Aboyo | Southeast Irukandji

Mount Aboyo, Irukandji

Aboyo State

Aboyo State is a cluster of regions (or simulators) on the virtual continent, The Kingdom of Irukandji which existed from 2007 to the present day.

The Aboyo ‘nation’ has existed in all versions of Irukandji in Second Life, InWorldz, and DigiWorldz.

That’s the RL stuff out of the way. Now, let’s get back to fantasy. 😁

Note: if you are trying to visit the current Irukandji world, the landing sim is Arius on the DigiWorldz grid. The region is hypergrid enabled for easy teleportation from other Open Simulator virtual worlds. If you have the Firestorm viewer, use this link to teleport to Arius.

Irukandji Ministry of Heritage and Culture

History and culture

Aboyo is a semi-autonomous princedom in southeast Irukandji, and home to the Aboyan people. Descendants of long-ago Polynesian explorers. the Aboyans are thought to have arrived in the Irukandji islands around 3000 years ago along with their northern cousins in Tamita and Weta.

Aboyo vs Manatu

Aboyo’s nearest neighbour is Manatu, a fledgling princedom immediately due west. Although their people are closely aligned through shared history, colonisation, and intermarriage, some Aboyan elders view their Manatu counterparts as upstarts without true royal blood, and thus not worthy of having a seat on the Irukandji Council of Princes.

For the most part however, tensions between Aboyo and Manatu are mild, especially compared to the wars of the royal houses in the far-western states.

Aboyo vs Tamita

Citing the ties of ancient cousins, the Aboyan elders were first to pledge allegiance to Prince Savu of Tamita during the 1979 Irukandji Civil War against Pinjarra. They fought on to victory, and in the aftermath, Tamita was declared ruling tribe of Irukandji, with Savu the reigning prince.

Amongst Savu’s first acts were two displays of absolute trust. First, he appointed his Aboyan counterpart head of the military. He then decreed that from age 10, the eldest heir of each of their royal houses would trade places for three months each year, effectively going into the care and service of the other tribe. Both traditions continue to the present day.

It is fair to say that no stronger kinship exists in the Irukandji isles, than that between Aboyo and Tamita.

Islands and seas of Aboyo

Aboyo Island

Aboyo Island, Irukandji

Aboyo Island was a simulator in Central Irukandji on the InWorldz grid during 2014. It was a full residential sim, replacing the scenic sim, Mount Aboyo, which had occupied the same grid square for eighteen months prior.

Aboyo Island came about as Irukandji began to run short of saleable land, but a subsequent slump in grid user numbers eventually made the sim unnecessary.

During its time, Aboyo Island was quite well supported, with one land owner occupying about a third of the island facing Tiamo Reef, plus six other tenants with smaller parcels.

Aboyo Island pristine beaches 2014

The island had two rivers flowing into it. The Aboyo River travelled from Irukandji Straits in the north, through the island to Aboyo Sea in the south. The Maskari River entered via Tiamo Reef in the west and joined the main Aboyo River channel.

Aboyo Sea

Aboyo Sea was a simulator in Eastern Irukandji on the InWorldz virtual world during late 2014. A deep-water scenic region, it existed to provide waterfront to residents on the neighbouring sims, Aboyo Island and Toraboyo Beach.

  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: InWorldz 2014
  • Use: Deepwater scenic
  • Terrain: hand terraformed

Being open ocean with no remarkable land features, it seems that no photos were taken of Aboyo Sea. If you happened to have taken photos and wish to share them on this page, please let me know via the comment section below.

Cabria Island

Cabria Island, Irukandji 2007
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2007-2009
  • Use: Mixed
  • Terrain: hand terraformed

Located in east Irukandji, Cabria Island is one of three islands that originally formed an L shaped crescent around Minoan Atolls.

Cabria Island was a popular sim. It had a number of large and small land owners, and throughout its history, blocks rarely changed hands. When properties did sell privately between residents, buyers tended to pay a premium for the privilege.

The builds created by landowners on Cabria Island were very well designed and constructed, and complimented the feel of the greater kingdom.

Cabria Island was hand terraformed. It acted as a junction between two rivers, the Aboyo River which ran north-south, and the Maskari River which flowed eastward.

