Concept Art 023: Mother Vidia (Patreon)

If you remember some of Basil's Backstory, this is mother Vidia the nun that took Basil in after his mother passed away.

Vidia used to be a warm and gentler person back in her youth, especially with the kids at the orphanage but after being betrayed by the people she trusted the most, she became cold and self-centered, there was no kindness or comprehension left in her, not even for the orphans, she was now in charge after the place was left in her care. 

The only one that truly cares for you is yourself, that's what she started believing at the time and that mindset started turning into selfishness and apathy slowly leading her into shady practices that soon became her everyday life. "From now on I'm the only one that matters"

Vidia was one of the people in the care of Basil's mother while she was sick. Human Women are not supposed to bring Rephaim(giants) into the world so giving birth to Basil took a big toll on her, leaving her fragile and weak but she lived enough to spend most of Basil's infancy with him. The half-giant remembers her fondly but also feels guilty, he thinks she died because of him, or at least that's what people around him always told him "It is your fault she is dead" "Your father was nothing but a rapist beast " "She probably enjoyed it, such a rotten woman". Things like that are what Basil grew up hearing all the time from the townspeople, and Vidia was no exception, she convinced Basil that it was his fault, and told him that without her he would have nothing, she is the only one that would accept him for the monster he is, the world is not ready for him and maybe they will never be if he doesn't restrain his Strength. Vidia made Basil, "a giant", feel powerless and worthless just so she could take advantage of him. Giants are so valuable in the Black market since they disappeared from the mainland.

It might not be an exaggeration to say that Vidia could have "let" Basil's mother die so she could keep the giant and maybe sell him to the best buyer, although Vidia's plans might have changed when a certain someone proposed a way to make a lot of money and gain a lot of power in Omelas.

Everything started when the Mayor's daughter was chosen as the  Omelas' offering for the Dark harvest, desperate to keep his only child alive, she offered Vidia a big amount of money to save her. After Vidia accepted the bribe and saved the girl "somehow", she had people coming to her asking to save their loved ones in exchange for monetary profit, eventually, the bribes turned into the "tithe" given to the church by the believers, making sure their lives keep being peaceful and safe. But money doesn't buy peace nor God's Grace and a price must be paid, souls must be sacrificed... so what did Vidia actually do to save all those people? Well, that's simple, sacrifice people that no one would care for, people with no families that would miss them, people like the orphans. Every year one of the kids was randomly chosen to be the substitute for the real offering, the other kids and Basil were always told these chosen kids were either being adopted or that they ran away in search of their families, basically an excuse in which it was impossible to contact them. If that wasn't cruel enough the same person that put this idea in Vidias mind suggested that if the kids are to die, they surely can make more profit out of them taking advantage of the fact that they would soon disappear, so Vidia started to brainwash the kids (almost Cult-like)  so they could be easy to manipulate and use (think the worst cases scenarios and you will be right).

If you are sensitive to these topics I suggest you don't read this next paragraph:  to be more specific, we are talking that the children were either used as pack mules to sell illegal goods or they were being rented to the best buyer the day before they are sacrificed so the kids could not talk about what these twisted degenerates were doing to them (yes, it is as fucked up as you think it is). And if that wasn't enough, if their bodies were in a good state after their death, Vidia usually sells the corpses in the black market for many disturbing uses.
END OF SENSITIVE TOPICS

These kids were made to believe that death was Salvation, that they were going to heaven with god and then everything will be perfect, they won't be alone anymore, they will be reunited with their loved ones or be happy ever after, that life was misery and god's angels were coming to save them from it... The kids were so desperate that they trusted her words, they didn't have any choice, soon they started becoming brainwashed shells the twisted woman could use for her benefit. Basil never knew what was happening behind the curtain until Asher comes to Omelas and they start to uncover its mysteries by accident.

Basil's world will come crumbling down when he realizes that the only person he trusted all along, was this twisted monster and that he unknowingly was helping her do all these terrible things to the kids, Basil was the caretaker of the kids, but now it seems he was only protecting the goods. All those times he was told kids were adopted, just lies, all those times he was sent to sell animal meat outside the town.... it wasn't only animal meat. Everything was a lie, and he was part of it, all the town was, they all knew to some extent what was happening, a price must be paid for a peaceful perfect life, and they all were keen to do it, that's how it is in Omelas.

I know this is somber but Arcadia is a dark fantasy so these topics while won't be super literal and upfront, they will be subtly addressed so the level of malice of Vidia's actions comes across. This is merely to test Asher and mostly Basil, to see if after realizing just how rotten this world is, they would be able to continue their journey or not. As an extra piece of info, the person that convinced Vidia that all of these were good ideas is a midnight blade obsessed with money and power, Maalik, and he was using Vidia to his own advantage.

This Arc is inspired by the short novel  "the ones that walk away from omelas"