Sheboa Valley

Sheboa Valley is a secluded valley surrounded by mountains in northern Bavogia, Caldera. The valley is famous for being so secluded that it is host to a wide range of cultural differences from the rest of Caldera or even Bavogia. Sheboa Valley only has two settlements, a tiny village called Fluto (Ænglish: Seagull) Town with a population of 21, and a small town called Calu City with a population of around 23,000. Both of these settlements are populated entirely by Indigeno-Calderans, with only one known Gothic immigrant in the valley who lives outside of Fluto Town with a Volin wife and mixed daughter. It's reported that everyone in the valley who is religious believes in Jadeity, a unique monotheistic religion which exists nowhere else in Ixnay, and the exclusive language used in the valley is Volin, with only 2 reported residents speaking another language fluently; one speaks Gothic and the other speaks the nearly extinct Sheboa language, a unique language which developed due to the valley's seclusion for hundreds of years. The valley also celebrates exclusive regional holidays, has a unique time measurement system including its own calendar, and various odd traditions not seen elsewhere in Caldera.

Sheboa Valley ᏣᏙᎠ (Volin: Tsadoa) ᎤᎨᏓᎵᏴᎢ (Sheboa: Ukedaliyvi)
Region of Bavogia
Symbol of Jada
Nickname(s):  The Valley The Last Vestige of Free Enterprise
Motto:  "Where the stars fall" (unofficial)
Country	Caldera
Province	Bavogia
First settled	4th Century
Fluto Town established	1336
Calu City established	1852
Area
• Region of Bavogia	4,332.2 km2 (1,672.7 sq mi)
Population
• Region of Bavogia	~23,100
• Urban	~23,000
• Rural	42
Demonym	Sheboan

History

When the Volin tribe first settled Caldera around 100 BC, the tribe was unable to access the secluded Sheboa Valley, leaving the region untouched until the first signs of human life cropped up the 4th Century. The Office of Archaeology Library and Museum in Fluto Town holds all the currently discovered pieces of evidence of human presence in the region, including items such as a chewing stick, a flute made from a bone, a sword, a "digging stick", a Daxian style ornamental fan, and a drum made from cowhide and wood.

The first permanent settlement was Fluto Town, a village constructed along the coast in order to have access to fishing and trade by boat. Fluto means "seagull" in Volin, referencing the many seagulls that would gather at the base of the town. The year of establishment is only known by correlating the town's date registry with modern day calendars. The original settlers almost certainly spoke Volin, as evidenced by the name of the town, and the fact that they must have came from the Volin tribe, but over time, a unique language calling itself Juwoyeni (now known as "Sheboa") developed, only used by the inhabitants of Fluto Town and the surrounding area.

Sheboa Valley was home to mostly farmers and ranchers, as the area around Fluto Town became a perfect place to farm in nutritious soil which would grow many plants that livestock would easily enjoy, but a notable profession were also the anglers. During Gothic settlement of Caldera, the area slightly modernized, with industrial mills working alongside rivers and general stores opening. This started the decline of the usage of the Sheboa language, as traders via sea would need to speak Volin to trade nearby or speak Gothic to trade in the big cities.

In 1852, the second settlement to ever be established in Sheboa Valley was founded, along a river passing through a mountain. Called "Calu City", named after the founder, Calu Truffle. Calu City was the stepping stone for companies such as the Phoenix Trade Union to move into the Sheboa Valley via the river, but years of seclusion had made the valley largely self reliant, resulting in most companies to withdraw due to a lack of profits, except a few locally owned companies in Calu City. Famously in 2016, the Phoenix Trade Union opened a large supermarket in Fluto Town and provided $600,000 worth of advancements in infrastructure for the community, hoping that the community would be open to shopping at the supermarket instead of local stores if it was well known that the company had done the community quite some good. Some of the community initiatives included establishing a bus service to outside the valley, bridge repair, and rock removal for landslides around the mountains. Despite these initiatives, in 2019, the Phoenix Trade Union closed its Fluto Town location permanently, and also closed the bus service, but local citizens were quick to establish a new bus service, and the town erected a movie theater in place of Phoenix's supermarket. Presently, all of Sheboa Valley is still served by the PTU through transporters in Calu City, but no physical locations exist in the valley.

In 2020, after seeing the success of the locals at expelling unwanted guests, the Volin militia attempted to establish a headquarters around Fluto Town, but was drove out by the local militia there, which claimed at the non-Sheboan Volin militia would take peace out of the valley.

