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[Javarock]

Reacently, After starting dwarf fortress mode about a month ago and going through variosu forts I got the "You have discovered an expansive Underground Cavern!"

Now my question is waht can I do with it, And how can it benifit me?

[NecroRebel]

The obvious thing to do with it is to explore it and then treat it as your outdoor space. The first cavern, at least, is roughly akin to a low-savagery surface woodland in terms of danger and resources. It's a valuable source of lumber and typically safer than the surface since there's no ambushes in the depths, so stopping surface woodcutting and herbalism operations to move them into the caverns is a surprisingly good idea. Of course, forgotten beasts entering the region are more common than titans, that doesn't make the caverns more dangerous.



You'll probably want to make at least some type of defensive array down in the caverns, like a line of weapon traps to take out hostile animals, maybe a drawbridge, convenient places for your soldiers to engage any forgotten beasts, and (most importantly) a dwarf bath to clear any dangerous secretions from anyone who might pass through pools of deadly substances, but you don't need anything near as complex as at the surface.

[Rentorian]

I wouldn't really call the first cave low savagery, that makes me think more of calm surroundings, the first cavern seems to be somewhere between untamed wilds and wilderness.
What you'll do with the caverns depends majorly on your embark site.  All caverns are a good source of trees if you embarked somewhere without trees, they also contain underground plants, plump helmets, dimple cups, etc. that can be gathered in a pinch.  Most cavers will at least have a some water somewhere that you can use if there isn't any on the surface, sometimes you might find some magma too.
Overall you'll probably treat it like you would any entrance to your fort.  Defend it and make sure nothing happens to it.

[Shambling Zombie]

Some levels of underground caverns have good stuff like Native Platinum or Gold, not to mention vast wealths of gems and webs and stuff. I like caverns.

[Hans Lemurson]

The great wealth displayed by caverns is simply because they EXPOSE those deposits.  Caverns don't concentrate mineral wealth, they just make it visible.

[Encased in burning magma]

Careful, lots of dangerous/flying critters in the cavern. Wall the edges off, lest the hungry heads fuck up your shit.

[zephyr_hound]

? Hungry heads are total pussies, unless I'm missing something. I once accidentally locked a dog out in cavern 3 during a siege and a whole flock of zombie HHs started chewing on it. By the time I noticed it was missing a month later, it was covered in bruises but no worse. They literally had not broken its skin after like a 30 page combat log. Admittedly they were zombies but I don't suppose their bites are any weaker than the regular variety.

back on topic, I used to be scared of the caverns, but not any longer. I usually go straight to cavern 3 and set up there. The only really scary thing in cavern 1 is giant cave spiders, and those have been nerfed anyway since 40d. The water bath is a good idea though, FB syndromes really suck.

[Encased in burning magma]

? Hungry heads are total pussies, unless I'm missing something

They can still get lucky bites on your civilians, infection, etc.

[Serrational]

If you see a guy bitten by a helmet snake, fucking RUN him to hospital. The bite will wreck them up if you don't, and the buggers nearly ALWAYS get at least one bite on them.
They die pretty quick, but if you see one in the caverns, get marksdwarves to shoot it.
If they somehow bit a dwarf on the head, they are dead.
So be careful down there!

[Kearn]

If you see a guy bitten by a helmet snake, fucking RUN him to hospital. The bite will wreck them up if you don't, and the buggers nearly ALWAYS get at least one bite on them.
They die pretty quick, but if you see one in the caverns, get marksdwarves to shoot it.
If they somehow bit a dwarf on the head, they are dead.
So be careful down there!

i had a dwarf bitten 4 times by a helmet snake and nothing happened 

[Serrational]

Might be a lucky one then. If they get the venom injected, then....

[Javarock]

So I can get my first FB in the first cavern :O?

[Shambling Zombie]

My first FB ever entered through the first cavern. It was a feathered earthworm made out of diorite, I believe. Tough bastard to take with my copper weapon squad.

[K17U]

My first FB entered through the first caverns too. It was a newt composed of fire opal, which was... rather unimpressed by my silver war hammer wielding military.
Whole fortress almost got eradicated in the second year.

[Urist Imiknorris]

My first FB came from the second cavern, which I had sealed off, but it entered my fort through the first cavern due to a passage I hadn't yet found.