Actually, there are three new characters coming in - I built one several months (years?) ago and was about to introduce him, but Real Life™ intervened. Now, after a long pause, I'm back 
I guess I really should re-post Marco, I did make a couple of minor tweaks, but they shouldn't really affect much.
I'm sorry. I hadn't realized that you were waiting on me.
I assume he'll come sailing in looking to research the ruins. Nothing too complicated. He can come in any time you want. He's a Seeker looking to seek. He can fit in nay way you like.
Gregorius did note what he'd found in a report to the Tremere, if you want an excuse for how he found out about them (https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/the-break-room/102/1) - he could potentially have been shown a copy of the relevant parts of this?
Fray had had a look over the ruins as well, but I'm not sure how interested he was in focussing on them as opposed to his own research (Ironboundtome?)
Here is my Criamon magus through gauntlet. He entered his apprenticeship directly after “Early Childhood” so there were no years for “Later Life.”
The magus now known as Alexis of Criamon was left at the doorstep of the monastery and orphanage of Xylinites in Constantinople as an infant. While his bright, almost glowing, sea green eyes were odd, he was taken in by the monks and housed at the orphanage. However by the age of five strange things began happening around him; children falling down when he yelled at them, objects floating for just the briefest moment as a let go of them and a sense of palpable dread whenever he was around. When he disappeared a few months later, the monks didn’t spend too much time looking for him.
The Criamon clutch that inhabited the cistern below the monastery had heard of the boy when he had arrived as an infant, and paid close attention when the “disturbances” began. When it became obvious the boy was Gifted, they came in the night and stole him from his bed. He began his apprenticeship immediately and proved to be an apt pupil. With very few preconceived notions, he accepted the teachings of Empedocles and Criamon without question, and became fascinated with the riddles of the House.
As he grew older, his faerie heritage became more prevalent. His now long and flowing hair was a beautiful blonde color with the slightest hint of blue shading and his smooth, angular face was completely devoid of facial hair. But with none of the members of the clutch knowledgeable in the ways of faerie, they accepted these facts and his faerie blood without any further investigation.
As he was expected to follow the clutch in the Path of Body after his gauntlet, his training focused on the art of Corpus to the near exclusion of all other arts. This wasn’t seen as a hindrance by the clutch, but as preparation for the Path he was being prepared to travel. However the day he finally answered the Riddle of the Magus changed those plans forever.
The clutch accepted his answer without comment, not wishing to show pride in his accomplishment, and began administering the Oath of Hermes to him and welcome him into House Criamon officially. It was then that another aspect of his faerie heritage became apparent; he was completely unable to swear the Oath of Hermes, or in fact any oath. Not knowing what to do, they couldn’t just abandon him because he knew too much Hermetic magic to not join the Order and they couldn’t kill him because that would be unapt, they contacted the Clutch of Ebony Eggs for advice. The Clutch of Ebony Eggs is the one clutch of Criamon following the Path of Strife, and upon hearing of the situation, they instructed the magi of Xylinites transfer the apprentice into their care. When he arrived, he was given a choice, death because the knowledge he had was too valuable to be released, or a lifetime of service to House Criamon as traveler on the Path of Strife while hiding his curse. Realizing this was the only way he could serve the greater good, the apprentice took the Hermetic name Alexis without ever swearing the Oath of Hermes.