Geography

The valley is similar to Little Caldera in that it's completely surrounded by mountains with an opening to the sea, but unlike Little Caldera, the mountains are at such an incline that it's impossible to physically access the Sheboa Valley without utilizing the ocean or the river that Calu City resides on.

Government

Despite being legally under the administration of Bavogia and Caldera, the Sheboa Valley is so isolated that no government outreaches have been able to reach the valley, and the only true governments that operate within the valley are the local governments of Calu City and Fluto Town. This makes the valley a supposed corporate paradise, where the environment may be exploited with no repercussions, but when the Phoenix Trade Union established a mining operation south of Calu City in late 2015, the mining operation caused an earthquake and landslides which resulted in the mayor of Calu City sending an armed militia to the mine to shut it down. The lack of government tends to put corporations at the mercy of the people. Local governments don't have political parties, and the government of Fluto Town elects mayors for life, with the option for the mayor to retire at any point and an election to be held for a new mayor.

Law

Law is enforced around Calu City by the Calu City Police Department, elsewhere, there are no law enforcement agencies in Sheboa Valley, as Fluto Town doesn't even have one. General law is expected to be followed through social queues, and criminals are expelled from society or killed when outside of the CCPD's jurisdiction. Former Fluto Town mayor Green Snake bragged in 2016 that he has never seen a criminal in his town the entire time he lived there.

Culture and Demographics

Ethnicity

Almost everybody in Sheboa Valley is ethnically Volin, with two exceptions, Dean Steiner and his daughter, both of whom are of Gothic descent, his daughter being mixed.

Language

The sole spoken language of Sheboa Valley is Volin, although the valley is unique in that it once had its own language, Sheboa, which was once used by the inhabitants of Fluto Town. Presently, there are only 2 known speakers of Sheboa, and only 1 can speak it fluently, meaning that the language is essentially extinct, although its text may be preserved in 4 extensive scrolls detailing the valley's most common religion.

Religion

All Sheboans outside of Calu City, excluding Dean Steiner and his daughter, are religious, and the only religion practiced by Sheboans is Jadeity, a monotheistic religion in which there is only one god, named Jada, and everyone turns into mist after death, although it's possible to contact the dead via creating stone shrines to them with jewels in the center, and if one makes the dead pleased by worshiping at their alter or performing tasks the dead would have liked, then it's possible to ask the dead to perform favors in their mystic form. This religion features a variety of mythological stories, the primary creation story stating that Jada had Ixnay created for fun, and the gender-less Jada created humanity to prove how Ixnay may be good, but humans must be good of their own free will, so Jada only presented itself to early settlers of Fluto Town as a back up so if the rest of Ixnay isn't good, Sheboa Valley will be. Jada presented a set of general rules to Fluto Town to follow, which is written in Sheboa and is currently kept inside a gold alter to Jada inside the town's general store. Jadeitists typically celebrate 6 holidays yearly, while Fluto Town residents celebrate 12.

Egg Festival

On the 13th of Spring (April 16th and 17th) is the egg festival, obviously inspired by the Christian holiday of Easter, most Jadeists are unable to explain why for a day they have a tradition of hunting for eggs, but Jadeist mythology states that Jada once had a servant who cooked for Jada, and one day Jada was hungry for eggs, but chickens had not yet been created, so Jada's servant hunted all over the galaxy for eggs, but because the galaxy is infinite, Jada's servant is still searching to this day. People hunt for eggs on this day in order to honor Jada's servant.

Flower Dance

Towards the end of the month of Spring, typically on the 24th of Spring (March 8th and 9th) is the flower dance. One of the rules Jada gave to the settlers of Fluto Town was that if humanity did not give a display of happiness for Spring, then it may end and never return again. Every year, Jadeists gather in a public dance, displaying their happiness for Spring.

Hulae

On the 11th of Summer (July 10th and 11th), Judeists celebrate the holiday of Hulae, which is a traditional feast typically held outside near a body of water. The myth goes that Jada came down to Ixnay in the middle of the summer and was extremely hungry, so Jada went to each human it saw and asked for food, but nobody had enough food to satisfy Jada, so this feast is meant to represent humanity finally satisfying Jada and hoping one day Jada will give humanity another chance.

Day of Spirits

The final day of Fall (December 19th and 20th) is dedicated to the dead, and Judeists spend this day worshiping to alters or statues they may have made to their dead.

Festival of Ice

Celebrated on the 8th of Winter (January 4th and 5th), the Festival of Ice is a holiday which celebrates the creation of ice. The mythical story goes that ice is Jada's latest creation, as water once was only liquid or gas, so wise shopkeepers begged Jada to create a third state for water, solid, which allowed the easy transport of water without dedicated containers. Although Jada agreed to create ice, Jada only allows ice to form in extreme cold, so it only forms in the month of Winter.

