That works for me.
If your parens is a Green Cockerel you might also take Cabal Legacy and start with it.
Cabal Legacy?()_()
It means you were inducted into a mystery cult during apprenticeship and lets you take the virtues with your starting 10 points. TMRE 20.
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Order of the Green Cockerel is interesting. In some ways it's really fitting. At the same time, for someone with Mythic Alchemy a lot of the early stuff is somewhat a step backward. It's not really a step backward; their early alchemy stuff is just so piddly overall compared to what Mythic Alchemy can manage, and even manage more easily.
I have been considering how to approach essentially a 3+ year initiation. We are starting advanced enough that I could put those years in.
Wholly separately, I found a canonical use of alchemy at the Mythic Alchemy level to make animate stone. That was kind of cool, so I'm keeping it in mind.
I was mistaken on the animate stone. That's a special other guideline.
I'm a little stuck. I feel like I'm going in too many directions. Some of that is because the Order of the Green Cockerel's alchemy is so drastically different than all the other alchemy, so it's pretty much like doing two entirely different things. Meanwhile, it's been taking me in a direction of never leaving the lab. I really don't want to go that direction. Lab projects are cool, but I enjoy them most when they promote things outside the lab rather than research for its own sake.
Honestly the closest thing in Ars to Steampunk, IMO, is actually Mechanica (the unintegrated ability). On the surface it's just about enchanted devices, but if you get into it it's all built around weird processes that are kind of like greek classical mad science. I found it to be a turnoff, actually, but it might fit with what you want to do.
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I hadn't thought of that. It definitely fits in the AL/Philosphiae theme as well as matching up with Hypatia's legacy extremely well. Before I look into it too closely, as I see it says there may well be current practitioners, would people be OK with an ex Misc using Mechanica of Heron as the Major Supernatural Virtue of the tradition?
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I'd be fine with Craft Automata being taken as the Major Supernatural virtue of an Ex Misc tradition. HoH:MC p.128 states that "Verditius magi learn this through Initiation and Ordeal, but other Hermetic magi can learn this as a Supernatural Ability."
Automata as described are expensive (in vis and money), time-consuming and tend to break down over the years (so they require regular maintenance). I've never actually seen them used in play, so I am intrigued to see how it turns out. 
I meant Mechanica of Heron, they're more rube-goldbergy.
But actually, Mechanica or Automata may not get her out of the lab much.
Just looked at the Mechanica of Heron from Ancient Magic. In many ways, they seem to have fewer limits than the Verditius Automata - no vis required, powers can be modified and they don't appear to break down. They are somewhat limited in the powers they can have (Aq, Au, Ig, Me, Te) and the magus wouldn't benefit from studies in the Hermetics Arts, since everything uses the Mechanica of Heron ability.
In short, Mechanica are much less expensive to make (no vis and only a small fraction of the silver) and don't break down. Despite all of that, I would be fine with an Ex Mescellaneous tradition using it. There probably should be some comptetition/resentment from House Verditius.
As for the impetus for the mage to get out of her lab, well, there are Story flaws for that. The character just needs to be constructed in a way that avoid a "stay in the lab all the time" mindset.
Oh, certainly. My problem was showing up in that I might need the character to spend 20ish years in the lab and the library after apprenticeship to be able to do much of what the character was designed for.
Yup. That's why I've started leaning toward a straight Verditius.
Indeed. At least with a Verditius you can specialize in an area of magic and be able to create reasonably powerful items straight out of Gauntlet. And in a saga where vis will be plentiful, a Verditius can hope to create a steady stream of enchanted items.
Just be careful not to go the extreme road of stacking multiple virtues to boost craft, magic theory, and philosophiae. This makes for a powerful enchanter, but can be boring.
I am doing a few of those since I came at this from the Philosophiae end and I still plan to do a little experimental philosophy. But I'm doing several things to pair things up better. For example, Philosophiae fits well with Items of Quality which let you do other things better, and it also fits well with ceremonial casting which lets you do more spontaneous magic. I'm definitely going far from uber-enchanter.
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Background
Childhood
Hannah bint Mahmud was born to Mahmud and Zahrah, a shield grog and a kitchen grog respectively, at Domus Pacis, a little north of Jerusalem. As a little child she scurried about the covenant with the other children and played as though she were a great warrior like her father. She just knew she wasn't destined for menial servant work, but as she grew she did not become big enough nor strong enough to be a warrior, even in a covenant that might have overlooked her being a girl. When playing with the boys she started taking the role of the maga in command, with them under her orders. When not playing she started practicing to become a jeweler as a step up from where she might be headed. Soon her intelligence and determination shined through. After years of pleading with her father, Mahmud found a solution that should satisfy her. Through the covenant he arranged for her to be sent to Schola Medica Salernitana, there first to study Latin and Greek so she could read the texts and then eventually to focus on medicine.
