Both Bastion and Revendreth seem to run on the backs of magically created races of fully sapient, autonomous beings who literally live to serve.
Stewards and Dredgers seem to have similar roles, they do the dirty, thankless, inglorious tasks needed to keep the planes running so that the actual souls sent there don’t have to worry about it. There is a clear sense that this is “their place”, beneath their social betters. They’re even depicted as small creatures, towered over by the main races of their realms to reinforce the idea of them as less-than.
It’s clear that they are not without complaint for their station in life. Several stewards appear to desperately want the ability to fly, as kyrian society is entirely based around that, the physical structure of their buildings and simple accessibility make those with wings the haves, and those without the have nots. It seems like a great way to psychologically manipulate aspirants into being willing to give up everything they are for the simple freedom to get around conveniently. But despite that kyrian have the ability to bestow wings, the idea of giving them to stewards never seems to even be considered. Venthyr blatantly mistreat their dredgers, demanding their labor even while resenting their presence, without qualms about destroying their individuality by merging them together into bigger dredgers. Many grumble about this treatment, but none do anything.
The Stoneborn are arguably even worse. Though they seem to be thinking, feeling beings, not automatons like the constructs in Bastion, they are created to be expendable cannon fodder soldiers in Venthyr conflicts, and even turned off and on again at the convenience of their masters, turning them to stone and simply placing them in suspended animation until they’re useful. The idea that they have any entitlement to lives of their own is never considered.
Now, to be clear, I have nothing against the fictional depiction of flawed or dystopian societies, nor do I think that anyone will suddenly become a slavery apologist after playing WOW. But I’m a little creeped out that the game does not seem to recognize or present this as a flaw. These creatures are never shown rebelling against their low station or mistreatment in any meaningful way, if they’re depicted as anything other than perfectly content in eternal servitude it’s played for laughs. The player is never invited to question this system and has no option to do so. The best you can do is give a steward a fruit. That’s it, that’s their reward for all they do, once in a while they’ll be given a pat on the head and a piece of fruit. It’s sad and Dickensian.
And we are simply meant to accept this status quo as a normal way for things to be. It seems a little obtuse to endorse a racial caste system as one watches the news over the past year. Shouldn’t steward, dredger, and stoneborn lives get to matter too?
