Alright, lets feel out your concept idea and how to execute it here @ShakeZula
Muirenn of Athlone | Age: 25 | House: Merinita
- Personality Details:
A bold young woman from a humble fishing village near Athlone, who taught herself to read and write. Her personality type is playful/silly, recklessly curious, but a fast learner. She'll be slightly ignorant of the world, specifically when it comes to formal education and culture, but hopefully she can adapt.
- Proposed Concept:
Muirenn grew up in a small fishing village near Athlone. Ever since childhood, she's been sensitive to things that other people seemed unable to see. Strange spirits occasionally appeared around her, sometimes lingering for days at a time, or following her from place to place. She came to recognize some of them as Fae, though she never could understand why they took any interest in her.
To herself, Muirenn was nothing special. She had no formal teaching, but learned to read and write on her own, sometimes with the help of the Fae that visited from time to time. Eventually she understood their curiosity and investment, since her Gift surfaced. Overcome by emotion, she somehow performed a magical act without fully understanding what she was doing.
I figure something unusual/Fae oriented. This will likely draw attention and spark the beginning of her apprenticeship with the Order. Since I'm a new player, I wanted to make a concept that I, OOCly, can learn beside. It will make it much easier for me to learn the system and roleplay when I'm not expected to know the deep lore 
Why don't you take a look at the Crannog Village and see if you are interested in them? I think that it would fulfill a lot of the ideas you have expressed here.
That's perfect, actually. I can adjust her background to be from Crannog Village.
For her characteristics, I was thinking of the following spread:
Int +2, Per +1, Pre +2, Com 0, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik +1
(+1 Pre from Faerie blood Sidhe)
Virtues
- Gentle Gift - 3pt (p.82)
- Affinity for Faerie Lore -1pt (p.69)
- Book Learner - 1pt (p.72)
- Common Sense - 1pt (p.74)
- Faerie Blood (Sidhe) - 1pt (p.87)
- Second Sight - 1pt (p.106)
- Skilled Parens (Up for debate if played by a PC) - 1pt (p.108)
- Student of Faerie - 1pt (p.110)
Free: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Faerie Magic
Flaws
- Chaotic Magic - 3pt (p.122)
- Plagued by Supernatural Entity - 3pt (p.141)
- Faerie Friend - 1pt (p.128)
- Humble - 1pt (p.141)
- Reckless - 1pt (p.142)
- Weak Magic - 1pt (p.152)
So she's a Merinita then if you're taking Faerie Magic? Makes sense if you're interested in the Fae as an angle.
You're looking to play an apprentice then (given what you said about Skilled Parens/wanting to ease into things)? If so, and you are playing a Merinita, then saying she was orphaned by the destruction of Praesis makes total sense. She got out of dodge before everything went sideways and ended up hiding at home (and yeah the village is a lot of fun and a perfect fit for her for sure). Cue the covenant being founded, and she's back in the middle of everything.
A few thoughts that you might want to look at (but by no means have to!):
Familiarity with the Fae - Just an all around great virtue, and gives you an oops button as it were. Which since you're learning the setting... seems very handy?
And while I know you took Gentle Gift, it might be worth considering Inoffensive and Alluring to Faeries instead. And since it works on anyone with virtues aligned with those realms, and given the high amount of Faerie Blood in the village, it effectively would have acted like Gentle Gift for her.
I strongly recommend a Magical Focus of some kind. Doesn't matter if it's a minor or major. It's the one virtue that I never build a character without. And you'll often find that's true for most mages.
@ShakeZula I'm replying to @Nithyn here, and his comments, but doing so directed at you for your benefit. All the below are simply intended to be informative and/or suggestions to help you along. By all means I'd welcome further discussion of any points.
I believe this is accurate.
This is an interesting possibility.
There is one logistical problem I see here and that is that we do not have a Merinita in the Covenant to be her teacher.
I'm open to ideas from everyone for how to facilitate this? On the meta level I have no problem with a player new to Ars wanting to ease into things and want to find a way to make it work, for them to play what they want and how they want.
I think the idea that she was orphaned by the destruction of Praesis has a lot of potential here if @ShakeZula likes it? After that we need to find either a new mentor or do something else.
