Frost Salamanders

Frost Salamanders are large monsters native to Haven, known for their dangerous ice breath.

Description

Frost Salamanders are carnivorous predators native to Haven, adapted to its cold climates and lethal to encounter.
They have the ability to spew forth a liquid so cold that it immediately freezes everything it touches. They use this to freeze their prey solid, after which they drag it to their lair and break chunks off it as they get hungry.

Frost Salamanders are dimwitted, slow and clumsy with poor eyesight, and as a result will attempt to freeze and eat anything that is comparable in size to themselves or smaller, including rocks, trees and bushes.
Indeed it is a common occurrence for Frost Salamders to try to freeze one-another if two meet in the wild, and they would likely succeed if they weren't immune to the cold; their own body temperature is far below freezing, so much so that if they are wounded, their spurting blood will cause immediate frostbite on nearby creatures.

Hibernation

Frost Salamanders can be found year-round in the far north, near frozen mountaintops or in the underground where Havens core of ice creates permanent freezing temperatures.
However they can also be found during winter anywhere where there is snow and ice. This is because Frost Salamanders are hybernating creatures. However unlike most creatures that hybernate during winter, the frost salamander hybernates through the summer. The frost salamander enter a state of torpor and low activity as soon as temperatures rise, and it is compelled to return to its burrow, close up the entrance, and enter a deep sleep. Its chamber is kept below freezing by its own radiating cold, and it will wake up and venture out of its burrows to feed as soon as temperatures drop next year.

Life Cycle

Frost Salamanders are exceptionally bad parents. They meet out in the wild randomly during their hunts, will mate on pure instinct, lay eggs in their burrows on instinct and then simply forget about their offspring. The eggs are not guarded, and once temperatures drop again and hatchlings are born, they are on their own, and quickly leave the burrow to avoid being eaten by their parent.

Hunting strategy

Frost Salamanders are not sophisticated hunters; they mostly just walk around searching for things that smell like food, freeze them and then try to eat them. If what it froze is indeedit determined to be food, the salamander will drag it back to its burrow and go out on another hunting trip; repeating until its burrow is mostly full or until the temperatures rise.

Frost salamanders are rather slow and have poor eyesight; as a result its possible to simply outrun a frost salamander with a decent pair of snowboots, or to distract them with some cuts of meat and escape while it is distracted.
However Frost salamanders move very quietly and have no problem remaining motionless for long periods of time, letting themselves be covered by snow as they rest or even burrowing through snow and ice themselves. They make for decent ambush predators as a result.

Frost Salamanders should not be attacked with melee weapons as their blood will likely spurt onto the attacker and cause considerable damage by how cold it is. Instead, the creatures should be fought with ranged weapons and magic, particularly fire magic.

Frost Salamanders are likely to simply give up and retreat if they are unable to freeze whatever they come across, but if denied retreat will fight to the death.

Trivia

The Sidhe of the winter court favor Frost Salamanders as mounts and pets, judging them 'cute'.