"You could say that... an offshoot with few members... who wield magic as others use swords."
"Which order wields magic? Has the Pope authorized this? Why do you not wear the robes of your order?"
[tab][/tab] Despite his failure, Maffeo quickly accesses the situation. Thought the fine is exorbitant, and a clear indication that things will not progress smoothly with the local authorities, it should be payed immediately and in full to release the magus. Perhaps Paphos has the amount on hand? If not, the Mercere will rush back to the caravan, explain the situation to the others, then run back and pay the fine to get Antonius out of incarceration as soon as possible...
"It is the order of Hermes I belong to, which isn't an holy order under the authority of the Pope, but rather a collection of magicians. Don't be confused by the name; most of its member a good christians, although ... some are still pagans. "
Henri tries to see if he can tell more about who is following them, and then to tell Maffeo that someone seems to be very interested in them.
"There are pagan Venatores? Demon hunters?"
The man follows for a bit, but as you rush out of town he stops before the guard at the gate can spot him.
Do my best to describe the follower to the rest, although I doubt it will be enough to let them recognize him in the future.
Antonius thinks for a while:
"No... I cannot think of any Venator that would worship pagan gods. There are definitely pagans in the Order of Hermes, although they are less numerous now, as the only requirement to join is to be born with the gift of magic. Think of the Venator as a very minor order within the Order of Hermes."
"I will need to think on this, but I feel that, for the most part, what you have told me seems to confirm the impressions I already had, that you are either a good man or at least no worse than ordinary whose life has been besieged by evil, though not by any fault of your own. I do believe magic is sinful, though whether it is any more sinfull than gluttony or lying I could not say, and I certainly see plenty of these in my work, where you at least appear to be trying to do good with your art. It is something I will need to meditate on, in the present I will assume, until I have more information, that the good you have done balances with the bad and avoid trying to sell you indulgences while you are in your current situation."
I think we've let Antonius sit for long enough. Any objections to sending Henri and Garcin with a bag of small change and a cart of things of accepted value the caravan might have lying around, like paper, ink, tack/harness, small amount of spices, etc? For bookkeeping purposes, I'd say just deduct the full amount from stores, but I want it to look like we have to work to scrape up two pounds worth.
Actually let's subtract one pound from stores, and one pound from Maffeo! 
Q_Q agreed. Lets get him out of there asap
OOC: Ahah please hurry up 
Is Maffeo going back to pay, or just Henri and Garcin?
Just Henri and Garcin, Maffeo is likely too visible at this moment. However, I'd like to give them some backup in the form of either Zoltan or Vicente following at some distance looking for other tails. Anyone else want to go, or is this sufficient for the moment. I don't want to give them any more faces, but I also don't want to tempt them to snatch Garcin or Henri.
In fact, let's give whoever follows Grog in a Box to make them more potent backup.
On second thought, let's give Garcin Grog in a Box, his job after all is escort and deterrence. This allows the follow grog to be less conspicuous.
Henri does spot the tail from before as he makes his way into town, but apparently the tail was not looking for him. He also notes a half dozen tough looking men who seem to be hanging out with the tail they had before. The penalty is paid and Antonius returns without incident.
7xp
2 confidence to Antonius
Henri does make sure to mention to folks that the tail appears to be part of a group of toughs, presumably one of the less sanctioned gangs (maybe even some of the unsanctioned pirates.)
[tab][/tab] Maffeo suggests no-one goes alone anywhere. Better yet, visit towns or villages in groups of four or more, including someone who can run fast for help.
[tab][/tab] OOC I already got 5xp from maggr so I'll keep those instead (botches are traumatic Q_Q)
Garcin also passes due to xp from Mggar I
If you read the house rules, you can stack xp from multiple adventures in the same season...