You describe what I like to call, in storyguide terms, "big enough, dammit." 
"Well, I think we'll have to lay these spirits to rest before letting apprentices have a go in that space. Cygna, do you think you can do anything about them, since you're the Mentem expert? They certainly don't seem like the Warders I've heard about, or Myrtle..." [OOC: I don't expect this to work, but it's something to do.]
Ra'am tries looking for a suite which would have two bed chambers, a sitting room, and enough room for a lab of a bit bigger than standard size (+1). If that lab also had a large window, and the ability to add on a balcony, all the better.
[OOC: by mentioning the construction specialist, I imagine you're asking us to ebvision a sanctum as we would like it?]
When the party discovers the shades of the apprentices, Cygna will stand to one side, watching them with a puzzled, curious expression on her face, but doesn't say anything.
[color=red]"Yes, I do know a couple of spells." Cygna replies thoughtfully. [color=red]"One that should do away with the shade entirely, and one that would bar them from a warded area...or possibly entrap them in the area." (OOC – if she casts Ring of Warding Against Spirits and has spirits within the ring that she draws as she casts it, does it trap the spirits inside the ring, or does it expel them?)
[color=red]"Although, to be honest, I'm not convinced that that would be a good idea...at least, not until I've had a chance to study them and determine just what kind of shades they are."
"Whatever you think best, Cygna. I trust your judgment on these matters." Ra'am appears distracted while he scouts out the rooms.
[OOC, amul, would the manor house be about the size of The Biltmore? Those floor plans are online, and we could just call it done. Alternatively, I can put more GoogleFu on the search]
[ooc: I think of this as saying "you want us to think like magi?" You have the space and resources you have. Use them how you will.
Hiems hates this. He'd be happy to have chosen the tower, if he wasn't too cold for such a feeling. Instead, he just feels relieved.
Poor souls, damnit thinks Hiems. What could have happened here?
But he says nothing, and displays little other than a raised, curious eyebrow.
Azura takes a look around Tyrion's lab. "This would be suitable for my purposes, I think," she muses. The girl approaches the porcupine, kneels down beside him and gives her best smile. "Gerard? Do I have your permission to stay here? I would very much like it if you would live here with me, as well."
When Viscaria makes her way up, he'll ask her, "Viscaria, can I get some assistance in reconfiguring walls for and maybe other things for a sanctum? I'm thinking roughly a quarter of the level for a sanctum. We can discuss suitable payment, of course."
Given Azura's high Charm skills, Gerald is willing to let her move in with him.
Is Ra'am going to take the haunted lab, or establish an entirely new sanctum?
Viscaria seems surprised anyone would offer to pay her. "Certainly, we can discuss these matters during the council meeting. Amos seems to have fallen ill, and I don't think he was able to finish the research he was supposed to do for tonight's council meeting. He was supposed to research our Vis Sources, and search the library for the trade agreements with the dwarves, and anyone else we may have ongoing arrangements with. Do we all want to head to the library now, or is someone willing to take up that task?"
Ra'am is wanting to setup a new sanctum. He'll still want to get rid of the ghosts in the haunted lab, because of his wife and children.
"Sure, that'll be fine. You seemed suprised that I'd offer payment. Why is that? It's certainly above and beyond normal ordinary covenant service. I've been accused of making myself at home in a library, I won't mind checking out Phoenix's.
Azura will ask him to accompany her to look at the library with the others; if he assents she lets him ride on her shoulder, trusting him not to poke her with his quills. She makes a point to ignore his crying if/when he cries, instead speaking to him excitedly about anything interesting she sees. She goes out of her way to be as upbeat as possible and to make the little guy feel included.
[OOC: I'm not entirely sure I understand your response. The entire regio is filled with Warders (who, incidentally, will probably have Something To Say about exorcising the ghosts) already. What difference do these four ghosts matter, if you're setting up a sanctum beyond the room they're haunting?]
~sudden flashbacks to my college days, babysitting my suicidal friends until Western Psych opened in the morning~
Gerald is a Size -2 Porcupine of Virtue, about the size of a medium-sized dog (or Viscaria).
Ah, nevermind. He rides in your messenger bag. Still a pretty heavy load for that, though. Every time Azura looks down at him, she gets the sense that he could really use a hug.
On To The Library!
Down to the first floor, and through a door that leads to what would be the front hall, were you to approach from inside the Regio. Partially shuttered windows (lacking glass) show the overrun gardens and a low wall in the distance. One of the grapevines has come in through the shuttered window, a foot-thick snaking tendril reaching towards the Peasant Hall.
Azura and Ra'am are lead by the other magi into the Peasant Hall, or what would be the hall where a landed noble would hold court over his subjects. Here, it is the library and scriptorium.
A disembodied voice, speaking in a bad imitation of an English accent, comments dully, "Hallo, Cygna."
