Okay so…am I the only one who has a problem with the whole “Selunite rite of passage” concept that the game introduced in Shadowheart’s backstory?
You are telling me that Selune, arguably one of the most steadfastly benevolent deities in the setting, has a ritual that involves sending CHILDREN ( and yes, children. The flashback showed Shadowheart as almost half the size of Viconia, she definitely wasn’t a young adult) out into the forest by themselves and expecting them to find their way back?
Such a ritual would already be foul and barbaric in OUR world, where the worst you could run into is like…a wolf. But this is FEARUN we are talking about. A world where people that walk into a forest by themselves have a roughly 75% chance of being murdered and eaten, not necessarily in that order, and that’s if they are ADULTS.
Now, I understand that the developers likely wished to lean into the “self-reliance” aspect of Selunite doctrine…but there is a distinct difference between “developing your own skills and trying to be self-reliant” and “sending your kids into a dark forest where they are liable to be eaten by the innumerable nasties that dwell on this hellish world”.
I think that the main thing that bothers me is that…no one seems to take exception to this in the game? Never does anyone go “excuse me, the Selunites are doing WHAT now?” Even though any religious rite that risks the life of innocent people, especially CHILDREN, would be enough for any non-evil/non-fanatical society to brand said religion as evil and ban it outright.
While I of course respect that the developers can world-build however they like, I personally just…can’t finish Shadowhearts story. Because her options seem to be a) dedicating herself to fucking Shar, arguably the most wicked goddess in the setting or b) converting to Selune,who in Baldur’s Gate version of the lore APPARENTLY does stuff like THIS?
