Yes, you can be a founding member if you like.
Scott
Main requirement is somewhere the wolf can get to easily (I'm not planning him to be a lab assistant very much, but I'll want him to be able to access me easily, and he'll be getting enchanted at least sometimes). This probably rules out really obscure and hard-to-get-to places. Beyond that, upon Gregorius' arrival his first lab priority will be getting to a point he can enchant a Rego Mentem familiar bond. His refinement will be 0 for a while (initial MT 3). In the long run, it'll probably get specialised towards some combination of familiar, Rego, Mentem, Intellego and Terram, with the first three being the immediate priority.
I wouldn't say no to a size +1 lab and/or a dedicated building (although that increases the upkeep cost, and the book recommends against letting spring covenants take free flaws with upkeep costs unless they have the wealthy virtue (pg 114)). Disguised is also attractive.
What are the limits on upkeep? Are we sticking with +0, since we're a spring covenant?
I'm going to have to dig into Arthur's work some time this weekend to figure out what he had in mind, then round out the Boons and Hooks--so I'm not positive yet what our wealth will be. That being said, a bigger than normal Size or dedicated building should be easily accomodable, since each has its own drawbacks. The guidelines on 114 don't actually say you can't have Flaws that increase Upkeep, but rather than that (at SG discretion) you can start with with a few free Virtues and Flaws as long as the total Upkeep doesn't go over 0. You can start with Flawless Equipment, courtesy of Portia, and have it maintained for free (Upkeep -1), if you don't mind the Warping. Other than that, stick to stuff that's inherent in the structure/shape.
Scott
I know Salutor wanted a point value for the library. I apologize for not getting to it before, but I had to get up to speed on the covenant creation rules (it's been years since I first read them) after taking over the covenant description at the last minute. For right now I'm going to handle just the Build Points, and add Boons and Hooks later (you guys still have to discover most of those, after all).
Power Level: Medium
A new covenant is supposed to be Low-power, but I figure this one has a lot of help.
There are two grogs per magus--that's one grog per magus more than normal, but as long as all the grogs are statted out, the extras don't cost Build Points. The are sufficient servants and teamsters to take care of both the permanent residents and guests. The covenant will have extra space to accommodate guests. Although the guests will increase expenditures, they have no effect on Build Points, save for the five extra labs for guest magi.
I'm not counting the familiars or the two cats Viola brought among the inhabitants, since they don't require normal living space, and don't count for Expenditures (they can feed themselves, and at any rate would be less expensive to feed than humans). Mind you, were someone to bind a dragon as a familiar, and it had to be fed two sheep a day, I'd take account of it. 
Inhabitants
Magi: 5 (+5 guests)
Companions: 2 (+5 guests)
Specialists: 3 (blacksmith, carpenter, bookbinder)
Grogs: 10 (+10 guests)
Inhabitants Points: 47 permanent, 50 guests
Figuring that the guest quarters will typically be half-occupied (for a typical total of 72 Inhabitants Points--I'll round down), we'll eventually need the following servants and teamsters, though only half of them are necessary at the moment. We might also be able to hire some laborers locally.
Servants: 7
Teamsters: 8
That comes out to 62 points of permanent inhabitants, and 87 points with guests--we're going to need some extra income here (since typical income for a covenant of 5 magi is 85 pounds, and 87 points of inhabitants cost 87 pounds a year), especially to support those extra labs, but then, you probably knew that already.
OK, on to the Build Points.
Enchanted Items: 12 points
PeAn(He) 30 effect to destroy Parma Magic books in an emergency (Base: 4; Range: AC; Target: Group): 12
This could actually be a charged item, but that wouldn't make it cheaper in Build Points.
Labs: 300 points
Extra Labs, 5: 250
Minor Lab Virtues, 5: 50
The Minor Virtues would be things inherent to the structure of the labs, like Auspicious Shape or Well Insulated, and the number here is approximate. Taking them, though, will require taking Minor Flaws as well, or larger labs (20 points per extra point of Size).
Money: 30 points
Money Stocks, 300 pounds: 30
This will be necessary to get the covenant off the ground, until we can earn our own keep.
Specialists: 0 points
If anyone wants a specialist other the the three default ones (see above) or a Companion, please pipe up.
Vis: 75 points
Sources, 10 pawns/year: 50
Stocks, 100 pawns: 20
This sources include only those sources we'll find in the first couple of seasons; you can expect to find a lot more later on (and I'll reduce the starting total Build Points accordingly).
That all adds up to a total of 417 Build Points, with anything left over to be devoted to the library (including lab texts). I'm going to start with a notional maximum of 1250 Build Points for a Medium-power covenant, add 250 for the extra labs (which are useless to the permanent magi), but subtract 150 for extra vis sources that will be found fairly easily in the next few years, and 250 points for Lab Virtues that will be added early on (neither of these really count for Build Points--I'm just trying to get a handle on the appropriate power level), to give a total of 1100 Build Points. That leaves 683 points for the library. That may be a touch generous, but the library is for the use of guests as well, and therefore needs to be both adequate in general, and reasonably strong in Lore books useful for the area under exploration.
