There was a dozen in 1220, and that may have been an underestimate. In 1234, I will call it at around 15 or 16 Mercere magi?
I'm working on my parens, but I'm running into an issue with it. According to the Normandy Tribunal book, there aren't any Mercere Magi in the tribunal at all. I found 2 Mercere Magi in the Rhine Tribunal, and that book indicates those are the only 2 Mercere Magi in that Tribunal.
So I am assuming we are going to handwave the information in the tribunal books? Or are Mercere magi really that rare?
They are that rare. But we can handwave and rewrite backstory to fit our needs. I do not have the Normandy book (and have avoided it), and I have Magical Mercere up in France (there is at least one in every Tribunal)
Take in mind that these are Mercere magi, not redcaps. Thyere are A LOT of redcaps (well, not a lot, but quite a few of them) doing stuff around. Merceres able to wield magic (they have The Gift) are much more scarce, though, and all are blood descendants of Mercere the founder, IIRC. This is why they are so scarce: it is not like you find a couple hundreds of them around every year 
Cheers,
Xavi
All Mercere magi are descendants of the house founder? Which would make my character a direct descendant then?
And I've got a question that stems mainly from me being a noob at this game. Please bear with me on this one.
As I've stated, I've not found a Mercere magus in the Normandy Tribunal book (although there is a reference to a couple that call Florum home from time to time), which means that I get to create one for my parens. I'd rather try and find a canon magus as that would make things a bit easier on me, and it would give credence to my character having a canon magus as his parens. So I was looking about in the Rhine Tribunal, and I found one. Or, two, actually. So my question is:
How normal is it that someone discovered in an area covered by one Tribunal is taken to a covenant to study that is in an area for another Tribunal? Does this happen? Is it even allowed?
There are no restrictions against this.
Marko stated that there is a fix Mercere magus in Normandy (just make up his name, personality, and magic interests, if that bothers you), so yoiu can stayb in Normandy if you want to.
A Normandy Redcap could have discovered Guillame and sold the information to his master in another covenant. It's sometimes nice being at a home covenant other than the Tribunal that you will begin play and also different from where you grew up...
Name: Henrietta
Character Type: Grog
Characteristics
Int 0, Per +3, Pre -2, Com -2, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex +2, Qui +2
Size: 0
Age: 20
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0
Virtues and Flaws
Covenfolk, Pessimistic, Warrior
Personality Traits
Brave +3, Loyal +1, Sociable -2
Reputations: None
Combat
Short Bow (Init -1, Attack +9, Defense +6, Damage +6)
Soak: +3 (Leather Armor)
Fatigue Levels: Ok, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)
Abilities
- Normandy Lore 4 (Game Trails)
- Norman French 5 (Talking About Forests)
- Athletics 1 (Climbing)
- Awareness 5 (Woodlands)
- Bows 4 (Shooting From Cover)
- Hunt 5 (Deer)
- Stealth 2 (Hunting)
- Survival 4 (Woodlands)
Equipment
Partial Heavy Leather, Short Bow, Arrows, Survival Kit
Encumbrance: 2 (2)
Frequency depends on the house, tribunal...
But it surely does happen.
And IMO, it happens far more for Gifted Mercere: If a redcap sires a gifted child, he'll bring him to the nearest Gifted Mercere, even if he's half a tribunal away. They are rare and precious that you want them to be trained, at all costs.
Cool. Looks like I'm selecting one of the 2 Mercere magi from the Rhine Tribunal as my parens.
Grog 1 of 2 is posted above; 2nd Grog should be posted soon. Still need to do the Companion. Also need to finish background, which should be done this week. Based on the conversations taking place in the other character threads, I'm guessing I've got time. 
Name: Georges
Character Type: Grog
Characteristics
Int 0, Per 0, Pre -1, Com -1, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex +2, Qui +2
Size: 0
Age: 45
Decrepitude: 1 (2)
Warping: 0
Virtues and Flaws
Covenfolk, Warrior, Weakness (Talking back to Magi)
Personality Traits
Loyal +3, Cheeky +2, Brave +1
Reputations: None
Combat
Axe (Init -1, Attack +15, Defense +14, Damage +6)
Shield, Heater (Init 0, Attack 0, Defense +3)
Kick (Init -3, Attack +6, Defense +5, Damage +3)
Dodge (Init -2, Attack 0, Defense +5, Damage 0)
Fist (Init -2, Attack +5, Defense +5, Damage 0)
Soak: +8 (Full Metal Scale Armor
Fatigue Levels: Ok, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)
Abilities
- Normandy Lore 4 (Monsters)
- Norman French 5 (Military Talk)
- Awareness 5 (In Combat)
- Bows 5 (Bow, Long)
- Brawl 5 (Kick)
- Carouse 3 (With Fighting Friends)
- Folk Ken 1 (Magi)
- Great Weapon 5 (Pole Axe)
- Guile 2 (Getting Extra Rations)
- Leadership 3 (In Combat)
- Order of Hermes Lore 3 (Grogs)
- Picardy Lore 2 (Monsters)
- Single Weapon 8 (Shield, Heater)
- Stealth 3 (When Armored)
- Survival 1 (When In A Group)
- Thrown Weapon 4 (Knife)
Equipment
Axe, Shield (Heater), Full Metal Scale Armor, Pack
Encumbrance: 4 (4)
Some story for the guy? Being cheecky and response-prone he has to have one! 
