Regarding the site, yeah, highest cliff looks cool. We can go for a mix of over the ground and underground, specially since we can open windows in the cliff side. 
I also think that halancar has better income source suggestions. I would place the ghosts in the marshes (dead sailors galore)
Fopund an image that shows what the island of Heligoland looked like in 1500. It is much much larger. The current island corresponds roughly to the two inner-most areas of the map.
The caption of the website where I found this is: "The medieval Helgoland on a map of Husum cartographers Johannes Mejer (outline around the year 800; gray area: around the year 1300; small island 1649)"
We can use that as the basis for the island in the saga.
And here's another version of the map, slightly larger
Much nicer than mine, even though the 1300 border is a bit less clear.
I may use it to draw up a map of the 1210 island, including the location of various buildings and facilities on the island.
Ha! Found it in Wikimedia Commons, even larger and in better colors.
For a full-sized version:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBAM_069.JPG
The grey-ish arms showing around the core of the island is probably stone -- red sandstone for the core of the island, chalk in the northeastern and south arms.
There seems to be much more vegetation than I thought, even trees. And I notice that there are numerous marks for churches and some sort of fortifications. That seems to be in line with some indications that the population of the island would have been around 2000 people. Very far from the small island that survives today. That gives us many more possibilities!
If I compare the length of the core of the island today (about 5000 feet) with the dimensions displayed on that map, I get an island which is almost 5 miles (7.5 km) long and almost as wide.
Seems we will be doing a lot of Perdo Terram!!! :mrgreen: Or suffering it. My magus concept is happier with the existance of trees on the island
What size will be used? The 800 or 1300 one?
Xavi
Or trying to prevent it? It would seem poetic that your small covenant fights against entropy, both physically on the island and petaphorically in the Order.
I will be using the 1300 border as a guide. A bit larger, but not that much.
I found some artwork depicting Heligoland. Great mood pieces, so here they are:
That cave and the fock of virds are vis sources, I tell you 
Now, to answer the question (I missed that!)
Resources (5 categories, ordered in descending order of priority)
1- Lab equipment
2- Mundane resources (such as money, building materials or a boat).
3- Books
4- Lab texts
5- Mundane servants (such as grogs and specialists)
Getting the materials to outfit at least 3 labs would be a high priority. We are in a quite remote place, and lab equipment is expensive, so getting this is not easy. We will be doing a lot of auto-research, so a lab is important whenever any of us wants to do anything except study vis. Creating minor items and inventing spells requires a lab, and these go a long way to improve our (fairly bad) starting position and making at least contenders for minor opponents.
I think that to build up the covenant my character would start by getting the necessary materials: money and materials. he can create some of the materials, but not all of them. Money would be especially important I think, or weapons. Weapons act as good currency in most parts of Mythic Europe. A boat would also be good, to have a way to communicate with the mainland without having to rely in people not used to The Gift.
Books are always welcome.
Dunno about the lab texts, but a text for Wizard's communion 20 would be more than desirable. "Highly desirable" as in "we must get that to be able to have a functional Aegis".
I prefer to get local servants, so specialists are not a high priority for me. Yet. Still, some servants that can sail would be necessary if we get a boat.
From important to less important
3: Books
2: Lab equipment
1: Mundane servants
0: The others
We should probably have at least a (lowish-level highish-quality) vim summa of some kind if we ever intend to be able to all learn and cast the wizard's communion.
Labs might be tricky to get our hands on.
Perhaps we might have someone who is capable of leading people who build us stone houses.
I think I will rank these in this order from top priority to least.
This is how my character would prioritize but I think we need some mundane servants to help us build the actual covenant. Some carpenters and stonemasons for example. Maybe not as covenfolk but we would need to hire them initally to put up some buildings. Quercus might help magically with his Oak specialty but I guess he doesn't want to put all his time into that if we can get some mundane help. None of us are very good with Terram it seems otherwise we could have excavated the ground and caves to make a living there perhaps.
Quercus will put his initial time to construct the covenant. And for the matter also will the rest of you 
You have a strength value above -3? No problem! you can move stuff! :mrgreen: Given what arthur has said, the first few seasons will see us moving around doing stuff and not having time to open up a book at all. Except one on "how to build your own cabin".
Perhaps we should go for some of those Do-it-Yourself guidebooks instead of Art summae and tractatus?
is there a "covenant building for dummies" book?
There might well be, but probably buried deep inside some library gathering dust. After all, no new covenant has been built around here for decades...
I'll almost certainly have Bernhard provide some contacts to hire locals to help in the initial building phase. After all, he is the only who knows where you are going, and it is unlikely that you'll be getting help from established covenants.
Indeed. we are bringing a minimum support staff (8 people, if Bernhard does not bring 2 dudes himself), but far less than necessary to fully staff a covenant, let alone establish one. Even after the initial phase, local laborers are necessary.
You have the option of recruiting some. Provided you can find a way to pay them (which shouldn't be too hard if you are careful).
Just don't ask Pytheas to do the recruiting. Scratch that, keep him out of sight of the new mundanes! 
A map of the island has been inserted in the Covenant Description thread. 
Any question or suggestion about it should be posted here, to keep that thread uncluttered.
Looking good, thanks!
Do you think you could mark the deathtree / prospective covenant site?
Also, when / if Quercus gets a fairly solid idea about the extent of the magic aura, that would be nice to have if it isn't too obstructive / labor intensive.
I was doing some more work on the map, adding the scale and marshy area to the east as well as adjusting the coastline slightly near Oberland, so I also added the loction of the oak.
For now I'm not adding the location of auras to it, as the search is still ongoing. 
