Stop, Hammertime

The Trip to Hammer was smooth enough. Upon arrival we entered what seemed to be a sanctuary for the children of Vol, a church enclosed within some fortified walls. We met a matron figure who was rather withholding upon our mentioning the Red Tide. Thus did we proceed with a plan for stealth reconnaissance but a few minutes into the mission we reconsidered our approach and took the front door. After subjecting ourselves to the matrons (Sam) interrogation, she permitted us to speak with a child of Vol, who turned out to be much older than the other 'children' of the orphanage. Speaking of which, while waiting for our audience with Geoframh, Jeeng wanted to entertain one of the orphans by summoning a mysterious steed, smelling of flowers and sweets, which Sam promptly asked him to dismiss. Geoframh delivered some grave news for Jeeng, his sorcery, which once saved him, is actually draining his life force and will kill him in less than a decade.
Next day, we proceed to aid Ms Penelope train her telekinetic abilities. In the process, M. Penelope also made contact with her friend of the deep. However as we destroyed the last of the trial beasts, we realized all too late that the Red Tide had tricked us. A small girl rose up from the sea upon an undead whale and summoned more undead creatures in ambush. We barely got away before their forces overwhelmed us but this girl (Fael) who seemed to be hunting M. Penelope, shifted her attack to the only town on the island. With all the undead spies around us, we decided to "leak" misinformation in an attempt to divert attention away from Penelope until she could escape with her Leviathan. Jeeng and I returned to the church for another audience with Geoframh after informing lady Sam of the impending assault. Apparently they already had wards which kept the undead rats at bay so we were hoping Geoframh might have something more potent to deal with the larger beasts. Meanwhile M. Justine and M. Darren went to recruit the town guard. Geoframh gave us some more insight into the Redtide's workings as well as some necrotic fighting equipment but cautiously warned that not all the Redtide's forces will be of the undead variety. We did agree that part of the defensive strategy would make use of the church as a bunker for the civilians. M Justine and M Darren found a local fishing legend, Emmeric whom we wined and dined into joining the fight. As before, Fael seemed to be one step ahead of us and outed us to the whole town, giving them the ultimatum between us or them. M Jeeng was able to quell the crowd enough for us to lead the undead horde away from town.
Halfway to our fake destination we were set upon by a small group of undead bears. They didn't take too for us to dispatch, and we took one of their heads to help us study the Redtide's mysterious necromancy, much to Fael's chagrin. Reaching the north side beach, we quickly enacted a plan to hopefully complete the ruse but apparently Fael knew Ms. Penelope too well and had anticipated such deception. Therefore we made haste towards Hammer, hoping to prevent anymore casualties. Upon arrival, we found the town deserted save for the undead flocks overhead and burning building and corpses of the fallen. We made our way to the church, which was thankfully still standing behind the wards, which apparently Faele could not penetrate. Master Geoframh determined that her power to control the undead came from an object channeling energy from the realm of Endless Night, Mabar, and had its limits. After following our next lead to an abandoned lighthouse, we managed to diminish Fael's zombie forces further by destroying and capturing her magic holes, which was how she was transporting her corpses.
Regrouped at Geofrahm's base, when we noticed Fael going to meet with 2 figures who just arrived in town. Emeric spied on them as long as he could until one of them, a Dulahan spotted him with his senses. Emeric barely got back to us with news of these developments when the second figure made herself known as Fael's superior Scarlet with a ultimatum demanding Geofrahm turn himself over to her for execution in exchange for the rest of the town's safety. We didn't trust this but Geofrahm assured us Scarlet would keep her word in a way. Thus we resolved to meet her as we accompanied Geofrahm to his execution. She actually was still considering firing Fael for all her failures thus far and so agreed to let us fight her one final time in a gamble for our freedom as well. The battle would play out at the docks, this time, boasting a zombie t-rex and the Dulahan on her side. We fought fiercely as Fael played hit and run while the Dulahan threw some shrunken heads at us. Some buildings might've caught fire and Darren was on the brink of death but eventually I was able to locate Fael in time for the others to finish her off. We then cornered the Dulahan and Carmen in the inn, and managed to put enough pressure on them that they fled at the sight of our reenforcements who arrived in an airship. A handful of our allies were on board and helped aid and rebuild the Hammer town before we left. We also spoke with the late Geofrahm one last time for guidance and more details of Carmen Twinzel, who apparently relies too heavily on her connection to Mabar to perform necromancy. Fael's interrogation went thusly Geralf, Giza, Nathan are the remaining generals and the port where they can refuel their darkness.