Ice archon

Ice archons were a variety of elemental archons, beings created by conjuring and bonding elementals into ritually created suits of armor to act as servile weapons of war.

Description
Ice archons were beings composed entirely of elemental ice, with bodies that were roughly human in size and shape.

Like all elemental archons, ice archons wore thick armor, typically of the plate mail variety. These not only protected them against attacks, but contained their form and was integral to their being. After some time they were capable of removing this armor and replacing it with something else, but many never saw any need to do so. Their armor was all that would remain of them when killed.

Abilities
Ice archons were immune to the effects of diseases and poisons, as they were composed wholly of elemental essence. Also, like other elemental beings, they had no need for sleep.

Hailscourges could conjure small hailstorms and jagged shards of ice resembling shurikens in shape. Frostshapers and rimehammers lacked these abilities, but they both exuded an aura of cold that froze the ground around them. Additionally, frostshapers could conjure blades and javelins of ice.

Combat
Hailscourges preferred to fight from afar over close-quarters. Because of this, they typically fought with no weapon, instead wielding shields of ice and relying upon their abilities.

Frostshapers also relied upon their abilities, but used them to aid in fighting close-quarters. Finally, rimehammers solely preferred close-quarters, fighting with mauls of ice so numbingly cold that they impeded their enemies.

Varieties

 * Frostshapers: One of the more powerful varieties of ice archon. They sometimes served as advisors or commanders in elemental armies.
 * Hailscourges: The term used for the basic variety of ice archon. They often served as artillery in elemental armies.
 * Rimehammers: One of the more powerful varieties of ice archon. They often served as bodyguards for powerful elemental beings.

Society
Like any elemental archons, when left to their own devices these beings would form societies that had the same structure, one that was roughly militaristic. They were rigidly disciplined and had hierarchies based on rank, with rank determining every aspect of life in their stronghold. These ranks did not have proper titles, as ice archons simply knew where they and others ranked. They did not challenge authority or compete against one another for rank, each being satisfied with their station and feeling they best serve in that position.

Outside of combat, ice archons spent much of their time trying to hone their knowledge of strategy and tactics, engaging in tactical exercises, or sparring. Constantly training for the next conflict, which satisfied their innate desire to make war.

Creation
Some said that constructing an elemental archon required a special foundry, with a special forge built in a significant concentration of elemental energy, and a summoning crucible that served as the transformation space. These forges rarely appeared like a common forge, being unrecognizable contraptions of arcane and elemental magic.

A working foundry could produce them as often as the ritual could be performed and for as long as the foundry's resources were maintained. The forge's power determine what kind of myrmidon was created. A forge with ebbing power could only generate the most basic of ice archons, while those at high flow could produce more powerful varieties, such as rimehammers and frostshapers.

A notable forge, controlled by ice archons and used to create more of their kind, was located in a part of the Elemental Chaos called the Crater of Blue Ice.

Homelands
Like all elemental archons, ice archons could often be found in the Elemental Chaos.

Beyond that plane, a colony of ice archons existed in the Iron Wastes of the Abyss, served by ice devils. This colony lived there in search of an artifact spear that had belonged to an ancient primordial who they believed to be burred in the mountains that layer. Much further down in the Abyss, ice archons could be found on a layer known as Soulfreeze.

Relationships
Many ice archons were known to serve Cryonax, the evil archomental of elemental ice. Those that lived in Soulfreeze served the demon lord Aseroth. And some ice archons served the Faerûnian goddess Auril, acting as escorts for her winter hags.

Rimehammers were also known to serve creatures with ties to the Elemental Chaos, such as frost giants, frostshapers, and frost titans. But elemental archons in general had no aversions to working with creatures of other elements, so one could even see rimehammers working for such unlikely masters as fire giants and efreeti.

Among their fellow archons, ice archons worked better with earth archons than fire ones, due to the former having similar approaches to warfare. And they were sometimes seen working alongside air archons.