I think Shar's main power is to remove memories, rather than implant new ones. Absence. Larian did a great job showing how people might want to choose a dark religion like Shar's, where the darkness is a way to remove emotional pain. Likewise they did a great job with Abdirak's little dialog. After all, why would anyone normally want to worship a goddess of physical pain, dear one? But when it comes to Selune, the story telling was different. You can read the Mason's journal and other accounts of how Selune's people were wiped out, but that does not really address the ethos very much. And then later you have Aylin, driven half crazy with her rage while stomping on dead people's heads, and who never really reconciles her anger. I would say the one time where the story made me feel what Selune was really all about was when Shadowheart released her parents and they became moon-motes. Moon stuff.
