From the works of the acclaimed Dwarven scholar A. Jertren. Banned in all countries ruled by a Grand Dragon.
On The Species of Dragons
The world plays host to countless species of reptilian monsters with incendiary abilites, many of which are commonly referred to as dragons by the uninformed. In all but very few cases, this is in fact an incorrect classification, as detailed taxonomic studies have determined that this planet is only home to three species of true Dragons.
Draconis Minor: Lesser Dragons
The only non-sapient species of true Dragon, Lesser Dragons are about the same size as a large bovine, and roughly as smart. As with all Dragons, the Lesser variety is capable of both flight and fire-breathing, though they lack much proficiency at either. That said, Lesser Dragons are the fastest to reproduce, which often sees them hunted by those who want to get at their aluminum skeleton. Given this factor, the fact that Lesser Dragon is fairly delicious, and the possible uses for a tamed Lesser Dragon as a beast of burden or aerial mount, there have been several attempts to domesticate them, most of which have been unsuccessful as of the time of this writing.
Lesser Dragons on average require around 20 kilograms of food daily, of which a significant quantity must be Bauxite; how they extract the aluminum from those rocks in a metabolically efficient manner is currently not known to science.
Draconis Draconis: Common Dragons
As the name implies, Common Dragons are a rather prevalent species of dragon, such that it is not terribly uncommon for a town to have one or two of them living nearby. Common Dragons are both sapient and capable of speech, meaning that there is a significant demographic of Common Dragons that attempt to make a living in humanoid societies.
Physiologically, Common Dragons are roughly the size of a small elephant, with the six-limbed body plan common to Dragons of all sorts; four legs, two wings. Additionally, unlike Lesser Dragons, the Common Dragon has the ability to flame from both its mouth and hindquarters; in the former case, the flame is a means of attack, while in the latter case the flame is used to provide thrust, allowing Common Dragons to fly much faster than they would otherwise be able to.
The diet of a Common Dragon is both rather large, and significantly different from that of a typical humanoid; on average, a Common Dragon needs to consume around eighty kilograms of material each day to stay in good health; of these eighty kilograms, thirty kilograms are various refined metals, which Common Dragons require in order to ensure their skeletons and scales grow properly, along with various metabolic functions. Of the rest of their diet, Common Dragons need to consume large quantities of fat, in order to acquire the calories they need to fuel themselves, especially if they want to flame or fly.
Note: The flames which Lesser and Common Dragons produce are NOT true dragonfire; they are relatively simple combustion reactions, the principles behind which are well understood.
Draconis Grandiose: Grand Dragons
By far the largest species of Dragon ever encountered, Grand Dragons are absolutely massive beings commonly massing up to two hundred thousand tons, and with a wingspan stretching for hundreds of meters. One would think that a creature this utterly massive would require an utterly massive food supply, but this is surprisingly not the case; in fact, Grand Dragons have never been observed to eat, which indicates that one or more of their organs likely violates the Perpetual Mana Prevention Principle.
This observation is upheld by the deadly ability Grand Dragons are known for, namely Dragonfire. Though the composition of the reagents which produce these flames is not known to science, the effects of Dragonfire are well-known. Whole surface-dweller cities can and have been obliterated in mere minutes by an irate Grand Dragon, as Dragonfire not only burns at millions of degrees, but also imparts a large amount of raw kinetic energy to anything it hits.
Psychologically, Grand Dragons exhibit a uniformity of behavioral traits which is unique among sapient species; for any other sapient you could find a range of ideologies, beliefs, and other such things. Not so among Grand Dragons; each and every specimen so far examined exhibits extreme megalomania, paranoia, kleptomania, and a near total lack of empathy. This leads most Grand Dragons to attempt to take over a territory to rule over, followed by installing themselves as an almost always oppressive dictator. Given the unfortunate power which Grand Dragons possess, they are more often than not successful in such an endeavor.
NOTE: Given the extreme uniformity of Grand Dragon psychological traits, and their implausible levels of physiological difference from the closely related Common Dragon, it has been suggested that Grand Dragons were created artificially for some purpose or other. This theory does not enjoy much support among the scientific community, but was included for completeness.
On The Nature of Adventurers
The common term for those who pursue a life of monster-hunting and dungeon-delving, Adventurers perform a crucial service ensuring the safety of sapient societies. That said, experienced adventurers often display a variety of traits that none of their species could attain through simple training; this can include amplified physical attributes, an ability to rapidly cast spells that puts their peers to shame, or in extreme cases developing new appendages that their species doesn't have by default. One of the more common examples of that last possibility is human adventurers developing a pair of feathered wings and the ability to fly.
The question, therefore, is how do adventurers develop such bizarre capabilities? To find the answer, one merely needs to take a look at the typical lifestyle of an Adventurer, which involves spending large amounts of time in close proximity to high levels of ambient mana, either from the monsters they fight, or the dungeons they invade. This being the cause of adventurers developing their anomalous traits has been experimentally verified by researchers at the University of Spelopolis using a geothermal mana generator.
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Adventurers who have been queried about how they grow in power as they gain experience have indicated that they have partial control over how they grow in response to ambient mana exposure, but that the precise form the manifestations take often depends on the source of mana get the most exposure to early in their career. Being a bit more precise, the themes of dungeon that the adventurer spends their first six months of adventuring in tend to imprint upon the adventurer, which both opens new avenues for them to explore, and closes others to them.
