2. her armor is not the dead giveaway most people chuckle about, saying it is. If you didn't know her religion and just saw her, you wouldn't have guessed Shar based on that design. Plenty of people use gemstones for decorations, whether it be onyx, opal, black pearl, spinel, tourmaline, you name it. Saying it's obvious she worships Shar based on that is the definition of 20/20 hindsight.
Plenty of people have leaves for decoration too but when I see Druids showing an oaken leaf front and centre on their garb I'm not going to think anything else than "hey that's the symbol of Silvanus right there"
It's just not the same thing. A generic black circle isn't the same as the very specific looking oak leaf symbol of Silvanus. It's a generic black circle.
Ah, but it isn't. Shar's symbol is supposed to be well-known in Faerun; feared and hated by most good citizens. If a character encounters another character who is wearing a big ginormous black circle on their chest and shoulder pads and on a circlet on their forehead, and they say, "I'm a cleric," I think it's pretty obvious who that person is a cleric of.
Now, if Shadowheart wasn't wearing a ginormous black circle on her chest and shoulder pads and circlet, and she was just wearing the same armor without all that stuff, no one would think she's a servant of Shar. But, come on, it's like a big freaking target on her screaming, "Hi, I'm a Sharite cleric." It'd be like someone wearing a cross on their chest, shoulder pads and forehead and then someone later going, "Holy Cow! What? You're a Christian? I had no idea. Huh? Seriously? You're a Christian Priest? Whoa!"
