📘 Session 19 - The Whispering Crown of Sondar

🪐 Campaign Arc

• Campaign: Spelljammer
• Session: 19 – The Whispering Crown of Sondar
• Dungeon Master: James / Jamie / Sicareus
• Date: 26/03/2026
• Setting: The ruined dwarven kingdom of Sondar, its haunted forge, keep, throne hall, and sealed vault

🧭 Overview

The session opened exactly where the last one ended: inside the haunted forge of Sondar, with the ghostly dwarven smiths now fully hostile after Dino disturbed the forge’s tools. What began as a fight against three apparitions nearly became a party wipe when the ghosts possessed Rigg, Dino, and Leydrick, turning the group’s own blades, spells, and poor life choices against them. Valen’s Fireball helped break the chaos open, Leydrick’s healing brought bodies back from the brink, and the party narrowly pulled themselves out of a spiral that had become less “combat encounter” and more “team-building exercise from hell.”

Once the forge was quiet, the group recovered a powerful dwarven hammer. Rigg, having stolen it from Dino while Dino boasted about his untouched health, handed it over to Leydrick. Valen identified it as a Dwarven Thrower, a rare and potent weapon best suited to the party’s dwarf. With the hammer secured and the party patched up, Rook led them deeper through the dead streets of Sondar toward the keep.

Inside the keep, the party discovered the remains of a failed Illithid colony and the truth behind Sondar’s fall. Ancient dwarven notes described a siege, the queen’s descent into madness, rune-carving across the city, starvation, and the final massacre. In the throne hall, the dead queen still sat with a battleaxe buried in her chest and a silver crown gleaming on her head. Before the party could safely claim it, the ground split open and a Neothelid erupted from beneath the keep. Rook was swallowed, Rigg rode the creature like an idiot with conviction, and Dino eventually carved it down. The crown, once recovered, whispered darkly and caused the party’s instructions to change: it must now be taken to Arborea and gifted to the Choir Master.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Party Members

📍 Key Locations

• The Haunted Forge of Sondar: The ghost-lit forge where the party fought possessed smith-spirits and recovered the Dwarven Thrower.
• Ruined Streets of Sondar: Corpse-strewn dwarven avenues marked by the aftermath of old battles between dwarves and Illithids.
• Sondar Keep Gate: A barred, decayed door forced open by Leydrick with Dino assisting.
• The Keep’s Inner Hall: A carnage-filled chamber with whispers, a rumbling floor, and signs of an ancient Mind Flayer presence.
• Illithid Spawning Pool: An empty basin identified as part of a failed Mind Flayer colony.
• The Queen’s Throne Hall: The chamber where the dead dwarven queen sat with a battleaxe in her chest and the silver crown on her head.
• Sondar Vault: A locked treasure vault discovered behind the throne hall and opened after Rigg noticed the lock the hard way.

📑 Session Highlights

• The party resumed mid-combat against three forge ghosts from the previous session.
• The ghosts possessed Rigg, Dino, and Leydrick, causing the fight to become a dangerous party-versus-party scramble.
• Valen used Fireball during the chaos, damaging possessed allies and ghosts alike.
• Leydrick was knocked down but later brought the party back with major healing, including Prayer of Healing and Mass Healing Word.
• Rigg stole the mysterious hammer from Dino during the aftermath and handed it to Leydrick.
• Valen identified the weapon as a Dwarven Thrower, requiring attunement and best suited for Leydrick.
• The party pushed onward through Sondar’s dead streets and forced open the entrance to the keep.
• Inside, the group discovered evidence of a failed Illithid colony and an old spawning pool.
• Ancient dwarven notes revealed that Sondar fell after Mind Flayers laid siege, the queen ordered rune-carving across the city, madness spread, starvation weakened the dwarves, and the Illithids slaughtered the survivors.
• The party found the dead queen on her throne, pierced by a dwarven battleaxe and wearing the silver crown they sought.
• A Neothelid burst into the throne hall before the party could safely extract the crown.
• Rook was swallowed by the Neothelid and suffered acid damage inside the creature.
• Rigg climbed onto the Neothelid and attacked it from its back with his wrench.
• The Neothelid used acid breath and nearly crippled Valen with a Feeblemind-like psychic assault.
• Dino delivered the killing blows, slicing the monster open and allowing Rook to escape from its corpse.
• The silver crown whispered when held, and the task note changed to instruct the party to take it to Arborea and gift it to the Choir Master.
• The party discovered a treasure vault and began preparing to transport as much loot as possible back to the ship via Rook’s red circle.
• The group chose Arborea as their next destination, leaving the Shard of Hate in the Abyss for later.