Her early teenage years were exciting in whole new ways. Even though she was not a maga, at Schola Medica Salernitana she could study among the Women of Salerno, women who were respected and even celebrated for their intellectual achievements. She found she was adept at book learning and the sciences, and her name expanded to al-Ealam Hannah bint Mahmud. Yet she'd grown up among great magi and still yearned for more, and something about her odd aging spurts made her feel like there was power within her waiting to get out. She experimented with some magical and faerie drugs, hoping to bring about a change.
When she was finishing her baccalaureate at the age of 16 her Gift emerged. Maybe she'd been successful, but the scientist in her knew that it might well have just emerged in its own time, especially as she went from being a small girl to being a young woman rather suddenly and at the same time. The attempted process may have been what addicted her to magic, too; an unfortunate side effect she was happy enough to accept. The effects of the Gift caused some immediate trouble with her studies, and the sudden Turbulences caused even more problems. Constantius of Mercere, a Gifted Mercurian closing in on wanting a Longevity Ritual, became aware of Hannah through the Redcaps. While he was not ready to train an apprentice, he desired to have children with a Gifted woman and he knew of a magus at Verdi who was looking. Constantius set off for Salerno to seduce the young woman away from the university with promises of something even greater, which wasn't difficult at all since she still dreamed of becoming a Hermetic maga and had already grown up within the Cult of Mercury. Soon he sent the pregnant Hannah off to Crescens of Verditius at Verdi along with a nanny for a small finder's fee for himself and the Redcaps who initially discovered her.
Apprenticeship
Hannah truly grew into her power at Verdi. Crescens was happy to have an apprentice already trained in Latin. Though she was quite old at the beginning of apprenticeship, this made her a better assistant in the laboratory much sooner than usual. While he wasn't thrilled with Constantius's regular visits, Constantius provided nannies and Crescens was able to milk those visits to get some favorable Mercere services. At 17 Hannah gave birth to Bernardo, at 19 she gave birth to Elena, and at 22 she gave birth to Rolando. None of them seemed to be Gifted, but Constantius no longer wished to delay his Longevity Ritual any longer. Hannah extended her name to al-Ealam Hannah bint Mahmud Walidat Bernardo Elena Rolando over these years. Hannah doted on her children in the time she was able to provide them, and as each became old enough Constantius took them to Harco to be trained as Redcaps.
For a Verditius Hanna's magic seemed particularly tied to her body. Not only was there her addictive need for magic, but her casting tool charms she wore on a bracelet were strongly connected to her. On the positive end, this connection enabled her to put more energy into her spells through her casting tools. At the age of 31 Hanna finally reached her gauntlet, passing it by building a lesser enchanted cloak for the Redcap Zephyrinus to protect him from the weather. After passing her gauntlet Hannah extended her name to al-Ealam Hannah bint Crescens min bayt Verditius bint Mahmud Walidat Bernardo Elena Rolando.
Characters
Constantius of Mercere: The now middle-aged Mercere in the Cult of Heroes who brought Hannah from Schola Medica Salernitana to Verdi. He is rather sociable for a non-gently Gifted mostly lab rat. He fathered three children with her. He takes interest in and tries to look after the mother of his children.
Crescens of Verditius: Hannah's parens at Verdi. He is a rather large man adorned in a lot of gold, being a Verditius focusing in gold jewelry.
Zephyrinus of Mercere: He was just-gauntleted Redcap when Hannah passed her gauntlet. He received the cloak she made. Outside of that she knows little about him other than that he lives
Bernardo: Hannah's first-born son. He is nearing his gauntlet as a Redcap in the Levant. He has grown into a big, bold, young man.
Elena: Hannah's daughter and middle child, and the one she bonded most closely with. She is a good way through her apprenticeship as a Redcap in Provencal. She has grown into a confident and inquisitive young woman.
Rolando: Hannah's youngest child. He started his apprenticeship as a Redcap just before Hannah passed her gauntlet and had any say, so he started a bit young but is well through his apprenticeship in Stonehenge now. He is noticeably smaller and less social than his older brother, but he is clever.
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Here is what I'm looking at mechanically. I've got her notable intelligence and determination along with her slenderness and weakness in Int, Sta, Str, and Qik. I tried to choose V&F to make her a good thinker and book learner. I think the Flaws particularly fit her background well. On the Virtue side Unaging is what I was hinting at with the odd growth spurts. One question: would Cautious with Philosophiae apply to Reforging Enchanted Items and similar? If so, that's probably a better choice than Cautious with Artes Liberales. But ultimately that's a mostly insignificant choice left to make.
