| Other Names | Winter's Bite Arrow, Frostbane Arrow |
| Category | Weapon |
| Dimensions | Typically about 65 cm long. |
| Weight | Approximately 45 grams. |
| Aura Type | Enchantment |
| Activation Word | None |
| Average Market Price | 60 gp |
| Average Creation Cost | 30gp |
| Magical Strength | Minor |
Winterfang arrows are typically fashioned with a hefty ash or pine shaft and a long iron tip. The fletching is almost always blue or white. These arrows are easily recognized as they are always ice cold to the touch and often have a misty vapor drifting off of them. Often times they are actually coated in frost.
Although the true origin of these arrows is unknown for certain, there is a persistent legend about a Carrikosian mage named Krimako who, some two centuries ago, travelled north and spent several years with the borrellians of the northeast peninsula. There he learned the secrets of "ice magic" from the hatraddi shamans and used this knowledge to develop a number of arcane items enchanted with "elemental ice".
In any case, there are now several wizards in Ithria who are reportedly knowledgeable in the construction of winterfang arrows. Although not a common arrow, it is likely that hundreds have been enchanted and used in Ithria over the last few centuries.
When fired, a winterfang arrow leave a trail of mist behind it which dissipates after a few seconds. Upon impact, the arrow delivers a blast of intense cold that is very damaging to flesh. Furthermore, the cold spreads rapidly, coating the target in a layer of ice about two inches thick. Some people have managed to rip the ice arrow from their body quickly or leap aside from an arrow that struck the ground before the rapidly expanding ice can overtake them. However, one must be quick to avoid it. Those too slow are often encased in ice. Once encased in ice, it is difficult to break free (but possible).
A winterfang arrow will do the same thing to an inanimate object. If fired at a door, wall or other object, ice will spread out coating whatever is hit. If fired into a body of water, the arrow has an even more dramatic effect, freezing solid several thousand cubic feet of ice.
It is a versatile weapon with many stories. There are tales of winterfang arrows being used to freeze a door shut, silence a large ball, freeze the water in a moat to cross it, form an ice bridge in a river and so forth.
The ice, once created, is non-magical and will melt normally.
This arrow is unaffected by the Drellis effect and will functionally normally in any stellar phase.
Because these arrows tend to be heavier than average, they fly a bit slower and loss trajectory faster. This can throw off a shot slightly and, for an archer unfamiliar with firing heavier arrows, this might turn a near hit into a miss.
If placed in a fire, a winterfang arrow will "detonate"as if it had been fired, unleashing its blast of icy cold which typically extinguishes the fire and freeze anything within a five foot radius.
This page last updated Wednesday, December 24, 2008. Copyright 1990-2009 David M. Roomes.