Planar Bestiary
Carved from inconstant glaciers of the Elemental Chaos, glacier imps are elementals magically commanded to serve as warders, guards, watchers, and, in some cases, the last defenses against those who would loot ancient tombs of powerful monarchs or crafty wizards.
When simply watching and waiting, glacier imps resemble a series of slick patches of ice on a surface or several very large frozen icicles hanging from an eave or rafter. But when called to action by the intrusion of strangers, glacier imps shatter and reassemble from their component shards, becoming ice monstrosities only vaguely humanoid in outline, but about human size.
Glacier imps feel warmth is a broken promise and seek to enact revenge on those who would carry a torch or lantern—or even radiate body warmth—in their presence. Which is why living creatures are the favored enemies of glacier imps, who want to extinguish that warmth and entomb it beneath an eternal layer of ice. The imps often ignore undead and other constructs whose body temperatures are the same as that of their surroundings, at least until their trespass becomes too much to bear.
Glacier imps don't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Motive: Smother warmth, especially warmth generated by living creatures
Environment: Anywhere in the multiverse cold advances, or protecting some out-of-the-way location, usually two to four strong
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Armor: 2
Movement: Short
Modifications: Perception as level 6; disguise (when immobile, appears as ordinary ice) as level 8
Combat: The glacier imp's claw attack inflicts a minor wound (3 points) plus 1 point of Speed damage (ignores Armor) from penetrating cold.
About once each minute, the glacier imp exhales a freezing wind, targeting up to three creatures within immediate range, inflicting 4 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) on a failed Speed defense task, or 1 point of Speed damage (ignores Armor) even if successful.
If a foe is foolish enough to attack an ice imp with cold, the imp regains the damage it would have taken as health.
A defeated glacier imp explodes in a burst of jagged ice. Creatures within immediate range that fail a Speed defense task take 4 points of damage plus 4 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) from the supernatural rush of cold, or just 1 point of Speed damage (ignores Armor) even if successful. Any other glacier imps in the area of the explosion avoid the ice spikes, but bask in the cold, regaining 4 points of health.
A glacier imp is immune to cold and poison attacks but vulnerable to fire; every time they take 1 point of fire damage, they take 1 additional minor wound (1 point).
Interaction: Most glacier imps can speak the language of ancient elementals (Primordial). If negotiations are attempted in that tongue, a glacier imp may listen—but only if promised heat that they can smother. These beings are not afraid for their own safety.
Use: With the cold comes glacier imps. If a single glacier imp is encountered, there are probably at least one or two more nearby. These beings flourish in the cold, and when two or more are set to watch a particular location, they generally last for decades before they must face down potential intruders.
GM Intrusion: A character's feet become frozen to the ground due to the glacier imp's presence until they can succeed on a Might task to break free.