues of white, cream, pale silver, grey, black, tan, green and blue. Stripes and cross-hatching patterns as well as spots in different colors are uncommon. The underbelly is bare of any covering but has small claws that are nearly invisible from a distance set in rows that can be flexed by specialized muscles to pull the Ice Glider across any surface or grab onto any handhold. Albinos are rare but not unheard of.
Ice Gliders have a square snout with large nostrils protruding over the undershot jaw. Large black, brown or blue eyes are set back in the skull, nearly at the jaw hinge. They are capable of un-hinging their jaw like a snake to swallow prey and have razor-sharp fangs that fold into the upper mouth.
The sleek form of the Ice Glider is ideally suited for swimming, gliding or wriggling across snow and ice. Gravid females are handicapped in flight by their swollen bellies as are Ice Gliders who have recently eaten. Their feathers are molted regularly during their lifetimes and shed with their skins during each growth spurt (1-3 times a year). Ice Gliders over 20 feet in length do not shed their skin at once but let it peel off in small strips over the course of several weeks once a year.
Combat:
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the Ice Glider must hit with its bite attack. If it gets a hold, it can constrict.
Constrict (Ex): Deals 1d3+4 points of damage with a successful grapple check against Medium-size or smaller creatures.
Ice Gliders prefer to flee from threatening or dangerous situations either by launching themselves into the air with a powerful thrust from a coiled position or by seeking water. Ice Gliders rarely venture far from the safety of the hot springs.
If provoked or cornered, Ice Gliders will seek to bite their opponent and inject their specialized venom. The venom produces the feeling and symptoms of hypothermia, causing the victim to become drowsy and eventually lie down to sleep. Those who would seek the heat of the springs are pursued (if less than 2/3rds the Ice Glider’s size) to be wrapped in its powerful muscles and squeezed to death. Victims of its bite that are close to the Ice Gliders own size is left to die.
Ice Gliders use their constriction on prey or rivals to attempt to squeeze them into submission or death. They will only wrap themselves around other Ice Gliders or prey less than 2/3rds of their own size. Small and tiny animals are often squeezed to death in their jaws before being swallowed whole.
The bite of the Ice Glider is not fatal by itself and will wear off after several hours but the victim must be treated as if suffering from genuine hypothermia. Cold-blooded creatures are affected less severely (half-damage and duration).
Society: Ice Gliders are solitary creatures who tolerate the presence of smaller Ice Gliders (less than 1/4th their own size) in small numbers (1d4). During the breeding season, male Ice Gliders seek a female by the scent of her pheromones. The largest (or speediest) adult male will then display to the female and court her with complex songs until she signals her acquiescence to breed. Once the male has bred with the female, he will linger in her territory for the next three months until she gives birth to 2d6 live young.
During gestation, males will provide the females with small prey, drive off rivals and attack any creature that approaches regardless of size. Males will rear up and spread their crests (kept flat along their skull) in order to increase their size. After the young are born, the crest falls out and the male loses interest in protection. He will then wander off to find a new hunting ground until the next breeding season.
The female Ice Glider tolerates the presence of her young, occasionally attacking them if they become too bold in approaching her but, rarely eating them. The weak and stupid are quickly culled by their mother and more agile siblings.
Newborn Ice Gliders measure 1-1/2 feet long at birth. They eat voraciously and grow rapidly. Their early life coincides with the breeding seasons of several birds and mammals allowing the young predators to gorge on the newborns of other species.
Ice Gliders are sometimes eaten by large fish, birds, and mammalian predators. Ice Bears, Ice Spiders and Artic Sharks will even attack and kill huge Ice Gliders. Abominable Snowmen often keep Ice Gliders as pets (being immune to their bite) as well as wear their skins for adornment as do many other intelligent races.
The venom of Ice Gliders is prized in the manufacture of potions, their feathers are used in quills to write scrolls containing spells of ice and freezing. A pair of polished fangs is a vital component in Golem manufacture to add a Bite of Cold while their skins are valued in the making of Cloaks of the Frozen Wastes. Down or shed skin from an Ice Glider can be used as a material component in spells for protection against cold, fire, freezing effects, snow, ice or venom.
Ice Gliders compensate for their lack of body fat with several dense layers of down that trap moisture and heat between them. The outer feathers shed water drops thanks to an oily substance produced by glands at their base. Small Ice Gliders often groom larger Ice Gliders with their smaller fore-teeth. This grooming behavior soothes the temper of the Ice Glider and sends them into a trance-like state of contentment.
Although warm-blooded, Ice Gliders produce a curious chemical that allows them to lower their body temperature. They can lower it several degrees to conserve energy and bask in sunlight or the hot springs to stay active or lower their core temperature to freezing and enter a state of hibernation. Ice Gliders can be frozen solid for many years (100 years per size category) only to wake up if their outer temperature rises to 50 degrees or warmer with no ill effects.
Ice Gliders take no freezing damage from normal ice, snow or cold and only 1/4th damage from spell-produced cold (save for 1/8th damage).
Ice Gliders continue to grow with each year, with no known end to their lifespans. Specimens reaching over 50 feet have been recorded. The largest Ice Gliders seek lairs high atop mountains especially inside dormant volcanoes riddled with subterranean caves. As their size increases they become increasingly reptilian in behavior and metabolism. Large and Huge sized Ice Gliders require little sustenance and have body temperatures barely above room temperature (65 degrees).
These immense Ice Gliders gradually become more sedentary in their habits, emerging only in the warmest months to feed before retreating back to their lairs. They are often found in tangles of 5 or more similarly-sized fellows where they remain for several years before their body temperature once again rises to over 100 degrees and they slip into the water to become almost completely aquatic creatures that glide under the ice in pursuit of fish and other prey.
It is theorized that eventually the immense Ice Gliders dive down the thermal vents under the ocean to hunt in the darkest depths or slumber in hidden caves until awoken by seismic activity into life again. Hysterical accounts of gigantic snakes slithering out of the sea and consuming whole villages have been noted but, never confirmed.
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