🎭 Key Scenes

1. Valen and the Possessed Line

The forge fight turned ugly when the ghosts slipped into the bodies of the party’s frontliners. With friends attacking friends and Leydrick bleeding out, Valen made the kind of wizardly calculation that only looks insane if it fails. Fireball bloomed across the battlefield, burning ghosts and allies alike, buying just enough space for the party to keep fighting instead of collapsing into a haunted heap.

2. Rigg Gives Leydrick the Hammer

In the aftermath, while Dino was busy celebrating his suspiciously untouched health, Rigg quietly helped himself to the forge hammer. Rather than keep it, he handed it to Leydrick with the air of a man who had absolutely acquired it through legitimate channels. Valen identified it as a Dwarven Thrower, and the party agreed that the dwarf should probably hold the dwarf-only hammer. Bold strategy. Shockingly sensible.

3. Rigg and Rook Against the Neothelid

When the Neothelid erupted into the throne hall, Rook was the first to suffer for standing too close to the wrong mouth. The creature swallowed him whole, leaving only muffled screaming and acid-soaked panic from within. Rigg answered in the only way Rigg could: by climbing onto the gargantuan worm and attacking it from its back with his massive wrench.

4. Dino Takes the Crown from High Jinks

After the Neothelid fell, the silver crown proved immediately unpleasant. It whispered in the mind, radiated cursed-ring energy, and made everyone nearby look briefly untrustworthy. Rigg tossed it to High Jinks, who was already tempted to try it on, before Dino lifted it away with telekinetic force and ordered it sealed away before anyone did something wonderfully stupid.

🧵 Ongoing Threads & Plot Hooks

• The Crown’s New Command: The party’s written instructions changed after the crown was claimed. The crown must now be taken to Arborea and gifted to the Choir Master.
• The Crown Whispers: The silver crown is clearly dangerous, possibly cursed, and actively whispers to whoever holds it.
• The Shard of Hate: The other known objective remains in the Abyss, but the party chose to finish the crown task first.
• Primus’ Mandate: The command to “further the task” still hangs over the party’s decisions.
• The Fall of Sondar: The ancient notes suggest the dwarven queen’s madness, the city’s runes, and the Illithid siege were connected.
• The Queen’s Death: A dwarven battleaxe was found embedded in the queen’s chest, implying betrayal, execution, or a desperate final act.
• Vault Haul Pending: The party found a large vault of treasure. Exact contents are still pending final count.
• Rook’s Survival: Rook survived being swallowed by a Neothelid, but he may never be emotionally clean again.

💰 Loot & Discoveries

Item Notes

Dwarven Thrower: A weapon that feels made for an ancestral grudge. Heavy, rune-marked, and built to leave the hand like a thunderbolt before returning as if pulled by old dwarven pride.

Silver Crown: Bright enough to command a throne, wrong enough to make every sensible instinct scream. Its whispers are indistinct, but no one holding it felt comforted.

Dwarven Battleaxe: Not the grandest weapon in Sondar, but its placement made it impossible to ignore. Whoever drove it into the queen’s chest made a final statement in steel.

⏳ Cliffhanger

• The Neothelid is dead, and Rook escaped from its corpse alive.
• The silver crown has been recovered but is whispering and clearly unsafe.
• The task note now points the party toward Arborea and the Choir Master.
• The party intends to return to the ship with as much vault treasure as possible.
• The Shard of Hate in the Abyss remains unresolved.
• Next destination chosen: Arborea.