Is there already a well established source of mundane income for the covenant or is that something that we need to work on through stories?
Basically the covenant has the rights over the village of Chastillion. We can always have it include a mill or something like that if we feel just the rent of the lands is not enough to represent a standard source of income. Most of the income would be in the form of food and goods, but I'm ok keeping this abstract.
Are we settled on Tugurium (The Refuge) for the name of the covenant?
Technically, the Latin word "Tugurium" refers to a hut, cottage, shack, or any primitive dwelling. A bit less appropriate to the sprawling structure of the covenant, but it may be a joke about its chaotic nature.
We could switch it to "Tuguria" and make it a plural if we wanted to highlight the sprawling nature of our covenant.
So looking at the maps and wiki pages, and I can't tell a clear answer to this - how close is the covenant to one or another of the great forests in the Rhine Tribunal?
In particular, if a magus wanted to build a lab "within the forest", would it be doable within the bounds of the covenant (perhaps but not necessarily in the caves)?
It all depends on what you mean by "within the forest". According to the map from GotF, the Black Forest extends down quite close to Basel, which is about 40 miles from the covenant.
But the Black Forest is clearly outside of the bounds of the covenant.
There are wooded areas withing the covenant's small valley (everything with a light green background is uncultivated, so mostly wooded), as well as elsewhere within Laimunt Valley. That is true in much of the Jura mountains.
But the areas with the strongest aura of the covenant have been cleared of wood. There's an area around the magical oak has mostly been left alone, but it is not dense enough to be called a forest.
I really mean "enough to count as forest for a Forest Path". Which I don't believe has to be the Black Forest but needs to be a forest with a significant magic aura.
Yup, any forest with a Magic Aura will do. Stronger Auras are helpful for learning.
Then the wooded area at the covenant wouldn't make the cut.
There doesn't appear to be a unified, large forest in the Jura -- it tends to be parcelled out by the mountains. So I'm not sure if a Forest Path would be possible.
However, a Mountain Path might be an alternative. HoH:MC p.103 lists Mountain as a sample Nature Lore. The Jura mountain range is large and wild enough to have a magical aura in broad areas.
The Oak of Binding Promises
The peasants who live in the villages nearby know about the oak at the entrance of the valley. They say it was the druids that planted it a long time ago. They say, the oak tree witnesses promises and rewards those who keep them. This makes it a popular spot for young lovers and for outdoor marriage vows exchanged between peasants. It is said that if you come back years after a vow you have kept, the tree rewards you with a golden acorn. This only works for vows that mean something, not for silly little promises. The covenant buys these acorns from the peasants because they contain herbam vis.
Father Luc, the local priest, isn't too happy about these pre-Christian beliefs, but since he is a kind man, he agrees to the peasants' pleas for marriage ceremonies under the old tree.
Story ideas:
- Father Luc dies and his successor is stricter about such heathen practices.
- A new church is built and marrying under the tree falls out of fashion.
- More people hear about the tree, leading to an influx of people that disturb the peace of the magi (and may awaken the local bishop's interest in the tree)
- the Christian rites performed next to the tree weaken it.
- Someone turns to the magi to ask for help with keeping a promise.
- The magi themselves use the tree for promises, like agreeing to the covenant's charter.
This may have been different than it is today. There was an incredible amount of deforestation going on in the 12th and 13th centuries. Alpine grazing in the form of seasonal tranhumance has been a factor in the Alps vegetation since the Stone Age, but it increased in the Middle Ages (Alpine transhumance - Wikipedia). This is real world data, and so it may be a bad idea to try to use it for Mythic Europe. But if we wanted to have a forest, we could always claim that it was there.
So, I just discovered that the Jura mountains have lynxes (well, they were reintroduced after being extinct on 19th century. This paper also has a neat contour map of the mountains.
Whoever is wandering around these mountains in the future, beware!
Also, I just discovered which animal Regulus will have as a familiar. Lynxes are said to be able to see through objects and reveal hidden truths.
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I like the description! 
Question to the troupe: Is everyone ok with this vis source being Herbam? That seems a bit divergent with regards to the powers ascribed to the tree. Based on the description, I would have expected it to be Rego, or maybe either Mentem or Vim, rather than plain Herbam.
I propose that the tree has a crop of regular acorns every year, that are Herbam vis, but if a suitable promise results in a golden acorn, that gives an additional pawn of Rego vis.
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I second that proposal, with a twist: a broken promise is one less pawn of Herban.
It would also be nice to have an yearly festival, some kind of fair, around the oak. Maybe sponsored by the covenant. That would make it easier for:
- people to make oaths under the oak;
- people to return 1 year after the oath (assuming keeping the promise for 1 year is enough, maybe more time is necessary);
- magi to know who has made promises (and ensure these promises are not broken);
- magi to ensure that the right kind of promise is made (we don't wanna no one promising their firstborns to the Good People);
- keeping the mundanes happy (everyone loves fairs and holidays!!).
Maybe the fair doesn't exist in 1204; maybe it existed until 20 years ago, but not anymore. Or maybe it already exists and the magi can give a little help to make it even better.
I would not advise that, because you might end up with no Herbam at all! 
A festival of some sort with the villagers attending would be interesting. Reinforces the local traditions. It may also make the local priest frown at the pagan undertones and involvement of the magi.
A fair often involves merchants and many strangers, so I doubt that would be a good thing on the covenant's doorstep!
I think it can be an old tradition, which may be what attracted Leonardus' attention to the valley in the first place.
I'm ok with a mixed Herbam and Rego source.
I've added the Oak in the covenant's vis sources, with a few changes. All the is missing is the quantity collected each year. Suggestions?
The agreed total for the covenant is 60 paws/year, right? Do we have a target number of sources? There should be at least one in each tribunal, right?
I think 5 or 6 sources (with the oak counting for 2) could be nice. 15 paws Herbam and up to 5 pawns Rego? Idk. Now that I wrote it it seems like a lot.
No target number of sources, but I was thinking a few main ones and several smaller ones. At least 10-15 pawns which are clearly in each Tribunal's territory, so that no matter what direction the covenant takes there will reason for conflict (contested vis sources).
Then I'd say 5 pawns Herbam, up to 3 Rego, but usually only 1.