Cabria Island, Aboyo State 2008

When I began decommissioning Irukandji on the Second Life grid in late 2009, I sold the Cabria Island sim to one of my former land owners.

I decided at this point that Cabria Island would not form part of the official history of Aboyo State or greater Irukandji.

In the next rendition of Irukandji on the SpotOn3D grid, the grid square for Cabria Island was named Valhalla Island. Two years later on InWorldz, it would be called Octane Island.

Eromanga Reef

Eromanga Reef, Irukandji

Eromanga Reef was an underwater mer-folk region in east Irukandji, along with Eromanga Sea, an open sea sim. The concept came along late in the InWorldz version of Irukandji.

While not a traditional part of the Irukandji story, Eromanga proved popular and parcels were quickly snapped up. The concept also led to new products such as specialist underwater NPCs, and new ranges of merfolk shapes and skins.

Eromanga Sea

  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: InWorldz 2014
  • Use: Deepwater scenic
  • Terrain: eromanga-sea140913

Eromanga Sea is an open ocean. It occupies the grid space previously taken by Cabria Lagoon in Irukandji v1.

No photographs survive of Eromanga Sea. If you happened to have visited there and took photos and wish to share them on this page, please let me know via the comment section below.

Grand Aboyo Island

  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Residential
  • Terrain: grand-aboyo080717

Grand Aboyo Island was one of the last islands I added to the Irukandji Continent in Second Life. It featured a flat beach for housing, and a central mountain, Grand Aboyo, after which the island was named.

At 210 metres high – twice the height of Mount Kiribati on Nouvelle Kiribas – Grand Aboyo was the tallest mountain in the kingdom. Boutique parcels of land sat nestled at the base of the mountain. A terminus branch of the Trans Irukandji Causeway serviced the island.

Neighbouring simulators were Old Fort Island, Toraboyo Beach, and Cabria Island.

Kanua Island

Kanua Island, Irukandji, SpotOn3D virtual world 2011

Kanua Island is a residential simulator on the SpotOn3D virtual world.

Being a transitional grid, the lifespan of Kanua Island was a short one, approximately three months. I used the name Kanua Island instead of Mount Aboyo Island, which is the region that normally occupies the grid square southeast of Tamita Island in central Irukandji.

Despite all this however, a lot of work went into terraforming Kanua Island by hand, and I look back on the hill and valley landscape fondly.

Kanua Island had two residents for most of its life, including a shop facing Iruka Bay to the west.

In InWorldz two years later, the sim became Mount Aboyo Island again.

Manatu Island

Manatu Island 2007

Manatu Island is located in south Central Irukandji on the northern border of Aboyo and Tamita States. Part of Aboyo’s hereditary lands, Manatu Island had no population until the late 1800s. A movement for the creation of a separate royal house of Manatu.

With the Recreant and Quintessa families having equal claim to the lands through their common ancestor, Lady Uba Uba or Aboyo, many within the two families have changed their name to that of the island, Manatu in order to strengthen their cause.

Perhaps no more tribal and colonial history has been written about any other region of Irukandji than Manatu Island, from how it gained its name, to civil war, and to the eventual independence of the kingdom. You can read more about Manatu Island‘s history in Tales of Irukandji.

Recreant Cemetery Plot, Manatu Island

Manatu Island v1 (Second Life 2007-2009)

  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2007-2009
  • Use: Residential
  • Terrain: hand terraformed

Manatu Island was the eighth sim I built on the Irukandji continent in Second Life.

Part of Aboyo State, the island followed on quickly from the vastly successful Alantay Island. Given that success, I terraformed and laid out the parcels on Manatu Island in a similar format.

The parcels of land on Manatu Island were snapped up quickly. During its time on the Second Life virtual world, Manatu Island supported a population of around 20 landowners from USA, Australia, Mexico, The Netherlands, UK, Russia, France, and Spain.

We jokingly referred to Manatu Island as the local branch of the United Nations, though in hindsight, that diversity was probably typical of most of the Irukandji islands.

Manatu Island, Second Life 2009

The landscape Manatu Island comprised a series of small atolls separated by waist deep canals. The shallow Aboyo River that passed through the sim also served as an underwater section of the Trans Irukandji Causeway, outflowing into Tasman Sea in the west and Tiamo Reef in the north.

