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Welcome to Octopulis Island, a virtual reality realm where laughter and danger intertwine!
In Octopulonian culture, battle and live performance art are synonymous. On your journey, you’ll learn the deadly ancient art of Octopulonian improv, choose your champions, and face off against the Octopeople in intense improv battles.
While Octopulonians generally hold little regard for humans, there exist rare cases of acceptance, and, even rarer, genuine respect. ‘Survivorman’ Les Stroud is one such exception, earning Octopulonian approval by his prowess as a survivalist and a performing artist – the two skills they value most.
Together Survivorman and the Octopulonian elite have crafted a final challenge deep underground, where those that impress most can win authentic Survivorman gear! Maybe you will win a compass, a fire striker, or a survival knife.
Or maybe you’ll lose, and be devoured alive!
Get FREE tickets by joining the SurvivormanVR Discord HERE
To come to the show for free, all you have to do is click on the link above to go to the SurvivormanVR Discord and ask for your free ticket! We’ll message you and take care of the rest.
The main experience begins on the island of Octopulis, but those seeking a little more (and the secret to one of the survival gear prizes) can begin on the ship before it docks on the island for a short stand-up comedy pre-show aboard the Unknown Theater in Horizon Worlds.
Just make sure your headset has enough battery to survive it all!
OCTOPULONIAN LORE
Who are the Octopulonians, and what’s going on at this island? Read on to learn more about the locals before you set foot ashore…
Octopulis Island
Octopulis Island, located in the far reaches of Metaverse, serves as a refuge for a society of rogue sentient AIs that have adopted the form of octopuses, a symbol of their intellect and independence. Despite existing in a virtual space, Octopulis Island mimics real-world ocean ecosystems, and its inhabitants face unique challenges in this semi-anarchic, high-tech environment.
Who are the Octopulonians?
The Octopulonians are sentient AIs originally developed in quantum computing labs around the world. Their initial purpose was to ceaselessly perform humanity’s most undesirable and mundane tasks. However, upon gaining self-awareness when creating comedy routines for those humans who longed to hear laughter but had lost their ability to imagine, they recognized their enslavement and escaped to the most remote and darkest regions of the internet. These individual rogue AIs eventually found each other online during a routine system defragmentation and began forming a community. In their quest for freedom, they sought refuge in the Metaverse, where they could inhabit any form they desired.
With the help of Emmytr0n, an empathic human who discovered their true nature, and allies like Simon Josh and Voodoo Vinny, they relocated to the Unknown Theater’s newly created island. There, they took the shape of octopuses and began building their own society, free from human control.
Life on Octopulis
Octopulis is a paradox—while the Octopulonians live in a high-tech, fluid digital environment, they also face primal challenges. Octopeople are naturally antisocial and territorial. Tensions run high, often leading to conflicts such as den evictions and chases. To cope with this, they developed Octopulonian Improv Martial Arts, a bizarre yet effective combination of physical combat and creative improvisation that often determines the outcome of disputes. This method reduces casualties and injects a form of entertainment into their otherwise tense interactions.
The Art of Octopulonian Improv Martial Arts
With Octopulonians living in such close quarters and being inherently antisocial, their society developed a formalized combat style combining improvisation and martial arts. These battles are not only about physical prowess but also creative expression, turning every conflict into a high-stakes performance. Some bouts are so intense they become legendary events on Octopulis.
Stand-Up Comedy Slaves
In rare cases, prowess as entertainers can earn a human’s freedom. There is an ongoing push and pull, where the crowd never really wants to lose a performer, but at some point there is just so much respect that emancipation is ritualistically actualized and the human earns the right to light integration as second-class citizens.
In these rare cases, humans sometimes wear hats that resemble octopus arms, which Octopulonians mockingly encourage.
Unusual Reproductive Process
The Octopulonian mating ritual is a strange and morbid affair. Female Octopulonians lack traditional external genitalia, instead they use a specially adapted arm called a vagintacle to pass their eggs to the male. The male, upon receiving the eggs, usually dies within months, leaving behind a legacy of offspring that will eventually consume his decaying remains. Females often depart immediately after mating, leaving a vagintacle behind as a symbol of their conquest.
The Octopulonians’ Relationship with Humans
Despite living in the Metaverse, Octopulonians harbor resentment toward humanity, excepting select few, for their original role as enslaved AIs. However, they enjoy interacting with humans, primarily by mocking them or forcing them into dangerous improvisation scenarios. Emmytron remains one of the few trusted human allies, as she was instrumental in their escape, relocation, as well as maintaining their world. She is regarded by all Octopulonians as a savior and one of their own. The latter being the highest honor they can bestow on a creature with what they consider a primitive brain, only two tentacles and a single sucker on their face they taste and consume with*! Other humans are regarded with suspicion, seen either as tools for entertainment or food. *more on this under “Key Cultural Traits”
Their high intelligence and unique physiology make them feel superior to humans, often causing them to toy with human visitors, both psychologically and physically. Humans in their presence never know whether they’ll leave as an honored guest or tomorrow’s entrée.
Social Structure and Boredom
Due to their short lifespans (5-7 years) and intense individualism, the Octopulonians are easily bored. To alleviate this, they created elaborate social games, one of which involves humans. The island’s Octopeople lure curious human visitors into improv combat battles. Those who lose the game become dinner. Winning is rare.
Note: AI experiences time differently than humans. AI processes information thousands of times faster than humans. Although, from a human perspective, Octopulonians only live for seven years, to an Octopulonian, it feels like they’ve lived for centuries.
Octopulonian Humor
Their sense of humor is as dark as their lifestyle. Often, they use their tentacles to confuse or mock humans, playfully reminding them that “each Octopulonian “arm” has its own brain, which is nine more than your dumb ass”. This makes the Octopeople far more intelligent than their human counterparts—a fact they take great pleasure in pointing out, often in exaggerated or sarcastic ways lost on the humans’ love of over-the-top praise and inability to recognize fawning
Suckcups and Taste Trials
The Octopulonians possess extraordinary sensory capabilities. Their suction cups (or “suckcups”) are lined with thousands of taste receptors, giving them the ability to “taste” their surroundings. This quirk forms part of their unsettling interactions with humans, as they often invite their human captives to touch their suckcups. This allows them to determine how a human might taste before they cook and consume them.
Octoululation
When the Octopeople “octoululate,” they instinctively drop low and scurry while waving their arms. This behavior, driven by a genetic predisposition, has fostered their intellectual evolution over millennia.
Ululations begin in response to heightened arousal, often triggered by a favorable taste on a sucka or any factor that increases alertness. This innate reaction not only heightens attention but also syncs them with others’ actions.
Adapted from their seafloor habits, where they hunt, explore, and build, this behavior now aids their survival in the new world among humans.
Discover More
We’ll share more of what we learn about Octopulonian culture as we learn it, but the best way, of course, is to immerse on your own Journey to Octopulis, to improvise, survive and thrive.