It's not that i'm not bothering to ask, rather i consider all those narrative to be, like, totally tertiary and nothing more than some basic vague inspirations.
So those are not worthy to spend our time on. I mean, they could easily be removed completely until i will want to bring something from it as part of the saga (such as grog or companion). In which case i will deliberately and openly ask you to discuss specific thing with my ideas how it fits into my character, his story, overall saga and so on.
I clearly do not consider it so minor, and want to discus these things well before the saga is entered. We will ultimately spend more time clashing over them than we would discussing them if you cannot see it this way, so you are not in fact saving time- in fact we seem to be hitting the same issue repeatedly- I don't know where your impatience comes from, but a need to rush ahead and not discuss is something I do not see as a good sign for a player.
So, lets start with the wife- you indicate she is a "ripper" and gets powers from her mother. What are you referring to by this?
Ok, no problem, let's discuss it all.
My "impatience" is nothing, but excitment to finally have a reason to interact with system and world of Ars Magica. Also it's thing that i still don't have a good feel as to what things deserve to be discussed and what does not.
- Farah: i consider her to be a hedge witch from Reaper "tradition" from Between Sand and Sea, p. 109-110. I believe, she is brave and ambitious woman who was able to keep Wifait around long enough for him to become attached to their son enough that he was easily tricked into using his superior magic to kickstart her business and keep it going.
- Alois and other progeny: i believe, that as a heir of dragon, Wifait simply has children with some animal blood and it's trait of scaly skin.
Okay, looking at between sand and sea, Tunis (where the tradition is centered) is 1,000 miles from the border of Egypt, and the other references tend to have it spreading away from Egypt from there.
Lands of the Nile describes a few traditions but it would largely be within the territory of the Order of Seuleman. The distances involved would be like coming across a mystery tradition of the Provence tribunal while in Thebes.
That's unfortunate - i'm not exactly good at geography. But surely, one could be somewhere close to Egypt?
There aren't a lot to begin with, especially to be so far from home.
Then she could from some other local tradition?
Maybe, Inducers as they appear to be from Maghreb and it seems closer to Egypt?
Actually Maghreb is 400 miles further away. The options for Egypt seem to be limited to Sahirs, the Cult of Dedun, various faerie traditions, and possibly a resurrected variation of learned magicians that would pretty much be an all male tradition given the culture. Remember that Egypt is heavily dominated by Muslim politics at this point, and there are not a lot of hedge traditions around like their are in western Africa.
I feel like her being a sahira might make her illegible as a companion if i would decide to go this way.
Maybe, she could be not so much part of a tradition, but simply human with some or other supernatural power that could give her some minor edge? Like Entrancement or Enchanting Music?
Not to intrude, but you can get any kind of person you want in Alexandria. There is a slave market, and slaves from North Africa, the Baltic, Greeks, and Sicilians are all available. But... they can’t be Muslim.
Another issue in all of this is a bit more meta- the world this is set in has several things going on at once- Mingus found and announced his gateway into the magic world and a world beyond, the tribunal decided that actions against the Church may, on a tribunal by tribunal basis, be considered defense of magical power, arcane connections were uncovered to sites in Vinland and Africa was opened for exploration- given this characters almost obsessive fixation on Africa why would she be applying to this covenant instead of trying to be part of starting a new covenant in Africa?
Because of pattern of warping that could make his son Gifted.
And yes, lot of things is going on, but he has some over the top goal-oriented personality that makes him a bit of stubborn when it comes to getting what he wanted for more than a decade. Sure, he, probably, could get more power, knowledge and opportunities as a magus, living in Africa for a long time when, finally, covenants could be established there. But at this point, i believe, he will be under influence of LR, so amount of his children will be limited more than his time, so making most loved one of them Gifted would be better investment.
And, surely, to secure that investment, he would apply to this covenant and will try to become essential and integral there.
Something to think about: if you have the gift or blatant gift your choices in someone who you can have children with may be “limited.” A purchased person, a magic touched immune to the effects of the gift, or a member of the order with Parma. The last two aren’t that common.
I doubt this is public knowledge.
My character has few tricks of questionable morality that helps him with it: most importantly, he can make anyone without MR to consider him as their superior for a full moon; he can spontaneously cast a range of spells that weakens one's body, so he has easier time taking advantage of them; he also has other supernatural quality (satyr blood) that gives him +1 to all social rolls with those, who are sexually compatible.
I know that he is a little abusive, so i'm not exactly sure that i wanna focus on how exactly he has kids, but i also doubt that we will actually roleplay sex, so that, i guess, will be shadowed quite a bit.
I'm sure that there's at least rumors as, surely, covenfolk and magi are aware of it and steady supply of apprentices are established. I guess, that's enough for someone desperate to go try and find some more about it.
The covenfolk may know, but the public knowledge of the tribunal was that Mingus was particularly skilled at finding gifted students. Unless the GM weighs otherwise, I'm assuming my characters don't know about this yet, as they have not been at the covenant long enough. Covenfolk don't leave the covenant either, as the location is secret, so I wouldn't build too much on the idea that you'll go there to get your kid the gift.
That, indeed, requires some direct clarification, then.
Mingus announced at the grand Tribunal that he had found an entrance into the magic realm and a pathway to another world which was not part of the realms through the magic realm.
He mentioned in private conversations about the effect of the aura and his plans to use it to open a school. It was therefore not widely known but also not exactly a secret.
He also had some wildly improbable story about dragons eating souls, so it's not certain he was generally believed.
I think, he was called Mad for a reason.
Still, it sounds promising enough to give it a try, even with a grain of salt and thorough research beforehand.