

Knowing full well that only one of them can be free, they will accept whatever fate bestow upon them and continue on trusting their Reader. A little Heartwarming, but if Volfred is still with you before you start the Final Liberation Rites and when you select to hesitate on choosing which of the Nightwing members you wish to liberate, he'll telepathically reassure you that no matter what, all the Nightwings will stand with you and will respect whatever choice you made.Arguably made even worse when the very last Liberation Rite ever gives you the choice between one more of your Nightwings, Oralech the original Nightwing who was denied freedom, or yourself. Even Hedwyn punches the wall in Blackwagon over this. Worse? Since the Rites only grant freedom to those who participate first-hand, You, The Reader, can't ever leave the Downside.It's mitigated by receiving Messenger Imps that tell you how much better they're doing, but it still stings. Seeing your Fire-Forged Friends disappearing one by one can be hard to take in. The news that only one Exile can leave per Liberation Rite.By its very nature, winning your friends' freedom means denying someone else theirs, many of whom never deserved to be exiled in the first place.

Only the victor of a Liberation Rite may take their freedom.Their initial anger is almost understandable. There are hints early on that telling you that due to the previous Nightwings disappearing under unknown circumstance, all other Triumvales remained stuck in Downside for years.
