Schwingenschlag

When you excavate you place the cave and pay its cost (1 coin, +1 egg for the 3rd cave, +2 eggs for the 4th); any "when played" effects trigger immediately when you place it, and "when covered" effects trigger later if another card covers that cave (page 5).

When you Entice you pay the dragon’s cost, then place it into an excavated space that matches the dragon’s habitat (or other legal play space described on the board), immediately gaining any "when played" benefits; you are limited by available excavated spaces and other play limits (page 6).

Yes — dragons count themselves when resolving abilities that check counts; abilities are categorized as "when played," "if activated," "once per round," or "endgame," and resolve according to their type (page 7).

Caching places resources on a dragon, tucking places cards under a dragon, and laying/paying eggs uses eggs as a resource per the action; each has its specific capacity and timing rules and you must respect hand/resource limits and the activation language on the dragon (pages 8–9, 11).

Exploring a cavern requires paying its rising entry cost (Crimson/Golden/Amethyst), you move from left to right through spaces activating any "if activated" icons you pass, and you stop when you reach an empty space (page 10).

At game end you score VP from guild markers, dragons, eggs, cached resources, tucked cards, and objectives (plus adjustments for excess items/coins), with tiebreakers applied as listed in the scoring section (page 15).