Winter Wraith

Biology

The cold hides many dangers, some that are well-adapted to it, but also some that despise it. The winter wraith belongs to the second category. They are a truly miserable existence, born from the cold not as just a tormentor, but also a victim. It is trapped between life and death, while constantly suffering from the pain of agonizing frostbite. They are only relieved from their torment when they are draining the heat from another source, including the living.
Some stories say that they are spirits born from those who died to extreme cold and frostbite, still suffering now even in death. Others say they are created as a result of a divine punishment bestowed upon those who were so arrogant and foolish that they spurned all other mortals, believing themselves to be above them. Ironically, now they can only yearn for the warmth of another being.

Intelligence and Social Behavior

Winter wraiths are almost entirely solitary creatures, only commanding a few weaker undead spirits at best. But they never work together with the living, partially because of their nature, but also their prevailing personality. They do not actually need to feed off the warmth of others, but they generally do choose to do so at any opportunity to alleviate their suffering. It is a decision born from self-interest, but also a logical one. This also provides additional speculation on how or why people are chosen to become winter wraiths. If all of them choose to prey on others even when they could choose not to do so, then perhaps only those who are vengeful or selfish enough are turned into winter wraiths rather than peacefully passing on into the afterlife. Or perhaps the more compassionate winter wraiths willingly choose to embrace their second death and thus they are never encountered.
Cold elementals and winter fae can at times be found within the wraith's lair, but they usually find their aura of loneliness and misery hard to bear, or simply distasteful. Undead do not seem to have this difficulty, and weaker wraiths and specters are commonly found in these lairs. Speaking of which, they do usually form some kind of lair or home base. As even the heat of the sunlight can prove deadly to them over a long enough duration, they often lurk in dark and/or cold places but close enough to civilization that they have a source of heat available. Over time its misery and resentment begins to affect the environment around it.
Icicles hang from the ceilings, each a physical manifestation of a negative memory. Layers of snow and ice cover the floor, constantly being shifted around with the cold winds that course through the lair in rhythm with the wraith's wails. And in the center of it all, the room where the winter wraith rests becomes a heart of winter, coated entirely in slick ice that reflects not the viewer but scenes of the wraith's cruelty. It is a macabre fortress that doubles as a gallery into the wraith's frozen heart.

Statistics

Crafting Materials

When a winter wraith dies, it leaves behind a shard of ice that some theorize to be a manifestation of its frozen heart. This is a major component for cold enchantments, it can become the core of a wand of winter or power a suit of armor that grants cold resistance.
Through a series of little known rituals something even more dangerous can be created. A ring of winter which provides even more powerful control of the cold, but also carries the will of the wraith. It will constantly try to push its wielder to commit further acts of atrocity and it requires persistent offerings of blood to even function.