Oh I need to calculate those lab totals. Make sure they actually work out. 
The bond empowerment goes down to one season. I could probably get the talisman enchantment down to one season if I fiddled with the materials, but...
oh and I never got the Faerie Blood benefit completely worked out. It should be Valkyrie Blood, although there isn't a pre-set benefit for that. The idea behind the pre-Boni Snatched Parens is basically that the ex-Misc tradition that was either a knock-off or inspiration of the Valkyrie Faeries. Hence, the original parens picked a child of a Valkyrie since it goes along with the whole theme. So for the effect I figure we should either pick an existing Faerie benefit and change the name or just call it +1 to Strength. I'd kind of prefer +1 to strength. It simple.
That would be okay. It's certainly consistent with the other benefits of Strong Faerie Blood.
I revised cycle four to include the lab totals. Unsurprisingly, The Magical Focus strikes again and shortens the time to empower the bond. Luckily by cleverly inserting a book writing season I was able to avoid any changes in the xp totals or anything else that matters during advancement! Oh and the Wand of Salting and blah blah blah had the lab total partially calculated. It was already more than enough before including Phobia or the form or any shape bonus's.
Abilities
Childhood+Early Life
West Nordic 5 North of the Rhine Lore 2 Brawl 3 Athletics 2 Charm 2 Survival 1
Abilities:
Latin 5 (Writing Lab Texts), Magic Theory 13+2 (vis use){493 xp}, Parma 6, Philosophiae 3 {35}, Artes Liberales 3 {35, Profession Scribe 1 {11xp}, Order of Hermes Lore 1, Finesse 1, Concentration 3 {35xp}, Penetration 1, Faerie Lore 1, Second Sight 1 Magic Lore 2 (Alchemy) {20xp} Green Cockerel Lore 1 {7xp} Bargain 1 (Books), Carouse 1; Ride 3 (Giant Wolf); Art of Memory 3 ; Teaching 3 (One on One)
Arts
Creo: 25 {330xp}, In: 5, Muto: 5, Perdo: 5 Rego 10
An: 6, Au: 6 Aq: 6, Co: 9 {54xp} He:6, Ig: 6, Im: 6 Me: 13 {100xp}, Te: 9 {54xp}, Vi: 7 {30xp}
V&F: Add Vulgar Alchemy, Imbued with Spirit of Terram, Unimaginative Learner
Loot:
2*Tractus Green Cockerel Lore Q12
1 Tractus Parma Q12
2 Tractus of Magic Theory Q12 (read)
Mystagogue in Green Cockerel Lore,
19 Pawns of Vim Vis
6 Pawns of Mentem Vis
9 Pawns of Ig Vis
4 Animal Vis
4 He Vis
6 Pawns of Corpus Vis
6 Te Vis
Heating Control Item, Wand of Drying and Salting
10 B.P.
Talisman with Imp Sweeper, Gleam of Freshly Polished Glass
Familiar Bond with Cleanliness, and Cooling enchants
Lab: +7 Refinement+, +2 Upkeep, Size+2, +4 Health, +4 Aesthetics, +10 Safety, Size&Occupied Size+0,
Virtues: Spacious, Palatial (Texts), Familiar, Gallery, Extensive Stores, Spotless, Magical Heating, Magic Item, Empty
Flaws: Lousy Ingredients
Specializations: +3 Teaching, +1 Texts
This should be the result after cycle 4 if I mathed right. We're coming up on aging rolls!
Cycle 5
Special Note: With the lab Health score, familiar bond enchants, Faerie Blood, Bronze Chord, and assumed +2 Living Conditions, the modifier is -12 before age modification at the start of the Cycle. This increases to -13 at age 51. Thus the total bonus is -7 at all points to aging rolls. None of the base rolls got above 10. Just the fairie blood and bronze chord is -7, so the result was always 9 or less, if we ignore the lab bonus, bond empowerment and living conditions. The upshot of all this is nothing happens.
