VIBQUE
Vibque (pronounced: Vie-c) is a rather isolated town surrounded by natural land formations. Due to these natural barriers, much of Vibque’s culture and dress are unique. Their patron gods take after the land masses and weather they experience. A recurring motif in Vibque is the circle – Vibquians believe that everything happens in cycles. The seasons are a cycle, night and day are a cycle, the anger of the Volcano is a cycle; everything was either a vicious or virtuous cycle. Thereby, a lot of the important patron gods of Vibque are gods with dual natures – spring and winter, fall and summer, day and night, etc. Lesser gods are those who only represent one aspect – harvest, atmosphere, etc. Lesser gods are not less powerful, they are just less symbolic.
A lot of Vibque is focused around their patron gods – including their architecture and products. Many of Vibquian houses have some type of item featuring two foxes running after each other. These foxes are the symbols of the patron God of Day (Life) and Night (Death). Similarly so, stone is an important factor in their lives, as Vibque is bordered by mountains. Most of the materials in their landmarks are made of stone, wood, leaves, mud, and paper. Many of the fine jewelry and weapons made in Vibque are composed of stone and obsidian (near volcanoes).
Notable landmarks in Vibque include The Sundial (tribute to God of Day / Night), The Herbarium (tribute to God of Day / Night, Life / Death, God of Health / Ill, God of Stone, God of Earth, God of Fire), The Rain Temple (God of Rain), The Volcano (God of Volcano), and The Greenery (God of Earth, God of Spring / Winter, God of Fall / Summer). The Greenery also housed the Blessed Tree.
Most of the greater gods in Vibque (the dual-gods) are female. Most of the lesser gods are male. No one knows why early Vibquians had it like so, but some historians suggest that it is because greater gods, and their dual natures, are sometimes referred to as sisters. On the contrary, the lesser gods were independent males. This plays into the family dynamic that Vibquians liked to stay together and have siblings, because the more family members they had, the more stories they could tell and hear. Vibque isn’t an entirely matriarchal society, but women were important because they nurtured life, and created families. Men were stronger and more independent than women, but that also suggested they were lonelier due to their lack of need for company. Women rounded the family together, and men provided for the family.