Αλεξις (Alexis - means “helper” or “defender”)
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +1, Pre +1, Com -2, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +2, Qui +2
Size: 0
Age: 20
Height: 5’11
Weight: 180#
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0
Confidence: 1(3)
Virtues:
The Gift (free)
Hermetic Magus (free)
The Enigma (Criamon)
Strong Faerie Blood [Neried - +1 Pre] (major)
Affinity: Enigmatic Wisdom (minor)
Affinity: Corpus (minor)
Improved Characteristics (minor)
Independent Study (minor) [HoH:MC pg 86]
Skilled Parens (minor)
Puissant: Enigmatic Wisdom (minor)
Venus’ Blessing (minor)
Second Sight (Strong Faerie Blood)
Flaws:
Faerie Heritage (major) [RoP:F pg 114]
Twilight Prone (major)
Covenant Upbringing (minor)
Deficient Form [Imaginem] (minor)
Lesser Malediction [May never swear an oath] (minor)
Optimistic (minor)
Personality Traits:
Devoted to House Criamon +2
Reputation:
Combat:
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1-5), –3 (6-10), –5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities:
Artes Liberales (Ritual Magic) 2 (15)
Athletics (Acrobatics) 2 (15)
Awareness (Alertness) 2 (15)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15)
Chirurgy (Binding Wounds) 2 (15)
Concentration (Spell Concentration) 1 (5)
Dead Language: Latin (Hermetic Usage) 3 (30)
Enigmatic Wisdom (Twilight) 4+2 (5 free+30*1.5 = 50)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5)
House Criamon Lore (Path of Strife) 3 (30)
Living Language: Romaic Greek (Hermetic Usage) 6 (75 free+30 = 105)
Magic Theory (Corpus) 2 (15)
Order of Hermes Lore (History) 1 (5)
Parma Magica (Vim) 1 (5)
Philosophiae (Metaphysics) 1 (5)
Second Sight (Faeries) 1 (5 free+0 = 5)
Arts:
Creo 5 (15)
Intellego 0
Muto 5 (15)
Perdo 0
Rego 0
Animal 0
Aquam 0
Aurum 0
Corpus 15 (80*1.5 = 120)
Herbam 0
Ignem 0
Imaginem 0
Mentem 0
Terram 0
Vim 0
Spells:
Corpus
Creo Corpus
Bind Wound, CrCo 10 (ArM5 pg 129)
Purification of the Festering Wounds, CrCo 20 (ArM5 pg 129)
Intellego Corpus
Physician's Eye, InCo 5 (ArM5 pg 130)
Muto Corpus
Gift of the Bear’s Fortitude, MuCo 25 (ArM5 pg 131)
Rego Corpus
Spasms of the Uncontrolled hand, ReCo 5 (ArM5 pg 134)
Rise of the Feathery Body, ReCo 10 (ArM5 pg 134)
Endurance of the Berserkers, ReCo 15 (ArM5 pg 134)
Gift of the Frog’s Legs, ReCo 15 (ArM5 pg 134)
Wizard's Leap, ReCo 15 (HoH:S pg 36)
Ignem
Creo Ignem
Lamp Without Flame, CrIg 10 (ArM5 pg 140)
Mentem
Creo Mentem
Words of the Unbroken Silence, CrMe 10 (ArM5 pg 148)
Terram
Muto Terram
Supple Iron and Rigid Rope, MuTe 10 (ArM5 pg 154)
I'm happy to take whatever hooks I can. Is this place relatively obscure that he would need to have read a report to learn about it?
No, not that much so, I suppose, although it's only existed for two years. It's definitely well known of in the Theban tribunal (as the tribunal founded its creation); I'm fuzzy as to how much so elsewhere. It was more that you were mentioning the ruins as a specific interest (although thinking about it, you did say ruins rather than barrows?)
Ruins, barrows, ... whatever you've got, that's what I'm interested in. 
The covenant is built in the ruins of a former greek/roman colony, near some barrows. We've got it all!
I've had a check over Alexis, and have a couple of thoughts:
Comments:
Covenant Upbringing states tat you can take Latin and Order of Hermes Lore at character creation. I was reading that as you can take it as part of Early Childhood (specifically I was factoring Latin in there). Rereading it, I can see how my interpretation is wrong, and I can make some modifications if necessary.
Yep, I was 5 short, thanks. I've updated the sheet above and added the math so you can check me again.
Oops, I wasn't even thinking about that. Just going with what the Sundered Eagle said about most magi in the tribunal getting a 6 so they don't have to get Classical Greek to read texts.
Awesome, thanks for looking things over. There are a lot of moving parts. I should say that I nicked the format from Trogdor, it makes a lot of sense.
I'll fix the characteristics, and the switch from Necessary Condition to Restriction makes sense. I've always seen those two flaws as mirrors of each other and I'm happy to go with restriction.
I think you're right on Area Lore, I may move those XP around a bit.
I was confused on advancement and source quality and will make the necessary adjustments, I don't think it will affect too much, but the art totals may change a bit.