[strike]1 Season Refining Lab
2 Seasons Adding Greater Feature. (Texts+3)
1 Season of Service
(2+1)1.52=12 xp magic Theory
Total M.T. Xp = 505, 4 Seasons of Training for Familiar+60xp → 319xp
1 Seasons Enchant Insulation Into familiar bond. Lab Total ReIg = 59
1 Seasons of adding Human Shape to the familiar bond. MuAn(Co) Total = 53
-3 Vis, +9 M.T. Xp Magic Theory tot=514xp Familiar MTXP+4=323 tot
36
1 Season Enchanting The Bookstand of Artemis ReTe Total = 24+16
-2 Te Vis
1 Season Studying Q10 M.T. Tractatus
(10+3+2+1)*1.5=+24 M.T. Xp Magic Theory = 538, artemis
Phobia Trains +16xp, phobia study +10xp Total M.T. = 339
2 Seasons Studying SQ12 Magic Theory Tractatus from Library = (12+3+1)1.52=48 M.T. Xp=586xp tot
Phobia gains +24 M.T. Xp = 343
3 Seasons studying Muto 16/15= (16+3)*3=57xp = 112xp total
Familiar pens 3 Magic Theory Tractatus Q14
5 Seasons of Adventuring: Information, Resources, Learn Something2, Initiation Quest=60xp
201.5=30 M.T. Experience, +20xp Bargain, +20xp Green Cockerel Lore, Familiar Gains, 20M.T. Experience, 5 Bargain experience, and 20 Green Cockerel Lore xp
Total Magic Theory xp = 616 experience Artemis, 363xp Phobia
Gain 10B.P. Gain SQ12 Magic Theory Tractatus
2 Seasons of skilled labor expanding lab.
1 Season of Initiation, Gain Hermetic Alchemy, Phobia pens Magic Theory Tractatus Q14
5 Seasons of Studying Magic Theory Tractatus, SQ14: (14+3+1)1.55=27*5=135xp
Phobia Pens 2 Magic Theory Tractatus
Total Magic Theory XP=751
4 Seasons of Inventing Spells, Phobia trains gaining 18*4 M.T. Xp=72, Phobia = 435 total
InAq Total = 37, 2 seasons to invent See What Lies Below the Sea
ReCo Total = 40, 2 Seasons to invent Flight of the Maga
(2+1)1.54mt xp gaining=+18xp Artemis M.T. Total = 769
Phobia has 435 M.T. XP, 60+20=80 Green Cockerel XP, +5 Bargain xp[/strike]
These are stress dice. The two 1's you rolled need to explode to see what the real result is.
Initiation is an Adventure. That pushes her up to 6 adventuring seasons.
Doh! I'll fix the adventures. The aging roll explosions were rolled. You can see the 5 and the 2 right under "Drat, two exploders". The rolls are in reverse chronological order from top to bottom BTW. So the top roll came after the one below that. That make sense?
Oops, I missed that. Carry on.
No prop. Its a good dice roller IMO, but a little confusing at first.
In cycle 5 you've got a few Tractus study. It looks like 2 seasons on the same tractus then 5 on another. Are they separate tractus?
Edit: Ah! From the library.
So my computer is being a jerk right now, but I'm pretty sure these are the results of cycle 5. Not gonna get any further, I need to sleep.
Abilities
Childhood+Early Life
West Nordic 5 North of the Rhine Lore 2 Brawl 3 Athletics 2 Charm 2 Survival 1
Abilities:
Latin 5 (Writing Lab Texts), Magic Theory 17+2 (vis use){769 xp}, Parma 6, Philosophiae 3 {35}, Artes Liberales 3 {35, Profession Scribe 1 {11xp}, Order of Hermes Lore 1, Finesse 1, Concentration 3 {35xp}, Penetration 1, Faerie Lore 1, Second Sight 1 Magic Lore 2 (Alchemy) {20xp} Green Cockerel Lore 2 {29xp} Bargain 2 {25xp} (Books), Carouse 1; Ride 3 (Giant Wolf); Art of Memory 3 ; Teaching 3 (One on One)
Arts
Creo: 25 {330xp}, In: 5, Muto: 5, Perdo: 5 Rego 10
An: 6, Au: 6 Aq: 6, Co: 9 {54xp} He:6, Ig: 6, Im: 6 Me: 13 {100xp}, Te: 9 {53xp}, Vi: 7 {30xp}
V.F. Add Hermetic Alchemy
Loot:
