I've looted this off one of the guys in netherbian lair (either a netherbian or a fungus mob), and also one off a goblin in Warsilk's woods while camping Grachnist the Destroyer. I dont' know which goblin dropped it, but I was there for hours killing all goblins in sight and only one dropped... very rare. sold em for 10p each in the bazaar.
Basically the ice is vendor stuff if you aren't a mage, unless you know some friends who are interested. Got mine from a member of the Tae Ew in The Feerott while hunting the named gorilla's.
All it is is for Mage research, noone really buys it, so If you have some, sell it to a vendor. You always will get some gold, maybe 1/2pp. And I get mine off Recondite Bandits in Paludal Caverns.
This is not a new item, it existed long before SoV or Kunark. It's a mage spell research component, and is dropped randomly by any mob of the appropriate level range. Finding this is just like finding some random rune, page or words.
Got one off some poor little dead Dark Elf in Mistmoore. I think he stole it from a previous adventurer cause there's no way he coulda made it all the way to Velious & back in the 8 seconds he was alive.