I am watching the VIkings series. The acting is quite bad in general, and the battles look nothing like how viking battles were supposed to be, and it is basically centered around smashing things up, but there are 2 things that can be interesting for PoF saga: the weather and the settlements. This climate and hard life is what Heligoland is likely to be, and the series shows it fairly well IMO.
Just FYI 
I was approached over the weekend by a new player about joining the saga. He is an experienced player and quite familiar with PbP, but fairly new to Ars.
What I suggested to him was to take control of Pytheas for the moment. That will let him get a feeling of the saga, and eventually he will be creating his own magus and introduce him (and have Pytheas leave).
Welcome aboard, Trogdor!
Hello all. I'm looking forward to participating in this saga.
Hi!
BTW, for making up my permanent character, are there any particular build rules I should be aware of? It looks like everyone is either just post-gauntlet or at most a few years post-gauntlet. Is that right?
Check out the House Rules and the initial announcement of the saga. I suggest that you read the whole thread of the announcement, as some questions were asked along the way and the process was informative.
Another suggestion would be not to begin creating a magus just yet. Get familiar with the saga first, its tone and its dynamics, before settling down on a concept. Then we can start discussing it in say, a month's time? Having played a little will help you avoid some pitfalls in character creation.
I'm so fluid in character creation that I tend to toss something on the page, then mutate it as I learn more. So really, I'm looking at trying to paint a picture with a broad brush and then refine it over the course of the next month or so.
BTW, I've finished catching up mostly to where the action is right now.
Welcome aboard
We created the characters just past gauntlet (plus a few seasons at most). Quercus is a few years past because we needed someone able to cast Aegis of the Hearth, so Quercus was picked to develop the necessary skills for that (and Communion so he can teach it to the others). There is a thread with the few house rules we are using at the top. However, you are taking up the character of Halancar (Pytheas) so maybe you should check him more than the rest. it is a fairly potent character (the most rounded one in the saga building on his strengths and optimized spell selection I would say) so you should get a good character to toy with. A paradigmatic Aquam magus through and through. Quite a nice one in a small island covenant
Apart from that,. the only detail would be to talk with Arthur to see if your future character will be bringing anything for the covenant. We brought a few things of stuff each (a boat, a small ship, some books, some silver, some vis...) to start the covenant. Dunno if a later character will bring more stuff.
@all: I expect to be able to post later today with Quercus' response.
From looking at all the posts, it seems like what you need more than anything else is a magus with the Gentle Gift.
Welcome to the game Trogdor. You are right that we need a magus with better social skills and gentle gift to take care of our mundane dealings.
However Pytheas would be very useful to have around for the first few steps to set up our covenant with his proficiency in Aquam and the other elemental arts.
Don't worry, I'll be Pytheas for another couple of months it looks like.
You'll need to be more explicit as to what you're looking for here. I have some inkling, but the saga has been fairly slow so if you're referring to something that was posted before, I probably forgot about that. 
Also, what are the magi's instructions to Dietlinde and Fresse when you send them to meet the elders the next day? Just hear what they propose and report back? Conclude an agreement? Run back and forth serving as messengers and generally act like headless chicken? 
Quercus detected a perfectly circular aura in the moors in the north of the island (except for a dent in the circle's perfection caused by the aura of the nearby monastery). He assumed that it would contain a centre with a tether or another significant feature, so Pytheas is likely to have gone checking while they were meeting with the villagers. To advance the investigation faster, basically 
We have not said anyting to the grogs yet! We are just walking down the stairs conversing among us :mrgreen: And we are asocial magicians. Give us some work space to figure out what is a sensible social strategy! this exercise hurts us! 
The area is almost two miles across, of bogs and wetland, at the other end of the island. There are no paths leading there. It is also not something that can be easily explored on foot. Pytheas may not be the magus best suited to that exploration. I'll let the players decide on how to proceed, but this will probably require a story of some sort. 
That was my turn to try and speed things up.
I'll let you proceed to your own pace, then. Will look forward to see your collective version of a "sensible social strategy". 
Come on, people, let's post something!
I'm kind of stuck on ideas to proceed with the council. Let's just go on with the scene where the grogs meet the village council next day. Let one of the magi join them, three of us might be too much. My vote is for Quercus to go since he seems to have made the best impression on them, if there was any good impression at all.
FYI, I will be away from my computer from Friday through Monday for the US Memorial Day holiday. I'll have access via my iPad, but less frequently since I'm on vacation. My posts will also tend to be short. I'll be back on Tuesday.
What are you doing with the sailors at this time?
Trond approached Japik about the crew of the knarr having drunk all of their money now. They are starting to get into trouble since they don't have enough to do...
So what are the magi's instructions about the use of the ship and its crew?
Since Pytheas is no good with negotiations, and the sailors need something to do, Pytheas will have them take him on a slow circuit around the island to scope the place out better. This way he can investigate the coastline and stop wherever he sees something of interest.
We can discuss it, but after Pytheas is done with them, buying furs and having the knarr go back to the continent to sell them (the captain was a stated grog, right?) and buying foodstuffs to sell to the island would be an idea. The captain should know that since he has been around the marketplace for a few days now and he knows his trade, I guess.