Comments or questions?
Scott
A little info on the local population: at the time, the Don delta was inhabited by Kipchaks, a Turkic-speaking pastoralist people who'd pushed out the previous inhabitants two or three centuries prior. Though pastoralist, most of them were probably settled in the 13th century, and even engaged in some horticulture, principally wheat, barley and rye. They buried their dead in mounds (earlier, pagan ones featured stelae--erect stone slabs--to represent slain enemies and the like). They were known as fierce warriors, and for their independent, often even warrior-like, women; they apparently had a high rate of literacy until their native language was replaced as a literary language by the languages of Christianity (Greek, I assume) and Islam (Arabic). Their social structure has been characterized as democratic, and seems to have been decentralized, with small groups joining together into "hordes" for warfare. They had converted to Christianity in the 11th century, under the influence of the Georgians, with, as it says above, many becoming Islamic in the 12th and 13th.
The Kipchaks near our covenant are settled. They raise cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as wheat, barley, and rye--and so the land around us is mostly pastures and fields. They're Muslims in this area.
Scott
So, just to be clear, do the local Kipchuks speak (a dialect of) Turkish, Arabic, Greek, or some combination of the above? Also, I assume from the bargaining on arrival (and that the tribunal has basic common sense) that we have at least one translator with us; do we have multiple, or is he a precious resource (leaving aside Gift of Tongues/spells)?
I'm just re-finishing Tasia. She can speak with them. Not sure if we have anyone else. Most likely she'll be the one to hire someone else.
Chris
I was planning to make a chirurgeon grog (none of our current magi seem to have both the ability and the inclination to tend to the wounded). Probably aged about 50, Chirurgy at 8 plus a bit of teaching (4ish?) and herbalism. I think if I stat him out he doesn't cost build points (seems a little odd)?
Possibly redundantly, I was also thinking about including some lab texts for bandages with a charge each of Bind Wound and/or a bed that gave a recovery roll bonus.
Wow! That's a bit shocking. I so commonly do that I avoided it this time. Tasia could be a good one to do some of it since she'll master the rituals, which is really handy. Her CrCo combination is far from spectacular, but she can handle it.
Chris
Kipchak, though clergy would know at least a smattering of Arabic. As callen pointed out, Tasia would be able to speak to them with Gift of Tongues, and it's possible that at least one of the grogs knows this or a related language (both of Viola's old shield grogs knew some Cuman, which is a related language).
I could give you a better answer if someone would create some grogs. 
Scott
Oooh, those are fun. Some have been there a few years, right? I'll make one of those. I'll have to go back through the threads to see how long ago the covenant fell apart, but I believe it was about 18 years ago, so a grog would be at least 40 or so if he was a grog way back when.
I suppose you need some other minor covenfolk. I'll work on a couple.
Chris
There's just the one grog who's been there--the others all fled on the destruction of the covenant. You can make that one grog, though, once you get an idea of what he's like in the ongoing story.
Beyond him, Arthur created two grogs, already posted in the appropriate thread, meaning there's a need for seven more, all of whom would have been brought along by the magi, either grogs who've served with them for a while, or some "donated" by other covenants in the Tribunal (admittedly, there's a good chance any such "donations" would be trouble). There's also Viola's Faerie Friend, who presumably doesn't need to eat and therefore won't count for Inhabitants points, though his weapons and armor might, unless they're made from glamour.
Scott
OK. I'll work on other grogs. It's probably easier to deal with them.
About the Faerie Friend. If I'm building him as a companion, I'm supposed to base him off the ages of the other companions (I think companions and not magi.) to build him.
Chris
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that. Is age even relevant to a faerie, or are you using it as a reference for power levels?
In any case, once you have his starting stats done, I can help you with advancement, unless you think just looking at Viola's advancement log (and the stories mentioned in there) will be enough.
EDIT: OK, just looked at the rules, and I see a faerie is supposed to start off with 360 XP's. Why not just add XP's for whatever he's been doing the past ten years to that?
Scott
Age isn't, but relative power level is. Powerful faeries need powerful stories. So they say to use the average age to determine that and then you get a certain number of points per year of average age.
Chris
I need someone to run a possible story (or even series of stories) involving a faerie regio in the covenant--or maybe something else, depending on what we discuss. I have something in mind, but Viola would be the main maga involved, and so I can't run it myself (the point of the exercise would be to find a place to establish her lab).
Any volunteers?
Scott
Faerie regiones are my specialty I'd do it.
Oh, I missed this post somehow--this board really is flaky at sending notifications. OK, let me PM you what I have in mind.
