History TearJerker / Pyre

** Dalbert is a kindly old Cur who wishes to uphold the tradition of the Rites; under his guidance, the Fate is one of the few Triumvirates who seems to retain their original purpose. He was exiled for attempting to preserve and practice old traditions within the Commonwealth; and, as collateral damage, his son Almer was exiled as well.
** Doubly so for his foster son Almer, who never mentions any other family but Dalbert. For all the boy knew, any Rites could be their last shot at liberation.

** Worse? Since the Rites only grant freedom to those who participate firsthand, [[spoiler:[[ExactWords you, the Reader, can't ever leave the Downside]]]]. Even Hedwyn punches the wall in the Blackwagon over this. [[spoiler: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 and almost died for no fault of his own -- or yourself.]]

* The second to last Rite, upon knowing that the Rites [[spoiler:are ending]]. The other team simply [[spoiler:didn't bother showing up anymore, knowing their hopes are dashed anyway, leaving your team to a pitiful little opposing pyre]].

* If The Fate win a Liberation Rite, it seems as though the elderly Dalbert is about to ascend. He embraces his foster-son Almer, then quickly transfers his anointment and shoves his son into the exit despite Almer's protests. Though this seems like a heartwarming moment, their separation goes rather poorly for everyone: Dalbert retires, permanently withdrawing the Fate from the Rites; without his father's guidance, Almer becomes a recluse whose only real connection comes if the Moon-Touched Girl is liberated too; and Dalbert ultimately dies alone in the Downside.
* The chain of events that led the previous Nightwings before you to disband: one of its members, Erisa. lost her brother in the war. Her own father then became incredibly abusive, punishing her in her brother's place when her blacksmith work wasn't up to task. This went on for a lifetime, culminating in Erisa killing her father and getting thrown into the Downside for it. Driven by injustice and desperation, she tried to Oralech's place to ascend, not heeding the warning that it will kill her. This ends up with one dead woman and a reformed man being robbed of his freedom he rightfully earned, forced to walk the Downside and slowly transforming into an incredibly bitter Demon for unknown number of years. A testament that the Rites are doing the exact opposite of what they were intended; pushing sane person to commit ''terrible'' deeds instead of uplifting them.

* The fact that, under those masks, under all the snarl and disappointments thrown at each other and at you, all the Exiles are the people who once deserved better.
** Ignarius was just doing his ''[[{{Bouncer}} job]]'' when he confronted wrong Commonwealth officer. This can possibly ends with him trapped in Downside for ''the rest of his life'' if he isn't liberated.
** Dalbert is a kindly old Cur who wishes to uphold the tradition of the Rites. But the fact that he's there when you meet him to begin with means the one in charge of current social system does not care for him at all.
** Doubly so for his foster-grandson Aimer, who seemingly had no one he can relate to except Dalbert. For all the boy knew, any Rites could be their last shot at liberation.
* 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''. Their initial anger is almost understandable.

** Worse? Since the Rites only grant freedom to those who participate first-hand, [[spoiler:[[ExactWords You, The Reader, can't ever leave the Downside]]]]. Even Hedwyn punches the wall in Blackwagon over this. [[spoiler: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.]]
*** A little SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming|Moments}}, but if [[spoiler: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, [[spoiler:he'll telepathically reassure you that no matter what, all the Nightwings will stand with you and will respect whatever choice you made]]. [[spoiler: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]].

* The second to last Rite, upon knowing that the Rites [[spoiler:is ending]]. The other team simply [[spoiler:didn't bother showing up anymore, knowing their hope are dashed anyway, leaving your team to a pitiful little opposing pyre]].

** The worst of these is easily [[spoiler: Oralech, who, after being denied his freedom for the final time should you win against him, is DrivenToSuicide.]] [[spoiler:If you don't decide to liberate him, that is]].

* If The Fate win a Liberation Rite, it seems as though the elderly Dalbert is about to ascend. He embraces his foster-son Almer, then quickly transfers his anointment and shoves his son into the exit despite Almer's protests. Though this seems like a heartwarming moment, their separation goes rather poorly for everyone: Dalbert retires, permanently withdrawing the Fate from the Rites; without his father's guidance, Almer becomes a recluse whose only real connection comes if the Vagabond Girl is liberated too; and Dalbert ultimately dies alone in the Downside.
* The chain of events that led the previous Nightwings before you to disband: one of its member Erisa lost her brother in Harpy-Commenwealth War. Her own father then became incredibly abusive, punishing her in her brother's place when her blacksmith work isn't up to task. This went on for a lifetime, culminating in Erisa killing her father and getting thrown into Downside for it. Driven by injustice and desperation she tried to Oralech's place to ascend, not heeding the warning that it will kill her. This ends up with one dead woman and a reformed man being robbed of his freedom he rightfully earned, forced to walk the Downside and slowly transforming into an incredibly bitter Demon for unknown number of years. A testament that the Rites are doing the exact opposite of what they were intended; pushing sane person to commit ''terrible'' deeds instead of uplifting them.
** Oralech's crime was insubordination for refusing to take part in Commonwealth-Harpy War any further. Which makes his punishment even more damning.
* The purpose of Nightwings is to be the [[FinalBoss judge]] for those who are worthy of being accepted back into society. They set the standard of the 'civil qualities' to be upheld... except that [[BrokenPedestal Nightwings are still composed]] of [[HumansAreFlawed people with all their attachments and flaws]]. The Rites as the law of the land will ''never'' be perfected. The best Commonwealth can do is to continuously push forward for the better, suffering or not.