2*Tractatus Green Cockerel Lore Q12
1 Tractatus Parma Q12
1 Tractatus of Magic Theory Q12 (read)
5 Tractatus of Magic Theory Q14 (read)
1 Tractatus of Magic Theory Q14
1 Tractatus of Magic Theory Q12
Mystagogue in Green Cockerel Lore,
19 Pawns of Vim Vis
6 Pawns of Mentem Vis
9 Pawns of Ig Vis
7 Animal Vis
7 He Vis
12 Pawns of Corpus Vis
10 Te Vis
Heating Control Item, Enchant Wand of Drying and Salting
20 B.P.
Talisman with Imp Sweeper, Gleam of Freshly Polished Glass
Familiar Bond with Cleanliness, Insulation, Human Shape and Cooling enchants
Lab: +8 Refinement, +2 Upkeep, Size+4, +4 Health, +4 Aesthetics, +11 Safety, Occupied Size+2,
Virtues: Spacious, Palatial (Texts), Familiar, Gallery, Extensive Stores, Spotless, Magical Heating, Magic Item, Greater Feature: Writing Desk (Texts+3)
Flaws: Lousy Ingredients, Empty
Specializations: +3 Teaching, +6 Texts
Alright time for the sixth cycle. First off let's look at the aging!
To summarize I got a 20 in the 3rd year and 5th year and everything else is below ten. So first off these are at age 60 and 62. That's +5 and +6 respectively from age. -8 from the bronze chord, mild aging and Faerie Blood. She picks up mild aging just before the third aging roll actually. Thus we get -3/-2 - living conditions. We presumably have -2 from the bond for -5/-4 before lab and covenant living conditions. She WAS adventuring for most of the third so hopefully we can leave it at that giving us a 15 in year three or one aging point. Year five presumably has lab conditions so that gives us -2 from 4 health. Giving us -6 plus base living conditions. I hope we don't decide on +1 base living conditions!
Cycle 6
1 Seasons of Service
5 Seasons of Lab Improvement: 3 Seasons Refining Lab, 2 Seasons of Adding Greater Feature
Phobia Trains for 8 Seasons gaining 20*6 M.T. XP =120xp, Phobia total M.T. = 555xp
Artemis (2+1)1.56=24xp for magic theory, total xp = 793 total xp
Increase Lab Refinement by 3, Add Greater Feature (Writing)
5 Seasons of Adventuring, 1 Season Information, 1 Season of Initiation Quest 2 Seasons of Learning Something, 1 Initiation Quest: Gain 10xp Area Lore: Magic Realm Lore, (30*1.5)xp Magic Theory, Magic Theory Total = 838xp,
Phobia gains 16 Magic Theory xp, 15 Green Cockerel Lore xp, Phobia M.T. Xp =571, Phobia Green Total = 95xp
Gain Magic Theory Tractatus Q12
Gain Philosophic Alchemy, Gain Mild Aging,
2 Seasons Artemis Reads Magic Theory Tractatus2, Phobia Pens Magic Theory Tractatus1
14+3+1)1.52= 54xp Artemis Total MT experience = 892xp
1 Season inventing Spring of Pure Water CrAq (ReTe) total = 42
1 Season inventing Plague of Frogs, A&A pg 30 ReAn total = 42
1 Season inventing Field of Wheat- CrHe lab total =59
1 Season inventing Blessing of bounty-25 CrHe lab total = 59
1 Season inventing Sanctum of Stone – 20 CrTe Lab Total = 64
Artemis gains (2+1)1.55=22.5 Magic Theory xp Total xp = 914.5xp
Phobia gains 21*5 xp from training = +105 = 776xp.
3 Season Artemis Study's Creo Tractatus Q13, Q11, Q9, Phobia adds Greater Feature to lab, Phobia Pens Magic Theory Tractatus Q14, Lab is expanded
SQ (13+11+9+3+3+3)*1.5= 63 Creo XP, 393 total
1 Season Artemis Studies M.T. Tractatus Q14 = 27xp Total XP = 941.5xp
2 Seasons Artemis Studies Magic Theory Tractatus Q12, Phobia Pens Magic Theory Tractatus, Phobia adds Well Insulated.
(12+3+1)21.5=48xp Total = 999.5
2 Seasons Artemis Studies Mentem 20/11 = (11+3)*2xp = 28 Total = 128
1 Season Artemis Packs up Lab. Phobia Trains,
Artemis gains 4.5 magic Theory xp, 1004xp total Phobia gains 22 magic theory xp. 798Xp
1 Season Artemis Studies Magic Theory Tractus (14+3+1)*1.5=27
1031xp magic theory total
So yeah the magic theory got out of control a little.