One idea that occurs to me is that she could have been declared gauntleted/graduated by the Merinita of the Tribunal for having survived the destruction of Praesis (which obviously most people didn't). Thus she can live where she wants (and thus join Inchmore on her own), but everyone can know full well that she didn't finish her apprenticeship and still has lots of learning/growing to do and frame their expectations accordingly.
Another thing potentially to take here is Hermetic Patron (ArM5DE page 132)
This gives you the guidance and assistance of more senior Magi. You could take this for whatever type of Magi you wished (such as your House, Merinita for example) to reflect them all basically wanting to help the "poor kid" who had her original teacher killed.
Realms of Power: Faerie, page 113. I would agree it is worth considering, though I would caveat that with ... she also is already purchasing Common Sense, though arguably ... "more" common sense applicable to Faeries doesn't seem like it would hurt?
Inoffensive (Beings) (Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 86)
Alluring (Beings (Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 86)
So you have several options here that do things a little differently and have different levels of investment. Inoffensive makes you effectively Gentle Gifted, but only to a particular category of beings. If you wanted this for Faerie it would save you two points in comparison with Gentle Gift. Alluring, as opposed to the experience of most Magi with the Gift, makes you mystically appealing to a category of beings. You could stack this with Faeries and still save 1 point in comparison to Gentle Gift. However again ... this would apply only to Faeries, and you would be strange and off putting (the normal effects of the Gift) to anything else like most Mages are. You can only purchase one Inoffensive selection, and you can't purchase an Alluring to anything that you have normal Gift penalties to. So doing it this way to save points means you could only do it to the one category of beings.
Gentle Gift however applies to everyone/everything and means you don't have the normal social penalties of most Magi. You also therefore could in theory purchase more than one Alluring category paired with Gentle Gift. This would be a heavy but likely effective investment in social prowess, if you wanted to do so. (Example: Gentle Gift, Alluring: Faerie, Alluring: Magic: 5 points)
There are a lot of possible options/permutations here, depending on whether you would like to save some points or go all in on social prowess.
In general I would agree here. It is one of the virtues (whether minor or major) that typically has the highest return on investment, affecting both lab totals and casting totals for your area of specialty. Of course that means you need to figure out what that specialty is. Though that can be just an inborn knack for a given type of magic as much as reflective of any particular special training etc.
If you have any ideas here we can discuss them and/or help you brainstorm ideas here if you are interested in finding one.
Lets reattack this once we settle/discuss the various suggestions above. But the next step I'd like to see is a discussion of how you see all of the virtue/flaw selections and how they contribute to / reflect your overall character concept. How you define them and expect to see them manifest in play, etc.
Once we iron out a final set of selections be thinking about how to write up something like that and what they all mean to you in relation to the character for later.
I'm still pretty new, so I have no idea what this is. I'll do a search across the forums, but perhaps you could point me to the source information so I can look it up? Other than that, I think I will keep her current virtues and give the character a try as she currently is pitched. This is just simpler for me while I try to understand the system and see if it's for me, while keeping to what I've read about and feel fits her the best.
If I end up really loving the system, I may take a crack at another, more mechanically optimized PC.
If you are starting as an Apprentice instead of a "graduated" Mage on their own, you need a Master/Teacher. This Teacher needs to be of the House that you want your Mage to eventually be a member of, so that they can train and induct them into it. I want to make sure that what you want to do is facilitated in this way in play, however the Covenant does not have a Merinita Magus member. Therefore I was soliciting ideas for resolving this potential issue from the group and offered one as well.
Sure. And if you ever aren't happy with anything and/or are just looking for advice, just let me know.
Any questions so far?
Is it possible to maybe play a supporting character to another player to start? I know that the system allows for followers and the like, and I feel that my interest is more aligned with the narrative than the mechanics. I just want to jump into writing, see the system in action, and let that decide if I should make a mage.
I thought of suggesting that, but I refrained myself because a lot of people get attracted to Ars due to the strong magic system. But if you think that wouldn't get in the way of your fun, I do think it's a solid approach.
