Pathfinder Society Scenario # 1-09 (Scenario # 37): "Beggar's Pearl" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Admittedly, I played Beggar's Pearl a while ago, but I have to say it didn't make much of an impression on me.  It's pretty much a standard dungeon crawl scenario, notable only for a dungeon that's surprisingly large (in terms of number of rooms) for a PFS scenario.  Depending on how the GM runs it, there are some potentially fun role-playing opportunities with NPCs.  The flavour and setting lore is fine, but nothing particular noteworthy.  The encounters are fairly pedestrian, and the main antagonist's special power doesn't really apply in a combat encounter so might not even be noticed by the PCs.  I guess in sum, there's nothing particular bad and nothing particularly good about the scenario, so we'll have to classify it as "fine"--play it if you've got some extra time for the session and don't have anything else lined up.

SPOILERS!

There's a bit of a convoluted backstory to Beggar's Pearl, only some of which the PCs will learn about.  The thrust of it concerns a dwarven prospector named Torvic Scrathmane.  One of Torvic's ancestors was a renowned dwarven craftmaster named Barek Triongger, famed for creating the now-lost Gallery of Wonders (a sort of display area for his artistic creations) deep in the Candlestone Caverns in the Aspodell Mountains.  Torvic came into possession of a luminescent pearl and fragmented manuscripts which he believes originated from (and pointed the way to) the Gallery of Wonders, and set off on a quest for it.  Along the way, a bandit named Beggar stole the pearl and manuscripts, while Torvic (and some of his associates, Aspodell Rangers) went on to discovery the Gallery.  However, they didn't know it had been taken over by a dark fey creature named Lady Morilaeth, who uses nightmare powers to reshape dreams and torture those she imprisons.  

As the scenario starts, Venture-Captain Brackett from the Almas Lodge has bought the pearl and manuscripts from Beggar.  He and librarian Wystorn Telfyr ask the PCs to see if they can find Torvic (his location divined magically) and the Gallery of Wonders (presumably, so the Society can pillage it for all its worth!).  The weeks-long journey from Almas into the Aspodell Mountains is handwaved, and the action starts when the PCs locate Torvic in a cave he's sought refuge in since escaping Lady Morilaeth's clutches.  But Torvic isn't alone: he's being attacked by mites riding giant ants!  After the PCs defeat the foes (a pretty trivial task, especially with modern builds), they'll realise Torvic is suffering from confusion and poor memory.  He reveals he found the Gallery of Wonders but can't remember much about being there; he insists on accompany the PCs, and fortunately (conveniently) remembers just enough to lead them to the entrance but can't remember anything about what's inside.

The scenario has some nice background exposition for the GM on the Gallery of Wonders, detailing its construction and abandonment during the Empire of Tar Khadurrm.  From the PCs' perspective, however, it's pretty much just a standard dungeon--but a large one for a PFS scenario, numbering 13 rooms!  (The cartography is nicely done)  Not all of these rooms have encounters, of course, but if the players adopt standard cautious exploration tactics, it's easy for the scenario to blow out of the normal time limits just from exploration and a bit of role-playing.  Encounters in the dungeon include more mites and giant ants, derro (or goblins and trolls at higher subtiers), and some traps (which can mostly be disarmed if the PCs think to use the phosphorescent pearl--apparently it's a magic key of some kind).  Prisoners can be rescued, though like Torvic, they aren't able to meaningfully assist the party--still, some role-playing opportunities in a dungeon delve is a good thing.  The big bad, Lady Morilaeth, is a cleric of Lamashtu with a special template giving her nightmare-themed powers.  The powers are pretty neat, but her tactics during the big battle are pretty much to just channel negative energy--a bit of a yawn.

And that's pretty much that.  Assuming they're successful, the PCs gain a bit of celebrity with dwarves from the Five Kings Mountains.  As far as I can tell, Paizo has never done anything with the Gallery of Wonders since, so that might something for an enterprising GM to homebrew on.