** Doubly so for his grandson Aimer, who seemingly had no one he can relate to except Dalbert. For all the boy knew, any Rites could be their last shot at liberation.

** Doubly so for his grandson Aimer, who seemingly had no one to care for except Dalbert. For all the boy knew, any Rites could be the last shot at liberation for them both.

** Dalbert is presented as kindly old Cur who wishes to uphold the tradition of the Rites. But the fact that he's there when you meet him to begin with means the one in charge of current social system does not care for him at all.

** Dalbert is presented as kindly old Cur who wishes to uphold the tradition of the Rites. But the fact that he's there when you meet him to begin with means the one charge of current social system does not care for him at all.

** Dalbert is presented as kindly old Cur who wishes to uphold the tradition of the Rites. But the fact that he's there when you meet him to begin with means the current social system does not care for him at all.

* The chain of events that led the previous Nightwings before you to disband: one of its member Erisa lost her brother in Harpy-Commenwealth War. Her own father then became incredibly abusive, punishing her in her brother's place when her blacksmith work isn't up to task. This went on for a lifetime, culminating in Erisa killing her father and getting thrown into Downside for it. Driven by injustice and desperation she tried to Oralech's place to ascend, not heeding the warning that it will kill her. This ends up with one dead woman and a condemned man who spent ages reforming being robbed of his freedom, forced to walk the Downside and slowly transforming into an incredibly bitter Demon for unknown number of years. A testament that the Rites are doing the exact opposite of what they were intended; pushing sane person to commit ''terrible'' deeds instead of uplifting them.

* The chain of events that led the previous Nightwings before you to disband: one of its member Erisa lost her brother in Harpy-Commenwealth War. Her own father then became incredibly abusive, punishing her in her brother's place when her blacksmith work isn't up to task. This went on for a lifetime, culminating in Erisa killing her father and getting thrown into Downside for it. Driven by injustice and desperation she tried to Oralech's place to ascend, not heeding the warning that it will kill her. This ends up with one dead woman and a good man being robbed of freedom, forced to walk the Downside and slowly transforming into an incredibly bitter Demon for unknown number of years. A testament that the Rites are doing the exact opposite of what they were intended; pushing sane person to commit ''terrible'' deeds instead of uplifting them.

* The purpose of Nightwings is to be the [[FinalBoss judge]] for those who are worthy of being accepted back into society. They set the standard of the 'civil qualities' to be upheld... except that [[BrokenPedestal Nightwings are still composed]] of [[HumansAreFlawed people with all their attachments and flaws]]. The Rites as the law of the land will ''never'' be perfected. The best Commonwealth can hope for is to continuously push forward for the better, suffering or no.

* The chain of events that led the previous Nightwings before you to disband: one of its member Erisa lost her brother in Harpy-Commenwealth War. Her own father then became incredibly abusive, punishing her in her brother's place when her blacksmith work isn't up to task. This went on for a lifetime, culminating in Erisa killing her father and getting thrown into Downside for it. Driven by injustice and desperation she tried to Oralech's place to ascend, not heeding the warning that it will kill her. This ends up with one dead woman and a good man being robbed of freedom, forced to walk the Downside and slowly transforming into an incredibly bitter Demon for unknown number of years. A testament that the Rites doing the exact opposite of what it was intended; pushing perfectly sane person to commit ''terrible'' deeds instead of uplifting them.
* The purpose of Nightwings is to be the [[FinalBoss judge]] for those who are worthy of being accepted back into society. They set the standard of the 'civil qualities' to be upheld... except that Nightwings are still composed of people with all their attachments and flaws. The Rites as the law of the land will ''never'' be perfected. The best Commonwealth can hope for is to continuously push forward for the better, suffering or no.

* There 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''. Their initial anger is almost understandable.

* The purpose of Nightwings is to be the [[FinalBoss judge]] for those who are worthy of being accepted back into society. They set the standard of the qualities to be upheld... except that they're still composed of people with all their attachment and flaws. The Rites as the law of the land will ''never'' be perfected. The best Commonwealth can hope for is to continuously push forward for the better, suffering or no.

* The purpose of Nightwings. [[spoiler:All other triumvirates got stuck in Downside]] all because someone decided not to turn up for ''years''. Their initial anger is almost understandable.

* The chain of events that led the previous Nightwings before you to disband: one of its member Erisa lost her brother in Harpy-Commenwealth War. Her own father then became incredibly abusive, punishing her in her brother's place when her blacksmith work isn't up to task. This went on for a lifetime, culminating in Erisa killing her father and getting thrown into Downside for it. Driven by injustice and desperation she tried to Oralech's place to ascend, not heeding the warning that it will kill her. This ends up with one dead woman and a good man being robbed of freedom, forced to walk the Downside and slowly transforming into an incredibly bitter Demon for unknown number of years. A testament that the Rites doing the exact opposite of what it is intended; pushing perfectly sane person to commit ''terrible'' deeds instead of uplifting them.