Polar Serpent

Ice serpents, also known as polar serpents, are a variety of air elemental encountered in cold and snowy climates.

Description: They are large but ephemeral creatures of cold. Ice serpents have no bodies, and are instead comprised of constantly moving, ice-cold air and mist. They are naturally invisible, but they can usually be seen thanks to snow, ice particles, and small stones that are picked-up by their windy forms as they move. Unlike most air elementals, not all ice serpents cannot fly, and instead move forward by propelling themselves along the ground, giving the appearance of writhing and slithering. However, others are able to fly and can pass through spaces as narrow as 1 inch (2.5 centimeters).

Behavior: They are stealthy and perceptive, although not particularly intelligent. Even so, they can understand the Primordial language (although they cannot communicate with it).

Combat: Ice serpents attack by wrapping themselves around a target, but instead of constricting as a physical snake would, they instead drain the heat from their prey. Their victims begin to go numb from the cold, and ultimately fall unconscious as the serpent proceeds to drain the last of their vital heat. They can instantly constrict any victim smaller than themselves within 10 feet (3 meters), and their powerful jaws are also bitingly cold. As creatures of pure cold air, they are difficult to injure with mundane weapons and are fully immune to any magical or mundane ice or cold, although they are highly susceptible to fire.

Ecology: Ice serpents feed upon the body heat of living, warm-blooded creatures. They hunt in snowy regions under the cover of fog or snowstorms.

Homelands: They dwell in cold places, mostly snowy arctic environs but also underground such as in the Underdark. They can be found in Icewind Dale and are known to inhabit the Sea of Moving Ice as well as other parts of the North as far south and east as the Trollmoors. They range further south during the cold winter months.

History: These elementals first appeared in Faerûn in the mid-to-late 14th century DR, and were thought to have been summoned by an evil cleric of Akadi who dwelt near the Ice Lakes in the Frozenfar.