Int +3, Per +1, Str -2, Sta +2, Pre +1, Com +1, Dex +1, Qik -2
Affinity with Philosophiae [1]
Baccalaureus: Salerno [1]
Book Learner [1]
Cautious with Artes Liberales / Philosophiae [1]
Cautious with Concentration [1]
The Gift [free]
Hermetic Maga [free]
Life Boost [1]
Mystical Choreography [1]
Puissant Finesse [1]
Puissant Magic Theory [1]
Unaging [1]
Verditius Magic [free]
Ambitious [-3]
Bound Casting Tools [-1]
Covenant Upbringing: Domus Pacis [-1]
Hermetic Patron: Constantius of Mercere [-1]
Magic Addiction [-3]
Unimaginative Learner [-1]
Here is an estimate of Abilities & Arts at the end of apprenticeship. I've got 10 points saved for Spell Mastery. I'm thinking it might make more sense to change the two area lores to specifically be the covenants rather than the Tribunals, and to add another lore for Schola Medica Salernitana. Or maybe just narrow the regions down to immediately around those spots. But I also hate going too narrow and making the number of Abilities explode.
Age 31
Area Lore: Levant Tribunal 1 (Domus Pacis) [5]
Area Lore: Roman Tribunal 1 (Verdi) [5]
Artes Liberales 2 (Ceremonial Casting; Greek, Latin) [15]
Athletics 1 (Dance) [5]
Awareness 1 (Alertness) [5]
Bargain 1 (Magic) [5]
Brawl 1 (Dodging) [5]
Charm 1 (Debate) [5]
Concentration 3 (Spells) [30]
Craft: Armorer 1 (Verditius Magic) [5]
Craft: Glassblower 1 (Craft Magic) [5]
Craft: Jeweler 3 (Verditius Magic) [30]
Craft: Meadmaker 1 (Craft Magic) [5]
Folk Ken 1 (Debate) [5]
Etiquette 1 (Hermetic) [5]
Finesse 2+2 (Craft Magic) [15]
Guile 1 (Debate) [5]
Intrigue 1 (Debate) [5]
Language: Arabic 5 (Levantine) [75-75=0]
Language: Classical Greek 3 (Reading) [30]
Language: Latin 5 (Hermetic) [75]
Leadership 2 (Laboratory) [15]
Medicine 1 (Physician) [5]
Organization Lore: House Verditius 1 (Initiating Others) [5]
Organization Lore: Order of Hermes 1 (Certamen) [5]
Magic Theory 4+2 (Items) [50]
Parma Magica 1 (Certamen) [5]
Penetration 1 (Certamen) [5]
Philosophiae 1 (Experimental Philosophy) [5]
Profession: Beekeeper 1 (Using Magic) [5]
Profession: Scribe 1 (Latin) [5]
Stealth 1 (Natural Areas) [5]
Swim 1 (Underwater) [5]
Rego 14 [105]
Vim 9 [45]
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Also, narrow lores of distant place are kinda lost xp. I'm fine with using more general lores in such an instance.
Looks good overall. Only comments are that she is a bit spread out in the abilities, but perhaps too narrowly focused in the Arts? Leadership seems comparatively high when compared to AL, Philosophiae and Craft abilities, but that's a personal choice I assume? No Bargain score for a Verdi?
Yup. That's why I didn't really want to drop lots of xp on lores about specific covenants we might never see directly even with many decades of play.
Aack! Bargain! I knew there was something I was missing. I was also debating some other crafts. I do see one I specifically missed.
As for Craft being low, 3+1 for Verditius Magic in her main area isn't bad. The other Crafts are more filler. As for low Abilities, she got Latin 5, Greek 3, Magic Theory 4, and Craft: Jeweler 3. After all that I didn't have a lot more I wanted to put into specific Abilities, but I also wanted to cover reasonable things like including Profession: Scribe, a bunch of lores, etc. I've been debating dropping Leadership to 2, which would give 15 points to put into Bargain, a missing Craft, and a missing Profession.
Ya, Rego and Vim. I kept finding Rego 13+ and Vim 8+ were important, as well as a total of 23 between them. I wanted to drop to a total of 18, but I kept finding that problematic for things I wanted to work toward. Really, I should probably drop Puissant Finesse and take Skilled Parens, which could buy Finesse back to 4 while picking two more Arts near 5 and adding 30 levels of spells.
And what is it you want to look toward? I can't help but remember Alice in the other saga, and how that turned out. 
Not that I expect the same situation, but I'm still curious about what you want to do with such a narrowly specialized Arts.