Scott
I've put together a tentative list of Boons and Hooks for the covenant, based on what you guys suggested at the start, and on the work that Arthur did, and on what I've been able to find out about the site (one major thing is that Road is inappropriate, because, while Tanais lay on the coast at the mouth of the main channel of the Don, that channel has moved miles to the south now, and the cost moved three miles to the west, while the water level has fallen nearly 20 paces, leaving the site, literally, high and dray, and kind of out of the way. It's not that far off the beaten path, though, and the new trading center of Azaq (Azov in Russian) is about 10 miles (half a day's ride) south by southeast.
We end up with more points of Boons than Hooks, which means, at the bottom of this list, I'll provide some suggested additional Boons, and I'd like to hear opinions on which ones you'd prefer.
Boons: 7 points
Aura (Minor) x2--at least parts of the covenant site have an aura of 5. That's all you get to know for now.
Vast Aura--you noticed on the journey in that that's an aura of 1 even at village on the coast. It's hard to say right now exactly how far it extends.
Bedrock--without any fortifications, this may not be all that relevant, but the whole site rests on limestone bedrock; although undermining would be difficult, there are (or were, anyway) multiple entrances to the cave system beneath the covenant.
Hidden Resources--it's possible that, as you explore the covenant site, you'll find useful things left behind.
Vis Grant--I could have used Vis Salary, but there are more than enough Hooks already.
Ungoverned--Rus and Kipchaks have vied for control of this area for the past couple of centuries, and neither group exerts a great deal of central control (the Rus because it's so far from Kiev, the Kipchaks because their society is decentralized).
Free Choices
Manor House--after being properly repaired, this would be the best description of the covenant, though it actually will consist of multiple stone buildings.
Hooks: 19 points, 16 without City
Regio (Major)--no comment.
Regio (Minor), Regio (Faerie)--this is the regio over the temple to Neptune. It's possible that it's worth more than two points; that's up to Arya.
Hedge Tradition [Major Hook]--no comment.
Rival (Major)--somebody destroyed the old covenant, and whoever it was is still out there. Or maybe there's a new, Minor, Rival, as an Unknown Hook.
Favors (Minor)--the covenant is dutybound to provide hospitality to visiting magi.
City [Major]--this is iffy. Azaq (Azov in Russian) is only 9 miles away as the Bjornaer flies, but Google reveals little info about this period. The region came under Rus control in the 10th century and then Kipchack control in 1067, and will come under Mongol control later in this century, at which point Venetian and Genoese traders will be allowed to found a settlement, Tana. In the meantime, it's not clear there's even a settlement on the present-day location, let alone a big one though a settlement partly inhabited by Slavs could be amusing. In short, if you want the City hook, I can make it so. If you want the city to disappear, I can do that, as well.
Ruined Covenant [Major]--you're actually on the site, but it could take a while to explore it fully. I'm not positive that the Hidden Resources Boon is necessary given the presence of this Hook, but I'll feel better about giving out goodies with that Boon chosen. This could also be Missing Expedition (which is Minor), given that the old covenant might not have been all that powerful, but I think, given the known location of the old covenant, and the necessity of exploring its ruins, Ruined Covenant fits better.
Roman Ruins--lots and lots of dressed stone, and angry ghosts.
OK, that leaves us with 7 points of Boons, and 16 or 19 points of Hooks, which means we need to come up with 9 or 12 additional points of Boons (or possibly more, depending on what Arya does). Here are my suggestions:
Healthy Feature--the climate here is relative mild, and humid, which is not particularly healthy, but I do have an idea for at least one Healthy Feature that's not in place yet, but can be relatively quickly. This one, of course, can be taken multiple times (I can probably figure out another one or two if you want).
Unnatural Law--I'm not sure what I'd do with this, but something could be made to fit, and I'm sure it would be amusing.
Hidden Resources--this could be taken multiple times.
Secondary Income, Wealth (Minor), and/or Dedicated [Major]--as I mentioned in an earlier post, the standard income source isn't going to cut it for supporting the extra labs, even with magical maintenance of most of them. My original intent was that, while the covenant would be a dedicated one, the Tribunal would simply stake the magi to a whole mess of vis and some covenfolk, and consider hospitality for visitors as repayment of that debt; however, it's also possible that there's ongoing support (that would also relieve me of the responsibility for coming up with more than one viable source of income that for some reason isn't already being exploited, but I'm sure I can come up with more if I have to). So, anyway, basically, the covenant needs more income: how do you want to earn it, by adding one or more extra sources, by making the main source bigger, and/or by specifying continuing support from the Tribunal?
Cavalry--it should be possible, if it's desired, to recruit some of the local Kipchaks as a fighting force, perhaps in return for allowing them to graze their animals on the covenant site, and (this goes to their reason for not doing so already) making sure no supernatural nasties bother them while they do so.
Local Ally--the headman of the nearest village could be friendly and supportive.
How do we feel about those suggestions? Even if we use all of them, that's actually probably not enough to make up the extra 9 points, let alone 12. Any other ideas?
Scott
[I'm moving this to get it out of the story thread and place it with the rest of the discussion of Boons and Hooks.--Scott]
(I'm not so good with the boons/hooks things-- just with the descriptions, layout, inhabitants, and story.)