The really interesting thing to me is how easy it is for magi to create such a resource rich environment- it seems to me like this would be a typical covenant if magi were managing their affairs with half a brain. It always seemed to me that traditional advancement crippled characters relative to the rules as written.
The numbers at this, as far as I can tell, are deeply swayed by a few factors: (1) every 'senior' magus was designed to be a really, really good teacher. (2) Silveroak is being generous with handling ALL of the covenant management and optimization that lets the covenant prosper and profit to very high levels with less effort than normally done (3) Praesidium Orae is very resource-rich for vis and money (partly because of point 2 above, partly because of silveroak's use of Vis of Account, partly because we can just claim vis sources as rewards for adventures) (4) the original library was designed to be push magi very high into the Arts pretty easily, if I'm assuming the carbon-copy-Arts-Summae are all from original library. (5) other factors I didn't think of.
Of course, my experience with Ars Magica is mostly with inexperienced players, or this game. My new players are slightly ahead of the default numbers for 30-per-year advancement, but they're just starting to run out of books to read because the covenant is very new.
At the same time, the fact that a magus can write a tractatus that any other magus- even one who is more advanced than they can learn from, plus the fact that grogs can learn magic theory and write tractatus about it means pretty much any covenant should be able to be effectively unbounded in terms of development. Compound that with the trade and copying of tractatus (and even tractatus on arts can be copied by mundane scribes) and yeah, pretty much any covenant should be able to get similar results.
Also while vis of account is my invention, the rules it is based on regarding the vis trade are taken right out of RAW in HOH:true lineage (Mercere). Realistically where magi have had collective centuries to compile tractatus on arts and magic theory, levels should probably be higher than even what they are in this game. But I digress...
I think Ars Magica assumes a lower level of cohesiveness and free information flow for the Order, along with a low level of entrepreneurship. Wizard's Wars are probably also pretty destructive and what modern day people would call corruption is a drag too. Finally, covenants have a real tendency to fall into "winter" after they get powerful.
As an example of this Normandy Tribunal got its act together it should be able to copy its on a fairly large scale with mundane scribes. Everyone in the Tribunal could benefit greatly if they could have a trusted scribe make copies of books. Heck, the Normandy Library could benefit if they required the covenant scribes to make two copies every time they wish to copy something. For a little bit of money every covenant in the tribunal could have essentially full access to all the tribunal's books. Furthermore, the tribunal could still expand its library by trading with its neighbors. But that's never going to happen when their Code allows for straight up murdering grogs!
If the Order suddenly decided to start applying modern sensibilities the whole world could be transformed! Actually, that's the entire point of the book Transforming Mystic Europe.
I definitely see the ties between vis of account and the vis trade in True Lineages. The big difference is that you're letting us decide when the loans get paid off, rather than the debtor. It feels kind of like the bank saying 'Oh, I have some things I want to buy, you can pay off 10 percent of your debt this year before we start accumulating debt again.'
I also think QPaC is correct in that magi are in canon a very selfish and paranoid bunch, because of how destructive wizards war is, and how rare good scribes are. Player Character covenants are always an exception, because they make decisions with a lot more game-play benefits in mind, they are going to be better at rooting out any corruption or abuse of power. I think its a rarity in the Order that we have a covenant with SO many magi, and SO SO many grogs, and they as a policy are all working together. We have NO in-fighting in our... eight magi? That's impressive.
The vis investing thing is another thing that let's our covenant grow. While theoretically any covenant could do something similar, every covenant could not. Also, I don't think we could invest such a large amount of vis without impacting the market. Or we could, but that would lead to our "vis of account" becoming mostly theoretical. There is also the danger (due to the court system being so directly democratic) that if the majority owes us money, the "courts" might not enforce the debt!
technically only Harco owes you vis. A lot of people owe Harco vis however...
Faith has hit age five! But she' from a fertility ritual, so someone else needs to pick some flaws and virtues for her!
actually... she only needs someone else to play her if she is going to be Gifted, which is not part of her predetermined background.
So does this mean I can choose her virtues/flaws?
For 1145:
Gloriana/MR had no adventures, the maga returns from Twilight at the end of SPRING, but she discovers she's now a Lycanthrope! Actually, Mother Rabbit does the discovering. 
It's a good thing the Flaw allows the afflicted to recognize friends/loved ones. She now has to take some precautions to protect herself, others, and her Reputation once a month. Hopefully Fang does not find out and takes no advantage of this situation! I am making her lose the Highly Organized in the Lab because of this, messy times! She will now have a 3 day distraction/season, so she can now only ignore 7 days outside the Lab.
