Originally Posted by Eldath
Originally Posted by Nyloth

But it seemed to me that chaotic evil seeks destruction and freedom. Correct me if I'm wrong. Astarion seeks to destroy everything in his path for fun, and he also seeks freedom. Most of his actions are not for profit, he seeks pleasure. And he finds it in murder of others. Or maybe that description of chaotic evil that I follow has been incorrectly translated? o..o

Astarion doesn't seek destruction for it's own sake. He seeks destruction with a set goal in mind that is: freedom or starting his own vampire sex-dungeon.
Also I just don't think freedom = chaotic.
A lawful good guy is perfectly free to be who he wants to be and he is lawful good, because living up to those values allows him to be what he wants to be. Freedom is the ability to be what you are. It encompasses all of the alignment system, and it's not exclusive to the chaotic segment.
I think freedom in this context is usually a euphemism for any hierarchical system that subsumes the individual will, Lawful alignments believe in a reciprocity of actions regulated by a third-party, in a society these are Laws, personally it's some kind of personal ethic that regulates your interactions with others and which you expect to see reciprocated. Chaotic alignments see this as a pretense towards tyranny, and believe there can be no law, third-party, or ethic that can be expected to replicate such reciprocity. So Astarion can have a personal code that totally self-interested and it doesn't make him Lawful, because he doesn't see himself as being subject to a external hierarchy. The difference for a Neutral character is that they don't believe in hierarchies per se but in unstructured principals that dictate actions without subsuming an individual's will, but also don't view the gratification of your own will as an ends unto themselves.

Did I mention how murky this is?

dumb, pseudo-intellectual and polite homophobe