Gremlins in the Lighthouse

Freeport, newly inundated with gnomish refugees arriving by submarine from Watergold, was developing some new problems. A sealed letter arrived at Aurora's small Pelor temple cave in the cliffside. The official seal was from the high priest of the larger Bahamut temple not far away, and the letter contained accusations that Aurora consorted with thieves and therefore her temple would no longer be recognized. Wikipedia Jones, meanwhile received a similar, sealed letter, addressed to "The Jones," which is the title carried by whoever the acting mayor of Freeport happens to be (while the party has been adventuring, Fy'Ev has filled the role, essentially as a city manager/administrator). Jones' letter was from the Ed's Hollow/Rackmonton halfling alliance and accused him of wrecking the profitable trade routes of stolen goods that had been originating from the Dragon Empire. The letter said that by signing the treaty (see previous entries), Jones was costing the halfings a lot of money so consequently they would impose quotas and sanctions on Freeport. A third letter, also sealed, arrived at the thieves/assassins/drow "guild" not officially headed by the Willikers family. This letter, from the Gnomes, accused the Drow of subverting the promise Jones had made to the citizens of Watergold that upon arrival at Freeport they would be welcomed there. The letter went on to say that if they chose, the gnomes could come as a force of spellcasting invaders instead of refugees and the drow above the 200' mark did not know how lucky they were.

Willikers, after discussing the letter with his cousin, Darktina, took a few Family members to the clifftop to attack a newly arrived gnome planeshifter, who had managed to magically transport his entire home there. The powerful wizard, the notorious Mephistodorpdor Nofrikipidok, was caught off guard and as he had not yet set up his normal array of defenses. Once he did, Freeport was to become a Magocracy, he was certain -- and Mephisto would run it. Willikers was able to slay him swiftly and loot the building. So swiftly, in fact that the true nature of his victim's intentions were not even discovered until much later.

Other letters doubtlessly arrived in other prominent places, pitting friends and allies against each other over their differences great and small. Not the least of these had to do with the goblins, who since helping in the war had always been welcomed before - and the dragonborn minority among the lizardmen trading insults of uncouthness and arrogance. Shamash was disturbed upon hearing of these. Shouting matches and fights broke out on the catwalks and piers. Discord approaching riots or civil war were taking hold in all of Freeport, from many "enemies" within - who it turned out were everybody, at least according to everybody else. Aurora and her followers were glared at or worse and when she attempted to make peace with the Bahamut high priest she was not allowed in to see him.

Jorel, as the High Judge of Freeport, glowed with anger atop the cliffside gnome's now empty brass manor, and loudly declared to all citizens that the Uprisers, as saviors and founders of the town were by law allowed into any building. Elle served as his executioner, and shot a goblin criminal with an arrow, and the goblin's body was hung from the High Arch of town with the other criminals, as an example. Followed everywhere by an entourage of 20 constables, Jorel's authority was never questioned, at least not by anyone within earshot. He took up residence within the Bahamut temple but though Aurora was finally allowed inside the high priest would not look at her or speak with her. He turned his back.

Rholain Carrack, making one of his rare appearances as a gothic-looking elf, was also attended by 20 or so followers hanging on his every word - it had been a while since anyone in Freeport had seen this member of the Uprisers in his true form and not that of a swarm of bees. Rholain, ever the Darwinist, set up a dueling arena and in two days time only one of his original 20 remained, Rholain's new lackey, a lizardman monk well suited to the many fights on the docks. For Rholain, riots were, well they were a riot.

Jones looked again at his letter in dismay, reflecting that maybe Rholain was right, maybe there was no point in people gathering in cities or building civilization at all. The letter was from Trusty Ol' Sticky Fingers. Sticky Fingers never wrote, and though he had an attitude from time to time this just didn't sound like him. Upon closer examination Jones determined the letter was a forgery. Aided by magic, he traced its origin to halfway between Ed's Hollow and Freeport. After speaking with a flustered Aurora he examined her letter. It was also a masterful forgery, from half again closer along the same route - not from the Bahamut temple. Later, Willikers snuck in to ask Jones to look at his letter and ask his advice. Also a forgery, from the Freeport lighthouse. Drawing a line on a map, it seemed the source of the letters was working its way to town.

So the Uprisers converged upon the lighthouse, which had recently stopped working. Although word on the street was that it was just some gremlins, everybody figured it was just a figure of speech but it turned out to be exactly that. Two gremlin cajolers with their many minions - and a Formian Giant had made the lighthouse their home. Collectively, they taunted the party throughout the battle. Willikers made a great leap from the cliff and somehow, impossibly landed on a balcony more than halfway up the lighthouse, with a gremlin body falling to the jagged rocks below. Rholain, in the form of an armada of water-spiders, charged the Giant, occupying him to beyond distraction and inflicting no small amount of pain. The Giant, who had rendered himself invisible to Shamash and Aurora, had to split his attention. Gremlin minions were dropping, but not always easily. They were small but tough, and Shamash took one out, only to find himself stumbling into the waves shortly thereafter. Jones began his usual snow of notes to slow the enemy and heal party members in the area, and began shooting away from the top of the cliff. Elle charged the Giant. Aurora provided magical support. Jorel appeared in four places at once and picked away at whichever gremlins were most convenient. Willikers broke down a balcony door and knocked the lead gremlin unconscious. Shamash, who still couldn't see the invisible Formian Giant, charged one of the gremlins on the ground. Rholain, Jones and Elle finished off the giant while Jorel, Willikers, Shamash and Aurora finished off the gremlins. The final gremlin had dominated Elle's mind to turn on Shamash and attack him, but just before she began to attack, that gremlin was slain and Elle's mind was released from its' grasp.

The entire fight took less than a minute, after which all the gremlins and the giant lie dead. Within the lighthouse were more inflammatory letters, along with many forged seals. A single gremlin writer with the help of his assistants, had nearly destroyed a city. In order to find out why the gremlins had done this, the lead gremlin was brought back to life and interrogated. He claimed he was hired by "A big dark dragon" to "do his thing" here. Havoc and mayhem being a gremlin's thing anyway he was more than happy to oblige. "Oh, and Tiamat sends his regards," the gremlin added before being slain a second time. His body was dangled from the arch with the other criminals as an example. It took some time and some doing, but peace was restored in Freeport once all parties became aware of the true nature of the letters.

The party are currently 17th level.
Treasure: One 21st-level magic item. XP: About 3,300 (I have it written down elsewhere)
Next session should be Sat, Sept. 11.