Dragon, Glacier

Glacier Dragon

Also called Catastrophic Dragon of Para-Elemental Ice, ice dragons, iceberg dragons

Glacier dragons are not the most joyful of the catastrophic dragons—not that this is a high bar to clear. They’re brutal certainly, like the cold that spawned them, but also surprisingly intelligent. Chant goes these creatures trace their lineage way back to silver and white dragons, and it shows. Glacier dragons are cooperative and willing to work with many other creatures, yet in battle they behave like ferocious beasts.

Glacier dragons look as if they were chiselled out of a block of ice by a vindictive titan. On closer inspection though, it becomes apparent that underneath this crystalline façade, their translucent flesh glows with inner elemental energies. They speak their own language, the dialect of ice para-elementals and a draconic tongue that is common to all catastrophic dragons. At birth, glacier dragons have a 16% chance to speak the language of any sentient creature. This chance increases by 5% per age category.

COMBAT: When provoked, glacier dragons will eagerly throw themselves into a fight, attacking with terrifying force. In fact, they even tend to forgo using their magical abilities and even their breath weapon in favour of brute strength. However, a blood would be mistaken to assume these dragons are stupid. They know how to use terrain to their advantage, and it is virtually impossible to tactically outsmart them in the field of combat when they’re in their home territory.

BREATH WEAPON/SPECIAL ABILITIES: A glacier’s dragon breath weapon is a stream of cold water and large ice fragments that is that is 50′ long, 40′ wide, and 30′ high. It causes cold, slashing and bludgeoning damage equally.

HABITAT/SOCIETY: Glacier dragons are quite sociable. They can be seen leading packs of elementals or ice drakes, working together with white or blizzard dragons and followers of Cryonax. The Prince of Ice is rumoured to have an entire flock of glacier dragons at his disposal. Sometimes glacier dragons subdue frost giants, but most of the time sons of Thrym are much too proud to cooperate with dragon-kind.

Many glacier dragons carve their layers in the thick of the Plane of Ice, but they’re especially drawn to elemental conduits between Ice and the Prime—these can be found in the heart of glaciers, the frostiest mountain peaks, and the centre of biting arctic storms at the poles of worlds.

The majority (80%) of glacier dragons are neutral in alignment. Otherwise, there is an equal (10%) chance of them being lawful or chaotic. 50% of glacier dragons are morally neutral, 40% are evil and only 10% can be considered good. 

ECOLOGY: Adult glacier dragons don’t need to eat anything besides ice. However, they do seem to enjoy consuming flesh, especially when they need to heal after a fight. It’s common to see a glacier dragon feasting on the bodies of creatures it just killed, preferably after they’ve started to freeze. It is also known for them to occasionally travel to the Deep Ice, where they presumably feast on frozen thoughts and concepts that they dig up.

In common with the peculiar reproductive habits of catastrophic dragons, mature glacier dragons breed by travelling to the Prime and sowing chaos. Not only is their breath weapon devastating, but their mere presence can cause centuries-old glaciers to shudder and collapse into destructive ice floes, calving massive icebergs into the sea. The more ethical glacier dragons prefer to perform this ritual of destruction on desolate ice worlds. Some of them even create nests of ice, where their offspring can safely grow. The wicked glacier dragons, however, prefer to freeze blossoming worlds, delighting in bringing eternal winter. Often, they ally with other forces of Evil Elemental Ice, who also desire to conquer such places.

Source: Margarita. Canonwatch: See Dragon Magazines #424 & 425 for the original catastrophic dragons. Credit to tetra-cube.com for their amazing statblock-making tool