Smalljammer

Upon their "birth" inside of the Spelljammer, smalljammers quickly depart from their mother ship and enter into a nearby crystal sphere. After they enter wildspace, smalljammers quickly slow down, and while they are capable of moving by themselves, they cannot reach full spelljamming speeds, instead opting to remain hidden.   A smalljammer can only return to its full speed only when it is bonded with a captain.  

Crew

Smalljammers can operate on their own, but need a crew of at least one to function at their full capacity. The captain of a smalljammer is usually the first humanoid to find and board the hidden smalljammer, at which point the two form an empathetic bond, similar to the relationship between the Spelljammer and its captain. However, the youth of the smalljammer causes it to react more instinctively and strongly than its older mother.   If the captain of a smalljammer does not act in way the smalljammer approves of, the captain is striken with intensive pain through their bond with the ship. This is commonly seen in dangerous situations, where the smalljammer will compel the captain to flee.   While smalljammers cannot force a captain to stay on the ship, the empathetic bond does extend to a maximum range of 10 miles. The smalljammer is also sensitive to the needs of its captain, and can adjust the interior of itself to form rooms and furnishings as needed.   While bonded, a smalljammer only recognizes its captain as its helmsman, and any creature attempting to pilot a smalljammer that isn't bonded to it are repulsed from the helm. A captain and a smalljammer are also bound until one of them dies or until the smalljammer rejects the captain, at which point the former captain will be rejected from piloting the smalljammer.   Because of the skittish and secretive nature of smalljammers, crews of them tend to be very small, often just the captain. While the size of a smalljammer would allow for a crew of up to 15, there has never been a known instance of a smalljammer having a crew of even 10.

Smalljammers have no native weaponry. While the can be outfitted with small ballistas or catapults, larger weapons are rejected by the ship, which will retract its supports to the weapon, causing it to topple overboard. Large weapons can also not be bolted to the ship, as that would damage the smalljammer.  

Purpose

The purpose of smalljammers, if there even is one, has eluded scholars of the Spelljammer for centuries. On the one hand, smalljammers are seemingly sent out to various crystal spheres and require a captain to function properly, and yet they take every step to not be found. If smalljammers ever return to their mothership, that has never been noted or witnessed by the various smalljammer captains that have been interviewed over the centuries.   One prevalent theory is that the Spelljammer is not in fact the original Spelljammer, proposing that everytime a Spelljammer is destroyed or dies, a smalljammer grows to take its place. While interesting, there is no proof to support this theory.