As an example, if an adventurer got their start in a dungeon featuring large quantities of incorporeal undead, they would likely gain access to various necromantic abilities and possibly the ability to become incorporeal. But by the same measure, they would lose access to other possibilities, such as the inspired tinkering ability that those who got their start in Clockwork dungeons often develop.
The Dungeon Life Cycle
Commonly reviled by people for sending monsters to do various nefarious deeds, Dungeons are chronically misunderstood beings. When people think of a Dungeon, they often think of the corridors filled with monsters, traps and treasure. This is inaccurate; the Dungeon itself is merely the core which resides somewhere inside said structure, and the structure itself can be more accurately thought of as a shell that the Dungeon constructs for its own defense or other goals. Worth noting is that a Dungeon cannot move outside of its own structure under any circumstances, but they are quite capable of moving their structure if they meet the requirements.
Broadly, Dungeons proceed through several stages of life as they mature. These stages shall be listed and elaborated on below.
Stage 1: Planting and Germination
Somewhat similarly to plants, Dungeons grow from seeds; Dungeon seeds are commonly mistaken for small gemstones by most who see them, seeing as they are crystalline in nature and come in any of dozens of colors. While any given Dungeon Seed only has a one-in-one-hundred chance to be fertile, the fact of the matter is that this is still plenty for Dungeons to reliably reproduce.
When a fertile Dungeon Seed is left unattended on a flat surface, it will slowly sink through said surface over the course of several days, eventually reaching a depth of twenty meters relative to where it started. Over the next three to five years the seed will gradually add mass to become a full-sized Dungeon, while also autonomously excavating a rudimentary Structure. Once the Dungeon excavates its initial entrance, it is said to have germinated, and experiences its first moments of consciousness.
Stage 2: The Juvenile Phase
A newly germinated Dungeon is a rather unimpressive sight, simply consisting of a roughly excavated corridor and room with the Dungeon inside. Within a few minutes though, some changes can be expected as the Dungeon will expend its stored reserve of mana to both spawn its first minion and make a few minor alterations to its layout. The appearance of the first minion is generally a good indicator of what a Dungeon's theme later in life might be, but surprises are still possible. In particular, it is possible for an adventuring party who happens upon such a young Dungeon to force the themes they have been imprinted with on the Dungeon simply by entering the Structure.
Dungeon behavior during this phase is usually focused on a frantic race to accumulate more mana, which often leads to the Dungeon's first minion being sent on scavenging missions to acquire organic material for decomposition. It is quite possible for a Dungeon's first minions to go feral during this period if they spend too long outside the Dungeon's immediate area of influence, which can be devastating for a new Dungeon on multiple fronts.
Once a Dungeon acquires a cohesive theme, they are no longer considered juvenile; this usually takes a few weeks to a few months, but has been known to happen in much shorter lengths of time if a Dungeon receives a large windfall of mana.
Stage 3: Maturity
Once a Dungeon has a cohesive theme, they will usually start creating incentives for Adventurers to come, such as treasures to loot, or truly beautiful sightseeing spots; this is speculated to be an instinctive behavior due to how near-universal it is. Very rarely will someone ever encounter a Dungeon who builds their Structure with the goal of exterminating every single intruder. In fact, it has been observed that Dungeons who go for too long without visitors will often experience symptoms similar to clinical depression.
The reason for this behavior ties back into the Dungeon reproductive cycle; namely Dungeon Seeds. If one inspects the treasures they recover from a dungeon, they will often find that they have several small gems studded on them in various locations. These gems are in fact Dungeon Seeds, and will drop off the treasure some time later if they are fertile, causing a new Dungeon to begin germinating.
A mature Dungeon should continue developing its structure indefinitely as it ages, growing more and more massive and complex.
Stage 4: Old Age
Firstly, Dungeons do in fact have a limited lifespan even without being killed. Detailed records show that the longest a Dungeon has ever lived for is roughly 310 years, but the average life expectancy barring violence is closer to 230 years. That said, the signs of a Dungeon's final, terminal decline often don't set in until around twenty years before the Dungeon passes away.
Symptoms of a Dungeon reaching the end of its life include losing control over minions, difficulties replacing losses among both minions and treasure, the Dungeon's structure being in noticeably poor repair, an inability to construct new rooms, total infertility, and cognitive decay. These issues start out extremely minor at first, but they get worse at an exponential rate as a Dungeon's end grows near.
When a Dungeon finally dies, its structure doesn't disappear, simply staying in place as it decays normally. Furthermore, the Dungeon's extent minions all immediately become feral, often wandering out into the wilderness and causing all sorts of problems to surrounding settlements. This usually prompts bands of adventurers to invade the deceased Dungeon's structure, either to carry off what loot they can, or in a misguided attempt at revenge upon a being that is already dead and gone.
Stage X: Titan
Worth noting is that not all Dungeons follow the above progression through life exactly. A small minority instead take it upon themselves to build their structure into a mobile form; the vast majority of these fail to achieve Titan-hood due to an insufficient mana supply. That said, Dungeons that happen upon a means of acquiring truly vast quantities of mana are quite capable of building themselves into a Titan any time they choose to. Aside from being mobile and having enough combat capabilities to rival a Grand Dragon, Titans are identical to normal Dungeons in every physiological sense.