Kupuk

Imagine a stocky husky in a walrus's hairless, leathery hide of tan, dull yellow or pale gray. Only the round head is furred, with upright ears, a long muzzle, a black nose and eyes, and two 6-inch tusks. Broad, flat, clawed feet grip ice, cross snow and paddle when it swims.

Its oddest feature is a furred, snakelike tail about 5 feet long and 6 inches thick, kept coiled on its back. Strong enough to uproot a sapling or sweep snow flat, it ends in a retractable spike. Kupuk howl like wolves, obey simple commands and scent things 100 yards off.

Kupuk claw and bite but prefer to swing around and lash the tail spike for 1-12 damage at a foe behind them, then howl at the sky in triumph. Defending eggs or pups, a kupuk frenzies for +1 to attack and damage until the threat dies or retreats. All cold, natural or magical, white dragon breath included, leaves it unharmed.

Wild packs, typically a dozen adults with six or so pups, roam without lairs, led by the largest female, usually the best tracker.

Most kupuk live with the human tribes of the ice, working and guarding in exchange for food, shelter and care. Wild ones tame easily with food and kind words, and once bonded will die for their people. A kupuk carries 500 pounds (never a rider) and pulls a 1,000-pound sled all day. It is a superb babysitter; a child curled in its tail is safe.

Yearly, a female buries 1-4 eggs under 3 feet of snow in a shallow pit. Each is a foot across and looks like soft gold, a mistake greedy explorers regret when a snarling mother arrives, tail raised.

Kupuk eat fish and seal, and white dragons and tirichik hunt them. The eggs contain no metal, yet collectors in southern lands pay up to 500 gp per fragment, though few arrive intact because the shell melts above freezing.