Young Deep Dragon

Dragons of Caverns and Secrets

Habitat Underdark — Treasure Arcana

Deep dragons slither through the wet and lightless places of the Underdark. They are stealthy hunters with an affinity for lost lore and fungi that flourish in the depths. As deep dragons age, their smooth, serpentine bodies become riddled with fungal rot, particularly around their faces, to imbue their breath with terror-inducing spores.
Deep dragons covet treasure and knowledge. Some deep dragons seek to gain knowledge via experience and travel, slithering through caverns and seas of the Underdark to map hidden passages for dozens of miles. Other deep dragons enjoy cultivating groves of molds and fungi, including colossal varieties sufficient to conceal the dragons' sinuous forms. Many deep dragons collect forgotten tomes or works of art and bully, cajole, or steal collections from drow or duergar sages.
Deep dragons are excellent swimmers. They often clash with aquatic Underdark societies, such as kuo-toa. Many deep dragons demand tribute from these groups in the form of food or treasure.
Underdark explorers have many reasons to brave deep dragon lairs beyond treasure hunting; they might contain the only surviving copies of forgotten lore, fungal ingredients for cures or plagues, or maps to lost Underdark locales.

Young deep dragons establish lairs in familiar hunting grounds and defend their lairs with twisting passages and traps such as deadfalls. They dominate the local environment, consuming vast quantities of fish and pale crabs and cultivating fungal growths. They bully nearby communities when they can or enter into cautious arrangements with powerful Underdark settlements, such as drow cities.