Regions that adjoined Manatu Island were Sulawesi Bay, Pinjarra Island, Tiamo Reef, Mount Aboyo Island, and Tasman Sea.

When I built the next version of Irukandji Continent five years later in InWorldz, Manatu Island was there again. It too proved successful.

Ten years since the original Manatu Island, there is still something beautifully haunting about it.

Manatu Island v2 (InWorldz 2013-2014)

Manatu Island, Irukandji on InWorldz 2014
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: InWorldz Online: 2013-2014
  • Use: Residential
  • Terrain: manatu-island141116

Manatu Island in InWorldz faithfully follows the legend and myth of the previous version in Second Life, and again like its predecessor, it is a residential island.

I used the terrain file of the original version as a template for the new Manatu Island but changed the landscape significantly over coming months to better stitch the coastlines with adjoining sims.

The Aboyo River ran through Manatu Island from Tiamo Reef in the north to Savage Bay in the west, and an underwater section of the Inter Island Causeway stretched east beneath South Irukandji Sea to Toraboyo Beach.

The island was well-supported by tenants during its eighteen months on the InWorldz grid.

Neighbouring regions, clockwise from west, were Savage Bay, Pinjarra Island, Tiamo Reef, Mount Aboyo (later Aboyo Island), and South Irukandji Sea.

Mount Aboyo Island

Mount Aboyo v1 (Second Life 2007-2009)

Mount Aboyo map 2008
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grids: Second Life 2007-2009
  • Use: Residential
  • Terrain: hand terraformed

The region, Mount Aboyo Island is located in southeast Irukandji. It is one of three simulators I commissioned simultaneously, following the rapid uptake of land on Pinjarra Island.

The three new sims, directly southeast of the nation’s capital, Tamita Island, were Mount Aboyo Island, Cabria Island, and Tora Tora Passage. Together, they formed an L-shaped landmass that wrapped around Minoan Atolls.

Mount Aboyo 2008

Mount Aboyo Island was the first of the three that I subdivided. It featured flat blocks and winding canals like previous residential islands, however the layout was deliberately haphazard as I had grown bored with creating the same type of landscape over and over again.

Instead of one river, the region had two. The Aboyo River flowed through the island’s southeast from Tasman Sea, and the Maskari River entered through Tiamo Reef and Minoan Atolls. Mid island, the two waterways converged.

And instead of square angled parcels of land, many had diagonal edges in order to follow the rivers’ banks. There was even a triangular mini island in the middle of the Maskari. The landscape was really quite remarkable.

Maskari River, Irukandji 2008

The uptake of land on Mount Aboyo Island was fast, though not as fast as the more conventional sims which offered nice square blocks to build on.

Mount Aboyo Island was a good learning experience, as it taught me what the vast majority of people wanted when they were looking to buy land. That didn’t scare me though – I stuck with the rambling odd-shaped blocks, and soon enough, the island filled with a certain niche of people who wanted something less ordinary.

Eventually, two major landowners used their ingenuity to build considerable homesteads on Mount Aboyo Island that overflowing into the neighbouring sims of Cabria Island and Tora Tora Passage (later Toraboyo Beach).

The Trans Irukandji Causeway entered the island from multiple regions, making it a significant hub in the kingdom’s thirty-one kilometre road network.

Mount Aboyo v2 (InWorldz 2013-2014)

Mount Aboyo aerial view of volcano 2014
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: InWorldz 2013-2014
  • Use: Scenic
  • Terrain: mount-aboyo140411

Mount Aboyo is a scenic region of the InWorldz virtual world, located in south-central Irukandji. The region occupied the same grid square that it had in Second Life some years before, however this time it was a scenic region.

Instead of flatlands with a winding river, this version of Mount Aboyo featured the remnants of a tall mountain as its name suggests.

Amphibious vehicle crossing the Trans Irukandji Causeway

In the northwest of the sim, a sea corridor runs from Lagune d’Or through to Tiamo Reef separating the region from Irukandji’s capital, Tamita Island.

