Wasn't sure of the correct forum for this but it is related to my campaign and I need some advice.
Some background:
The party is made up of a Thief/Mage (TN), Fighter (CN), Priestess of Selune (CG) and a mage (CN).
The situation revolves around the mage. She spent most of her teenage years as a slave being sold on from owner to owner, was frequently sexually abused and mistreated, and eventually escaped slavery by killing her last master. Recently she found documents while searching the home of another (otherwise unrelated) slaver that gave the location of her first owner.
The party went to this persons home and broke in in the middle of the night. They found out that the slaver was now an old man with an incurable wasting disease and on his death bed. This man never sexually abused the character but was still very abusive to her. When she went into this man's room and saw him lying there near death she simply walked straight up to him and killed him without a word! The rest of the party was shocked by the actions as they were expecting her to talk only. I was surprised at the action as well which was essentially murder.
So my question, how well does this fall in with her alignment? She is CN. What about the rest of the party? The priestess of Selune was the only direct witness to the act, the other party members were watching the old man's wife to make sure she didn't try and call the watch.
In the end they cast a sleep spell on the old man's wife and fled the city as they recognised the act for what it was - a murder.
I was cursing because the old man was going to introduce a subplot that would have ended up (after several more encounters over the course of the campaign) in running Dead Gods (I was going to add the twist that the party would have a motivation for Orcus to return because a priestess of Kiaranselee was behind the mage becoming a slave in the first place). I can easily work around it and introduce the subplot later, but the way which events played out has me wondering. The murder was pretty cold blooded, but, given the character history, not entirely uncalled for. In her defence she was not intending on killing the old man but was overtaken with rage when she saw him again, and later regretted her actions.I am wondering about the most is what of the other characters? Especially the CG priestess? I feel I really need to address what happened in the context of the campaign and am after some suggestions on how this might be accomplished.
So, if this was your campaign how would you handle what happened?
That's an interesting problem you have there.
Personally, I think the Mage's actions were perfectly within her alignment. If it had been just some random guy she killed, then yes, that would be a good step towards evil. However, considering her history and the fact that this man could be seen as one of the main contributing factors, I think that succumbing to her emotions is a very CN act. She acted on impulse without considering how it would affect anyone, even herself, as shown by the way she regretted it later. As long as she doesn't make a habit of this, I'd say it was a very dramatic and character defining moment with a lot of promise for future development.
As for the rest of the party, I don't think the CN Fighter would have much of an issue (given, I don't know the player's outlook on the subject) as long as he is also aware of the facts in the case. The TN Theif/Mage would probably see this as more of a tit for tat sort of situation, which while it might shift the balance in the opposite direction a little far, was not completely uncalled for.
The CG Priestess is the only one I can see having a real problem with this. As a priestess of good intent, she would probably feel obligated to report the death, or somehow recompense the man's wife, or somehow make some good of the situation. I don't think it's exactly a 'crisis of faith' sort of situation, but she did witness a murder perpetrated by a close companion. More than anything I think she would try to convince the Mage to atone somehow, but the specifics of that sort of thing are beyond what I can speculate at right now.
Wow. That was a long one. If any of that made any sense, then you're pretty lucky. Disregard any useless ramblings. I've got a headache