Dragon magazine

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Monster Manual III

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Dragon #127

?Great gods of winter,? breathed the
heavily clothed figure as he fought
screaming winds to squeeze shut the door
behind him. ?Nothing worse than a breeze
on flat snow.? He turned to face into the
room he had just entered. ?Hiya, Echord.
How?ya doing??

The bespectacled, seemingly middle-aged
man seated at the desk across the room
looked up from his book as his friend
brushed snow off his parka. ?Can?t com-
plain.? He paused long enough to take a
folded piece of parchment from the desk
and mark his place with it before closing
the book. ?I haven?t seen you here in a
while, Filnan. You still haven?t learned to
knock.?

Filnan ignored this comment as he
moved toward his scholarly friend and
sank into a chair across from him. ?I got to
talk to you about something important,? he
began, pulling back his hood and ruffling
his thick blond hair with a mittened hand.
Ice cracked on his beard and hung unno-
ticed from his bushy eyebrows. ?Did you
hear that we?re all having trouble again?
Folks just a ways north of Mak-Tsu-Shung
are complaining that snow-people from
World?s End Peaks have started coming
down on raids. We?ve even had a few drop
in ourselves. Some folks?ve been hurt ?
some others killed.?

The older man waited, expecting Filnan
to say more. When Filnan failed to pick up
the conversation, the older man sighed.
?That?s terrible news, my friend, but why
come to me? You knew that might eventu-
ally happen when you decided to move up
there. World's End is the homeland of
every frost-beast there is. You even told
me so. If those creatures intend to come
down from the peaks and attack, there?s
not much I can do about it.?

The two stared at one another without
anger. Ten years of life in this mountain-
ous land of glaciers, bone-cold wind, and
reticent people had burned away all but a
deep and abiding sense of respect for one
another. Not that they ever saw eye to eye,
Echord thought.

?Look,? Filnan said, shifting in his seat,
?we really do need some help here; I?m
serious. The only things I know for sure
about abominable snowmen are that you
never see ?em till they?re right on you,
they look like big white monkeys, and they
like to tear people into little pieces and
stuff them into their mouths. That doesn?t
help us do anything about it. The folks
around Mak-Tsu-Shung ? you know them.
They?re not fighters at all ? their grand-
daddies, maybe, but now they?re just
tundra villagers, goat herders. Those
walking snowballs aren?t gonna call off
their raids just ?cause the fight ain?t fair.
We gotta know what to do about it. I have
a family and friends there now.?

Echord looked thoughtful and nodded,
eyes fixed on Filnan. ?I imagine that?s what 
keeps the snow-people coming back every
so often. They prefer a meal that fights
ineffectively. Up there by the Worlds End,
you?re it.?

Filnan grimaced and turned away. ?No
doubt. Well, that?s why I came here. We
don?t know much about them. But you?? 

? ??are a sage, you read a lot, and you
might know something useful,? ? Echord
finished for him, and smiled in a tired sort
of way. He shuffled the papers about his
desk to create a suitable place to leave his
book, then arose and walked to the book-
case that covered half the east wall. ?I do
seem to remember having something
concerning these creatures. Bought it
from a caravan mage. Living as close to
the yeti as we do, I thought it might some-
day come in handy,? He stopped his search
to pull one relatively small and slim book
from the line-up. ?Ah, here we are.? 

Blowing the dust off the cover, the
scholar walked back to his seat and settled
in his place, opening the creaking book.
?In case you haven?t noticed, this is not the
most-used volume of my collection,? he
said, leafing through the first few pages.
?But its contents are not totally alien to
me. Let?s see what we can come up with.?

Filnan sat back as he watched his friend
at work. Echord had always been the
intelligent one, ever since their youth.
Each dive into the depths of knowledge
was like a game, even when the stakes
were considerable, as they were now.
Echord hated to come up short on infor-
mation ? to ?lose.? He took his studying
very seriously. His knowledge and Filnan?s
sword arm had kept them both alive here
after their fellow adventurers were lost to
an avalanche, many years ago. Now, nei-
ther man wished to leave this snowbound
land. It had its hazards ? but it was home. 

?Well, this is interesting,? the scholar said
as he stopped on one page. ?Taxonomists
have typically associated the yeti with the
primates, but the creatures also appear to
share certain characteristics with bears.
According to this, their ancestry may be of
one or the other, or possibly a mix of both.
The yeti seems to have the instincts of the
carnivorous ape and gorilla bear, both of
which may be distant relatives.

?Of course, yeti dwell only in very cold
climes, it being much more comfortable
since their normal body temperatures are
much lower than most blooded living
creatures.? Echord read a bit more and
chewed his lower lip. ?Their peculiar
internal biological processes require cold
atmosphere to maintain life, and in turn
produce an even colder one. They?ll live in
plains, hills, or other areas of extreme
cold. They?re hard to spot in the snow-
covered plains . . . white fur, of course. . . .
Hmm. They also seem to be smart enough
to learn to use this to their advantage, and
so gain surprise when they hunt. And they
like shallow caves.?