An active volcano features on the eastern slopes of Mount Aboyo, and further east, a long arch-bridge highway traverses the region from South Irukandji Sea to Octane Island in the north.

An airboat sits at rest on a sandy atoll in the lagoon around Mount Aboyo Island

Adjoining regions were Tamita Island, Lagune d’Or, Octane Island, Toraboyo Beach, South Irukandji Sea, Manatu Island, and Tiamo Reef.

Mid 2014, I terraformed Mount Aboyo into a flat residential island and renamed it Aboyo Island.

Octane Island v1

Anzac APV road test on Octane Island 2013
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: InWorldz 2013-2014
  • Use: Commercial
  • Terrain: octane-island140121

Octane Island was a vehicle testing simulator. The first version was a standard sized region located on the InWorldz grid, due east of Lagune d’Or in eastern Irukandji.

The need for Octane Island came about with the introduction of new vehicle coding introduced into InWorldz that was Second Life lsl-compatible.

After a few weeks trial on the still-virgin Palu Island sim in west Irukandji, I set up Octane Island. The sim had two test tracks, an outer terrain circuit for off road racing, and an inner bitumen circuit for standard road testing.

The middle of the region was elevated and grassed. Parcels were subdivided for automotive and related stores, most famously, Tamita Motors. This region also boasts the first appearance of the Irukandji Motor Company brand, which would later become abbreviated to – you guessed it – IruMoto.

All went well for a few months, but then IW decided to change their code again, and all that wonderful lsl compatibility went out the window, never to return.

With that, I no longer had any use for Octane Island, and subsequently let it go. Without knowing it at the time however, I had tattooed the idea into my future brain to make another version of Octane Island, this time a huge var-region on the Reef VR grid.

Vehicles in InWorldz were a lot of fun while they lasted, and I did at least get the chance to capture a lot of the vehicles – and the beautiful islands of Irukandji – on this historical video from 2013.

Octane Island v2

Octane Island, Irukandji 2015

The massive motor racing complex, Octane Island was a one-million square metre var-region on The Reef Virtual World. The concept was a continuation of the much smaller standard-size Octane Island region in InWorldz.

Only months separated the two versions, but this instance of Octane Island was vastly superior in tech. Coupled with being free of sim crossings, this meant that motor racing sequences were much smoother and uninterrupted.

Octane Island, west Aboyo, Irukandji

Moving away from the constantly changing forked code of InWorldz to the more stable Open Simulator official releases, also allowed me to code for ALL Open Simulator virtual worlds. In late 2016, when I migrated my estates to the DigiWorldz grid, my now-huge and refined collection of vehicles was ready to go.

Old Fort Island

Old Fort Island, Irukandji
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Light Residential
  • Terrain: hand terraformed

Old Fort Island is a region in the far southeast of the Irukandji kingdom.

Part of Aboyo State, Old Fort Island marks the southeastern edge of the continent.

Old Fort Island was terraformed by hand, using the rotated terrain file from Baie de l’Amore as its starting template.

From there, I flattened its central mountain and added narrow beaches to its west and northern faces.

A major landowner rented the elevated centre parcel and, unsuprisingly, built a castle there. Several smaller parcels were rented out to tenants for holiday homes.

Around the base of the mountain’s perimeter, the Trans Irukandji Causeway travelled northwest into Mount Aboyo Island, north into Toraboyo Beach, and west into Tasman Sea.

Unfortunately, only one poor photograph survives of Old Fort Island, captured by random chance from neighbouring Tasman Sea.

South Irukandji Sea

South Irukandji Sea, Aboyo

South Irukandji Sea is a region in Aboyo in southwest Irukandji on the InWorldz grid. It was predominantly a deep water sea designed for sports and leisure. A long narrow sandbar ran the length of its southern shore to provide access to amphibious vehicles and 4x4s.

The initial location of the region on the outer edge of Irukandji made South Irukandji Sea ideal for a tall arch-bridge highway, that continued north into Mount Aboyo all the way to Octane Island.

Later when I added Toraboyo Beach to the sim’s immediate east, I removed the highway and South Irukandji Sea became a standard open ocean. I also submerged a large portion of the sandbar to improve its overall appearance.

