It's been quite a few pages now but I too must admit to conflating Shadowheart's promo/concept art that you see on the loading screens (where the the symbol of Shar is is clearly depicted on her pauldron (and also on the mask at her hip, though that one isn't ingame at all of course so that one is irrelevant)) with her actual ingame armour: the pauldron stones look much less like Shar symbols when they aren't in 2D (if you google Shadowheart screenshost to compare you'll likely only find older pictures where the pauldron stones haven't been coloured yet by the way, in case anyone thought to do that -- they're currently black and onyxy ingame).
Originally Posted by JandK
[quote=Black_Elk]Still. Now that I'm thinking more about this... maybe we shouldn't see them as wholly evil. Bear with me. When we ask Shadowheart about Shar, she gives an answer that puts Shar in a more favorable light. Who's to say that we shouldn't take Shadowheart's view? Why should we jump on the cliched interpretations of Shar that we have as players, as opposed to building a view of Shar from what we find in the game? And in the game, while there are hints of evil, there are also touches of nuance and degrees to consider.
If you ask somebody who's in a cult about the cult you're going to get it described to you in a much more favourable light compared to if you asked somebody who sees the cult for what it is.
Shar is the Lady of Loss, patron of people who seek forgetfulness and obliviousness. Part of her thing is seeking out people who are broken or wishing to lose themselves, and seducing them with promises of belonging, purpose, and love. The most enticing kind of evil is the kind that tempts you with unconditional love. You become a microscopic cog in her catastrophic plan, designed and directed by her red right hand black onyx stone headpiece :P
