This is OOC, but it is what I would have liked to have said in Raven's defense but time did not permit. Three PCs were there to hear it, and I think it fair to post it here for them to read:

"Revered Elders. Raven has come here to die. He holds his honor sacrosanct, he will neither run nor fight. But there are those that would fight for him. Not with weapons, but with honest words. I have not known Raven long, but in that time I have seen him master lupines and lupine magic with both body and soul. He has faced every challenge this city has faced without any desire for compensation or protection. I respect him, and I have not met his equal since the Dane of New Haven, whom some of you may know, a man who taught me more of the blade than any since I was embraced."

"I have spoken to his character and you see it demonstrated here by his submission to your judgment, and you have heard him plead no contest to the charges put to him. But I tell you that these two things are not mutually possible. A man of honor cannot commit as heinous a crime as you believe in him. It cannot be that a man honorable enough to answer your summons without reservation could also put his own childer in the power of those he could not trust to treat them well. This Gangrel is guilty. He is guilty of loving his childer so much that he would bind himself to not just one of them, but all of them. You may find it shameful, and even I am not reconciled to that fact, but that's not enough to end his life."

"You may think that I do not understand the weight of his other crimes. But you know not my history. I fought in the war you waged against the Tremere for their crimes against you. Actually, I fought on the other side... a soldier in the army of the Tremere." Marius pauses to let the more volatile Gangrel settle themselves, if it takes to long he shouts over them: "BUT I HAD NO STOMACH FOR IT!" He waits until that sinks in and continues: "When I learned the true natures of those I fought for... I could no longer serve. I abandoned my commission. Left my post and lost my way entirely. I lost my way for a long time. More than a century I wandered, seeing nothing but corruption, nothing but suffering inflicted upon childer by their sires. From regnants to ghouls. On the bound by their masters. But here.... here in Sacramento... I found my way again. I found an elder that did not abuse his power. Who shared it freely with those that he could trust. I regained my way and forged a city that welcomes independents. That welcomes you, without reservation for your allegiance to your clan over all. That honors Theseus as elder of his kin." Marius gestures to Theseus who is present."

After a pause to regain his breath, he continues: "I'm not telling you this to prove he didn't do these things. I would not contradict his word on any thing. I tell you this so that you know that the gargoyles he created are his progeny, as sure as William, Sonja and all the other Blackthorn descendants may be. That the gargoyles of Sacramento are not slaves to the Tremere who deserve your wrath but worthy protectors of a city who honor their clan even hold the position of Elder among it." Marius pauses and explain: "Solomon the Gargoyle is Elder of Clan Tremere in this city and all among the Tremere respect his leadership. If you are looking to punish one for giving the Tremere slaves, you will fail to do that here. Here you will find a man who seeks to create a bond, not just between himself and his childer but between those among the Tremere that hate their practices as much as any of you. The Tremere of our city are nothing short of enemies of the Tremere of the Camarilla. Tremere that treat their childer as equals, and allies with loyalty."

"You can kill this man. I don't know that there is any force on this earth that could oppose your assembled might. But remember him afterward. Remember his name. Raven /Blackthorn/. You will hear that name again. It will be inextricably linked to the wisdom and honor of its founder, the strength and fortitude of the Gangrel, the mystical insight of the Tremere, and God willing, the swift justice of the Brujah. You may not respect them now, because their ways are different from your ways, and their founder sitting before you in penance, but you will fear them one day for their strength is waning, and the dominion of the Camarilla is waning. I will do nothing to oppose you, by his request, but if there is justice, then I will see it done by them."

Marius seats himself again behind Raven, his sole supporter.