48. Rhythm of Work

Moash travels with the Voidbringer army as a slave hauling sledges toward Kholinar. He observes the invaders' efficiency and discipline while rationalizing why humanity deserves conquest, but grows troubled by the brutal treatment of enslaved parshmen in workform compared to the armed parshmen in warform.

Moash serves as part of a labor force pulling sledges for the Voidbringer caravan moving supplies toward Kholinar. He finds the work preferable to bridge duty, appreciating good rations, rest, and the fertile landscape of central Alethkar. The Voidbringers treat human slaves fairly well—unchained, well-fed, and provided with replacement clothing—but Moash increasingly admires their efficiency and military discipline. He rationalizes that humanity deserves this conquest, viewing their history as one of murder, war, and misgovernance since Aharietiam. However, he becomes troubled by one apparent contradiction: a crew of parshmen in workform are treated with extreme cruelty and constant beatings by their overseers, unlike the armed parshmen in warform who form the army's backbone. When Moash learns these parshmen 'harbored a false god,' he watches their mistreatment worsen through a vicious cycle of exhaustion and punishment. On the twenty-first day of marching, after witnessing brutal whipping of the enslaved parshmen, Moash abandons his position and violently intervenes, striking an overseer and forcing them to stop. He takes the place of an injured parshman in the sledge line. Though the overseers initially confer with a Fused about the incident, Moash is not punished, and the abuse toward the parshman crew ceases for the remainder of the march.