Immoth

Immoths originate from the coldest regions of the Elemental Planes of Air and Water, although their thirst for knowledge takes them to many other planes of existence. They tend to dwell in forbidding, freezing regions. Though they are solitary creatures, immoths maintain contact with others of their kind, sharing secrets and coming to each other’s aid when necessary.

An immoth appears as a gleaming, 8-foot-tall giant carved from dense, translucent ice. It resembles a bearded, hulking dwarf with icy talons and a large, crystalline tail. The creature covers itself with gemlike nuggets of enchanted ice called ice runes.

Immoths seem to be highly curious about all forms of humanoid life, as well as arcane and divine magic, but they generally take a great interest in all things. They barter with intelligent beings for information but show no compunction about taking what they want by force if more peaceful methods fail. These relentless gatherers of knowledge and secrets hide their information in icy libraries.

One legend that planar travelers tell speaks of why the immoths seek out information. The tale goes that long ago, a powerful, mad sorcerer tried to recruit elementals to serve him. When they refused, he punished them with a vile curse: They must seek out and collect the words of his curse and return them to their planar home—a place referred to in the tale as the Mountain of Ultimate Winter. According to the story, this place was so cold that spoken words froze in the air and fell to the ground. The cursed elementals who lived there took on new forms and became the creatures now known as immoths. They then began traveling the planes to find the sorcerer’s words.

This tale bolsters the widely held theory that immoths believe words themselves to have power. (Certainly, the verbal components of spells lend some credence to the idea.) Though the true reasons for their diligent search for knowledge are unknown, it is clear that the monsters prize words for their own sake, not merely the knowledge those words convey.

Immoths eat any sort of living creatures, feeding on the life essence rather than the actual flesh⁠—​though they nonetheless consume the latter. It is not known how, or even whether, immoths reproduce.

Immoths speak Aquan, Auran, and Common.

Combat

Before wading into battle, an immoth casts spells designed to bolster its physical and defensive capabilities. In melee, it immobilizes as many foes as possible with its tail poison and uses rune magic to overcome any serious threats. Most immoths prefer runes that inflict pain or can debilitate opponents. When seriously threatened, these monsters flee by walking up the nearest icy cliff. Then, from on high, they cast damaging spells to deter foes from following.

Ice Runes (Sp): Any spell an immoth has prepared can be inscribed on an ice nugget. The creature can trigger the spell contained in such an ice rune as a free action. An ice rune remains magical until triggered by the immoth. Each immoth has at least 3d4+2 ice runes embedded on its body. Some wonder whether this ability lends credence to the story about frozen words in the Mountain of Ultimate Winter.

Poison (Ex): An immoth delivers its freezing venom (Fortitude save DC 19) with each successful tail attack. The initial damage is paralysis (1d6+2 rounds), and the secondary damage is 1 point of Intelligence drain per round of paralysis.

Spells: An immoth can cast arcane spells as a 12th-level sorcerer (spells/day 6/8/7/7/7/6/3; spells known 9/5/5/4/3/2/1; save DC 15 + spell level). It cannot cast spells with the fire descriptor.

Icewalking (Ex): This ability works like the spider climb spell, except that it applies to all icy surfaces and it is always active.

Source: Monster Manual II, page 127. This creature’s statistics block has been updated to version 3.5 as given in the D&D® V.3.5 Accessory Update for Monster Manual II.