Alexei directs his question to Valerian. "I did not hear everything that happened with Roberto on the road. He met you and then he met Rotgers, but he met Rotgers after his wagon was sabotaged. Roberto's reasonable conclusion, based on Rotger's attitude was that Rotgers was likely the bandit. But you're saying that you captured a bandit that robbed Rotgers and now you are seeing if he robbed Roberto as well? If you could clarify for me please Valerian." Alexei's tone is suspicious, but not directed at Valerian.
"Ahh, you got it, Alexei von Kroistau. Perhaps you could become a Quaesitor for your House." Valerian says dryly.
Does he nod yes or no? If no then I wave him off. If yes' then I file a charge and ask when to be in court.
Per +0, Awareness 1 (alert), lacking dice access.
[color=brown]I never said Rotigers was the bandit. I encountered him after the wagon mysteriously crashed. He may or may not have looted it, which may not be related to the accident at all. Just an opportunist. Whoever did loot it operated according to the very letter of Hermetic banditry law. So I seriously doubt an outright rogue such as Valarian's prisoner was guilty. Charges I can lawfully press, if any, is the damage to my lab equipment. The two wheels falling off at the same time seems strange and it appeared to be a smooth break such as one caused by Perdo. Whoever torched the wagon destroyed any evidence I could recover.
I cannot convict anyone in my mind based on circumstantial evidence. The prisoner has enough worries. I shall press no charge after all. I can rebuild.
Alexei scowls at Valerian's response but says nothing. When Roberto makes his answer Alexei nods. "Well there you have it. And again, it seemed reasonable at the time to suspect Rotgers...based on the order of the events. But now it seems we have the culprit. Of couse...a simple Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie on the prisoner could lay to rest all suspicions. Unless you're satisfied Roberto."
[color=brown]I am not worried about it, for we have staunch custodians such as Valarian.
Roberto says that without sarcasm, though maybe a bit of guile.
((Nod head=yes, shake head=no. 
So it was a yes. And I don't roll dice, unless I'm asked to do so. And I've already rolled a double exploder die today, so a botch is probably next. 
))
"We can convene a special Tribunal immediately, if all three claimants wish to do so. I am willing go accede to whatever you and Rotgiers desire. Alternatively, we will take him to Cunfin, then Confluensis, and collect an Arcane Connection as a surety for his appearance at Tribunal hosted here next year. Before he's released, he will face an evidence hearing with a Quaesitor prosecutor and defense counsel, afterwards, he will be released on his own recognizance."
[color=brown]Really, I'm fine. I won't accept the confession of a man half beaten to death. Let him learn his lesson with the other case. I will be more wary in the future. And I shall keep a close eye on local activities from here on.
((To be legal, the Tribunal needs to be attended by 12 magi from 4 different covenants That's not hard to do, given Monteverte, Confluensis and Mons Electi...the fourth covenant would be the issue...
Oh, and if someone wants to roll on qcipher's and Marko's behalf for Awareness or anything else...))
"Well, he's not half beaten to death. He's been beaten in battle, one he started, I might add. So, do I take that as an admission that you don't intend to press charges in this matter, and not include it when I take him to Confluensis? If not, then our business is concluded, and we shall be on our way. Good day, sodales."
((Thanks to anyone that can roll for me))
"Goodbye." Alexei mutters as he thinks about the implications. "Well I suppose he still has to at least maintain the duty he was appointed to, and those he is in league with would still demand their protection." he finally says. "This was a crime against you Roberto, I believe you handled it with honor. Still, I would have liked to see him questioned under the spell...just to see if there were any further questionable activities going on."
"Did you see the marks on the man? Looked like rocks to me. Valerian is a master at Terram, I'll wager he used the Sling of Vilano or some variant of it. Simple and effective, bypasses the parma. Though I know from experience he can easily bypass one's parma with Terram. That's why I left the armour behind. He managed to lock up the links in my mail coat twice on me...once in the Bishop's church! Be wary Sodales."
Die roll for Alexei: Awareness: die roll of 6.
For Roberto: Awareness: die roll of 7.
Note that these are raw die rolls, I didn't add any Characteristic or Ability to them.
[color=brown]A Terram expert, eh?
"Aye. He brought down some of the building onto Apollodorus, that's how he did it."
((That's not exactly accurate...))
((yeah, I was thinking it was a knife or dagger.))
For the Awareness rolls at the time the beaten-up dude nodded:
- Alexei: Per -1 + Awareness 0 + roll 6 = 5
- Roberto: Per 0 + Awareness 1 + roll 7 = 8
For the Order of Hermes Lore rolls to identify the beaten-up dude:
- Alexei: Per -1 + OoH Lore 0 + stress die 1/exploder 10 = 19
- Roberto: Per 0 + OoH Lore 2 (+1 for Flambeau) + stress die 9 = 11 or 12
you're welcome 8)
Alright, I don't see OoH Lore with Alexei, on his sheet on the wiki. Nor in the magus planner. So guess what... that OoH Lore roll doesn't count. It's a knowledge skill, you have to have something to use it.
Roberto seems to recognize him as a Tytalus, but can't quite recall the name.
(IIRC, we have the actual scrolls, and had them copied too, haven't we?)
Isen frowns. He doesn't like this. Valerian can't be up to anything good. He's more and more thinking of engaging him in Wizard's War, but he ain't ready yet.
But with valerian trolling around the covenant like that, there must be a way to acquire an AC to him!
Korvin, a standard Beta, gets a show while all the Alphas bristle and posture. 
Korvin makes a comment to no one in particular...
It seems odd that whomever looted Roberto's wagon knew enough Tribunal law to separate the unbroken lab equipment before destroying the rest. Why would this criminal, who has already committed and act against the Normandy Tribunal law, be so careful when destroying property of wagon?
"I suppose it is possible that the person who looted the broken wagon is not the same person who illegally damaged the wagon to begin with," Tranquillina posits. "Or, perhaps he thought he could not avoid leaving evidence of having stolen the Hermetic property, while confident that he had erased evidence of the original crime."