I'm sure all of your abbreviations and shortcuts make sense to you. Unfortunately, I find many of them very confusing. I'll try and deal with them point-by-point.
Where do we get 8 seasons from? It looks like we're only through 6 seasons so far.
Where do you gain the MT tractatus? Is that from correspondences? I'm confused.
How is it you gain two VIrtues? I see one initiation quest. And you don't mention whether Philosophic Alchemy is major or minor. It could be either.
I assume the +1 added into things is from correspondences, but I'm not really sure.
Does the lab have the Refinement for that?
Also, we've been requiring 2 seasons of a skilled worker's work to get a major feature installed. This is your second major feature. Who's doing the work to create it?
I haven't been tracking how many tractatus she's read and has unread. I hope you have.
Again, what worker is adding Well-insulated?
Are these tractatus from the library? You don't mention.
Also, I haven't mentioned this previously, but how exactly is Phobia penning tractatus? It's a wolf, and I don't see any powers that would let it write.
That's what I see now. I need to check some more details later. And I still am not sure I'm seeing everything, so much is abbreviated.
Good question. It should be 6. The xp accounting is already changed
The tractus is from the "Gain information" bit.
Philosophic Alchemy is minor.
I have no idea why the gentle aging is there now. Huh.
The tractatus was from the gain information adventure. Those give tractatus right?
Yup, a magic theory correspondance was her very first one.
Ooh I see now! For some reason I thought a craftsman could install it on their own in two seasons. You're talking about a requirement in addition to the time of the character with magic theory? That would make more sense. When, I wrote the draft I didn't take into account the need for craftsmen to add any features or virtues. It would just squeak in by bringing the size to +5
I have! Her personal ones I've actually kept good records on. In the loot thing at the end of every cycle the tractatus have been marked read and unread. I'll make a better accounting for where all the tractatus came from.
The tractatus come from Artemis's collection. One she had unused at the end of cycle 5 and one she got from adventure.
The all powerful familiar bond! Way back in cycle five the Human Shape power got added.
I'm still wondering what we should assume the living conditions are. Can I assume zero? I feel like Artemis was far enough North that it should be zero. On a different note: how much would a skilled craftsman take to hire?
I was particularly confused because you mentioned getting Mild Aging in your discussion of aging at the top. Does losing it make a difference in aging?
That's true. But I only see one Information adventure and two reading of tractatus actions. Was one from a previous cycle?
Ah, I missed that.
I had been assuming a +1 living condition bonus for cycles 1-3 and a +2 for cycles 4-6, but I realize now I never posted that. For cycle 6 you'd be justified in taking +2, though, of course, I won't stop you if you want to drop it to 0.
I'll have to dig through the books to try and figure that out. If I give you an off-the-cuff answer, someone is sure to post and tell me I'm wrong.
So my first assumption was "two seasons" meant two full seasons of work. As in no time left for studying, not one abstract season spread out over two. In other words, an entire years income for a normal person. Looking at City and Guild pg 38 I think 20 to 40 pounds would be appropriate. The line "as does a single workshop crafting expensive items" could qualify or "as does a single workshop crafting expensive items". Of course, you could make an argument that any such craftsman dealing with magi would be wealthy and push it up to 80, or be generous and say "A single workshop, in an average craft" is enough dropping it all the way down to 10. So if you want to stick to the books anywhere from 10 to 80 pounds works. Personally I'd go with 40.
Does the skilled work need to be simultaneous in the case of portable features such as a desk? Because if that's the case she could have easily picked the items up earlier only managing to get them working with the lab at a later date.
I shouldn't think it needs to be simultaneous. The skilled worker actually makes the desk, while the magus/familiar arranges it, stocks it, and gets it just right for use.