Deadbeat Wendy defeats Umôrdhoth on Expert

There are so many stories about Wanna-be-Wendys in Arkham, i don't bother anymore. I stopped counting them. In my humble opinion, these are all copycats who want to bathe in the glory of a little orphan girl who got famous for single-handedly annihilating a dark cult which threatened to traverse an "otherworldly semi-god" into this world. Too bad the newspapers were not in vicinity when this alleged deed took place! No proof, no faces, no detentions. Given, a LOT OF people chat about the mysterious events to this day. And, yes, some nibbled corpses have in fact been found. So, i must admit there has to be a core of truth somewhere. But wherever it is.... i will not believe the story this young lady in my office just told me. She is not the first and there will be more to follow to make my job a misery. She claims to be said "Wendy", and i had to hear her out. Fine... From her outer appearance, Ms. Wendy is not what one would expect: pimpled, unsportsmanlike body, shrill voice. But she definitely has insider knowledge, she is a kind of Expert about the occurrences which became famous under the name of "The Night of the Zealot".

Spoilers ahead!

First scenario - The Gathering

Wendy was alone at a remote aunt's house. Her aunt, Daisy, was at the theatre, and she was strolling around. She made sure from the very start to be alone and, secondly, equipped with at least one tool of investigation. When the door to the study disappeared, she started to search for clues right after. And even after she assembled all clues in the study, she held them back as long as possible. Not until the first enemy spawned in the office did she advance to the next scene. She said, she was hit by some minor issues, but she did not sound worried. She needed two actions to move to the cellar and another to investigate with her Flashlight. She sounded serious there, she stressed out that she fairly boosted this single test, because she wanted to leave as soon as she had gathered one clue at that location. When rats emerged, she was already done there and went for the cellar. Luckily, no enemy spawned until she had gathered 2 more clues in quick succession. This was only possible, because the Flashlight reduced the total shroud of the cellar to 0. And a test of skill is always considered 0, even if modified to a negative number. The only real danger, she casually chipped in, would have been an -token. Not everything went smoothly, she had to wait one whole turn in the hallway, because she heard Dissonant Voices. She was down to 2 health at that moment and needed to play events, so she was frightened for her life, perservering. Fortuna kissed her - Ancient Evils let the agenda advance and an Icy Ghoul emerged in the cellar. The part of the story where she advanced the scene and stood face-to-face against a daunting ghoul wizard was ....disappointing. Wendy just played Think on Your Feet at the instant the enemy approached - and fled to the parlor. She did not even glimpse Lita, she just rushed through the room and left the house without further ado.

Second scenario - The Midnight Masks

This sloth of a girl! She dismissed the events of the evening prior the midnight hour as insignificant. With a lazy wink she sidelined my concern and claimed that if not for this nosey Lita, she would have resigned on turn 1. She seemed determined in this point. She said she had "identified the problem" already and with her wits she would come to terms with that cult anyway. To appease that Lita woman, she just pretended to help. That's what she said! Reluctantly, Wendy gathered resources until the ground become to hot to stay. At Rivertown she grabbed her first clue. She escaped to the graveyard with a Nightgaunt hot on her trail and shaken. Lita still watched her steps, so Wendy investigated with little effort. As the hunter reached her place, he hit her once and then followed a false lead. Meanwhile, Wendy identified Victoria Devereux as a cult member and went to the Miskatonic University. At that place, a man took her by surprise. A lean man with a golden goat mask and two extraordinary blades in both of his hands. He is a reaper, Wendy knew at first sight. A more energetic person would have felt fear for her life. Wendy just laughed, she reckoned that she would have hoisted the white flag if things went too awry. This man would have come to a mutual consent with her, she stated with a randy gesture. But it did not come to that. Wendy evaded that killer, moved to the next location and convinced Victoria Devereux to tell her about the ritual site. After that, she headed for Arkham Woods.

Third scenario - The Devourer Below

Wendy found out about the cult's dark ritual which was going to take place tonight in the Arkham Woods. Like a neverending nightmare, thoughts of utter failure chaperoned her on her walk to the woods. Two times she got horribly killed - beheaded by ghouls, drowned by cultists - forebodings of obliteration! Third time is a charm. And so she did everything right from the beginning: she mulliganed hard for Lita Chantler or Flare, and discarded everything else. She quickly left the junction for any quiet part of the woods. As long as Lita did not show up, she played every Flare she found. Meanwhile, she sought inspiration (=cards). And transpired and inspired herself even more. She overdrew, if necessary. The only cards she played were Rabbit's Foot and the first weapon she got a hold on. She kept Survival Instinct, Cunning Distraction and Rise to the Occasion on her hand, used Rise to the Occasion for the really tough willpower challenges and most of all hoped to find Lita. After Lita finally had reached the site, Wendy only waited for the right moment. The hour of completion drew to a close, and the last turn before the ritual was about to finish, Wendy moved back to the junction. There she evaded all enemies at once and waited for the ritual to finish. Umôrdhoth found a physical manifestation in our world, but Wendy still held on to her plan. She evaded all enemies for a second time and moved into the ritual cave. Lita could not believe her eyes as Wendy grabbed her with a surprisingly tight grip and jostled her straight towards Umôrdhoth!

0 XP earned Earned Lita Chantler. House is still standing and the Ghoul Priest is alive. 5 cultists escaped. The investigators sacrificed Lita Chandler. Wendy suffered 2 mental and 2 physical traumata. Footnote: Unfortunately, i needed 3 tries at the last scenario. The 2nd try was lost by a hairbreadth, i drew Frozen in Fear in the very last round - and could not move AND throw Lita into his throat without Attacks of Opportunity, which would have killed her. Waiting for Umôrdhoth to come to her location would have been her demise, too. I hope to further improve this deck, because winning this campaign on Expert is only a slight little bit trickier than i expected when i began this mission. I will keep you updated!