The only comment on the rules is that he has Single Weapon 8. He can't have that being 25 years old. The cap at chargen is at 5 if you are under 30 years of age.
I forgot about ability score caps. I will need to check my grogs over
Typo. Georges is 45, not 25. Corrected.
And for backstory on both him and Henrietta, I'll be adding some information about them in Guillaume's overall background at some point. You know, why they are with him, where they came from, etc.
Character Name: Anquetin le Breton
Character Type: Companion
Date of Birth: November 12, 1197
Current Age: 33
Apparent Age: 33
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Personality Traits
- Pious: +3
- Loyal: +2
- Helpful: +1
Characteristics
- Intelligence: +1
- Perception: +2
- Strength: 0
- Stamina: 0
- Presence: +1
- Communication: +2
- Dexterity: -1
- Quickness: 0
Vitals
- Decrepitude: 0
- Warping: 0
- Confidence: 1 (3 points)
- Size: 0
- Soak: 0
- Encumbrance: 0
- LT Fatigue: 0
Flaws
- Compassionate (Major)
- Clumsy (Minor; -2 on all rolls involving Dexterity)
- Monastic Vows (Major)
- Carefree (Minor)
Virtues
- Inspirational (Minor; +3 bonus to target's Personality Traits)
- Lesser Immunity (Minor; Lightning)
- Relic (Minor; Incorruptible Hair from Saint Abbo of Fleury, which is woven into strong thread and used to hold the beads on his rosary)
- Mendicant Friar (Minor)
- Sense Holiness and Unholiness (Minor)
- Social Contacts (Minor; Ecclisiastical)
- Student of Divine (Minor; +2 on rolls involving Dominion Lore)
- Well-Traveled (Minor)
Abilities
- Norman 5 (Preaching) (0; Native Language)
- Normandy Lore 5 (Churches) (75)
- Brawling (Dodge) 1 (5)
- Charm 5 (Parishioners) (75)
- Church Lore 3 (Local Diocese) (30)
- Civil and Canon Law 1 (Clergy Regulations) (5)
- Dominion Lore 3 (Angels) (30)
- Etiquette 3 (Church) (30)
- Folk Ken 6 (People He Knows) (105)
- Intrigue 1 (Parishes) (5)
- Latin 4 (The Bible) (50)
- Leadership 3 (Preaching) (30)
- Sense Holiness and Unholiness 4 (Angels) (45)
- Theology 2 (Angelolgy) (30)
Equipment
Friar's clothing, Rosary Beads (per above Relic Virtue), Bible
Background
Background is not finished. Working on it.
I don't think you need to specify any location for Social Contacts. You just have a chance to know someone from a given social group everywhere you go.
This is correct. Just say "Ecclesiastical"
And changed!
Sanctum Information
Guillaume's sanctum is a lighthouse by a stone pier, on the coast of Mallorca facing Sa Dragonera. It has a Magic Aura of 3, and the air is so sweet and clean that all rolls involving Aging and Recovery get a bonus of +3. Lab details are currently pending, so until further notice the lab is normal.
+0 Journeyman
+3 Aura
+0 Island
+2 Healthy Feature
+0 Small Tower
+1 Special Feature (Stone Pier)
Average Annual Expenses
- Magus: 15£ (5£ Inhabitant, 1£ Writing Materials, 3£ Lab and Arcane Supplies, 6£ Compensation)
- Companion/Familiar: 3£
- Soldier/Specialist/Craftsman/Professional: 2£
- Servant/Rabble/Covenfolk/Flunky/Pirate/Other: 1£
The typical Journeyman is afforded the lifestyle that befits a magus, and may have a Lab Upkeep as high as +2. It is further presumed that each magus will have a Companion, a Familiar, two soldier grogs, three servants, and a Specialist at their disposal.
This totals up to an average expense of 30£ per magus, including their entourage, buildings & properties, and laboratories. This is what the covenant has budgeted, and supplies each magus with each year. This includes 6£ that they can save aside, or use to live a more lavish lifestyle. Wages that they earn for services would be money owed no matter if the resided here or at the main covenant, so this is not a budget concern.
At the rate of 30£ per magus, it costs the covenant 180£ per year to maintain the Chapterhouse. The vis yield from Sa Dragonera is a Queen per year, and we make a 60/40 split with Barcelona. So it takes us 180£ to make 60 pawns of vis, using a vis exchange rate of 12£ per pawn, Andorra profits 45 pawns of vis per year. That is 5 pawns more than Barcelona, but we can consider that a wash with cost overruns and miscellaneous expenses.
Upgrading your Lifestyle
If you want a more lavish lifestyle, the cost is up to you. You have 6£ to play with, and there are other ways to obtain income. The expense of expanding your entourage is as indicated above, Other additional expenses are as follows.
- Lab Upkeep: Pyramid value of Upkeep score minus 3£
- Lab Size: 1£ per point of Size
- Buildings: 1£ per point of Boon