Discussion and development thread for Elena ex Mercere, Lucas' potential apprentice in the making, and very much a work in progress.
Remember, instead of Puissant Muto, Elena could take Mutantum Magic as a House virtue. She'd have the advantage of getting a lot of boosted/harnessed/tethered spells taught to her by Lucas.
Are you allowed to take Unnatural Magic if you're not Merinita?
It'll also annoy your master, since I was hoping to get my apprentice to extract vis to pay for some of the tasks I was going to set for her. 
I was actually thinking she wouldn't have Mutantum Magic, initially, but has clear potential for it (Bound Magic and such). At which point it would be up to Lucas to unlock it and teach her about it?
As for Unnatural Magic, it's open to all I believe (ordeals for initiatory rites, House Merinita, or those who have similar interests). The idea I was going for when I took it~ Elena's magic is very...fluid. I think fluid is the word I'm looking for: the affinity for muto, the flexible magic, etc. Unnatural Magic seemed to be a good fit for reinforcing that feel. If you've got an alternative though, I'm open to suggestions!
(alternatively, we find other ways to get vis. Clearly (poor shy, timid) Elenor has the chops to go after faeries, into vis groves, or deal with spirits - she's got that Legacy flaw after all!)
I'll give it some thought. One thing that comes to the top of my mind is Harmless Magic.
HARMLESS MAGIC
Minor, Hermetic
The character’s Perdo spells cannot permanently destroy anything; they temporarily disrupt the target, like Perdo Imaginem magic, but as soon as the duration has passed the target returns to its natural state as if nothing had happened, like a Muto effect.
I initially had Harmless Magic in there as well! Sadly, they're not one-for-one swappable. Unnatural Magic is a major flaw, and Harmless Magic is only a minor.
Low Self-Esteem would fit...which is, err, well it feels sort of like it's worth more points than a major flaw normally is. But I could see myself taking it!
Ah, missed that it was a major flaw. Let me look again.
Chaotic Magic fits nicely.
Or maybe if you made it an inherited Flaw to be paired with an inherited Virtue of Flexible Magic ...
But you already have ten Virtue points spoken for and the bonus House Virtue. Where would you fit it in?
That'd be pretty interesting. Elen's magic becomes less stable and less distinct as her powers grow. Or probably more like...breaking whatever chains keep formulaic spells in one piece introduced some other flaw into her understanding. I think that can work.
You can teach new hermetic virtues regardless of how many I currently have. Though it may be very difficult to do so without including a corresponding flaw as well. Teaching Hermetic Virtues, pg. 40 of Apprentices if you have it. If it ends up being too tricky, I might just swap out the Puissant: muto. I was just thinking that Lucas trying to pass on his magical legacy might make some good story fodder.
Assuming all of her hermetic Virtues count (4 minor and 1 major), that's 15 + 4*3 + 9 = 36 as a Target Value for Lucas's SQ for teaching her. Best I can manage right now is 12, though that will rise as his Teaching goes up. But even with a hermetic flaw, I can only drop it down to 33. (You can only teach a hermetic Flaw that you have - Disjointed Magic in Lucas's case.)
Even with Elena's Apt student, Lucas would need Teaching 17 to be able to teach her another hermtic Virtue.
Ah, and I just saw something else in Apprentices on page 42: "The apprentice must learn the same free House Virtue that his parens knows." (Last paragraph, middle column.)
That does seem to limit your ability to take anything but Mutantum magic...
On the bright side, Lucas has a lot of mutantum spells to teach. 
That's alright then! This is a magical journey of rules learning for me as it is :mrgreen:
Minor Magical Focus: Memories
This is a textbook exemple of a Major Magical Focus, IIRC, which would also make it 2 major foci.
May I suggest a subdivision (which I think the corebook also does, although I'm not sure), like "Erasing Memories" or (Better IMO) "Transforming Memories"? Or taking it as a major, and dropping FFM?
Also, you can only take a Tragic Characteristic if your stat is negative. I don't think it needs to be very negative, but I'm positive it needs to be negative.
Sounds perfectly reasonnable to me. This also gives a reason why lucas would be interested in taking her as an apprentice.
IMO, Unnatural Magic doesn't feel the bit at all, being more "your magic ain't real".
I would suggest a combo of an appropriate sigil (really! Sigils are great for this!) and Harmless, Weak and/or Weird Magic.
Fixed and fixed.
The idea is the magic wants to shift and change so much that it can't keep a solid form very easily. While I'm not adverse to Harmless or Weird Magic (I don't believe Weak Magic fits at all), they're both Minor flaws while Unnatural is a Major. Nor can I simply drop a Major flaw and replace it with a mess of Minor ones - that would take me well over the allowed five slots I get for Minor flaws.
What I would actually love to be able to do is take Curse of Venus (Inherited). Because I think Elena is shy enough that trying to play that one out would be hilarious. Sadly, only one Story flaw allowed and I need Legacy for the Heroic stuff.
The other Major flaw that I have entertained for the concept is Low Self-Esteem. I am wary of that one. For a great many reasons. But it would fit, and fit well.
As I recall, this saga allows two Story Flaws.
Okay, I can manage giving Elena some training in Latin during 1240 and then opening her Arts first thing in 1241. How does that strike you?
That works for me. I swapped out Nocturnal for Covenant Upbringing, and spent her later life XP. She looks like a budding redcap now!
Once I know your Teaching SQ for 1240, I'll add it to her Latin. And we also need to hash out the rest of her schedule in 1240 and 1241 (you're her master - you get to decide most of it!). She's going to need a crash course in literacy if nothing else. And if you want her helping you, the more magic theory the better.
I've got her listed on the magi planner next to Lucas.
For 1240 I have her plotted out for three seasons of Latin instruction, which will get her to Latin 4, and one season of MT instruction, which will get her to MT 2.
For 1241 I have her plotted out for one season of having her Arts opened, and three seasons of MT instruction, which will get her to MT 5.
These early seasons are a bit straightforward because we need to get the basics taken care of.
In 1242 we start with her learning her first Art.