I'm biased, but may I point you towards Atheus (my magus)? He is a very social man who is in need of a personal shield grog, that is, a personal protector to get between him and any hostile blade. This is a simpler character (up to 3 minor virtues and 3 minor flaws, and a very defined role) that might help to get you into play and understand the system. And after you have designed a grog you can move to a companion for one of the other magi? Grogs are also (more or less) expendable, so don't be afraid of "messing up"!
If you are interested in that a few solid concepts would be:
- standard soldier (a loyal sword and armor guy/gal)
- a large, large man (more on the intimidating side than overtly martial. Think of a bouncer kind of guy)
- a bodyguard maidservant (an unassuming but competent female bodyguard, capable of doubling as spy and infiltrator)
- anything else you might suggest! As long as they can stop a blade (that is, has a minimum combat ability) I'm open to anything!
If you are not that interested in a martial grog, there are a lot of other options! A minor (or even major!) member of the clergy might be of use given the direction our first story is taking!
Ooo, I like the idea of a bodyguard that doubles as a spy. I'll need to double-check the book for the creation of a grog to make sure I don't mess it up. Did you already have something in mind for how the pair meet, or are we making something up from scratch?
Nothing at all. Atheus spent the last three years traveling around Ireland together with merchant caravans, so they could have met basically anywhere except for Connacht (where he didn't go). But she could also be someone he knows from Circulus Ruber, the covenant where he was apprenticed.
I think it would be a fun power dynamic if she knew him as an apprentice before. Maybe she guarded the caravans between posts, never settling down in one place too long. It would make it easier for her to spy under those conditions, easy to get in and out of settlements without grabbing too much attention. Could be fun if she has always lived life on the road, merchant parents or the like.
I will check out your character thread for details on Atheus, but is there anything that you specifically want included in the character? Would you prefer to establish their working together in a scene, or cover that in backstory so she comes into play already as his guard?
I know you said Grog to start, but I see there is already a template for a Rogue in the book. Would this be acceptable? Would you suggest any specific edits for it to suit your PCs needs?
The Rogue
Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre 0, Com +1,
Str –1, Sta 0, Dex +4, Qik +4
Size: 0
Age: 20 (20)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: Wanderer; Great Dexterity,
Great Quickness, Improved Characteristics (x2),
Light Touch, Perfect Balance, Puissant
Legerdemain, Puissant Stealth; Avaricious (Major),
Dark Secret; Compulsion, Night Terrors
Personality Traits: Avaricious +6, Daring +2,
Sociable +2
Reputations: None
Combat: Fist: Init +4, Atk +7, Def +7, Dam –1
Soak: 0 (Stamina)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15),
Incapacitated (16–20)
Abilities: Area Lore 1 (rich people's homes),
Athletics 3 (climbing), Awareness 3 (noticing
whether he is observed), Brawl 3 (getting away),
Charm 2 (people who think he's exciting), Folk
Ken 1 (people in authority), Guile 1 (when caught
red-handed), Legerdemain 5+2 (picking pockets),
Native Language 5 (being polite), Stealth 5+2
(being quiet)
Equipment: Clothes, secret stash of money that he
never spends.
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Customization Notes: The Rogue's Dark Secret can
be almost anything, but is most likely to be a
particularly vile crime that he committed in the
past, and now, probably, feels guilty about. The
compulsion should be to commit some sort of
minor criminal act, such as thievery, or to take
risks to prove he can. This character is
fundamentally fast and stealthy, although he can
turn on the charm to a certain extent. By moving
the numbers in Characteristics and Abilities, you
can turn him into a charmer with some ability in
stealth. Don't forget to change the Great
Characteristic and Puissant Ability Virtues if you
do this
Grog to start is just a suggestion to ease you in. ^^
A rogue companion will not be a good fit, however, because Atheus already has one. 
Vortigern is designing exactly such a character. I think an additional grog with similar skills offers options (they could operate in situations where Vorts' character can't, for example), specially if they are designed as a shield grog with some scouting abilities, but with an additional companion-level rogue you two would just be stepping on each other's toes.
If you are more interested in designing a companion than a grog (very fair, companions are a bit more complex, but more rewarding), then I think it's best to check with @Vortigern first about which magus would pair best with them.