What do you mean by “morally fine”?
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they don’t do anything to anybody that stunts their free will
the only questionable thing there is “who’s picked to be culled for survival and why” which we never really found out the reason for
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Revendreth is actually understandable when you understand who they are dealing with. They even say it up front that this make seem cruel but it is necessary.
The Vanthyr are attempting to redeem what are essentially the irredeemable.
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Renethal’s resistance at least. Denathrius and his loyalists clearly only care about themselves.
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Whose free will is being stunted? The Arbiter sends people to one of the Big Four based on their fitness to be a part of that mechanism. If they’re in Bastion, they’ve been determined to be capable of ascension.
If they’re not, they’re sent elsewhere. They might even have a realm created just for them.
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You are conflating a person to a whole race of people. I have already addressed the individual… that doesn’t make it right for a people as a whole to be this way.
There isn’t even any real indication that the Stewards, unlike the Kyrians, get a choice about what and how they are in this system.
I unironically love the venthyr but I think they’re the opposite reflection of bastion.
“Bad people remember their lives to be the best people they can be vs. good people forget their lives to leave their trauma, biases, and attachment behind.”
So I kind of lump them together as part of a system that operates in tandem.
But revendreth was fundamentally broken and not doing its duty which was why the raid happens.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
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Well that is kind of how aliens work in fiction. Planet of Hats and all that.
Agreed. Was kind of leaving that as a ‘granted’ since Renethal’s way is the way that the Vanthyr are supposed to be acting without Denarthrius’s betrayal and allegiance to the Jailer.
So, the foresworn exists because they want to keep their individuality and memories. They don’t get to choose to be sent to Bastion.
Bastion is totally fine if you willingly choose it as a path. It’s philosophically pretty much what buddhism is. Fine if not mandatory.
Again, all of their service is voluntary, and they clearly have interests that guide which types of service they volunteer for.
You think Mikanikos was picked for his position at random? No. He liked machines, he liked helping people, so he picked the job that let him help people by making machines, and he was good enough at it to become the main machine maker in all of Bastion.
And if he feels like he needs a break, he can head off to the Cliffs of Respite and just chill however long he needs to recharge.
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Which really means it comes down to how good the Arbiter is at her job and judging by all the foresworn that exist I would say she is actually rather bad at her job.
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I will also say that we don’t know if stewards even have souls. They’re supernaturally a part of the realm of the archon, so they might just be anima products of her imagination.
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The Forsworn exist because of an outside force that preys upon them at their lowest point.
Everyone experiences doubt once in a while. If you’re pursuing a course in life that is worthwhile, you’re going to experience some self-doubt about whether it’s worth the effort. If you’ve known anyone who works in the medical field, they might tell you the stress and long hours might not be worth it, and they might even consider stopping.
What would you do? What would a friend or family member do? Encourage them to stop? Or would you try and help them see the merits of picking themselves back up?
The Forsworn are emerging because there are antagonistic, outside forces interfering, encouraging them to give up rather than to persevere.
Without the Jailer’s interference, many of the Kyrians who are experiencing doubt would be uplifted by their fellow aspirants and ascended because of the support structures that have been created to help those who struggle.
Just because souls who end up in Bastion were judged to be worthy of ascension doesn’t mean that everyone it’s going to be easy, or that it will be easy for everyone.
And why would it be easy? Why wouldn’t there be some doubt? Without the role the Kyrians play, the Shadowlands fall apart. Everything that is wrong right now is a result of souls not reaching the Arbiter-- souls ordinarily brought to her by Kyrians. If you had that much riding on you, you’d probably experience doubt also.
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Races like Stewards are native to the shadowlands. When you “die” in the shadowlands you’re gone, but your anima is still around and it gets reborn as a new creature.
They aren’t souls, they don’t have past lives, but they’re made from the anima of people who were sent to Bastion specifically because they lived to serve, so obviously they would share that inclination.
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So my question is how ardenweald used to function. People were not supposed to go there-- it was only spirits. And the spirits always left to become reborn, presumably taking their anima with them when they’re reborn.
How was ardenweald sustainable in the past but now it isn’t?
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Nature spirits would go there to be reborn, but mortal spirits who loved nature or even just liked caring for people would go there to tend to it.
So Ysera would be a Wildseed, but Mafurrion would be a Faun.
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In the introductory quest, we’re told about “the first mortal who arrived here” which surprised the queen. So, they didn’t used to go there. That’s a relatively new thing which probably came when the arbiter took power.
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Dead guys aren’t mortal. They’re post mortal. You’re the first mortal to arrive anywhere because most people are already dead before they get to see the shadowlands.
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