#while even gods are unable to accept loss or face themselves; god's favourite princess did exactly that and more

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

Shadowheart & the Knowledge Domain🦉

Anyone else respec their Selûnite Shadowheart to a Knowledge Cleric after the Shadowfell?

"Let all who worship the changing tides of Life and Knowledge feel the blessing of Selûne. Trust in the purity of my light, see the constancy in its inconstancy, and you will be guided aright." -inscription on Selûne statue in the Stormshore Tabernacle.

Selûne and the Changing Tides

I thought Knowledge Domain was the most fitting domain thematically for my Selûnite Shadowheart. Most importantly, Knowledge is one of Selûne's divine domains, directly opposed to the philosophies of the Shar, and Shadowheart's movement towards a Selûnite domain is representative of the choices she makes in her story.

Shar sees knowledge, truths and the experience of living as sources of suffering and sorrow, remedied only by "darkness"; lies, illusions, numbness and ultimately the nothingness of death. On the other hand Selûne encourages her followers to step out of the "darkness" into the/her "light"; to embrace the truths and the experiences of life, no matter how painful, scary or unsettling they may be. Beauty is to be found in the "changing tides of life and knowledge" and to swim against these currents is to drown; to lose yourself. For Sharrans, faith is escapism from suffering while for Selûnites, faith is the eye of the storm that keeps them adaptable and resilient, and helps them embrace the changes that life and knowledge bring. When Shadowheart saves the Nightsong, she is embracing such change and hence rejecting Shar; she choses to reckon with the knowledge she's uncovered and value the life of the Nightsong. She puts her faith in the truth, no matter how painful, and in the possibilities of a life she's yet to live, and so she leaves the darkness and steps into the light.

Shadowheart: I... I can't believe I just did that. Lady Shar will disown me... what will happen to me? Nightsong: Not what will happen - what will you do. Your past is not yet lost. Your future is not yet fixed.

Light of Knowledge and Life

"Adaptable and adroit in all manner of languages and skills, your mind is an intellectual cup brimming with exquisite knowing." -BG3's Knowledge Domain description.

So for me the respec after the Shadowfell was necessary as it signified Shadowheart's turn to the light and to Selûne, which meant that she would have to become either a Life and Knowledge Cleric.

Selûne's Knowledge Domain champions inquisitiveness, adaptability, resourcefulness and skill, in direct contrast to the Shadowheart's previous Trickery Domain, which values deceit, secrets, illusion and cunning. The Life Domain on the other hand values healing, compassion, equality and protection. Considering how important unravelling and reckoning with the mystery of her past is, I thought the Knowledge Domain and its intrigue was more representative of Shadowheart and her choices than the loftier Life Domain.

The Knowledge Domain also gives Shadowheart access to all proficiencies under an ability score each long rest, the ability to read the thoughts of any creatures she interacts with until a long rest, and numerous Wizard spells which Clerics would not otherwise have access to. Essentially, the Knowledge Domain gives Shadowheart a lot of versatility and adaptability, guiding her aright as she rides the tides of change.