What would you do?

[NRSASD]

Context:
Eons ago, before humanity came out of their caves and looked up at the stars, there were the Masters. They were split into two species: one reptilian, one avian. For a long time they grew and prospered, reaching heights unrivaled in written history. They shaped land and sea to suit their needs, bent the winds to their will, and forged dozens of avian and reptilian species to serve them.

Alas, all things must come to an end.The reptilian Masters separated from their avian counterparts and a war unlike any other began. New species and weapons were unleashed, leading to catastrophic and global devastation. At long last, after centuries of warfare, the war drew to a close. A peace treaty was signed, disarmament deals were agreed, and it seemed that peace would resume.

One avian general, known as the Raptor, refused to abide by the agreement. He had lost both friends and family to the war, and this peace left his thirst for revenge unsatisfied. Just as important a concern was the fate of his weapons, the Kenku. According to the terms, all species created by the Masters during the war had to be exterminated. The Masters saw their servant races as little more than weapons and tools, but the Raptor felt an unexpected sense of kinship with them. He had created them in his image and he would not let his children be murdered without a fight.

And so the Raptor rallied several like-minded leaders to his cause and restarted the war once again. The conflict was short, but the costs were extremely high. Millions died, but in the end the Raptor was apprehended. He was found guilty of treason and had his soul stripped from him, divided and scattered across the world. His spirit was bound to the Well of Souls, the entrance to the afterlife where all souls go, so he could watch over the entire world but be powerless to interfere.

His beloved Kenku suffered a worse fate. While the Raptor's rebellion had swayed the Masters to reconsider their policy of extermination, that they did owe something to their client species, they wanted to punish the Raptor as severely as possible. For as long as the Raptor would remain bound to the Well of Souls, the entire Kenku species would be cursed. They would be skilled mimics and diligent workers, but completely unable to refuse any request made of them. They would lack any spark of creativity, or any taste of ambition. As long as the Raptor remained separated from his divided soul, the Kenku would continue to be a slave race while all others were free.

The Situation:
Our party has managed to unite the Raptor's soul fragments, and we're not sure what to do. We can either hand over the soul directly to the Raptor, which will release him from his torment; or we can cast the soul down the Well, which will obliterate him. Either way, the curse on the Kenku will be lifted. Given that our party has both a Kenku and a Lizardfolk, there's been a fair amount of contention. Should we release a genocidal millennia-old war criminal? One who sacrificed absolutely everything to protect our friend's species?

What would you do?

Bonus points: What alignment is the Raptor? Does it even correlate to the grid?

[Onos]

First of all, how invested are the characters in the Raptors fate? Standard practice for "adventurers" says you hold an auction between any interested parties and hand over his soul to the highest bidder

Slightly more seriously, if you all agree to abide by a party vote and deal with any consequences when/if they crop up. There are clear pros and cons to either option so this at least stops you guys overthinking the problem. Personally I say he goes in the well; for all that some good did come of his actions (survival of multiple species) that was not his primary motive. If I'm reading the situation right he was primarily pissed at the other masters (including his own species) and acted out of that anger. Seems saving the Kenku and others was just a bonus he was happy to reap. The fact that he selfishly endangered not only the masters at large but also his 'preferred' species says to me he can't be trusted: dude could have sued for terms rather than go back to war. Given how strongly revenge motivated him already it would be a grave mistake IMO to release him, not to mention possibly questionable sanity after however many eons have passed with his soul fragmented.

For bonus points I'll call True Neutral/ Chaotic Neutral, he's abiding by his own code/ looking out for his own values, so I'd more strongly say TN. Given that he preferred to go back to war over suing for terms I'd say closer to chaos than law.

[InvisibleBison]

My decision would depend on information that isn't in your post: The specifics of how the Raptor restarted the war and what, if anything, he did that made the restarted war so much deadlier than the original conflict. If he simply refused to comply with the extermination program and the other Masters attacked him, then he probably deserves mercy. If he tried to wipe out everyone who wasn't on his side, then he probably doesn't.

I suppose it also depends on what happens in the afterlife in your world. If the Raptor would proceed to some sort of judgement and an afterlife appropriate to his actions, I see no reason to not let him pass on. If he would go to some fate that he didn't deserve, though, I don't think I'd be willing to do so.

As for his alignment, I'll tentatively assign him as some flavor of Good. Empathizing with other beings and acting to protect them is textbook good, though if he used particularly heinous tactics in the war that might move him down to Neutral.

[NRSASD]

My decision would depend on information that isn't in your post: The specifics of how the Raptor restarted the war and what, if anything, he did that made the restarted war so much deadlier than the original conflict. If he simply refused to comply with the extermination program and the other Masters attacked him, then he probably deserves mercy. If he tried to wipe out everyone who wasn't on his side, then he probably doesn't.

I suppose it also depends on what happens in the afterlife in your world. If the Raptor would proceed to some sort of judgement and an afterlife appropriate to his actions, I see no reason to not let him pass on. If he would go to some fate that he didn't deserve, though, I don't think I'd be willing to do so.

Unfortunately, that first bit of info has been lost since the Masters are... extinct? Not here, at any rate.

As for the second, we're not really sure what happens either. Dying puts you on the Ethereal, and sucks you towards the Well. We've been told that having one's soul thrown down the Well while being bound to this plane will obliterate you, but we're not sure if we can trust our source (a dragon, a descendant of an agent of the reptilian Masters).

[Mordar]

Unfortunately, that first bit of info has been lost since the Masters are... extinct? Not here, at any rate.

As for the second, we're not really sure what happens either. Dying puts you on the Ethereal, and sucks you towards the Well. We've been told that having one's soul thrown down the Well while being bound to this plane will obliterate you, but we're not sure if we can trust our source (a dragon, a descendant of an agent of the reptilian Masters).

Well, generic me would be pretty concerned about the fate of me and my people (all non-kenku or avians, anyway) if the Raptor were to be released...particularly if there are no other opposites to balance any world-taking-over Raptor might consider.

Given that, generic me wants to toss it in the well, giving Raptor the peace of oblivion and releasing the kenku from slave-race status.

Of course, that might be a dupe play and tossing the soul in the well actually does something altogether different.

I'd say we lack sufficient information to decide on an alignment. He broke a compact, but that doesn't automatically mean non-lawful. It might have just been the extremely extenuating circumstances. Fighting to protect his servitor race is also insufficient - if his motivation was that all of the servitor races deserve to live, even if motivated by his kenku, he could certainly be good. If his motivation was wanting to keep his power and tools alive to better consolidate personal power, he could be evil.

So basically, I think he could be lawful or 1-neutral, good or evil. Or chaotic. Or 2-neutral.

- M

[Anonymouswizard]

I don't believe in eternal destruction as a punishment for crimes, and as should can be said to exist in this world...

Release him. Kill him. Get a druid to cast Reincarnation. Maybe a memory wipe (while I don't like the idea, if you get solid proof he was the aggressor I could begrudgingly support it). Allow him to live a new life as the species Fate sees fit to give him.

[NRSASD]

After an hour of IRL debate over ethics, it came down to 5 votes in favor of liberating the Raptor with one abstaining (the lizardman). So we gave the soul to the lizardman and told him to hand it off to the Raptor, in the hopes it would be viewed as a peace offering. And it... worked? The Kenku are free, but the Raptor is MIA (after stealing 3 points of con from our druid). Very cool moment nonetheless. Hopefully we made the right decision!