Ecelo ex Miscellanea, an itinerant Seeker, in the presence of the Bishop's clerk, says:
"We are too fast to accuse our sodales! This man says that magi were seen casting spells at the same location as a fire breathing demon. How do we know that the they were not actively fighting against the demon? How do we know that they even exist, rather than being some illusion produced by the demon to sow enmity between us and the good people of Exeter? We should investigate the matter before jumping to conclusions. We'll then be glad to report our findings to the Bishop, as a gesture of goodwill -- and he may rest assured that if there are indeed magi in league with demons, we'll hunt them down, as the rules of our Order command".
With that, he's clearly stating that the clerk is dismissed, and should leave the Tribunal.
After the clerk has left, Ecelo sighs. "Alas, the rumours were true. Those fools managed to raze a whole town, and give the impression they were in league with demons too. As for the mundanes, I'd try to pretend that those "diabolists" never existed, and it's all some scheme of demons to unfairly incriminate us. Or, we can pretend they existed, that we did hunt "them" down, and present to the Bishop two charred and unrecognizable corpses as ... evidence. I would, however, avoid admitting any wrongdoing on our part -- that is, on the Order's part -- or offering to make reparations. It would create a really dangerous precedent, and I doubt it would improve our standing with the mundanes anyway.
This does not mean we should not punish those idiots severely. This is a blatant case of interference with mundanes that endangers all of us. Whether we tell the Bishop they never existed, or that they were diabolists and were hunted down, the most important thing is that those goofs be kept away from Exeter and the surrounding lands for decades -- until the people of Exeter forget about them.Maybe we should just banish them from the Tribunal in perpetuity? I have the nagging feeling that, if allowed to stay, their blundering will keep afflicting us with trouble after trouble.
In any case, I would add some stiff vis fine to this; though I agree they should not be marched this time."
OOC: Other than the botch, I think that the demon illusion was not such a dumb move. If the rest of the Tribunal plays it smart, they can just lay all the blame on the Infernal. If I were the bishop, I would suspect demons more than a bunch of recluse wizards who generally avoid interference in mundane affairs.