Echord raised a finger as he read, as if
lecturing to one of his classes long ago at
his academy. ? ?It seems that the yeti are 
quite fierce and aggressive in their disposi-
tion, but among their own kind they are
said to be quite congenial. Should they
happen to encounter any other beast or
being, they respond fiercely, to ward away
the threat before they attack. They beat
on their chests, hurl stones, strut about,
flail their arms, and hoot loudly in a man-
ner which echoes for great distances. If
the intruders do not leave, they are soon
surrounded and attacked. If they do leave,
they are stalked and attacked soon
enough. Any meeting with these creatures
is bound to lead to conflict.? ?

?I?ll remember that next time I drop in
on them,? the younger man murmured
with a sigh. He rubbed his face, removing
the last of the melting snow. These details
were not what Filnan had come to hear,
but he knew Echord?s thorough, methodi-
cal nature of investigation was unstoppa-
ble, even when it was not necessary.
Before he had even opened his friend?s
front door, Filnan had already resigned
himself to waiting patiently until the
desired material arose. In the meantime,
he sat back and waited for revelation.

Echord simply continued. ? ?Unlike most
other primates, the yeti do not care for
their young long after birth. Usually, the
young must fend for themselves at an
early age, looking and fighting for food
and such. This makes them strong, fierce
? and rare as well. These beasts are not
particular about what meat they eat,
though one of their favorite meals is
human flesh.? ?

?So I?ve noticed,? Filnan mumbled.


? ?The yeti are quite strong and are not
ones to be toyed with by the careless. The
physical strength of the average yeti is
comparable to that of a hill giant, which is
greater than that of any human alive.

? ? Additionally, they have a special talent
for inducing great fright in their oppo-
nents. More than a few who have survived
yeti encounters have testified to an unnat-
ural sense of horror upon gazing into a
snowman?s pale eyes. The majority agree
to the description of it as a mind-chilling
sensation, leaving the blood as water and
the skeleton as jelly, though not everyone
is affected in exactly the same manner.
The most experienced of fighting men
seem to have some resistance to this
power, however.? ? He glanced up. ?Still, I
wouldn?t suggest you go out and wrestle
with one, no matter how good you are!?

?Don?t worry,? the visitor dryly assured
his host. ?I wasn?t planning on it. Anything
in there about how to stop them from
rampaging through small towns?? 

?Patience, my friend. Unless you can tell
me that we have a hungry yeti grumbling
at my doorstep, you?ve nothing to lose by
being patient.? Readjusting his reading
glasses, Echord returned to the text of his
book. ?Well, since the yeti is a cold-
blooded, cold-dwelling creature, I would
imagine that heat would not please one.
Have you tried lighting fires around town?
Bonfires on the outskirts at night? How 
about fire arrows? Anybody up there
know how to prepare them??

Filnan stared into space for a moment.
?Fire,? he finally said. ?Of course. It
wouldn?t be too difficult to . . .? Filnan?s
voice trailed off, his visage darkening a bit
as he glanced at the wind-whipped snow
flying beyond the clouded windowpane.
?But I?m not sure how long that?d last. It?s a
bit beyond a kite-flying breeze out there.
As for fire arrows ? they make more
sense, but I have no pitch to prepare effec-
tive ones for combat purposes. The lamp
oil here is useless for this sort of thing.
And if I can?t do it, no one can, since I?m
still the best archer in town, in case you
haven?t heard lately.?

?No, I haven?t heard lately, but I can
always count on you for that, eh?? Echord
turned back to the flipping of pages. ?You
know, I see nothing about it in here, but it
seems to me that if you raise a creature?s
body temperature enough above normal,
it?ll eventually die, right??

?Yeah, sure.? Filnan was mumbling again.
?I had an uncle die from green fever,
remember??

?Of course I do.? The man was beginning
to take on the distant look he always did
when he was thinking hard. ?The human
body temperature is fairly high. Your
uncle?s just went a little too high and
stayed there a little too long. But though
the yeti?s internal temperature is much
lower, it can still get a fever?

Filnan?s wandering eyes came to rest on
Echord again. ?That?s true. But I hope this
is leading somewhere?

?Well,? Echord continued, looking down
at the book, ?I?m not ? ah, here it is.? He
stopped turning pages and settled a finger
on the top part of one. ?You?ve fought yeti,
right? Have you ever noticed that a yeti
seems to radiate cold about him??