Feast of the North Star

The final day of Winter (March 18th and 19th) is celebrated for two reasons, the first and most popular reason is to celebrate the North Star, the brightest star in the sky. It's believed that Jada is the North Star, so it holds a sacred place in Jadeist culture, and the feast is held in the North Star's honor. The second reason however is to celebrate the new year, beginning on Spring 1st (March 20th and 21st).

Fluto Town holidays

Bus Festival

The Bus Festival is a multi-day festival to celebrate the creation of automobiles, the only one of which is the town's bus. The festival begins on Spring 15th (April 20th-21st) and ends on Spring 17th (April 24th-25th).

Trout Day

Trout Day is simply to celebrate Jada's creation of trout, celebrated on the 20th of Summer (July 28th-29th).

Jellyfish Day

Similar to Trout Day, Jellyfish Day celebrates the creation of jellyfish and is celebrated on the 28th of Summer (August 13th-14th).

Sheboa Valley Fair

On the 16th of Fall (October 22nd-23rd), Fluto Town holds a fair which isn't necessarily religious based, but many of the rides and games feature references to Jada and religious themes. The day chosen was also religious based, it is believed that on that day, Jada had delivered corn to Sheboa Valley.

Squid Day

The last of the aquatic creature holidays, Squid Day is celebrated on the 12th of Winter (January 21st-22nd), and celebrates Jada's creation of squid.

Celebration of Night

The Celebration of Night is a multi-day holiday which is only celebrated at night. It's believed that the first humans lived in complete daylight, and Jada created nighttime for humans to sleep peacefully. The celebration begins on the 15th of Winter and ends on Winter 17th (January 27th-February 1st)

Calendar and Time

Unlike the rest of Caldera which has adopted the 12 month Gregorian calendar, Sheboa Valley famously uses a 4 month calendar, coinciding with the 4 seasons. The first month, Spring, starts on March 20th, and ends on June 20th. The second, Summer, starts on June 20th and ends on September 22nd. The third, Fall, starts on September 22nd and continues until December 21st. The final month, Winter, starts on December 21st and ends on March 20th. The 4 months are all 28 days, and the length of days are inconsistent, with the shortest days being 20 hours and the longest days being 36 hours. Interestingly, the days of the week are identical to the Gregorian calendar (Monday-Sunday), and the Sheboa calendar even uses the Gregorian day of the week as it would be. For example, Spring 27th may begin on Friday, March 10th, but due to the elongated hours of the day, may end on Saturday, March 11th, and this change of day from Friday to Saturday is acknowledged, even if Spring 28th hasn't occurred yet. In other words, the day of the week is the same everywhere in Caldera, even if the day of the month is not.

The Sheboa measurement of time also does not use minutes in the traditional sense. 1 Sheboan hour is equal to 1 Gregorian hour, but 1 Sheboan minute is equal to about 10.3 Gregorian minutes. Sheboan time does not measure to the minute, but rather the tens of minutes, calling them minutes themselves. For example, the time may be 8:5, and within 1 minute, it will be 9:0. There are 6 Sheboan minutes in an hour, and it is among this basis that working schedules are drawn. Seconds are not counted in Sheboa Valley, but if they are, they are treated like Gregorian seconds, in that there are 620 seconds in a Sheboan minute.

Sheboa Valley commonly uses the Gregorian year, typically to stay in touch with the rest of the world, but it is not entirely uncommon to use the Sheboan year. The first year of Sheboa started with the founding of Fluto Town in 1336, and given that years are the same length as Gregorian years (a full cycle of the sun around the Earth), in 2035, the Sheboan year was 699. Year 700 begins on March 20th, 2036.

This unique measurement of time has given way for a common phrase used in Caldera, "Are you Sheboan?", used to make fun of someone for being late.

Attitudes and Worldview

Sheboans are incredibly easygoing people, famous for being friendly. It's customary to mail gifts to friends, and for friends to give gifts to each other randomly. Sheboans simply don't think about the world very often, as the community is the most important.

In Fluto Town, all residents are told to put their birthdays on the communal calendar in the town square, so that their birthday may be celebrated by the whole town. New immigrants who previously used the Gregorian calendar typically just change the month of their birthday to the seasonal month (for example, October 18th = Fall 18th). This activity of celebrating all birthdays is so popular that some people living outside of town still put their birthday on the communal calendar. This practice of a "communal calendar" is not seen in Calu City, but Calu City residents may put their birthday on a public "birthday book" so that other residents may mail them gifts.

