On to loyalty. We should have no trouble here. Now, I'm assuming that apprentices count when determining loyalty. They have the Gift, with the bad effects that can bring, and should drag down loyalty if they're around the covenfolk. That gives us 6 Gifted members of the covenant (5 magi and an apprentice), with 3 Gentle Gifts, 2 standard Gifts, and 1 Blatant Gift. That gives us the following:
[tableborder][tr][th][left]Magus/Apprentice[/left][/th] [th]Number[/th] [th]Points Per[/th] [th]Base Loyalty[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Gentle Gift[/td] [td][center]2[/center][/td] [td][center]0[/center][/td] [td][center]0[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Standard Gift[/td] [td][center]2[/center][/td] [td][center]-30[/center][/td] [td][center]-60[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Blatant Gift[/td] [td][center]1[/center][/td] [td][center]-105[/center][/td] [td][center]-105[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][th][left]TOTAL[/left][/th] [th]6[/th] [th][/th] [th]-165[/th][/tr]
[tr][th][left]BASE LOYALTY[/left][/th] [th][/th] [th][/th] [th]-27.5 ~ -28[/th][/tr][/tableborder]
Wow, one Blatant Gift almost entirely balances out three Gentle Gifts. Good thing we have a lot of bonuses. Here's what I have for loyalty. I made a couple of assumptions. First, I assumed we'd have an Autocrat, a Chamberlain, and a Turb Captain with a (Skill + Pre) of 8. That might change, but I expect it wouldn't be lower than that. I also assumed that a +3 Living Conditions would give a +30, extending the chart up and down for large or small values of Living Conditions. Let me know if people think that was a wrong assumption to make.
[tableborder][tr][th][left]Item[/left][/th] [th]Loyalty[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Base Loyalty[/td] [td][center]-28[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]+3 Aging Modifier[/td] [td][center]30[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Steward[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Chamberlain[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Turb Captain[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Standard Equipment[/td] [td][center]0[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Half-again Wages[/td] [td][center]10[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Loyal Covenfolk Boon[/td] [td][center]30[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Good Reputation (+9)[/td] [td][center]45[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][th][left]TOTAL[/left][/th] [th]111[/th][/tr]
[tr][th][left]LOYALTY[/left][/th] [th]+6[/th][/tr][/tableborder]
That gets us +6 loyalty, i.e., "the covenfolk go to extraordinary lengths in the service of their masters; it is not unknown for a grog to lay down his life for one. Covenant productivity is increased as the covenfolk go about their daily tasks with zeal. At this level of Prevailing Loyalty, the magi of the covenant are treated as near gods, and there is probably a great deal of superstition and ritual associated with daily life."
We could easily drop the half-again wages, and we'd only go down to +5 loyalty, still stellar. That would be a savings of 35 MP/year. Then again, maybe that's something to do when and if finances get tight.
I was revisiting loyalty, since we've clearly lost our fifth magus. That drops a Blatant Gift and ups our grog's loyalty, though not by enough to make a huge difference.
[tableborder][tr][th][left]Item[/left][/th] [th]Loyalty[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Base Loyalty[/td] [td][center]-12[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]+3 Aging Modifier[/td] [td][center]30[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Steward[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Chamberlain[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Turb Captain[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Standard Equipment[/td] [td][center]0[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Half-again Wages[/td] [td][center]10[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Loyal Covenfolk Boon[/td] [td][center]30[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Good Reputation (+9)[/td] [td][center]45[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][th][left]TOTAL[/left][/th] [th]127[/th][/tr]
[tr][th][left]LOYALTY[/left][/th] [th]+6[/th][/tr][/tableborder]
That leaves us more strongly in the range of +6 loyalty, i.e., "the covenfolk go to extraordinary lengths in the service of their masters; it is not unknown for a grog to lay down his life for one. Covenant productivity is increased as the covenfolk go about their daily tasks with zeal. At this level of Prevailing Loyalty, the magi of the covenant are treated as near gods, and there is probably a great deal of superstition and ritual associated with daily life."
But at least it gives us some leeway. We could lose some loyalty and still be at +6.
Wow, having three Gentle Gifts really helps a lot.
[tableborder][tr][th][left]Item[/left][/th] [th]Loyalty[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Base Loyalty[/td] [td][center]-10[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]+3 Aging Modifier[/td] [td][center]30[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Steward[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Chamberlain[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Turb Captain[/td] [td][center]8[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Standard Equipment[/td] [td][center]0[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Half-again Wages[/td] [td][center]10[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Loyal Covenfolk Boon[/td] [td][center]30[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Good Reputation (+9)[/td] [td][center]45[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][th][left]TOTAL[/left][/th] [th]129[/th][/tr]
[tr][th][left]LOYALTY[/left][/th] [th]+6[/th][/tr][/tableborder]
That adds +2 to our loyalty total, which doesn't change the end result.
Oh, and not that we need the loyalty, but since we're a rich covenant, we might consider whether we want to give the grogs better than standard equipment. We can certainly afford it.