I initially tought of being an animalem specialist because I like minions and I could shamelessly steal ideas from Corvus Trianomae that I love and from Alexander of Jerbiton (Magi of Hermes) because turning stuff into animal and have It move by itself is quite fun.
But looking at the spells from the Core rulebook, I'm sad already. I'll look for alternatives.
Yes, that can be a problem. The core book spells work well for a certain few builds and not well for most builds, with some exceptions. But do notice SG's statement:
So you may be able to pick up a spell or two from outside the main book to fit your theme.
I would rule out the Transylvanian Tribunal since we're not doing Tremere. Any of the rest could potentially work. I've never played in Normandy/Provence, so those could be cool. And then the Rhine and Theban Tribunals both make sense, too. So I'm good with any of those four.
Normandy has some strange rules. I have never done Provence. I will look at it tonight.
I'm not really into Normandy either.
I haven't played in the Rhine for years, so that would be great. To use Transylvania as written, we'd need to have one Tremere magus (PC or NPC) to balance the covenant. Theban and Provence could work fine.
Normany has one problem - how do you deal with the "every seven years have a massive contest to redistribute resources" Tribunal? Roleplaying through it will bring a massive slowdown when it comes to Tribunal time, handwaving it alters the setup.
Considering the effects of the Merinita disappearing on each Tribunal:
So, how much chaos do you want? 
My other Arts idea is a PeVi specialist. Always good to have someone around who can dispel/disenchant when you're heading toward unknown magic.
I don’t want to steal your arts, but Vim is so versatile I almost always end up having some to target my own spell and affect incorporeal being. Even my herbam specialist ended up having ReVi to enhance duration PeVi it cancel his spells, Mu Vi for communion. If you want to have your own niche, Vi isn’t the best choice.
Unless you go all the way with specializing to a barely reasonable degree, which is what I might be intending to do.
The hyper focused MuVi researcher, however, makes sense only when the troupe allows Original Research in an intent to push the boundaries of MuVi guidelines box. Otherwise I'll go with the good guy generalist.
From the perspective of saving/reforming the order :
What I like about Thebes in your context is that the tribunal had an organisation before the Order of Hermes and still have a way more democratic system (in the greek sense) with random representant , ostracism, shards and tokens to ensure good behavior and citizenship. The tradition of league of like-minded individual under a charismatic leader seems to be a a good way for young magus to enter the tribunal politics.
That's probably the easy mode : SG can decide we get picked for representative function, we can found our own league and the token system enables payment even in a low ressource saga in exchange for services.
On the other end Rhine also has the gild system that is similar to the league but It seems more difficult to simply create a Gild, Archmagi and Masters own most votes, but this is also where the Order of Hermes began and there could be strong allies. This is the Hard mode imho.
I know Provence less, I own the pdf but never read it cover to cover neither played it but to my understanding, It's a lot more feodal in its organisation. Maybe Arthur can develop ?
Thanks. I'm not looking for a niche with Vim. I'm sure a few of us will have good Vim. I'm looking more at the choice of Intellego+Rego v. Perdo.
Right now, I am looking at a Elementalist. They will be more of a Form generalist. I would want them to further integrate the Elemental Hedge tradition into Hermetic theory. @Arthur Is the Hedge part alright?
My fall back will be a LR specialist because everyone loves them:-0
I'll take the gentle gifted Trianoma then with some An, Me and Co.
I'll probably start with low animalem at creation (because core animalem spells are not what I want to do) but that's probably where i'm headed during development.
I'm guessing Muto as a primary Technique.
Yes, we do. And they tend to be good at healing, which we appreciate greatly as well. As cooperative as a group as we'll likely be both for saga-specific reasons and for all being Bonisagus magi, I could see the entire group assisting in making Longevity Rituals for each other over a bunch of seasons. Sure, that would occupy all of our seasons, but with 4 assistants we could each end up with a fabulous ritual, especially if we've got someone good at it.
I'm trying to track all the likely primary Arts and significant Hermetic Virtues:
Bitter:
Callen:
Darkwing:
Gerard:
Jebrick:
Do you mean a hermetic magus with the Elementalist major virtue? Or with one or more of the Hedge Magic Elementalist virtues?
A Form generalist as in spreading over the 4 elemental Forms or all 15 of them?
What are you potentially looking at for further integration into Hermetic Theory?
How does that tie in with the saga theme?
What kind of spells are you eventually looking at? As I stated in the saga write-up, if there are specific spells you'd like from other sourcebooks I will look at them.
I think you meant Rhine rather than Normandy?
From what I can see, it is Normandy that tries to duplicate the feodal system with the liege/vassal relationships between covenants. Provence is more loosely organized, with few rules regarding the creation of covenants. The big issue of Provence is the Albigensian crusade and its effects on magi. Some covenants support it, others magi were driven away from their original covenants as they were destroyed by the crusaders, yet other are hunkering down or hiding more deeply. But that assumes the saga takes place in 1220. If we select a few decades before that, things are much quieter.
Indeed edited above
I'm not sure they exist even in different books.
with elemental magic ( as per core rules) but trying to work towards integrating more of the Hedge elementalist tradition into Hermetic Theory. Is that clearer?
Mixed up my Forms and Techniques. He will be a Technique generalist and focus on Elemental Forms.
sounds like a LR specialist might be better so I will see how the Elementalist works out if Arthur allows the Hedge study then decide.
Certainly possible. We'll just need to discuss what you're looking for him to achieve and how hard it would be to do so.
I've started playing a Hedge Magic (Philosophical) Elementalist in the Bonfire of Tradition saga, so I'm fairly up to date on those rules.
Looks like you will be going with a Major Magical Focus with birds? Or a Minor Focus with just some kind of birds?