Known Beings and Creatures of the Cold

I like cold places as settings. Here are some things you might find in such a setting.

Yak knight

A knight with the head of a yak. It would be rude to ask if they can still speak, but yes they can. These are formed either by witch's curse, or by a self-imposed ritual on a regular human. Yak knights are slow-moving and solitary, and vegetarian. Also really strong.

Being a yak knight is a blessing and a curse. Yak knights are very much outcasts in every organized society, seen as a bad omen due to the magics to form one. Thus the solitariness. However, the strength gained is to the envy of every human knight.

It's not a phase, mom!

Wolverine spider 

It's like a wolverine but with eight legs and spinnerets. It spins webs, but not as static fixtures to live in. Instead, as offensive weapons. They can shoot webs from a dozen feet away, pinning someone against a wall. Wolverine spiders are voraciously hungry.

Scary, huh? Now imagine more legs.

 

 Giant Snow Beetle

They lumber around rolling up man-sized snowballs. Generally pretty docile, though have a big bite. However, given enough time and snow, they will construct impassable barriers, bury buildings, or cause avalanches.

 

This, but snowy-white carapace and a snowball

 

They have beautiful blue-speckled white carapaces that are very valuable, for collectors to mount across an entire wall. Snow beetles are hard to come by though, they wander snow fields that are impassable to humans on foot, and on sled are still treacherous. The beetles can also burrow under snow to avoid hunters. 

Firewood Dryad

Looks like a pile of sticks or firewood when not moving and lying down. When active, are a humanoid bundle of wood about the height of your waist. They want to be burned up, apparently. 

They move toward sources of heat and fire, in a direct path to autoconflagration. When you are near them, any sources of fire (torch, campfire) burn noticeably brighter, flames shooting higher and coals looking like they were stoked. Also the dryad is very splintery.

Glacipede

A pure white bug, resembling most a centipede. It is about the size of school bus, and has mandibles to match. Its many legs are well-adapted for ice, letting it climb on any icy surface.

It eats anything meaty, grabbing with the mandibles and swallowing whole chunks it rips off.

Hoarfrost Zombie

A frozen-over animate human body. Its brain is frostbitten beyond all recognition, and that has made it so slow and stupid. The source of its animation is unknown. It is covered in spiky hoarfrost, making it irritating to touch to exposed skin. The zombie's frost-bite will start the freezing process, turning the victim into another zombie. If melted, becomes inanimate.

Frost Sorcerer

These enigmatic figures are known to have mastery over the frozen arts. They can freeze people in place, encasing them in ice; frostbite an arm in seconds, and perhaps even summon snowstorms. Approach with extreme caution.

Polar Hare

 A big lagomorph with an elongated body. This makes it about the body type and size of a large ungulate, but still with its cute face and ears. Pretty skittish. Travel in herds for safety. Endangered due to their precious fur, which has a prized pattern of shifting dark stripes and spots.

 

White fur with some coloring. So cute!

 

Horned Seal

Seal with big goat-like horns. They ram chunks of ice to destabilize anything edible on top. Carnivore.

Drawger

A body animated by magic with a mission. It will follow that mission relentlessly until it is complete or the drawger is melted. Often carries a weapon. The reanimation magic destroys their eyes, so they navigate by echolocation.

These are thought of as just a fairy tale among civilized folk, but they are real.

Blue Spirit

These are animated pockets of water inside ice. When melted and released, will try to freeze over a nearby thing's body, sucking out its heat and killing it quickly. These are natural spirits of the cold, and live forever. They can only be immobilized by refreezing.

Troll

Trolls are not like they are in the lowlands. They are eloquent and strong. They consider themselves the epitome and highest paragon of cold creatures. There are very few, being voracious apex predators, but should you meet one, you should not speak nor do anything aggressive.

Trolls love riddles and puzzles, as a competition with their prey. That might delay your end, but does not prevent it without any cleverness. Fire is the only way to kill a troll. If you try to slice and dice a troll, the extra bits of flesh will grow into small trolls that will begin to eat and grow as much as possible. They are so hungry they might eat each other.

Trolls are hunchbacked and rough-hided creatures, with long orangutan arms. They can climb most rocky surfaces slowly but surely, and follow their nose for scents of prey.

Snow Homonculus

These are small living bits of snow, made by frost sorcerers and other magic-inclined recluses of the snowy climes. They cannot speak, and exist to serve their master. Whoever controls the homonculus can see through its eyes. Homonculi can produce minor magical cold effects, like manifesting a slight frost over a surface or causing a cold draft to momentarily blow.

Homonculi are not easy to make, so its master will not risk it in combat (it would crumble to powder if jostled too much). They are instead master of stealth and blending into ambient snow, staying still or covering themself if possible.

Imagine this little guy with snowy arms and legs.

 

Volcanic Salamander

In cold areas with volcanic activity, small beings of lava inhabit the surrounds. Looking superficially like small lizards, these creatures have an everlasting life cycle of heating and cooling (annealing). They descend into the heat of the volcano to absorb heat and body material, then move to the surface to cool. The result is a shiny onyx-black scaled hide with red veins running through.

The annealing process is very slow, as layer after layer of volcanic skin is built up. Most salamanders are the size of a small lizard, but large ones can be the size of a komodo dragon. They can be easily picked up and taken away from their heat source, where they will emit heat until they die. They are a last resort for travelers near a volcano to travel with heat. Some indigenous people of the cold consider the salamander sacred, as a symbol of everlasting life.