For House Bjornaer Lore, I was counting my specialization in the 5 ranks, is this not allowed?
As for the Clans, the wording is somewhat ambiguous. It says the magus joins the lineage of those who taught him. I think that it would be appropriate for my magus to move away from his Parens' Clan after having met members of another clan during the ritual of Twelve Years. I suppose I could alter the Parens, but I'd rather there be that small tension there.
One thing I was wondering about is that I haven't developed many new abilities, particular social ones. Is this completely unrealistic? I was actually considering giving him the Flaw Ability Block in this regard, but I was wondering if that would completely handicap him. The way is see it is that he's very antisocial with the others in the covenant, and quite awkward, only collaborating when necessary.
Cheers.
Having just read Audaxus' background, I noticed a couple of things. First, a Bjornaer doesn't really have a Parens prior to the Gathering of Twelve Years. When a Gifted child is found, he generally spends about two years with a magus who teaches him Latin and watches for his temperament in order to guess at his heartbeast. After that time, the magus either brings him into his sept if the temperament fits or hands him off to another sept that is more appropriate. Once he is given to a sept, his 15 years of apprenticeship start and he is taught by the community of the Sept, not an individual Parens.
Once he completes the Gathering of Twelve Years he is considered a magus by the House, but in order to appease the Order, he is assigned a magus to finish out however many of the 15 years of his apprenticeship he has left.
It's probably worth figuring out when in his apprenticeship the Gathering of Twelve Years was because that could affect his personality some. Based on the dates given in HoH:MC, the relevant years for his Gathering would be 1203, 1215 or 1227. So if my math is correct, and you're stopping at age 35, he could have actually attended the Gathering of Twelve Years in his first year of apprenticeship (1203), which would likely make him pretty self-confident. Otherwise he could attend the one in 1215, towards the end of his apprenticeship.
If he attends the one in 1203, then pretty much all of his apprenticeship would be with a single magus, much like a standard magi, but he would be considered that magus’ equal among the House (ie. He likely wouldn’t call him Parens). If he attends in 1215, then most of apprenticeship would be as an "apprentice of the sept" vice a single magus, with only the last couple of years with a single magus mentor.
And this is the other issue. When one undergoes the Ritual of Twelve Years, more happens than just awakening the Heartbeast. They literally become family with their sept. According to HoH:MC, the ritual severs any familial bond they have with their mundane family, and forms one with their sept members. So Merinita Bloodline magic affects their sept now, not their birth family. Thus their sept (which is a subset of their clan) is truly their family in Aristotelian Essential nature sense. And you can never truly leave your family. You may not like them, or hang out with them, but they are always your family. And no other clan or sept would take someone from another clan/sept for that very reason.
Now, if you decided to have him go to the Gathering of Twelve Years in 1215 (meaning he had some pre-Gathering apprenticeship years) he could possibly switch septs sometime prior to the Gathering of Twelve Years.
Wow. I know so very little about how Bjornaer work.
I actually just went back and made some minor changes so that he now has 45 points of childhood abilities.
I think that that approach is doable is theory, but is pushing it a bit with a specialisation of "Mysteries" (especially as the example speciality listed for the ability in HoH:MC is actually the more limited Clan Mysteries). You could probably do it with a specialisation in Ancestors instead.
Given the background he has, it doesn't seem unreasonable, and he has a small amount of Folk Ken. We're companion light (by which I pretty much mean "non-existent") at the moment, but there are always grogs to do your talking to non-magical folks for you. Do bear in mind that having absolutely no score in an ability gives you three extra botch dice, though (assuming it's one you can even use without xp).
One other point - I think you want to change the Restriction to be Eyes Covered unless you're meaning it to be really harsh.
Looks fine to me now.
Why don't we say the start of Spring, 1228? You can introduce him in whatever fashion you like, and we'll assuming that the other PC's are all around at that point.
Scott
That sounds great. Just let me know when Spring 1228 is going to start.
For purposes of your character's introduction, Spring 1228 starts whenever you create a new thread for it.
We don't run stories in strict temporal sequence--that would take far too long, and PbP is slow enough as it is.
Scott
Okay, I'll get started.