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Frost Drake
Swooping down from the sky is a dragon-like creature covered in a thick coat of white fur, although scales the color of old bone show through. A long tongue laps eagerly within its toothed beak. Its tail snaps, flinging jagged quills dripping with a pale blue liquid.

Frost Drake CR 5
Usually LE Medium Dragon (Cold)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60ft, Listen +10, low-light vision, Spot +10
Defense
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14
(+4 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 57 (6d12+18)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +6
Immune cold, paralysis, sleep
Vulnerability fire
Offense
Spd 20ft, fly 60ft (average)
Melee bite +8 (1d6+2 plus 1d6 cold) and talons +3 (2d4+1)
Ranged 3 ice shards +10 (1d4+2 plus fatigue)
Special Attacks attach, blood drain
Tactics
Before Combat A lone frost drake prefers to attack lone individuals, but they are emboldened by numbers. Upon spotting a potential victim, frost drakes will stalk the unfortunate for hours, waiting to strike until the victim settles down to rest.
During Combat Frost drakes maintain their distance from opponents, filling them with frosty shards before swooping in to drink their blood. They prefer to attach to opponents fatigued or exhausted by their initial volley.
Morale Frost drakes know the value of retreat—they will flee if reduced to fifteen hit points, or if their opponents persist in fighting them with fire. The exception is an attached frost drake, which will not flee until it drinks its fill of blood or is slain.
Statistics
Abilities Str 14, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Attack +6; Grapple +8
Feats Hover, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Skills Hide +13*, Listen +10, Move Silently +13, Spot +10, Survival +10
Languages Draconic, Giant
Ecology
Environment Cold mountains and hills
Organization Solitary, pair, flight (3-6) or brood (6-36)
Treasure Half coins, double goods, standard items
Advancement 7-12 HD (Medium), 13-18 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment—
Special Abilities
Attach (Ex) A frost drake that hits an opponent with its bite attack latches on with its powerful jaws. An attached frost drake loses its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class. It can be struck with weapons, or grappled itself. In order to remove an attached frost drake by grappling, the opponent must pin the frost drake.

Blood Drain (Ex) A frost drake deals 1d4 points of Constitution damage every round it remains attached, as it drinks the foe’s blood. A frost drake will drink 8 points of Constitution before willingly detaching to digest it. If a frost drake consumes more than 8 points of Constitution from a foe, it grows sluggish from the large meal and is treated as fatigued until it rests for eight hours.

Ice Shards (Ex) A frost drake can fire three ice shards from its tail as a standard action (each shard requires a separate attack roll). This attack has a range of 100 feet with no range increment. A creature struck by an ice shard must succeed a DC 16 Fortitude save or be fatigued for one hour. If a creature fails another save against the ice shards during this duration, it is instead exhausted for one hour. Additional failed saves reset the duration, but do not instill further penalties. Creatures that are immune to cold are immune to this fatigue. The save DC is Constitution based.

A frost drake can fire only eighteen ice shards in a 24 hour period.

Skills *A frost drake receives a +4 racial bonus to Hide checks made in ice or snow.

Vampires of the frozen north, frost drakes descend upon lone travelers and remote villages alike to slake their thirst for blood. A frost drake is about five feet long, with a wingspan of ten feet. Light, they weigh on average 50 pounds.

Ecology
Frost drakes are sanguivorous; they drink blood. They tend to feed on large mammals, such as mammoths, mountain aurochs and avalanche llamas, but will incorporate humanoids and giants into their diet as well. It is rumored that frost drakes prefer the blood of children, but this is unconfirmed—it would make sense, however, for the canny predators to focus on weaker targets. This is not to say that frost drakes feed solely on blood. If frost drakes kill a victim through blood loss, they will gladly eat its flesh, focusing on organs such as the heart and liver. They cannot process plant matter of any sort, and so kills of frost drakes are often recognizable by the stomach and intestines carefully torn from the carcass and discarded.

Being top predators, frost drakes are in competition with other carnivores of the icy climes they prefer, such as winter wolves and yetis. The rivalry between yeti and frost drakes exceeds that of simple competition, however; for reasons unknown both species will go out of their way to kill the others’ young, disrupt their ambushes, and raid each others’ treasures.

Habitat and Society
Frost drakes prefer ice and snow, as is suggested by their elemental affinities, and nest in remote, deep caves on mountains above the tree line. The most social of the drakes, frost drakes live in large groups, with several families living in association. Despite their cruelty, frost drakes are excellent parents and care for wounded or sick individuals, regurgitating blood for members of the family too weak to hunt.

The caves of frost drakes are perilous places; they are chosen for inaccessibility, and many are laden with pits and other crude traps. They also reek of ammonia—frost drakes urinate constantly due to their need to stay light and their all-liquid diet. Frost drakes love treasure, especially red gems, and take what they can carry into their caves.

Copyright 2008 Nicholas Herold. The Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting is copyright 2008 Paizo Publishing.