Filnan looked away and half-smiled, but
he didn?t look amused. ?Yeah. I got into a
fight with one. I was with my boy Mahong
when he was playing in the snow.
Thought I heard something, drew my
sword, turned around, and the damned
thing was right there behind me. Before I
could move, it had smacked my sword
away, knocked me down, and was about
to tear my face off when old Torkens ran
up and jammed his spear through its neck.
I think the yeti cracked a rib on me, but
the cold was worse than being crushed.
That ugly thing was colder than the Hells?
eighth plane. And you know what?
Mahong thought it was all so funny that
he just laughed and laughed.?

Echord chuckled softly. ?That sounds
like your boy. But a creature cannot actu-
ally radiate cold. Cold isn?t really a pres-
ence of something, it?s an absence of
something ? heat, actually energy of a
sort. Nothing can radiate a lack of some-
thing.?

Filnan looked confused but thoughtful.
?I think I follow you, but I definitely hurt
more from cold than from having my
chest mashed in when that yeti got me.?

?True." Echord took on his patient
expression, like a teacher explaining an
elusive concept to a student. ?But never-
theless, cold isn?t radiated; not like that,
anyway. Still, because of its low body
temperature, if a yeti were to find itself in
surroundings where the temperature was
higher than its own, it would pick up some
of the heat. Heat energy travels from areas
of greater concentration ? warm areas ?
to areas of lesser concentration ? cool
areas ? like any other diffusing action.?

?You?re losing me," Filnan warned.

?I?m simply saying that the yeti doesn?t
radiate cold, but that, by way of a kinetic
vacuum of sorts, it absorbs the heat. The
temperature of the surroundings drops,
losing energy, while that same energy is
absorbed by the yeti, whose internal tem-
perature rises slightly.?

?You mean that if a snowman drained
enough people of their body heat, it might
get a fever? I?m not sure I?d want to exper-
iment with that.?

Echord assumed his patient look again.
?Not necessarily body heat; the heat
energy can come from virtually anywhere.
How well are your homes heated??

?Not all that well, really. We?ve let things
slide a bit since the yeti attacks started,
and the wind?s caused some damage to the
walls and roofs. We?re thinking more
about defense lately. Some of the guys
have been thinking about building a pali- 
sade around the town, or hauling rocks in
by sled for walls. Bad neighbors from
Worlds End and all that.?

?Maybe you should look into better
heating. It could be that your fireplaces
are keeping out more than frostbite. The
yeti would dare not get close to a really
warm area.?

The younger man looked startled. His
eyes began to brighten. ?Yeah, that makes
sense."

?The very sight of fire itself might deter
them from attack, in fact,? Echord contin-
ued. ?Maybe a heated metal fence would
help guard the rest of the town better
than a big wooden fence ? if you?re very
careful about its design and construction,
that is. Most metals are wonderful conduc-
tors of heat, you know.?

?Yeah,? Filnan repeated, sitting forward in
his chair. ?You know, there?s a group of
gnomes a few miles from town. They prob-
ably have a metal shop back in their caves.
I haven?t seen ?em around much, but they
might be friendly enough to help. . . . This
just might work." His eyes returned to his
friends face as his voice regained its vigor.
?Would you mind coming over to Mak-Tsu-
Shung and explaining all this to the guys?
They?re not likely to listen to all this coming
from strong-but-uneducated me. It?ll sound
a little more reasonable from you; they
know you. Maybe you could help design
this stuff, too.?

Echord let out a long sigh as he closed
the yeti book on a finger, suddenly recall-
ing Filnan?s lack of appreciation for the
figuring and details involved in mechanics
and sciences. He always treated it like
some mathematized branch of magic
whose workings were best left to others.
The idea Echord had proposed was vague,
at best, and would need work; after all, he
had just mentioned it off the top of his
head less than a minute ago. But Filnan
seemed to be getting somewhat excited
over it already, and knowing him as
Echord did, he wouldn?t likely calm down
until the plan?s execution was underway.

?I suppose so," he finally assented. ?May-
be tomorrow afternoon. I?ve nothing that
absolutely demands my attention then.? He
pulled his finger from the book as he rose
to return it to its place among its fellows.
When he turned back, he saw that Filnan
was also on his feet, his face revealing a
relieved grin.

?A heated wall sounds like crazy stuff,
but only you could make it work. You
always were the one to figure out a puz-
zle.? Filnan clasped Echord?s hand when he
walked back. ?Thanks a lot. I can?t wait to
see the guys? reactions. Y?know, they didn?t
believe you could help us at all. We
thought we were gonna die.?

?Glad to help,? Echord assured him,
following Filnan to the door. ?But keep in
mind, a heated wall won?t be foolproof by
any means. It?s more of a general deter-
rent. You will still have to keep on your
toes. In the meantime, why don?t I give
you the name of a friend of mine who
specializes in preparing certain types of
fire arrows. . . ."

