Start - agreed dialogue

Serapis the Quaesitoris calls the members of Oculus Seprentonalis for a meeting.

Serapis Thank you for joining me on this lovely lovely July evening. I have gathered you here to discuss the recent events in this town, by which I mean the werewolf. As you are all now aware, there have been a number of killings, both women and sheep, over the past few months, all of which occurred during the nights of the full moon. A stablemaid - Maria - was murdered right outside the Novgorod Inn. A month later, there was another murder. Jenico of Verditius was arrested under suspicion of the murder. There was no evidence, Jenico had only arrived that day but the Captain arrested him anyway. Basically because he is foreign and is not blessed with the Gentle Gift. There was another murder during the night and the gurads were forced to release Jenico. It was at this point in time that your guests conceived the notion that there was a werewolf in Lubeck. A notion that was brought to your attention - Henri - when one of Boris’ employees informed you of Jenico’s arrest. A month passes, your guests now beleive they have identified who the werewolf is. They made plans to capture, or if necessary, to kill the creature. A few nights before the full moon, Artal Bjornaer is confronted by the Captain in the Novgorod Inn, and accused of witchcraft. Artal is forced to flee town to avoid a fight which would endanger both the town and your covenant. A few nights later, in the light of the full moon, your guests put their plan into action and bring down the werewolf that has been plagueing your town. The werewolf as we now know, was the very Captain who had been harassing your guests over the past months. Although they are heroes, they cleverly pass the credit to a townsman to avoid bringing attention to the presence of the Order.

But that is not why we are all here tonight. The customary laws of hospitality, as practiced throughout the holy roman empire, have been accepted into the peripheral code of this tribunal. These laws require the host to provide for the guests - food, shelter, clothing, entertainment - as if the guest were part of their household. The laws also place a duty of care onto the host - the host is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of their guests. My observations of your covenant over the past few months leads me to the conclusion that you have been negligent in your duties as host. And I now offer to you the opportunity to prove otherwise. So, precisely what have you done during the past 3 months to protect your guests from the werewolf threat? And, what have you done to protect your guests from accusations brought against them simply because they are gifted?

Boris Well, I was not here for most of this time, I was travelling.

Serapis That is true. However, the liability is with the covenant, not with any one individual - all magi of the covenant are equally responsible. Secondly,you were present for the final full moon and in the days preceeding the that night, you were present at your inn, where the guest magi conspired. I understand they even questioned you regarding the Captain. And it was in your establishment, where the Captain made threats and accusations against Artal of Bjornaer, forcing him to flee lest his retaliation cause damage to the town, or worse, bring ruin on your covenant.

Henri Hey. Now you skip some very basic facts. Firstly, Jenico was arrested before we had even had a chance to welcome him as a guest at the covenant. Even so, we did look into the matter to see what we would need to do, but he was released within 24 hours and no action was necessary. Secondly, it is the guest’s responsibility to behave so that they do not embarass the host. Certainly, Artal did not display the civilised behaviour that is necessary in a city. The requirement to keep a low profile was made clear when we welcomed each guest to the covenant. Do not blame us for the actions of the guests.

Completed in session 8 June 2021

The covenant was quite happy to accept the fight against the werewolf as service in lieu of rent, but Serapis argued for further compensation for a failure to take adequate measures to protect the guests. Serapis won through with charm and confidence and the covenant waived the rents for all the guests for two years.

Judgment

The following is the text of the Judgement that will be recorded by the Tribunal.
As it was settled outside of Tribunal, it is light on details as only the terms of the Judgment really matter.
Under the peripheral code, a covenant must charge guests the rent, so instead of waiving the second years rent, the Covenant will pay each magus 3 pawns of vis in compensation. The guests must still pay the rent at the beginning of summer.
This is actually an improvement in the position for the covenant;
1. they can choose when to pay each guest - any time between Summer 1220 and end of Winter 1221,
2. they can choose what vis to give (for example, rather that not getting 3 pawns of Vim, they would get the Vim and can then offload vis for which they have little use, eg they have received a lot of Animal & Aquam from Gulos over the past few years),
3. given the reckless behaviour of the young magi, there is a slim but distinct chance that some of them might get themselves killed before the compensation is due.
Serapis will apologise to Henri that due to his imperfect understanding of the Rhine’s peripheral rulings, he made an error in the agreed terms and hopes the amended wording is acceptable.

Judgement of Serapis of Guernicus, Quaesitor cum auctoritate.
Eight day of June, Year of our Lord Twelve Hundred and Twenty.
Events of a supernatural nature in the town of Lubeck, during the Spring season of 1220, presented a risk of death and corruption to the town, the covenant and the magi staying at the covenant as guests. The situation was brought to the attention of the Covenant, but the Covenant took no action. The guest magi, acting in good faith and in what they believed to be the best interests of the town and the covenant, resolved the threat, exposing themselves to great danger in the process. However, they were able to minimise the exposure of the Order and the Covenant.
As a result of these events, the Covenant of Oculus Sepentrionalis has been charged and convicted of the low crime of failure of their duties as host to protect and safeguard their guests.
The following damages are awarded.
When the covenant was alerted to the threat, they should have taken steps to protect their guests and thus have failed to provide the hospitality due. For this failure the Covenant is ordered to return to each guest, the 3 pawns of vis that was paid for hospitality in the current year, without prejudice to the other terms of their status as guests.
Further, as a result of the covenants inaction, the guests were needlessly exposed to danger. For this failure, the covenant is ordered to pay 3 pawns of vis to each guest as compensation. This compensation must be paid before the end of the following year.
The following recommendations were also made.
Firstly, that the now vacant position of Captain of the town militia could be filled by a man in the employ of the covenant. The magi of the covenant are citizens of the town and as such are entitled to their voice in the administration of the town, provided no magic is used to influence these decisions and their actions do not draw undue attention to the Order. It should be clearly understood that this influence is not carte blanche permission to interfere in the legal matters of the town. A magus of the Order is entitled to defend himself and this influence is explicitly granted solely to mitigate the risk to the town, the covenant and the Order that the actions of a magus might create when acting in self defence.
Secondly, the terms of hospitality at the covenant of Oculus Sepentrionalis should recognise their peculiar situation, embedded within the town of Lubeck, and the risk to their guests and the Order that this situation presents. Without prejudice to any covenants’ existing right to alter the terms of their hospitality, when there are no guests in residence, the covenant of Oculus Sepentrionalis is granted the exceptional right to amend the terms of its hospitality providing that the new terms are agreed by all guests and are approved by a Quaesitor. This right is of limited duration and expires on midwinters eve, 1220.