SUMMER : vis extraction CrVi 51 + 18 MT Creo + 5 Int + 7 Aura + 9 Lab + 13 Mother rabbit + 11 Sybilla + 24 Lady A = 138, 14 Vim vis! Warping shenanigans: 6 none!
FALL: remove haunted mirror for a Season, create LR, with no sterility issues! CrCo 68 + 18 MT Creo + 5 Int + 7 Aura + 9 Lab + 13 Mother Rabbit + 11 Sybilla + 12 Mercurio = 143 = +29 LR, has to spend 12 Vim vis (age 58).
Aging: 7 + 6 - 2 Magi standards - 2 Healthy Feature - 1 Good food - 1 Good wine -1 Regimen - 4 Bronze cord -29 LR = -27, nothing happens. But now earning 4 Warping points/year, woohoo!
•Andros/SR, done for the year, no Lab work
Aging roll: 4 + 9 Age - 2 magi Standards- 2 healthy locale - 1 good food -1 good wine -3 familiar bond- 19 LR - 1 Regimen - 1 Palatial Lab = -17, nothing happens
•Danaë gets Solomonic Alchemy at 0, spends 30 pawns in payments, gets 2 Warping points, and this inflicts a Minor Flaw: Magic Realm Spirit Companion (Minor, story), form TC&TC p.31. A spirit of the Magic Realm becomes obsessed with her and follows her everywhere now. To be built.
Aging roll 4 +6 Age - 2Magi standards - 2 Healthy feature -1 Good Food - 1 Good wine -1 Magic blood - 1 Regimen= 2 nothing happens (Unaging)
•Sybilla creates a shirt only usable by her that provides her with "Disguise of the Transformed Image", usable 50 times/day. Difficulty is 12 + Hermetic effect magnitude 15 + 6 (50 uses/day) vs +14 Craft Weaving + 4 Dex + 7 Aura + 5 Manual + 1 Superior Loom + 4 Clothing Transform self = 35
•Lady A
Aging 3 + 7 Age - 2 Wealthy- 2 healthy locale - 1 good food -1 good wine - 14 LR- 1 Monstrous Blood - 1 Regimen = -12 no change
Her husband Severinus 5 + Age 8 - 2 Wealthy - 2 Healthy location - 1 Food - 1 Wine - 1 regimen= 6 apparent aging
Lady A is going to demand Andros perform the LR her husband was promised so many years ago!
•Sandor done!
Hi silveroak,
Does Gloriana's Self-Transformation mMF help her LR totals?
QPAC: I choose 3 minor flaws and virtues, you can choose the rest
Ignes: no
Welcome back silveroak! I'm glad to know you are okay now.
I rolled the dice for Aurthor's insight from Demeter’s Blessing Hyperborean hym:
1145 - Spring
Insight roll: Int 5 + Magic Theory (Experiment) 13 + Inventive Genius 3 + Ancient Hyperborean 2 + orokos.com/roll/709203: 3 >> 6 = 24
I'd like to know what spell has been discovered this time.
nourishing rain: CrAu(Aq): base:1, range: sight (+3), target group (+2), duration: diameter: the Aq requisite and hyperborean insight allow the rains summoned by this spell to provide nourishment to plants and animals, and such a storm can be summoned during the driest of days. Level:10
Silveroak, I took over Khalid. I understand that as a Gifted character created by a Fertility Ritual, you are to assign 3 virtues and 3 flaws to the character. The only thing I see on the wiki is the plethora of traits Khalid received from his ambitious and overachieving mother.
Can you update him with the appropriate traits, or state that he's just fine as is? I see no need to further gild the lily...
updated, additional virtues and flaws may be added to customize. Also note that while it is not worth a flaw, Zola potter is inherently hostile since Gloriana used her husband to conceive the child.
On the other hand, "Aroldo" is Itallian for Harry, so his dad is Harry Potter...
Ok, what exactly is 'Uninspiring?' Is this the opposite of 'Inspirational' so Khalid finds it difficult to lead people? I looked through the index of Virtues and Flaws and didn't find it.
Actually when I looked it up I realized he couldn't have it- it is in Grogs, and prevents the character from having a presence or com greater than 0. (It is also inspirational, not uninspiring, my glitch)
I have replaced it with visions.
Thanks, Silveroak. Khalid gets 3 more V&F: Apt Student, Large, and Unaging with Susceptibility to Divine Power, Covenant Upbringing, and Unimaginative Learner. The first of each list is effective right now, the others are Inherited.