Freedom mark

"The freedom mark had become a secret signal used between those who had sworn to resist the tyranny of the Shadow Lord. By it they recognised one another — and told enemies from friends." — Manus to Lief, Jasmine and Barda

The symbol resembles a flying bird.

The freedom mark was the Ralad sign for a bird and for freedom. During the Shadowlands invasion, it became a secret symbol for the Resistance and others who resisted the Shadow Lord. Through it, individuals could recognise each other and tell friends from enemies.

History

The Lake of Tears

Manus drew the symbol when he encountered Lief, Barda and Jasmine, though they did not understand its meaning at the time. The four of them later came across the symbol scratched into a wall beside a window of a house. Lief felt guilty taking items from the house, but Manus explained that it was the owner's way of defying the Shadow Lord even in defeat and represented their hope for the future. He also explained to them the symbol's significance as a symbol and the new meaning it had come to be known by.

Now knowing the symbol's meaning, the group noticed the symbol more frequently on their way to the Lake of Tears. They found the freedom mark chalked on crumbling walls and fences, marked out with pebbles on the ground and scratched into the trunks of trees. This raised Lief's hope, who saw the repetition of the sign as evidence that no matter how dire things were in Del, there were people willing in the countryside to resist the Shadow Lord as he was.

City of the Rats

Doom drew the symbol on Tom's shop counter, signalling to Tom, and received a bargain on some self coiling rope.

Dread Mountain

The companions found the symbol under Doom's message written in blood in a cave on Dread Mountain.

Return to Del

The symbol was used by the Resistance to alert their allies about the ceremony in Withick Mire.

The Shadowlands

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine found the freedom sign carved into a rock in the Shadowlands, which helped them to regain their hope.