Glacial Aura. A creature that hits the bear with a melee attack while within 5 feet of the bear or ends its turn within 5 feet of the bear takes 3 (1d6) cold damage, and if the creature doesn't have resistance or immunity to cold damage, its speed is reduced by 10 feet and it has disadvantage on any weapon attack rolls it makes before the end of its next turn.
Harbinger of Winter. The bear causes changes in the weather around it at all times. Every 10 minutes, the weather within 2 miles of the bear is altered as if by the control weather spell, making it colder and increasing the stages on the Temperature table by one. These changes last until the bear leaves the area.
Innate Spellcasting. The bear's innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 17). The bear can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
At will: gust of wind, ice sculpture (new), shape water, sleet storm
1/day each: cold snap (new), control water, wall of ice
Keen Smell. The bear has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Magic Resistance. The bear has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The bear's weapon attacks are magical.
Snow Camouflage. The bear has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in snowy terrain.
Multiattack. The bear makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 6) slashing damage.
Arctic Breath (Recharge 5–6). The bear exhales a blast of freezing wind in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Description
The vast arctic stretches of ice, snow, and frigid water are the domain of the mighty Bear of the Arctic, a great polar bear spirit that brings blizzards wherever it goes. It reigns over not only the frozen land, but also the icy shallows where seals and whales roam.
The Bear is cold and emotionless when it meets with mortals, unless it is angered and its ferocity is revealed. It speaks straightforwardly, eschewing subtlety and lies. It will accept champions who demonstrate the strength, cunning, and resilience needed to survive in the frozen wastelands, but will devour those who fail its tests.
Primal Spirit Avatars
The wilderness in all its many forms — tundra, forest, desert, and other biomes — is not without awareness or agency. The land itself gives birth to mighty spirits, fey and elementals that are so ancient that they are largely forgotten except by the oldest in the multiverse. These primal spirits are all connected to a form of land, taking the shape of a plant or animal from their domains.
Though they are composed of powerful magic, these mighty spirits struggle to physically leave their ancient realms in some of the oldest parts of the Feywild: the savage wilds called the Spirit World. If their domains on the Material Plane are threatened, they project a weak reflection of their true nature, an avatar, to defend the land. These avatars take little effort for a primal spirit to control, and the spirit is not harmed if the avatar is slain.
Incarnations of Ancient Titans. The primal spirits are ancient beings that traversed the Feywild and the Material Plane when the world was young and the land was still forming. The spirits are each representations of the lands themselves. The majority of these spirits keep their ancient, true names a secret, though some are known by nicknames they have adopted for the benefit of mortals, such as Coyote or Greatmother Oak. Those nicknames have been used so often that they are now applied to any coyote or any oak tree, instead of merely the primal spirit, and the original names of these animals and plants have been lost.
Druids Serve as Champions. Primal spirits often require the aid of druids and archdruids to help defend their lands against despoilers. Druids can be trusted to act more swiftly and in more places than a spirit could possibly manage from their realm in the Feywild. Arch-druids can wield powerful enough magic to summon an avatar of the spirit without effort from the spirit itself, but primal spirits trust very few with this privilege. They entreat carefully with archdruids and only select their favorite among them as a champion who can conjure their avatar to aid both their goals.
Hatred for Despoilers. The spirits of nature despise those that would despoil nature in any of its forms. Not all forms of consumption earn the spirits' ire: the spirits themselves are often predator or prey, and understand that survival often means destruction. They despise the reckless and sometimes gleeful destruction of nature that has nothing to do with survival and too much to do with mortal flaws such as greed, pride, or ambition. This is what the spirits consider to be "despoiling."
Primal Nature. A primal spirit avatar doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
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