Frostbite

## Lore

All strange new innovative forms of magic need to start somewhere. Any dragon with a penchant for the mysterious and mystic could tell you that. When it comes to the rare and scarcely sighted Frostbite subspecies, all of these dragons start with being hopelessly dangerously lost.

It can happen to any dragon that doesn't have a Tundra's warm coat to protect them, and those who hail from Ice, Arcane or Plague tend to handle the transformation and the following lifestyle far better than any other. It's easy for a dragon visiting the Southern Icefields to underestimate just how cold and merciless Sornieth's far south can be. It can be all too easy to lose your way.

Unaccustomed to such cold and beyond all help, soon enough a lost dragon's body will began to freeze over, their scales and feathers turning to ice, their toes and noses suffering greatly in the permafrost.

Timing is key and speed is essential, no matter how far beyond hope they might seem.

Clans of Frostbites make it their business to find and recover the lost and hopeless. By combining the magic of Arcane, Plague's affinity for dying flesh and the cryomancy of Ice, a dragon thought to be lost beyond hope can be granted another chance following their near-death experience, their old selves reconstructed and made new. Brought back from the very brink of death into bodies that should be ruined beyond repair, these dragons are living golems of frost and decay, their souls tied to what they once were, now preserved eternally in ice.

## Social

These dragons are close-knit and are never seen travelling alone, preferring the security of one another's company above all else. They tend to cluster together in small nomadic groups, with at least one Arcane, one Plague and one Ice dragon at the group's core, living exclusively in the Cloudscape Crags and the Fortress of Ends. Having all saved one another's lives at one point, the binds that tie them together are strong. Grouping together like this also helps to maintain and strengthen the magic that keeps them alive.

Physically, these dragons are completely numb, so their suffering during their near death experience is nothing but a distant memory. With unfeeling bodies that can be easily repaired, any roughhousing can get pretty rowdy! Naturally, body parts can become excessively damaged this way, at which point a lost or broken wing or limb can be repaired with a prosthetic of pure ice.

In terms of personality, they're as varied as any other dragon, as the magic involved in transforming them only impacts their physical body. Understandably, Frostbites can be rather wary of outsiders, as the sight of decayed flesh preserved in ice can be quite jarring for outsiders. It's not totally unheard of for a small group of them to join together with a smaller clan, though they would never do so alone, as they require their core group of three to keep themselves alive.

## Lairs

With their nomadic culture, it can be rare for these dragons to settle down and form a permanent lair. By their very nature, being exposed to the icy elements is more advantageous and healthy for them than being cooped up in a warm lair devoid of any ice or snow.

In their travels, they will often choose to temporarily settle in a spot that’s both private and secluded while also being open to the elements, such as an open clearing deep in the evergreen forests far up into the Cloudscape Crags, or tucked between the spires of the Fortress of Ends where the wind isn’t too strong.

## Tactics

Few things are as terrifying as being charged down by an Imperial or a Guardian Frostbite. With numb bodies that are easily repaired, these dragons can afford to be ruthless in battle. In addition, as their icy forms give them a large increase in weight and mass, they truly can be a force to be reckoned with in a melee fight.

However, this advantage can also be their downfall. Unable to experience pain, it can be difficult for these dragons to keep track of their injuries in the heat of a battle. A Frostbite can be damaged to the point where it can no longer walk, let alone fight. A dangerous situation to find yourself in, and one of the many reasons that these dragons value the company of their magic users so much.

On the note of magic, ranged spellcasters are perhaps at more of an advantage in a battle. With strength in magic being integral for their survival, it can be tactically more advantageous for these dragons to opt for an ambush strategy, bombarding the enemy with spells before resorting to sending in their hard hitting melee fighters.

## Variants

### **Snowbound**

As Frostbites are constructed from their own flesh along with ice and snow, how much of them is made of flesh and now much is made of ice can vary from dragon to dragon. Snowbound Frostbites are just a little more ice than flesh, at least on the surface.

Generally, this is due to a Frostbite clan having more Ice flight dragons than Plague flight dragons, or if the core trio’s Ice dragon has stronger spellcasting than their Plague dragon.

### **Reconstructed**

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Being unfeeling golems of ice and flesh, it's understandable that not all of your body parts might last forever. Frostbite clans that have strong arcane users can reconstruct these body parts out of solid ice, creating prosthetics for any clan members that might need them.

When a Frostbite clan has multiple Reconstructed dragons, it’s usually a sign that the dragons are quite old, and have been rebuilt time and time again over the years. Either that, or they’re just a particularly rowdy bunch!

### **Blood Crystal**

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On occasion, A young Frostbite who has never broken a limb before may take issue with preserving as much as their old selves as they possibly can. Older members of the clan may scoff at this notion, proudly wearing their reconstructed limbs made purely of ice. However, an empathetic clan leader may scold the offending older dragons, reminding them of the time when they too were new to this way of life.

If a Frostbite needs reconstructing, the skilled Plague members of the clan can help by infusing the dragon’s new limb in as much of their blood as they can salvage from a shattered lost body part. While those older dragons may roll their eyes at this silly concept, the young Frostbite can wear their new colours with pride, content in the knowledge that they look positively terrifying.