The magi gather at Coenobium for the tribunal.
Gerard has no particular plans other than to get the latest gossip on church doings. He will consistently be sharing his Parma with his sons.
He will also ask around to see if anyone else was visited by the monks that visited Bentalone
He asks around about the monks, the only other covenants which have encountered them are ones which are located near large Cathar institutions. Even there most magi managed to stay out of their way but you do meet a couple who have ben excommunicated by them. It sounds as if they have become more aggressive and hostile since they left Bentalone. There is much talk about the fall of Windgraven at the hands of Mistridge, and charges have been filed that will be voted on at the tribunal, namely that the declared wizard wars involved did not respect boundaries between magus and covenant. There are also rumors of survivors though if there are any they have not shown themselves at the Tribunal.
Gerard will make a statement of what happened with the monks for the record - mainly to establish facts and make sure it's on the record that nobody at Bentalone said anything about being magi.
Otherwise he will just socialize.
Your record of the account is noted, but the other magi seem far more interested in the mistridge/windgraven incident, and it seems that every conversation is a veiled question about how you are voting, unless of course it is looking for some form of commercial exchange- vis, books, enchanted items...
Gerard plans to vote based on the evidence, and he won't hide that. He will try to find out what people know out of curiousity.
Well, it depends to a large degree on what you mean by "know".
Everyone agrees that the magi of mistridge declared wizard war on the magi of windgraven and then proceeded to drop large rocks on the covenant from a great altitude.
After that what one person knows seems to contradict another- depending on whom you ask the magi of Windgraven were infernalists, though it could never be proven, necromancers who worked just inside the code, or supporters or members of the Cathars.
Windgraven and Mistridge had each accused the other of scrying in the past, Windgraven was fined 20 pawns of vis for involving magic though many insist that Mistridge also used magic but simply covered it up better.
One of the primary legal points seems to be that since nobody can be sure which magus dropped which rock and which rock killed which magus in Windgraven that it cannot be ascertained whether each individual killing was or was not a violation of the code, and many believe the rocks were thrown using a wizards communion of the entirety of mistridge. Others argue that technicalities aside this was essentially a war between the covenant of Mistridge and the covenant of Windgraven and was thus fairly executed.
Are people choosing sides based on any pre-existing factions?
Some are, some are not. The Tremere seem to be united in favor of a guilty verdict, some seem willing to acquit simply because the Tremere are wanting to convict. Others have more philosophical reasons why they believe the verdict should go one way or another, while still others have alliances or vendettas with Mistridge, or specific magi of Mistridge, or a general dislike of the Mistridge covenant- you hear some magi who express relief that Windgraven is gone but see this as an opportunity to get rid of "the other stain on the tribunal"
Typhannie marveled at the tribunal gathering. It was her first time in one, and it was also a chance to find a new convenant to join. In the time since her Gauntlet she has done her best to learn more secrets of their House from Challybus, but his insistence on having her learn Ignem was a flame on contention between them, and so, she needed to find another place where she could seek to unlock those secrets. A place she can call home.
She walked around, trying to get to know other Magus, and strike up conversations. It wasn't too far from where she was taught, but a different Tribunal, even though it wasn't too far, as the winds take her from Normandy.
Gerard will try to find out more about who thinks of Mistridge as a stain on the tribunal and why.
...
A blond-bearded Flambeau with twin boys in tow is also mingling. The only magus present with children (probably), they seem unbothered by the gifted people around [shared Parma] and he tries to keep them engaged in his conversations and allows them to indulge their curiosity politely (which may get him rebuffed sometimes by the grouchier magi).
there are other magi with children, though generally not so young, and only singular children, either clearly or presumably apprentices. A Bonisagus stops the boys at one point and attempts to converse with them in Latin "How go your studies?"
He finds a large number of people who consider Mistridge a stain, though far fewer than those who plan to vote against them, with complaints running a gauntlet from raiding vis sources, basically unchristian attitudes, to a general level of disgust with the way their covenant is maintained.
While her mentor has brought her once to the Tribunal gathering, it was strange to note a Magus walking with two apprentices. Wait, these apprentices look like they might be his sons. Fascinating.
Leaving the pompous Magus she was speaking to, whose name she didn't quite catch, as his English accent was terrible, and made her way over. "Good day m'lord, my name is Typphannie de Verditius and I'm pleased to meet you."
The blond man smiles, "Good day. I'm not the lord of anything, but thank you for the honor. I'm Gerard of Flambeau, these are Guilhelm and Jaufres, my sons."
"We are Magus, are we not? And therefore, we are lords and ladies over magic." It's easy to see that she's just baiting him. And then she turns to Guilhelm and Jaufres "It's good to meet you two as well."
Opening her fan, she says "It's a bit stuffy in here, what's the occasion?"
Gerard shrugs. "Just inter-covenant disputes. Got a bit more serious than usual this time."
Typhannie shakes her head "What's it this time? One can't find a Covenant to join in peace? Do tell me about it. I want to know not to put my foot in my mouth... at least, not more than i usually do." And she winks at the two boys.
"Well, an old, disliked covenant called Windgraven got destroyed in a war with an old, slightly less disliked covenant called Mistridge. It's going to be an issue of whether all the deaths were part of a validly declared Wizard's War or if some were violations of the Code. For once it's not an issue of Flambeau infighting, which is a nice change of pace. Everyone's trying to figure out how everyone else is going to vote. I'm planning on listening to the Quaesitor before I decide. I take it you're new here? This is a pretty factional tribunal, though I don't have much to compare it to, maybe they all are."
"I've lived in the Normandy Tribunal till recently, when I decided it's time for me to find my own place, and not under my mentor's watchful eye.
And I agree, it's best to hear the words of the Quaesitor before deciding.
So... anything else has brought you here or just the desire to meet fellow Magus?"