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As noted above - spoilers for basically all of the season 2 metaplot scenarios, up to and including the recently released 2-24.
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Now that we (as players) have a pretty good idea of the shape and function of Datch's machinations - I am left pondering one thing:
How is Abadar, his church, and AbadarCorp in general, ok with all of this?
Abadar is a big deal. He was a big deal in the Pathfinder times, and we know he's still active after the Gap. It stands to reason that his influence is, if anything, increased post-Drift, since trade and empires span multiple star systems. We know Abadar (unique among Neutral deities, if I recall correctly) actively encourages and uses an order of paladins (tbd if that's a thing still, though) and rooting out corruption (in this case, using bureaucracy for one's own ends and benefits, rather than to further civilization at large) and chaos is one of things Abadar is known for, right?
...so how is it that AbadarCorp, with all of the wealth and largesse of a galaxy-spanning megacorp behind it, and backed up by a literal God whose portfolio is concerned with halting the spread of chaos, hasn't figured out that Datch = Bad?
Shouldn't part of the job interview process for becoming a Director or AbadarCorp involve, like, a divine background check? Get some space-paladins in there and root around for evil, throw down some high-level Zones of Truth, a 24 hr observation period to make sure there's no Nondetection tomfoolery going on, etc. AbadarCorp, being both a church and insanely wealthy, surely has access to high-level spellcasters, both divine and arcane (as much as that distinction matters in Starfinder, anyways.) Summon up some Inevitables, Axiomites, or even Archons or Angels to do some sniffing. Hell, I bet there's a decent chance that AbadarCorp is a multi-planar organization, and could have hired staff on payroll that are Inevitables, Axiomites, Archons, or Angels :D It just seems to me that, like...a lvl 16 Mystic casting Vision when Datch was appointed Director, or as a part of starting the "AbadarCorp Vote of No Confidence" process, could have prevented a lot of this.
Unless the answer is...Abadar is ok with this? Big A is, indeed, Neutral, and espouses law and order, not necessarily Good. Maybe this kind of extreme cut-throat corporate jockeying is something Abadar is ok with, as long as it's furthering civilization, or governance, or mercantilism? At face value, a LN God of Civilization and Wealth and a NE God of Assassins don't necessarily have any beef with each other - no obvious alignment conflicts, and both have a vested interest in the exchange of wealth?
Then again, it really seems to me that letting an avowed card-carrying Laoite assassin orchestrate a coup against your chief executive priest / officer to create a power vacuum really reeks of chaos, though, which is not a thing Abadar would be down with.
I dunno, maybe I'm thinking too hard about this, and I should file this under "suspension of disbelief." Season 2 has been one helluva ride, that's for sure - surely it's worth it to get one of those villains you love to hate :) Gentle folk of the fora, what do you think?