Snowspringer

Aww, Such a Cute Monster!

This is a horrible predator with quite a brutal killing method, and though it might appear cute, it's best to know how to avoid it. Nevertheless, most travelers fall prey to this deceiving beast in the northern parts of Ashtree.
The snowspringer is named so due to to the way it hops around in the snow, much like a hare, as a form of movement. It is also known to be able to climb trees quite skillfully. Its main approach to killing victims? It leads them into a trap where they are freezing cold, exhausted, and have no way to warm themselves up. This is thought to be by either illusions or conjurations of different beasts and terrain obstructions, such as dire wolves and boulders on the road respectively. These all happen to appear at a convenient time, so it's a good theory. Once the travelers are lost, freezing, and alone, the snowspringer has already been watching them from afar, invisible amongst the snow. Then, it gets up close to them, or at least close enough to show its face. It might act scared or innocent, but this is all just a way for them to get closer to it, as it seems to know the lengths of human curiosity. The travelers might even try to feed it using a trail of morsels.
Next, it appears as though it tries to befriend the lost souls in the wilderness, to create a sense of comfort and that it's a harmless, cute animal. Then, when the travelers and their source of warmth (whatever it might be) are all clumped together, it belches out a cone of freezing-cold water with the strength of a geyser. It is unknown whether this is supernatural, but all of its previous abilities seem to be, so that's why most call it a monster. It slinks back into the snow and continues to stalk its prey, the travelers helpless as they realize their heat source (usually a fire, the snowspringer is smart enough to know it can extinguish it with water) is now gone and they will have to spend time gathering firewood again. They are also covered in freezing water... in sub-zero temperatures... you see where I'm going with this?
A simple torch won't save them from the hypothermia to follow. Those affected have their Resilience drop by 1 every minute, and once it reaches zero, they become exhausted as per the rules. Except, this time, the hypothermia factor plays into this. Their Constitution score begins dropping every minute while exhausted, and if it reaches zero, they have now frozen to death. Before it can melt and be discovered by its comrades, the body will be dragged away by the snowspringer (most likely with the help of its theoretical servants). This can be prevented by spending at least a minute near a source of warmth. It has been known to do this to animals, too, but it usually can't get close enough for them to not get spooked, and most animals that live in the north have enough fur to not freeze, even when covered in freezing water. It also seems like they simply hunt sentient species for sport sometimes, as they end up having an excess amount of corpses for their low metabolism stomachs.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The culprit thought to be behind most of these freezing murders is a tiny creature not much larger than a house cat, and it resembles a creature found on other continents called a lemur in a way. Its fur is snow-white, to help it blend in, and its face usually has black leather hide over it, with big eyes and perky ears. These are usually the most unchanging characteristics between the monsters, but they are usually wildly different in many ways. Its four limbs are long and bendy, most likely perfect for climbing, with four fingers on each.

Genetics and Reproduction

They seem to travel to caves during the spring to find their mate, and their birth is thought to be live and takes about 4 months for the fetus to develop.

Growth Rate & Stages

It only seems to live for a few years on average, a decade at most. Pups start out at around half a foot long, then grow to be about 2 feet long once fully mature.

Ecology and Habitats

It has exceedingly thick fur, and it is perfectly camouflaged against the snow. The icy north is its ideal habitat. In fact, it is seemingly able to make itself almost completely invisible in the snow from afar, but seemingly whenever it wants to, it can almost accent and highlight its dark snout to make itself more visible to potential prey.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Once its victim has frozen to death, it makes sure it stays in its frozen state. It tears the body into pieces, maybe with the help of the aforementioned dire wolves (if they're real, of course) so that they're big enough for it to carry. It then throws it into a freezing-cold lake, in the shallow end, for retrieval later. Sometimes, it might do this in cave ponds, too. What it doesn't eat immediately can stay preserved for the spring, where the lake will most likely still be frozen due to the climate of the region. In the summer, it most likely knows that the lake's solid surface might melt depending on the weather, so it doesn't risk it and instead tries foraging for plants and berries. It is apparently smart enough to know about how to preserve food so it doesn't rot. They are able to starve themselves for a week without food and still be at full hunting and stalking capacity.

Biological Cycle

Its main time of hunting seems to be in the winter, especially for female specimens. Male ones usually stay home with the offspring, though they do still hunt often. Females are super aggressive when it comes to hunting tactics, usually meaning bringing more food than males. In the spring, they retreat to caves in order to mate, still hunting occasionally, but still using the meat hunted from before as food. In the summer, they go to a more omnivorous diet, with very few traditional hunts happening. In autumn, they get ready to make a proper home for themselves and their family to return to (usually in a cave) and prepare for more offspring the next year. This is usually the time their offspring leave the cave.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

They have all five regular senses, but they also have a form of darksight. They can use echolocation similarly to bats, where they let out a loud screech and have it echo back to them in the darkness. This might explain them being able to hide in caves comfortably. Some say they have the power to summon greater beasts, like dire wolves (or maybe even demon wolves) to scout out the area for potential prey, but that is up to debate.

Geographic Distribution

• The Moon Peaks
• Tundra of the North