Sorry, lost track of this thread. He'll probably approach Solomon about it in private first before talking to the Council - to make sure that he has his ducks in a row. This would be before the vis hunt.
[hr][/hr]
One evening Lucas catches Solomon as he is taking a stroll across the covenant grounds.
"Good evening, sodale," Lucas says, hastening his stride just enough to bring him beside the older magus. "I was hoping I could bend your ear for just a moment about a legal matter." When Solomon proves agreeable, the Mercere magus continues.
"It's about the new vis source in Sa Dragonera - the one that Barcelona found a hint of last year, but never investigated. We're arranging an expedition to look for it and a thought occurred to me. I was wondering who would be considered to be the official discoverer of the source - Barcelona or Andorra. As you can guess, this will have long-reaching implications for the future, as it will determine which covenant gains the benefit of the vis harvest in the years to come."
"Now, Barcelona has a claim that they were the ones who discovered it since they found the first hint of its existence last year. But they never followed up on that lead to pinpoint any detail about the vis, such as its exact location, its type, the form it takes, how it must be harvested, whether it's a repeating source, and the like. Moreover, they took none of the risks that might be involved in securing the location for vis harvest. All they did was make a vague claim that there was some vis in that general direction and let it go at that."
"Assuming we locate the vis source, it will be Andorra magi who determine its exact location, identify how and when it can or must be harvested, and take all the risks involved in doing so. One could certainly make the argument that it was we who found the source, and should therefore be entitled to the fruits of its production in the years to come. After all, as it stands now, Barcelona has nothing more than a vague assertion that they think that there was vis last year in a general location that they never investigated, and that it might show up again - hardly solid evidence, as I see it."
"I raise this question because it's Andorra who's devoting the resources to locating the vis source, and Andorra who's taking all the risks. It seems odd that we should do so if Barcelona would gain the entire fruits of our effort. Oh, I know that Sa Dragonera is a joint venture between our two covenants, and that Barcelona could argue that it's our duty to investigate. But if they're relying on that argument, then wouldn't the vis source fall under the joint venture agreement and be shared 60/40 between Andorra and Barcelona?"
"In the end, I don't want to see Andorra get the short end of the stick, devoting valuable resources to a venture, risking the well-being of its magi, all so that Barcelona can get a new vis source. If the law says that the vis source all theirs because they found the first hint of its existence, then I say they should follow up their lead, not us. But if it's something that we can claim - or at least claim part of - then I say it's worth us looking into it."
"Now, I'm no Guernicus, but if there's one thing that we Mercere know it's that you get the contract set in stone before you perform the services or deliver the merchandise, not after. Arguing the details of the agreement after you've fulfilled the contract is all well and good. But then what's done is done, and often can't be undone. That's why I'm raising this issue now, before we go on our vis hunt."
"In any case, I wanted to run this by you to see what you thought about it. You're our resident expert on the Code, as well as our agreement with Barcelona for the Sa Dragonera chapterhouse. Do you think that Andorra has a colorable argument that we'll be the ones who found the vis source - or at least share in the discovery - and therefore have a right to any of the vis we might find?"