Kinship and family

There is essentially no prejudice against same-sex cultures in Sheboa Valley, but unlike other Volin relationships, it's incredibly looked down upon to hold more than one partner, and it's looked down upon to break up or divorce. Marriage in the Sheboa Valley is quite unique, instead of proposing via engagement ring, the person in the relationship who wants to make it permanent is meant to travel to the coast of Sheboa Valley and search for a conch. Once finding a conch, you are meant to turn it into a necklace, and secretly gift it to your partner, either through mail or by leaving it in a place for them to find. If the receiver accepts, they are to wear the conch, but if the receiver declines, it is meant to be thrown away. In 3 days, the person who gifted the conch reveals them self, and the marriage is instant, only needed to be reported to the mayor of the nearest settlement. If the person who gifted the conch is not the person that the receiver thought they were, the receiver may immediately take off the conch on the 3rd day, and the marriage is not longer binding. Most Sheboan families only have up to 2 kids for an unknown reason.

Cuisine

Typical of Calderan cuisine, Sheboan cuisine is dominated by fish, but while most Calderan dishes feature saltwater fish, most Sheboan dishes include freshwater fish. This is essentially the only notable difference, besides a major increase in vegetables consumed by Sheboans.

Arts and Literature

Sheboa Valley does not differ significantly from the rest of Caldera in terms of art, although Jada and symbols of Jada are predominant in Sheboan works.

Sports

The most popular sport in Sheboa Valley is fishing, while the second most popular is kravget, and third is hockey. Sheboa is not typically known for sports teams, but it is known for its vast fishing events which typically happen on fish themed holidays.

Symbols

While there is no definitive symbols of the Sheboa Valley, the predominance of Jadeity has resulted in the symbol of Jadeity becoming the unofficial symbol of Sheboa Valley. Some other unofficial symbols include the Walleye fish and Morel mushroom.

Economy and Infrastructure

President LeMieux visited Sheboa Valley on November 2nd, 2035, local time Fall 23rd, 699, to see the lack of corporations running anything. While ordering food at a tavern, it was explained how the food was purchased from the local grocer, who got it from local farmers. Ordering a Phoenix soda, the bartender gave LeMieux a can that was flat, and after asking how old the soda was, he was informed that the tavern hasn't purchased any Phoenix soda since 2016, because the average customer only ever gets coffee or tea, two drinks that are freshly made at the tavern. LeMieux than went on to give a speech in Calu City, making the famous quote "Sheboa Valley is one of the last vestiges of free enterprise left in the world". "The Last Vestige of Free Enterprise" has since become a new nickname for the valley.

In terms of other infrastructure, the valley is very poorly developed, lacking modern roads and having so few drivers that the car owners that do exist will commonly park wherever they want on the street, confident they cannot possibly obstruct traffic. The major highway in Sheboa Valley only goes in one direction, forcing drivers to drive in a complete circle if their destination is behind them. It is due to these many factors that horses are twice as popular as cars, averaging 4 horses every 100 people (while averaging 2 cars every 100 people). The biggest reason for this lack of transport may be the proximity of farms to community centers, or general proximity of residents to stores. In both Sheboan settlements, more than 77% of residents live within walking distance to all major town centers, and in Fluto Town, only 1 person in the immediate surrounding of the town is not within walking distance, with 4 residencies being located outside of the town but within walking distance.

Industries and Sectors

Due to the small size of Fluto Town, the summary of jobs may be created quite easily.

Job	Workers	Percent
Farmer	3	8.1%
Student	3	8.1%
Angler	1	2.7%
Carpenter	1	2.7%
Grocer	4	10.8%
Mayor	1	2.7%
Scientist	2	5.4%
Miner	2	5.4%
None	6	16.2%
Blacksmith	1	2.7%
Writer	1	2.7%
Driver	1	2.7%
Doctor	1	2.7%
Soldier	1	2.7%
Gardener	1	2.7%
Bartender	2	5.4%
Artist	1	2.7%
Teacher	1	2.7%
Priest	1	2.7%
Clothier	1	2.7%
Curator	2	5.4%
Total	37	100%

Most popular jobs include grocer and farmer, displaying the region's self reliance. Note that the "none" category includes stay at home parents and retired, so it does not accurately represent the unemployed status.

Calu City has an entirely different job market, and being so secluded, it's difficult to get a gauge on every worker or even how many workers there are. It's estimated that the unemployment percentage is around 3%, and roughly 40% of jobs in Calu City are related to the river along the city, whether it be fishing or transport of goods.