The large hall still shows clear signs of its original purpose, despite the exceptionally intricate (and exceedingly garish) renovations done to it. From the dark oak walls hang large maps, trophies, and several extremely bad portraits of the same man, all from the exact same angle. You think it is a man, anyway. It is hard to tell.
Neatly arranged in rows across the floor are armarii (book closets) and chests, some bejeweled, some exquisitely carved, each carefully labeled with a neatly lettered small signpost, lettered in a fine, sure hand, with many curves, squiggles. The signposts are colored in pinks, purples, lavenders, burgundies, yellows (very hard to read), and bright reds. Though the number and quality of the bookchests are impressive, they become less so when you realize that half of them say things like "Empty" or "I am a Box!" More familiar category titles, like "Perdo" also lose a bit of their august impact because someone chose to shape the E and O to closely resemble a heart.
Three women in their mid-twenties, and a woman of indeterminate age in an abaya, are purposely bustling about the large space, chattering to each other in their high pitched, effeminate voices.
Viscaria seems to be enjoying the role of guide. "Sodales, welcome to the Phoenix Library and Scriptorium. Allow me to introduce our staff."
Sharae the Librarian, dressed in the abaya, pauses only long enough to ask, "May I help you find anything?" before going back to her previous tasks. Should anyone make a request of her, she will immediately return, and respond in a very businesslike fashion. Sharae oozes authority and competence. (in stark contrast to when any of you meet her outside the library, where she is a shrinking violet).
Danielle Castiblanco the Scribe is a short, slightly pudgy girl wearing what appears to be a black and white, frilly maid's uniform, which reveals an indecent amount of her short and stubby legs. A white bow in her mane of black hair almost gives the appearance of cat ears.
Fidelia Castaneda the Illuminator is unnaturally thin, and dressed in a sinful reinterpretation of a nun's habit, with impressive tailoring and artfully placed rips in the fabric. She is wearing an inexpert application of white face powder and kohl, which contrasts unfavorably with her dark hue.
Sandra de los Montes the Book Binder is a long limbed, awkward girl, who has banged her elbows and knees on at least four pieces of furniture since the introductions began. Though her features clearly indicate a mix of Castillian and Moorish blood, she is dressed as a Scotsman, complete with tartan kilt. She has dyed her hair a very unnatural color of red.
The three Christian scriptorium girls seem to be constantly on the verge of bursting into laughter over anything that is said, as if it all reminds them of an inside joke they dare not share with you all.
Viscaria also introduces Charles Edwards Vintner, who is absolutely not to be left alone with any books. "Oh, not you too, Lady Viscaria. I swear, it was an accident." The grapevine just peeking into the library through the front door seems to shiver slightly as it speaks, though you may just be wanting to see some indication of its speech. "That was nearly 20 seasons ago! You weren't even here! And besides, it is nowhere near flowering season right now. No? Not even the Plotinus?"
[OOC: I was confused about this based on the initial description, almost seemed as if it were immediately off the landing. Then I reread that it was a separate sanctum.]
"I'm Ra'am ex Bonisagus. I'm pleased to meet you all. I'd like to review your catalog. I'll have some items to add to the library, as well." He says in the most charming way possible. Pre (1) + Charm (2+1) + Gift (-3) + Die roll of 6=7.
[color=red]"Hello, Charles," she replies in English. She's still not quite sure if she's being mocked, or if he thinks he's being suave and debonair, but she still finds his faux accent annoying. Maybe later she'll work with him to improve it? Or get him to stop, that would work, too.
Since Cygna is under the (apparently mistaken) impression that Ra'am is going to be doing the researching-the-vis-sources thing, she will wander over and examine the maps, trophies, and the portraits. She will especially study the portraits, compare them to the pictures that we found in Cersei's quarters to see if they might be a match there somewhere. If not, she will try to figure out who they are supposed to be portraits of.
The maps, she will examine to get a feel for the layout, and to see if they're any kind of specialized maps (like, say, maybe maps of vis locations, for example).
Although Cygna is not going out of her way to avoid the girls, she does seem to be doing her best to try to ignore them.
The portraits have all been signed by the scriptorium staff girls. Sharae's drawings all seem very half-hearted. Fidelia's are, as one might expect, the best. They all seem to be attempts to copy the same illumination, over and over again. Cygna notices that the library has gone deathly quiet as she makes her inspection, and from the corner of her eyes, can see that all four of the staff-women have frozen in a state of mixed dread, trepidation and hope, as they wait for Cygna to make some remark.
Attached to one of Fidelia's portrait paintings is a small scroll. It reads,
To Fidelia Castaneda, Member #48
Phoenix Covenant
On the 5th Day of June, in the Year of Our Lord, 1212
Congratulations, my dearest Fidelia! With a score of 182 out of 200, your image, "Portrait of A Gifted Magus In Contemplation of A Wicked Spirit," has won first place in our third annual painting contest! Your illumination will be integrated into a first edition, autographed copy of Break With a Banshee, and will reside right here in Plateau, home to the largest and highest quality collection of Gilderoy Lockhart books in the world!
