Even the lowest "Dustborn," can always find someone weaker than themselves.
These slaves gain a false sense of superiority as they oppress others, thereby forgetting they are slaves too.
Hatred passes downward, pain escalates layer by layer, ultimately forming a closed cycle.
The value of the slave laborers is calculated by the rulers with disturbing precision.
How many lashings can they endure, how many hours can they work continuously until they exhaust themselves to death, and in what form can their corpses be "reused" are all noted precisely.
Each life is simplified into a string of cold numbers, recorded in the ledgers of the rulers.
Before the final act, Ron thought he had witnessed the ultimate ugliness of human nature.
Until he saw the full nature of the "Activation" ritual.
It was a hollow deep in the heart of the ore vein, surrounded by hundreds of totem poles carved from human bones.
