Agnes, Expert Sorceress: Earth vs. Blood (Achievements)

Agnes Baker's attempt to complete Return to the Night of the Zealot, solo, on Expert difficulty, reaches its conclusion here! Leveraging what I learned attempting this on Standard with Akachi Onyele, I'm leaning on stacking lots of boosts to get my Shrivelling(5) hits to testing around the 14 or so mark. How am I getting up that high? Among other things, a tool I can't believe I overlooked when playing Akachi: Blood Pact. A free +3 for my attacks, the only cost being +1 doom, which (the way this Scenario works) will be entirely irrelevant for the final battle? Heck yes! (I could have taken two copies and thought hard about it; but ultimately decided to take Charisma instead so I could have both Peter Sylvestre and a storyline ally in play, for extra soak/benefits.) Let's see if this is enough to turn the tables on Umôrdhoth, even on Expert difficulty. Here we go!

SESSION REPORT - EXPERT DIFFICULTY

SCENARIO III - RETURN TO THE DEVOURER BELOW

• Opening Hand: Lady Esprit, Shrivelling, Fearless, Shrivelling, Lucky!
• Kept: Lady Esprit, Shrivelling, Shrivelling
• Replacements: Fire Axe, Spirit Athame
• Starting Location: Main Path

I've got my Umôrdhoth-killing weapon (Shrivelling(5)) as well as a backup weapon for other enemies (Shrivelling(0)). And an ally for soak. And with mulligan, one of my two Spirit Athames! A good start.

R1 (1D, 2H, 5$, 0C): 2/4 doom

• Encounter: None
• Play Lady Esprit [-4$]
• Use Lady Esprit [1H to Lady Esprit]: [+2$]
• Play Shrivelling [-3$]
• Draw Fearless [+1$]

R2 (1D, 2H, 1$, 0C): 3/4 doom

• Encounter: Disciple of the Devourer spawns at Arkham Woods-D with +1 doom (good, a whiff)
• Use Lady Esprit [1H to Lady Esprit]: [+2$]
• Play Shrivelling [-3$]
• Move to Arkham Woods-A = Quiet Glade
• Draw Drawn to the Flame [+1$]

I complain about finding the Quiet Glade when I'm trying to solve this via clues, but when I'm planning to hunker down and fight Umôrdhoth, I'm supremely happy to see it. Thanks for showing up early this time when I needed you, Quiet Glade. All is forgiven.

R3 (1D, 2H, 1$, 0C): 4/4 doom [+1 on Disciple of the Devourer]

• Agenda advances to 1b: Grave-Eater spawns at Main Path with +1 doom, advances to 2a [enemies have +1 fight/evade] (good, it's not a hunter, I can ignore it for a while)
• Encounter: Dreams of R'lyeh threatens (hmm)
• Draw Rite of Seeking
• Draw Painkillers
• Use Lady Esprit [1H on Lady Esprit]: [+2$]
• Draw Peter Sylvestre [+1$]

I'm now focused on drawing for my key cards. Peter Sylvestre right there is one of them, as is Painkillers. I need to clear Dreams of R'lyeh at some point, and the ideal time is right before the Agenda is going to flip, so I can boost that test with Blood Pact.

R4 (1D, 2H, 4$, 0C): 1/5 doom [+1 on Grave-Eater]

• Encounter: Rotting Remains, 4 vs. 3 ( is +1): pass (A lucky pull there, though I at least have tools to mitigate horror)
• Use Lady Esprit [1H discards Lady Esprit]: [+2$]
• Play Peter Sylvestre [-3$]
• Play Painkillers [-1$]
• Draw Uncage the Soul [+1$]

R5 (1D, 2H, 3$, 0C): 2/5 doom [+1 on Grave-Eater]

• Encounter: Chill from Below, commit Uncage the Soul, 7 vs. 3 (-6): fail by 2 [discard Fearless and Fire Axe] (That's annoying, but at least I didn't lose my Spirit Athame)
• Draw Ward of Protection
• Draw Fire Axe
• Draw Thermos
• Draw Forbidden Knowledge [+1$]

Next turn is the time to clear Dreams of R'lyeh. I plan to commit as much as is reasonably feasible as I really don't want to lose multiple chances to clear it. I'm fine losing a turn to the Grave-Eater's extra doom, and waiting until Agenda 3 to defeat it, as Agenda 2's boosting all enemies' fight and evade makes things much more difficult. Sooner that's turned off, the better.

R6 (1D, 2H, 4$, 0C): 3/5 doom [+1 on Grave-Eater]

• Encounter: Ancient Evils, play Ward of Protection [-1$] to cancel [1H on Peter Sylvestre]
• Use Dreams of R'lyeh, use Blood Pact [+1 doom], commit Drawn to the Flame and Thermos, 10 vs. 3 (-6): pass (whew, good thing I committed so much!)
• Play Forbidden Knowledge
• Use Forbidden Knowledge [-1S, 1H on Peter Sylvestre]: [+1$]
• Play Spirit Athame [-3$]
• Peter Sylvestre heals 1H
• Draw Spirit Athame [+1$]

R7 (1D, 2H, 2$, 0C): 4/5 doom [+2 on Grave-Eater and Blood Pact]

