Hidden truths

[Anastasia]

"It's about Grumbar's entire mess," Canderella says as Sylvie joins you, "I'm the messenger because I was handy."

[Nephrite]

"Please." Moore says. "I've been rather curious about the truth of that matter, if you have any insight into it."

[Anastasia]

"Are you aware of what's happened so far?" Canderella asks at that.

[Nephrite]

"Danaxmos is Grumbar's offspring... or... something of that nature." Moore says. "Supposedly, Grumbar knows the day it will die, but isn't allowing anyone to get to it now for some reason." He says. "I admit, if there's a lot more to the story than what's happened then I don't recall."

[Anastasia]

"Right, and you requested Aurora's help with part of that," Canderella continues.

"Which we're all aware of," Sylvie goes on.

[Nephrite]

"Right - I asked you all to recover the piece of the artifact from it, since I figured Grumbar was just trying to stop me, and not anyone else." He says. "It sounds like it's more complicated than that, though."

[Anastasia]

"It is." Canderella says, "We kept running into problems. Nothing overt at first, but every time something happened to steer us off  course. Subtle if we went along with it, and far more overt if we didn't. The sort of overt you can't ignore, because you're trying not to die."

[Nephrite]

"Interesting." Moore says. "So whatever is going on will likely require us dealing with Grumbar directly in the end, since somehow or another he seems intent on not allowing anyone to find Danaxmos." 

[Anastasia]

"Yes. Sorry we couldn't do it, but something big's going on here." Canderella says, "And they keep escalating when we push back. If it's not Grumbar himself, it's someone not far below him."

[Nephrite]

"It's fine, you all did what you could. Consider me indebted to Aurora for the favor, should you all ever need anything from me." He says. "We can handle it from here."

[Anastasia]

Canderella accepts that, but as she does?

"If they stopped Aurora," Sylvie speculates aloud, "It's no small game. But we knew it had to be someone big."

[Nephrite]

"Yes, we're going to have to call in some favors again." Moore says. "It may be best to reach out to someone like Lord Barachiel who is more familiar with planar politicking at this stage."

[Anastasia]

Sylvie taps her teacup against her saucer. She half closes her eyes, "You can go now, Canderella. We'll catch up another time."

Canderella rises, "My, you rise high and suddenly you have no time for me?" Her voice isn't barbed, but sweet as honey.

"Tell it to Ebony," Sylvie doesn't miss a beat as she smiles, "Besides, two powers owe you a favor now. You're getting away richly rewarded."

"Until next time," Canderella agrees, going out. Once she's gone? Sylvie turns to you, "Yes, but if it is Shar we know what the answer will boil down to: Shar is a horrible bitch."

[Nephrite]

"You're right. But we need to prove that, if that's the case." He says, gesturing with a piece of dried fruit back at her. "If that is the case, we just have to find a way to influence Grumbar away from her. It's also possible Shar has sway with a confidant of Grumbar."

[Anastasia]

"And that servant of Shar we heard about too," Sylvie says, "There's too many questions we don't have answers for yet. Let's fix that. It's too bad that whomever is doing it doesn't keep a diary." She sips her tea, "People write the most interesting things in their diaries, and those count as a book."