D&D General Real Life Isle of Dread?

[GuyBoy]

For a second I thought you lived in the Pacific Northwest with me. (I kid, I love it here. But definitely feels more dystopian by the day.)

Don't get me wrong, I love London dearly, but UK is a pretty grim place at the moment...not the cool, open diverse place it was for the 2012 Olympics.
The Pacific NW is truly beautiful. I've been fortunate enough to visit Seattle and Portland and to travel around the surrounding areas. Wonderful place.

Never been to NZ from the OP, but will do one day (did get to see the All Blacks at Twickenham though!)

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Meanwhile, I'm on Icewind Dale, and I live in the part of Canada that *doesn't * (usually) snow!

 

[Yora]

We had snow on Christmas in Northern Germany. That was weird and unexpected. Even in cold years, it doesn't usually come until late January.

 

[GuyBoy]

Welcome to the Isle of Sheppey, about fifteen minutes north of where I live. It is the actual Isle of Dreadful.
There’s the seaside “resort” of Leysdown, full of colour and excitement (it’s not the real Las Vegas btw)
Then the cheerful Deadman’s Island, a small sub-isle where the dead bodies from C19th prison barges were shallowly interred in the sea mud, frequently to be unearthed by storms. Actually, thinking about it, this would make a cool adventure location......or not.

 

[Zardnaar]

Continuing the adventure made it to the central plateau.





In the distance one can hear water and birds.



Losing our equipment I had to resort to a club.



A mysterious trail leads off into the forest.



Primeval ferns cover the forest floor.




Here and there large trees appear but the undergrowth is very thick.

 

[Zardnaar]

Finding a clearing we have our first wandering monster encounter. A mighty Axebeak!!! (Aka Takehe). Flee.......



Strange giant parrots gather in the trees eyeing our every movement. The sky darkens.......



Water is located so the party refills the waterskins.



The forest starts to change. In the distance something roars.

 

[humble minion]

There's a great spot near me, I should get some photos. A Victorian-era mansion site in the middle of the bush. The mansion itself burnt down in the 1930s, but the servants quarters and a few bits and pieces (like the stone front staircase) are still there. There's this island of classical English garden, all oaks and lilies, hydrangeas and camellias and manicured rolling lawns, that's growing wild and slowly fraying at the edges as the bush moves back in, deer and wallabies roaming about. There's a couple of absolutely vast old eucalypts, probably pre-dating European colonisation, trunks broader than my extended arms, and if you follow the creek for just moment or two you're deep in Gondwanan rainforest, tree ferns and hanging moss and trees so tight they block out the sun.

 

[humble minion]

Finding a clearing we have our first wandering monster encounter. A mighty Axebeak!!! (Aka Takehe). Flee.......

Looks like your axe beak is loaded up with magic rings!

 

[Zardnaar]

Looks like your axe beak is loaded up with magic rings!

Yeah some evil wizard probably. Was to busy fleeing.

 

[Zardnaar]

A waterhole. Strange tracks were nearby.



The forest started to thin out and the trees looked more bleached.



The forest gave way to an open clearing. Making a perception check we managed to avoid a vicious ambush predator. Narrowly avoiding the predator we dropped some food and fled.



Rather than give chase the dire lion decided to sun itself after eating on some strange ancient stone laid by a mysterious civilization.



Unfortunately avoiding the dire lion we ran smack into what we thought was a dragon. But it was a giant Tuatara of colossal size in front of it's cave. We did what any rational adventurers would do. The Bard (unwillingly) took one for the team sating it's enormous appetite.