Notes
Yeti are actually biological relatives of
both the lower primates and the bears.
They are most closely related to the moun-
tain gorilla, to which many of the yeti?s
typical habits and instincts might be com-
pared. Yeti mate and bear young much as
do any other lower primates. After that,
the young stay with the parents for only
two years after birth; they don?t stay
dependent on their parents as long as do
most other primates. Any young encoun-
tered with a group of yeti will typically be
just old enough to fight effectively on their
own. This early separation and indepen-
dence from the parents causes them to to
hunt for food at a relatively early age,
limits their population growth to those
strong enough to survive, and accounts
for part of their racial ferocity.

Female and male adults have the same
sorts of AD&D® game statistics. Yeti
become adults at five years of age. Young
yeti (at two, three, and four years of age)
have 1+ 1 to 3 + 3 HD, and do l-2/1-2, 1-3/
1-3, or 1-4/1-4 hp damage with their claws.
Chill damage from young yeti amounts to
1-6, 2-8, or 2-12 hp damage. The power to
frighten opponents by gaze only comes
with full adulthood. All yeti are immune to
cold attacks because of their thick fur and 
fat layers, as well as from their unique
biology.

If a yeti is captured at an early age,
cared for, fed properly (they have vora-
cious appetites) and kept in a suitable
arctic climate, the creature could be tamed
and raised in much the same manner as
any other domesticated animal. Usually,
such domesticated yeti will follow their
instincts and leave ?home? after a few
years for the icy wilderness. As a result of
their early domestication, however, these
yeti are often less ferocious than the aver-
age abominable snowman. Those yeti that
stay at home (30%) grow up to be very
loyal to their caretakers.

The strength of a typical yeti may be
determined with a 1d12 as follows: 1 =
18/90-99,  2-4 = 18/00, 5-9 = 19, l0-12 =
20.  The only weapons a yeti will use are
hurled rocks, which gain bonuses to dam
age from this great strength. A hurled
rock does a base of 2-8 hp damage, has a
range of 120 yards (40 yards being the
short-range limit and 80 yards the
medium-range limit), and is about 6? in
diameter, weighing about l0-12 lbs. Yeti
hurl them with one hand like shot-puts.

According to the  Monster Manual,  any
creature surprised by a yeti in combat
must save vs. paralyzation to avoid looking
into the yeti?s pale blue or colorless eyes.
Anyone failing such a save becomes ?rigid
with fright for 3 melee rounds and can be 
automatically struck twice and squeezed
by the yeti.? This effect does not take place
against creatures which are normally
immune to fear of any sort, including
cavaliers, most undead, and generally
mindless creatures. It is believed that the
unusual crystalline coloring, together with
a strange and faint pulsating of light with-
in the creature?s eyes, is responsible for
this effect. Such pulsating dies when the
yeti does, thus ending any more fear-
striking gazes from the creature.

Also stated in the  Monster Manual  is the
yeti?s particular vulnerability to fire, as it
takes 150% damage from any such attacks.
This also applies to any other form of
heat-based attacks. Yeti aren?t particularly
bright nor fearful, but usually stay away
from fire and other obvious sources of
heat, for they realize this weakness and
take pains to avoid it.

Yeti absorb heat from their surround-
ings. If grabbed by a yeti, as described in
the Monster Manual, a victim suffers 2-16
hp cold damage. After a yeti has caused
chill damage equal to its own hit-point
total, it begins to feel weak, suffering ? 1
on ?to hit? rolls and an additional ? 1 for
each additional 8 hp chill damage caused.
This chill damage is actually causing the
yeti to warm up internally, disrupting its
metabolism. When this ?to hit? penalty
reaches ? 6, the yeti passes out, becoming
feverish and remaining unconscious for 
2-12 turns. At ? 9, the yeti dies from
severe overheating. Generally, it takes
about three turns for a yeti to recover
from each ?  1  of ?to hit? loss suffered,
providing the creature is still alive. This
condition may also be inflicted by absorb-
ing heat from sources other than people.
Greater sources of such heat contribute
more than the 2-16 hp drained from
humans, just as relatively cooler sources
contribute less. Heat or fire attacks con-
tribute half their unadjusted (prior to the
addition of the extra 50%) damage value in
addition to the 150% damage taken.

This cold radiation fades away gradually
after a yeti dies. The internal biological
and chemical functions which maintain
such an extremely low body temperature
eventually cease within a dead yeti, and
the body then begins to approach the
temperature of its surroundings, thus
decreasing the effect of the radiation of
cold. In terms of hit points, the damage
inflicted is typically reduced by 10% for
every two turns that the yeti has been
dead (this may be adjusted up or down in
unusually warm or cool air temperatures).
Consequently, two turns after death, cold
damage from a yeti will be multiplied by
.9, by .8 after four turns, .7 after six, etc.
After  20  turns, the yeti?s internal tempera-
ture will be close enough to the surround-
ings? that cold damage will be nil, and the
body may be safely investigated.