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I played Down the Verdant Path at high subtier with my completely-randomly-generated multiclass gnome Jilla. I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being the perfect scenario for her. It's a cleverly-written, memorable scenario that really makes the most of a part of the Golarion setting we don't often get to interact with. I'd certainly recommend it.
SPOILERS!
Down the Verdant Path has a pretty cool backstory, though I have to admit I don't think I got any of it during actual gameplay (it's likely it was there and I just wasn't paying attention). The gist is that decades ago, a flamboyant First World gnome sorcerer named Azure was punished by one of the Eldest for trying to steal some of the plane's treasures. The punishment took the form of draining Azure of color and exiling him to Golarion, where he would presumably die from the Bleaching. However, Azure didn't give up, and instead quested to find a way back to the First World and finally (recently) discovered a portal from the Verduran Forest in northern Andoran. Azure can feel the palette bag (containing the colors stripped from him) just on the other side of the portal, but knows it's guarded by members of the Wild Hunt--a band of legendary fey hunters. So Azure has decided to wait, hoping that with a little luck a band of adventurers would come by and be willing to assist. And as a fey, Azure's luck is pretty good!
The PCs get involved when the Pathfinder Society hears reports of strange weather patterns coming from that area of the forest. Venture-Captain Brackett sends them via boat to the town of Bellis to meet a local (retired) agent, a gnome herbalist named Falbin. When they arrive, the PCs find Falbin arguing with a stately woman (secretly a janni) named Jamila. Both Falbin and Jamila are NPCs who appeared in previous PFS scenarios; I remember Jamila way back from # 0-3, Murder on the Silken Caravan! (and there are some good additional bits for PCs who have the relevant Chronicle sheets) Anyway, Falbin and Jamila plan to accompany the PCs to the site of the bizarre weather disturbances. On the way, the two speculate about what's causing it. Falbin thinks it's a problematic group of local druids, while Jamila thinks it's a planar rift. The fun part is that the PCs can wager on which theory they think is most likely (betting gold pieces against minor magical consumables), and gather clues (through skill checks) to support their side. It's a novel idea and good for some early role-playing.
Just two miles south of Bellis, the weather and landscape suddenly turn freezing cold and studded with junglelike growth. Soon after entering the unnatural area, the group encounters a father-and-son pair of giant intelligent frogs. This was a really fun encounter, as (assuming someone like Jamila casts speak with animals) the frogs have hilarious banter as the father tries to persuade the son that humans are a "healthy snack option". It's really cute, and the sort of slightly skewed theme of the First World in the scenario starts to become really apparent.
After another mile's travel through increasingly tropical conditions, the group arrive at an abandoned elven settlement called Deepstead. There, they meet the completely hue-less Azure and learn (through some really well-written dialogue) about what's going on. Jamila and Falbin plan to start working on a ritual to close the portal, while the PCs are tasked with entering and trying to bring back Azure's palette bag. To enter the portal, a PC has to give up something meaningful to them--my PC sacrificed her rolling pin. Once in the portal, a skill we don't see come up often in Pathfinder Society games becomes important: Swim! The PCs are instantly immersed in freezing water on the shores of a wintry forest, and the longer it takes them to get out of it, the more nonlethal damage they'll be taking (and the longer it'll take them to join the encounter that's about to start).
As the PCs get to shore, they'll be peppered with arrows from the first member of the Wild Hunt, a vanara ranger sitting on a tree branch about ten feet off the ground. This encounter was a good one, as traditional melee combat wasn't an option and I don't think any of us PCs had much in the way of ranged attacks.
The area of the First World the PCs find themselves in is called Whirlwood, and it features incredibly rapidly-changing seasons: from round to round! The seasons have different effects in combat, and were another memorable way of making it clear that the PCs were far from the Inner Sea. Soon the group will find an area of the Whirlwood called Heartgrove, where they can see a dozen or more bindle bags hanging high up on tree branches. One of them must be Azure's palette bag, but which? To make things harder, there's a nasty plant monster guarding the trees (that, at high subtier, release some hallucinogenic spores that really messed up our group). And then to make things worse, the other four members of the Wild Hunt arrive! It's all fun and games until it's a near TPK, and this encounter nearly got there. And in an ironic twist, anyone trying to run away from the Heartgrove simply enters it from another direction: it's a fey realm, after all! (there's a trick to getting out that the PCs might learn during the encounter) The good news is that the members of the Wild Hunt argue and bicker amongst themselves, and there's a fair chance they'll spend time fighting each other as well as the PCs. I imagine that with the changing seasons and multiple NPCs, this is a challenging encounter for the GM to run.
Assuming they survive the battle, the PCs can retrieve Azure's palette bag and return to the frozen lake to take the portal back to Golarion. They'll find their sacrificed item comes back to them, but with a randomly-rolled twist; for example, Jilla's rolling pin now cries like a baby when left alone! The epilogue features a meeting with Ashasar, leader of the new Concordance faction, who tries to recruit the PCs (as does Jamila).
I thought Down the Verdant Path was a blast. It definitely had a fey-themed flavour, which I imagine is a hard writing challenge. The encounters were maybe a touch more difficult than I would like, but I guess by Season 9 most PCs were pretty pumped-up combat wise. I definitely have some fun memories of the game, and Jilla's crying rolling pin won't ever let me forget it . . .
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