Enclosed, please find your two free entry tokens to the Lockhart Fan Tent, Iberian Tribunal of 1214. These tokens will grant you access to the Fan Tent at all hours, including complimentary beverage and snack services. Please remember that there is no reserved seating for any of the special event programs, so get there early!
Yours in community,
Deborah Plateau
Plateau Covenant Librarian, and
Primus of the Gilderoy Lockhart Fan Club
PS - According to my records, your covenant is home to six members of The Club, three of whom have already purchased tokens. I included the three purchased, non-commemorative, tokens in this missive as well. The prize tokens have silver inlay.
[OOC: I just uploaded a Tribunal map with link to a larger version]
The maps are all signed by Tyrion Lannister, and even to Cygna's untrained eye, she can tell that they were produced with some kind of Rego Craft Magic. The Aegis/Boundary map has been mentioned before. There are several other maps with a various symbol-and-number icons on them, but there is no obviously displayed legend or key to decipher their meaning -- most probably, the key is stored separately, as some kind of security measure.
From her journey from Stonehenge to here, Cygna can guess which icons represent Laguna Sententia and Plateau, as well as the major mundane cities.
This seems to cause three of the girls to very nearly explode into hysterics, whispering "He wants to review her catalog" and the like back an forth to each other, prompting further hysterics. Shara, remaining rigidly formal underneath her abaya, says, "Certainly, my lord. If there are any books you wish to keep for your private collection, I would still recommend submitting them into our care, as you are most likely unfamiliar with this particular climate's affect on book care and maintenance. We would be happy to retain the confidentiality of such a service for you.
"We're in the process of adding the books which Senior Amos, Senorita Cygna, and Senorita Viscaria have brought into the catalog appendix, Senior, so I'm afraid the catalog is not up to date. Please forgive us that error, Senior. It is kept here, chained to this lectern."
Ra'am notices that none of these women show the slightest reaction to The Gift, despite the other magi insisting that they've all just arrived a few days ago.
As Ra'am rummages through the catalog, it becomes quickly apparent that the catalog was created by someone with no knowledge or understanding of even basic hermetic theory. It is extremely well organized, but entirely on mundane principles. All of the Hermetic works, for example, are cataloged by author, publication date, and geographic origin and do not even indicate if they are Summae or Tractii. Aside from that, the library is excellently maintained, judging by the catalog, and quite probably has preserved everything penned on vellum that ever passed through this regio.
"This looks to be in some order. I think a reorganization of hermetic tomes along standard Hermetic libraries is in order. You've done very well without guidance for those works. It is likely that all of us new Magi and Maga will be heavy library users as we broaden our skills beyond our areas of expertise. You've done a masterful job organizing the mundane tomes. I applaud you scholarship.". die roll of 10 + com(3) or pre(1) + charm(2+1)=16 or 14. I'm taking the position that this is not stressful. Ra'am in a library is like a kid in a candy store and using com because he is complimenting her scholarship.
"Now Viscaria mentioned other items that need to be reviewed prior to council convening. Details of Vis sources to harvest and contracts the covenant has entered into. I'd like those items brought to me in the study carrol over there, please" pointing out one that is nearby.
Sharae: "Certainly, Senior."
She expertly flips through the catalog for a minute or two, walks over to one of the armoires marked "Empty!" (the exclamation point is masterfully rendered to look like a quilll and ink pot), and returns with three large bound volumes, with a gold leaf embossing proclaiming them to be The Wages of Vin, volumes I, II, and III. It turns out to be a bound copy of all the contractual shipments of this manorhouse....all of them, for the last two hundred years.
Sharae: "I'm afraid we don't have anything listed in the catalog for the other thing you mentioned, 'vesources.' Is that like a Resource, Senior? Can you think where else it might have been filed?"
Presuming they were speaking in Latin he rephrased the question about Vis sources in Castilian. " Vis sources. Vis is a piece of magic that has taken physical form which allow Magi to enchant, create rituals, etc. Usually they are collected at the same time every year. Especially after some auspicious event or anniversary and/or site, or frequently during an equinox or solstice. Is that clearer?"
Sharae seems baffled, and is clearly losing her confident demeanor in the process. "Um....we don't keep records of the Seniores and Senorita's travels, but I'm sure I could come up with a list of all the local holidays, if you give me a week or two... "
Daniella tries valiantly to come to her rescue. "Do you mean 'Roy-o-grams? The magic treasure that Archmagus Lockhart is always taking from his foes? You remember, Sharae, he earned nearly a whole Spade of the stuff from The Merlin at the end of Travel with Trolls."