If there isn't already a clear division between the mercere quarter and the rest of andorra it may be a good idea to ask the covenant council for permission before cardonning off part of the covenant as 'mercere property'. My impression was that there was mercere house and a repository of mercere resources in andorra... but that things were a bit more cozy and informal than to have a full division like that yet perhaps I'm mistaken.
You are correct. There isn't a walled of section for the Mercere. They have a whole tower for their sole use though, a few other buildings in the castle, and that off site lab location. I believe Max wanted guidelines for determining the Mercere resources; staff on hand, vis stocks, enchanted devices, etceteras.
I thought we were raising the kids GDR style: Covenant-organized games, challenges to ensure the physical and mental fitness of the next generation and qualify them. A nice side effect is that children educated by the covenant can be used to denounce disloyal parents and to motivate parents. remeber Colonel Santiago from alpha centauri?
I don't recall the covenant educational process being much defined... but I am not at my best right now. There has been a forest fire near here for a bit now and the smoke is assaulting my allergies. I live in a coastal town and the sea wind appears to be pulling the smoke seaward, straight through my town. So I'm not sleeping well and am rather congested for the time being.
Anyway... enough whining on my part.
I assumed we just had a 'normal' for the day education model of apprenticeships and whatnot.
I like Jean-Michelle's vision the best. Still, Decimus may have strange foreign ideas. I want to see what he does, and perhaps see some shock and surprise when you see defiance amongst covenfolk.
Remember, they may be grogs, but they are still MEN, with wives and families. Those grizzled seargents, criss crossed with scars? they are not meat shields (as I have seen some people refer to grogs in other threads). They have names, Moses Mendez (and another one Fixer made whos name I forget). They have family, wives and children. They have souls. They are the life blood of the covenant, and without them we would all be lost.
And they should be played as such. Very important for the proper feel and backdrop for the story. Especially given Andorra's hooks. But just as important for Magi who are prone to it to view them as dirty mundanes who ought to do what they are told unquestioningly and not put up a fuss about it. The 'they are our brothers' view one can argue is rather enlightened and probably rather IC for warrior types who actually are accustomed to working hand in hand with warrior grogs and come to respect them. But... it isn't very IC for a lot of other concepts.
You can see my vision clearly 
Yes, the Comeraderie of Arms influences our covenant culture a lot. But still, not all the magi here are used to it. Especially Decimus, Viola, perhaps Octavius, and other new arrivals. I figure that Marie Norris, with her Tytalian philosophy, would admire the strong will and egalitarian aditude of our grogs.
And I do indeed want to play out a story with these conflicting expectations 
Sounds like the making for a whole slew of stories to me. 
And being the 'bad guy' can be rather fun.
Will Ludovico be present for the spring thread? Or am I still in OOC limbo?
I am timing your arrival to intersect with that thread. I have also recruited another player to fill the second gap. Arwan is making a Flambeau magus under my guidance, and will also have his arrival intersect with the new thread.
In other words, you are about to show up, but the meeting starts first.
Does the strong connotation of amici/amicus in Hermetic circles still exist in 5th Edition? I just assumed that it did, which is (one of the reasons) why Inigo is annoyed at Marie
I am under the same assumption?
I presume so. Sodale is the casual term, and Amicus is supposed to represent a strong personal ond. Which isn't to say it is always used that way. But in the case of Marie, Carmen feels genuine affection and friendship. 
girls.
Amici are specifically mentioned in a sidebar HoH:TL, page 47 (Guernicus section), so there still canonical. The Inigo/Marie clash is in keeping with this.
Cheers,
Lachie
Wizard's Sidestep certainly seems to be popular. 
I prefer Wizard's Leap myself
Marie and Octavius are not warrior-magi, but they know how to compensate for their lack of martial skill.
Do Efreet fly? Or walk?
Does anyone have a good water spell?
Are there any water sources nearby? (For ReAq spells?)
Which realm is the bad guy from (for PeVi) spells?
What distances are we talking about (castle - village - monster)?
Which size is the monster?
Is it affected by corpus, mentem, animal or vim?
Can it see through illusions (e.g. of a rainstorm over the village)?
Tackling your questions in order...
Efreet can fly and walk. They can also simply disappear in a puff of smoke.
Carmen has no water spells, but she can make it rain
Genies are tricky. Usually Magic, but it is possibly Faerie or Infernal.
Monster is about halfway between the castle and the village, say two thousand feet from the front gate?
The efreet looms at size +5
It can be affected by Ignem and Vim, maybe Corpus too.
It has many powers
Marie can't fight this one:
- he is too heavy to lift
- the earth split asunder only works at short distances (and is less than ideal against flying creatures).
- the telekinesis spells are too slow, too short ranged or Voice range
-Pilum of fire won't work - a sleep spell won't get through the creatures resistance (and is voice only)
She could:
-cast support spells (invisibility and Wizard's sidestep: Maybe they work, maybe they don't)
-help by joining a Mercurian group spell (spontaneously? casting tablet)
- teleport to the village and organize the flight of the civilians (using spells)
- create a distraction (pretending to be the Malik's most hated enemy to lure him away from the village)
A battle with all the magi directly against the efreet sounds like a big mess waiting to happen, both in terms of text and in terms of strategy – with so many spells flying, there’s bound to be problems. I’m thinking we split up into two, maybe three groups and threads – perhaps one to go protect the village and deal with complications that may arise, the others to be determined (presumably one group to do battle with the beast).
At this point, I'm thinking a visible group for distraction, and a stealthy group to deal the real damage while he's pounding himself against the ones he can see. The Aegis is also a tactical advantage we can and should use. This of course depends on how many magi are present and what their interests are, which is still not entirely clear.