Cerulean Cape a world within a world

"My mom worships bear-gods. I think that they are the bigger things," Esma suggested, though only know did it occur to her that she had never asked her mother, whether she had actually seen Atka and Sos. Like in flesh and blood. Not just as an idea. 

"Maybe it was the crab god... or a king. In stories kings sound kind of big," she added. "What is a val?" she asked, feeling genuinely curious.