[h2]Tyaethe Radistirin[/h2]

"The big guy gets it," Tyaethe said, shrugging, "I asked if it was still here, and it seems that the shard's been stolen... or recovered? As for where it is now... there's a reason the Church [i]should have known it was in the country to start with.[/i]"

From the grumpy expression, it could likely be inferred that the very nature of the stolen shard interfered with attempts to observe it--its origin as a divine substance, even if evil, made it a uniquely effective focus for hiding from [i]unrelated[/i] deities. Something that, no doubt, explained how it could have been kept within the capital for any period of time without attracting undue attention. 

The vampire shook her head, "Unless our new thief left a physical clue behind to follow, we'd have to work out who even knew it was there to steal."