South Irukandji Sea was well used during its time, and residents of Manatu Island, Toraboyo Beach, and Aboyo Island who lived on its shores, built some beautiful houses to make the most of the view.

Tasman Sea

  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Light Residential
  • Terrain: tasman-sea080418

The simulator, Tasman Sea is a light residential region in Second Life, located in Aboyo State in southeast Irukandji.

A shallow sea fills the western side of the sim where it adjoins Manatu Island, and in the north along the face of Mount Aboyo Island.

The eastern half of Tasman Sea contains a rolling landmass with dunes and flat grassland, which abuts the beach at Old Fort Island.

The Aboyo River flows through Mount Aboyo, spilling into Tasman Sea, while the Trans Irukandji Causeway traversed Tasman Sea from east to west from Manatu Island to Old Fort Island.

Other regions that adjoin Tasman Sea are Tiamo Reef to the northwest and Toraboyo Beach to the northeast. Two residents occupied the eastern beaches throughout much of the life of the region.

Tora Tora Passage

Tora Tora Passage, Irukandji 2007
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2007-2008
  • Use: Residential
  • Terrain: hand terraformed

The simulator, Tora Tora Passage is a residential region in Second Life, located in Aboyo in southeast Irukandji. It is one of three islands created simultaneously to form an L-shaped landmass surrounding Minoan Atolls. Its sister regions were Mount Aboyo Island and Cabria Island.

Tora Tora Passage is a flat region with small hills and large subdivisions. A broad section of the Aboyo River flows through the island and the lay of the land gives itself to homesteads.

Tora Tora Passage never really took off, perhaps because it was the more land locked of the three islands. Although it did gain a reasonable population at one point, I made the decision to re-invent it as a light residential sea. Hence in 2009, I re-terraformed Tora Tora Passage, and named it Toraboyo Beach.

Toraboyo Beach

v1 (Second Life 2008)

Bath house on Toraboyo Beach.

Toraboyo Beach is a scenic region in Aboyo State.

In Second Life, Toraboyo Beach was a rebuild of the earlier sim, Tora Tora Passage for the sake of making it more marketable. The sim was re-terraformed. Gone were the broad acreages with a river running through, and in their place a wide shallow sea.

A promontory of land filled the northeast corner of Toraboyo Beach which it shared with Cabria Island and Grand Aboyo Island. The massive 31-kilometre long Trans Irukandji Causeway passed through Toraboyo Beach from Old Fort Island and Minoan Atolls, and ending at Grand Aboyo Island.

Land was never offered for sale as Toraboyo Beach was intended as a pleasure sim. Only one major structure, a public bathhouse existed on the region.

Some years later when I built Irukandji v2 on the InWorldz grid, the name Toraboyo Beach emerged again, however that version was a significant residential region.

Apart from both versions being part of Aboyo State and on the edge of the kingdom, no other similarities exist.

Toraboyo Beach

v2 (InWorldz 2013-2014)

Toraboyo Beach 2014

This version of Toraboyo Beach was a simulator in Aboyo State on the InWorldz virtual world. It was a residential island and terraformed by hand.

Toraboyo Beach in IW is one of the rare examples of the latter incarnation performing better than the original. Throughout its life, Toraboyo Beach enjoyed around 75% occupancy, which is a very good rate for that particular grid. Most residents were from the USA.

The Aboyo River weaved through the island, from Aboyo Sea in the north to South Irukandji Sea in the west.

Valhalla Island

Valhalla Island is one of 12 sims on the Irukandji Continent that I created on the SpotOn3D virtual world, a grid that has long since vaporised into the ether.

Rather than terraform anew, I used a .raw file from Cabria Island, the sim that had occupied this grid square on Second Life two years before.

Valhalla Island was perhaps significant only in the fact that it seemed to revolve around one resident – Taylor Aimes. Unlike me, and all my hangers-on, this was Taylor’s first virtual world experience. He had no history in SL and hence no jaded memories. This was all brand new and exciting.

On an otherwise dead grid, I found his companionship uplifting so I ended up spending a lot of time with him. Three months in, when I decided that SpotOn3D wasn’t for me, I bought another sim on Second Life and Taylor followed. He has lived on every estate that I’ve built since.

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