I was just wondering, are there place where Gifted individuals are more likely to be born / show up? Or are they evenly spread around Mythic Europe?
I used to kind of assumed that Gifted individuals tend to be born near Magic Auras, but now I can't find any canon justification for that.
On the other hand, if the Gift is slightly hereditary, I am wondering how many places like Chersonesus in the Crimea might have a higher percentage of Gifted individuals.
According to Wikipedia, Chersonesus was a popular place of exile for those who angered the Roman and later Byzantine governments. Among its more famous "inmates" were Pope Clement I and Pope Martin I, and the deposed Byzantine Emperor Justinian II.
As we are aware, if you are Gifted you are more likely to be voted as someone to be exiled. So how many Gifted individuals might have been exiled to Chersonesus and similar locales?
In the Cradle & the Crescent (page 105), it's noted that a disproportionate number of Bedouin have supernatural abilities compared to town dwellers in the same region (although that may be partially due to initiations), and that Bedouin Sahirs are more often Gifted than their fellows elsewhere. That's not quite a statement that the Gift is more common amongst them than standard in Mythic Europe, but it's a reasonable implication to take. The area where they live has a lot of jinn, and is next to the "Empty Quarter", whic has one of the largest and most powerful magical auras in the Mythic Middle East (with an aura of up to 10, and easy access to the Twilight void). The two aren't explicitly linked, but it seems likely.
I'm not sure your specific example of people exiled to Chersonesus works - elderly Clergy probably aren't the best people to look to for descendants.
You might for your campaign pick some remote valley, where thousands of years ago a weird coven practiced AM p.54 Cultic Fertility Magic to favor Gifted descendents. With population influx from the outside limited and the inhabitants inbred, some of the results of these practices might still be felt there. Nowadays, the valley people are not happy with the high number of Gifted children.
So a wandering seeker of Gifted children for the Order might have stumbled upon a treasure trove there 20 years ago, and by dispersing the children among her sodales destroyed a lot of it at the same time.
What if ArM5 p.59 Petrus Virilis was one of these children? What if ArM5 p.58 Tandaline finds the valley with what the seeker of Gifted children has left?
Interesting. Awhile ago i was toying with an idea that something like Gormenghast might exist in Ars Magica.
My concept is that a Roman town/village in a remote valley (uncertain where) at the beginning of the barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire, that just happened to have a thriving group of Mercurian Wizards (haven't worked out how they thrived). When the Goths appeared to be about to invade the valley and sack the town, the Mercurian Wizards cast a ritual that pushes the entire town/valley into the local Magic Regio, where they remain to the present day, very few people able to enter/leave the isolated town.
The Mercurian Wizards leveraged the situation to their advantage and remain a major power in the valley, with assorted ritual jobs. One was the Mercer, whose job was to scout the mundane world and bring back info and supplies. The Mercer was of course laden with enchantments and geasa to prevent him from bringing danger to the valley. Then the then current Mercer encounters Trianoma, and decides to follow her and join the Order of Hermes, under the name Mercere. In the process the enchantements and geasa that he is under trigger and manages to befuddle him as to his origins, and possibly weaken/damage his Gift.
However, since Mercere doesn't die, and (ritually) passes on his position to his descendents, the hidden valley Mercurians can't ritually create another Mercer. They are coming to the conclusion that the Order of Hermes is an enemy that attacked and weakened them...
Now Mercere is supposed to have been an expert on Mercurian Fertility rituals. So " a weird coven practiced AM p.54 Cultic Fertility Magic to favor Gifted descendents" might indeed be possible.
Maybe it is time I dusted off this idea. Though anybody else is free to run with it.