Cave Dragon, Adult

Its eyeless head swings from side to side in the narrow corridor as darkness creeps from its strange eel-like hide, spreading like ink in water and snuffing out even magical lights.

ECOLOGY

Environment any underground
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure double

A cave dragon is always hungry and ready to eat absolutely everything. While they do speak Undercommon and a debased form of Draconic, they do so rarely—generally only when bargaining for food. They occasionally act as mercenaries in the eternal warfare between the races of the deep earth. A hungry cave dragon uses its long-range darkvision to spot prey long before they notice it, creating zones of darkness or deeper darkness. Ruff spikes seal the passage around it, denying foes any chance of outflanking it. Their wings have withered away to little more than another set of limbs, useful to rush down tunnels. They are barely able to fly, and the effort it requires makes them clumsy fliers at best. Earth glide lets them attack from unexpected directions.

Eyeless creatures, they have long feeler-like spikes that help them navigate through tunnels. Their vestigial wings serve as an additional set of legs, and their narrow snouts pokes into narrow passages that their tongues scour free of bats and vermin. They are entirely creatures of hunger although quite intelligent. A cave dragon can be bribed with food as easily as with gold. They claim entire cavern systems as their own.

Cave dragons are especially fond of bones and items with strong taste or smell. They devour undead, plant creatures, or anything organic. When feeding, they treat all nearby creatures as a threat. Limited food deep underground means fewer age categories. The eldest die of starvation. A few escape to the surface, but lack of flight and sunlight weakness means that they are at a terrible disadvantage.

Cave dragon coloration darkens with age, but always provides good camouflage against stone: white like limestone, yellow, muddy brown, then black at adult and older categories. Mature adult and old cave dragons sometimes fade to grey again. Stories that claim cave dragon scales are invisible to darkvision are unfounded, but they are said to be an important element in fuligin dyes.

Cave dragons have no permanent society. They gather each year or each decade (no one is sure) to mate and to protect their eggs at certain spawning grounds. There, the oldest cave dragons retreat to die in peace. Wild legends claim that enormous treasures are heaped up in these ledges, abysses, and other inaccessible locations. Large vertical chimneys seem popular as nesting sites. Cave dragons often befriend derro and occasionally work with drow against the darakhul.