Ice Borer (3.5e Monster)

Ice Borer
''Bursting through the snow and earth below you, an ice borer emerges. The creature resembles a grub in shape, but it is composed of a tough, red, icy substance that reflects light like a mirror. It has sharp mandibles that it uses to bore through rock, ice, and snow, and it has a long needle protruding from its mouth.''

Ice borers are a common monstrous pest in icy environments. When they are near cities, they attack livestock and unattended children. They are often intelligent enough to avoid attacking adult humanoids, and it is speculated that they can communicate with each other somehow to share this aversion. Farther out in the wilds, however, ice borers will not hesitate to attack groups of creatures.

Ice borers have a special ability to inject a target with a fluid that freezes their blood. Whenever an ice borer can surprise or distract its target, it is able to inject it with the fluid and deal extra cold damage. Ice borers feed exclusively on frozen flesh.

Combat
Ice borers like to strike and retreat, making full use of their ability to create cover for themselves and use their frost bite ability. A typical ice borer uses the following tactics:


 * Round 1: Burrow Strike a target, hitting with a frost bite.
 * Round 2: Withdraw action to go below ground.
 * Round 3: Repeat.

Adult and greater ice borers will sometimes stay above ground to make two attacks per round if they can use frost bite, increasing the overall damage it can deal. They also will often work together to create flanking opportunities.

Training an Ice Borer
Ice borers make excellent guards, especially in caves. Training an ice borer from hatching into its juvenile stage requires two weeks of work and a DC 20 Handle Animal check.

More training must be done before the ice borer becomes an adult (2 months after becoming a juvenile) or else it will become wild. The training requires two weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check.

Even more training must be done before the ice borer becomes greater (4 months after becoming an adult) or else it will become wild. The training requires two weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check.

Ice borers live one year after they become greater ice borers.

Ice borer eggs are worth 500 gp apiece on the open market. Trained juveniles are worth 1,000 gp each, trained adults are worth 2,000 gp each, and trained greater ice borers are worth 4,000 gp each.