Oh man, what to do with this guy.

I havent done this quest in a long while. Forgot that Ralis survives the summoning of Azhidal, and he is at your mercy.

My question is, what do you think a moral, yet merciful character would do? My guy isn't one to consort with shady guys like Ralis, but i dont kill anyone who i dont believe deserves death, or isnt hostile to me. Do you guys think he was an unwitting pawn, or was this an act of mens rea?

To spare, or kill him?

Boethiah lamb.

If you choose to kill him you get

On the other hand, Azhidal is already dead so there may not be much more harm he can do. I would kill him. If not me, he'd probably get lynched eventually by some of the dead miners' relatives.

Don't forget that he can become your follower if spared, so if you don't ever want to miss out on any followers, it would be best to spare him.

I killed him.

His journals make it clear he was possessed, therefore Ralis is not guilty of anything but greed.

Best to err on the safe side and let him live, it's difficult to correct a capital mistake.

A lot of people in support of killing Ralis note that, if you elect to kill him and tell him so, he spouts off a line about 'Master Azhidal'. Personally, I'm of the opinion that the line isn't there to prove that he's lying to you, but as justification for your choice. My personal opinion is that if you choose to let him live, he actually is repentant, and was not in control of his actions. However, if you choose to kill him, he knew what he was doing. It's a case of having Ralis' behavior fit your choice. In other words, Ralis' guilt or innocence is decided by you the moment you decide whether or not to kill him; the game simply makes it so that his behavior supports your decision. So there is no right or wrong; just what you (or your character, for those who RP a lot) decide. Everything after the choice is just to reinforce the..."correctness"... of that decision; to give the player the feeling that the choice they made was the right one.

I did it both ways, one killed him, another character who usually prefers not to kill people let him live. Personally I think it was kinder to put him out of his misery, the guilt of killing all those people is bound to drive him crazy anyway.

The second character to do the quest, that let him live did come out of the adventure with a bit extra though. But apart from that one time to test if he was a follower, and check out what he had, she is happy to let him stay in the Retching Netch and drink himself to oblivion. She hates having people follow her around.