• Agenda advances to 2b: 6 vs. 6 (-3): fail, receive Unspeakable Oath (Bloodthirst) (thanks, Return to Carcosa box!)
• Encounter: Grave-Eater spawns and engages
• Use Shrivelling [-1X]: Fight Grave-Eater, use Spirit Athame, 8 vs. 2 (-8): fail (...what. Well. I don't want to keep failing this test, and I can finish it off with testless damage later in the round, so...)
• Evade Grave-Eater, 4 vs. 2 (-8): fail
• Evade Grave-Eater, 4 vs. 2 (-5): fail
• (investigation phase) Use Forbidden Knowledge [-1S, 1H]: [+1$] [ Agnes Baker: +1D to Grave-Eater]
• Peter Sylvestre heals 1H
• (enemy phase) Use Painkillers [-1S, 1H]: heal 1D [ Agnes Baker: +1D to Grave-Eater, defeated]
• Draw Fearless [+1$]

R8 (0D, 4H, 4$, 0C): 1/5 doom

• Encounter: Umôrdhoth's Wrath, 6 vs. 5 (0): pass (A lucky pull to balance out last round's unlucky pull, perhaps?)
• Play Spirit Athame [-3$] (dual wielding, activate!)
• Draw Lita Chantler
• Use Quiet Glade: heal 1H
• Draw Dark Memory [+1$]

Dark Memory was going to arrive eventually. At least I've got more welcome soak in the form of Lita Chantler.

R9 (0D, 3H, 2$, 0C): 2/5 doom

• Encounter: Disciple of the Devourer spawns at Arkham Woods-C with +1 doom
• Use Quiet Glade: heal 1H
• Play Lita Chantler
• Play Dark Memory [-2$]: +1 doom
• Draw Thermos [+1$]

Here we go, the main event. With a fully charged Vault of Earthly Demise, Umôrdhoth will be at 8 fight, 13 health, and 9 evade. A huge challenge but Agnes is up to the task! (hopefully)

R10 (0D, 2H, 1$, 0C): 4/5 doom [+1 on Disciple of the Devourer]

• Agenda advances to 3b: Ritual Site enters play, Umôrdhoth spawns at Ritual Site with 3 resources on Vault of Earthly Demise
• Encounter: Dissonant Voices threatens
• Move to Main Path [Grave-Eater engages]
• Use Shrivelling [-1X]: Fight Grave-Eater, use Blood Pact [+1 doom], use Spirit Athame and Spirit Athame, 13 vs. 2 (-2): pass [+2D, defeated]
• Move to Quiet Glade
• Umôrdhoth moves to Main Path
• Draw Lucky! [+1$]
• Discard Dissonant Voices

I cleared out the Main Path Grave-Eater so I could move in on Umôrdhoth next round and get the drop on it, so to speak.

R11 (0D, 2H, 2$, 0C): 1 doom [+1 on Blood Pact]

• Encounter: Chill from Below, use Blood Pact [+1 doom], 9 vs. 3 ( plus -5 is total -12): fail by 3 [discard Fire Axe, Lucky!, Rite of Seeking] (...well, I'd rather draw the on this treachery, rather than when fighting Umôrdhoth!)
• Move to Main Path [Umôrdhoth is engaged]
• Use Shrivelling [-1X]: Fight Umôrdhoth, use Blood Pact [+1 doom] and Spirit Athame, commit Fearless, 15 vs. 8 (-4): pass [+3D, heal 1H]
• Use Shrivelling [-1X]: Fight Umôrdhoth, use Blood Pact [+1 doom] and Spirit Athame, 14 vs. 8 (-2): pass [+3D]
• (investigator phase) Use Forbidden Knowledge [-1S, 1H]: [+1$] [ Agnes Baker: +1D to Umôrdhoth]
• Umôrdhoth attacks [1D/1H, 2D on Lita Chantler, 2H on Peter Sylvestre] [ Agnes Baker: +1D to Umôrdhoth]
• (start of upkeep phase) Use Painkillers [-1S, 1H]: heal 1D] [ Agnes Baker: +1D to Umôrdhoth]
• Draw Painkillers [+1$]

Yup, with all of my boosts (Agnes Baker's base 5 , plus 3 from Shrivelling, plus 1 from Peter Sylvestre, plus 3 from Blood Pact, plus 2 from Spirit Athame), I'm able to test at 6 above Umôrdhoth's fight of 8. Hopefully that will be enough, backed up by my testless damage! (And with two Athames in play I can do that for two tests per round.)

R12 (0D, 4H, 4$, 0C): 2 doom [+4 on Blood Pact]

• Encounter: Umôrdhoth's Hunger [discard Painkillers, Umôrdhoth heals 1D]
• (mythos phase) Use Forbidden Knowledge [-1S, discarded, 1H]: [+1$] [ Agnes Baker: +1D to Umôrdhoth]
• Use Shrivelling [-1X]: Fight Umôrdhoth, use Blood Pact [+1 doom] and Spirit Athame, 14 vs. 8 (-4): pass [+3D]
• Use Shrivelling [-1X]: Fight Umôrdhoth, use Blood Pact [+1 doom] and Spirit Athame, 14 vs. 8 (-3): pass [+3D, defeated, discard Unspeakable Oath (Bloodthirst)] (Success!!!)
• Agenda 3b: Resolution 2

Resolution 2

• Agnes Baker repelled Umôrdhoth
• +2 physical and +2 mental trauma
• 10 experience (0 Victory + 10 bonus)
• Agnes wins!
• ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Arkham Expertise

And that, as they say, is that! Agnes Baker prevailed over Umôrdhoth with style; her blood magic proved superior to its earth magic. Must have been all that soup and aspirin she's been consuming over the course of the campaign!

With all achievements completed for Return to the Night of the Zealot, I need to think about my next endeavor. Perhaps Return to the Dunwich Legacy? Ah, but I may or may not attempt that true solo. We'll see. In the meantime: I hope all have enjoyed reading these session reports as much as I've enjoyed playing and writing them. Till next time!

• Voltgloss