Yea, I could think of a ton of water birds that would be appropriate to an aquam maguis. But Aurum is his weakest of the four elementals. So an air creature just seemed inappropriate. alas. Now that I've discovered that there are actually otters native to Greece, though. I think I'll go with an otter of virtue, odd as that sounds.
Do you have access to ROP:Magic or do you want someone else to build the OoV?
Here is a first tribunal worth of advancement for Orien:
The first three spells were clearly common spells. The last two seemed reasonably common for Aegaea.
Vis Gifts: 1d10=10, 1d10=1, 1d10=4, 1d10=1, 1d10=10, 1d10=2, 1d10=2 = 10 + 1 + 4 + 1 + 10 + 2 + 2 = 30 Aquam vis
Accumulated Personal Vis: 1 Cr/season = 28 Creo
(I'm assuming that you get half as much Technique vis as you would get Form vis for a persona vis source.)
[size=150]Orion ex Merinita[/size]
One tribunal after gauntlet.
Characteristics: Int +3, Per -2, Pre 0, Com 0, Str +1, Sta +3, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 33 (33)
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 182 lbs
Gender: Male
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)
[size=150]Virtues[/size]
The Gift (free)
Affinity with Creo (minor)
Affinity with Rego (minor)
Book Learner (minor)
Faerie Blood [Cyclops blood] (minor) (the closest I could find was Ettin blood)
Faerie Magic (free)
Harnessed Magic (minor)
Hermetic Magus (free)
Mythic Blood [Poseidon] (major)
Personal Vis Source [Creo] (minor)
Skilled Parens (minor)
[size=150]Flaws[/size]
Deficient Technique [Intelligo] (major)
Faerie Upbringing (minor)
Flawed Parma Magica [Aurum] (minor)
Magical Animal Companion [otter of virtue] (minor)
Missing Eye [blind in one eye since birth] (minor)
Pagan (major)
[size=150]Abilities[/size]
Area Lore: Islands of Thebes 2
Artes Liberales 2
Athletics 2
Awareness 2
Bargain 1
Brawl 2
Charm 1
Code of Hermes 1
Concentration 2 (6)
Craft: Jewelry 2
Romaic Greek 5
Faerie Lore 3 (6)
Finesse 3 (17)
Guile 1
Intrigue 2
Latin 4
Magic Lore 2 (11)
Magic Theory 6 (14)
Order of Hermes Lore 1
Parma Magica 2 (11)
Philosophiae 1
Swim 3
[size=150]Arts[/size]
Cr 12 (1)
In 6 (0)
Mu 8 (0)
Pe 8 (0)
Re 12 (1)
An 6 (0)
Aq 8 (6)
Au 6 (0)
Co 9 (0)
He 6 (0)
Ig 6 (1)
Im 6 (0)
Me 6 (0)
Te 8 (6)
Vi 6 (0)
Innate Invocation: Lungs of the Fish (MuAq 20) (Gestures)
[size=150]Spells Known[/size]
Mighty Torrent of Water (CrAq 20) +23
Extended Sight of the Naiad (InAq 15) +9
Break the Oncoming Wave (ReAq 10) +23
Push the Gentle Wave (ReAq 15) +23
Poseidon’s Gift of Movement (ReAq 25) +23
Bind Wound (CrCo 10) +24
Purification of the Festering Wound (CrCo 20) +24
Eyes of the Cat (MuCo(An) 5) +20
Wizard's Leap (ReCo(An,He,Te)15) +21
Seven-League Stride (ReCo 30) +24
Extended Lamp Without Flame (CrIg 15) +21
Touch of Warmth (CrIg 5) +21
Taste of Spices and Herbs (MuIm 5) +17
Wizard’s Sidestep (MuIm10) +17
The Crystal Dart (Mu(Re)Te 10) +19
Hands of the Grasping Earth (ReTe 15) +23
Scales of the Magical Weight (InVi 5) +8
Sense the Nature of Vis (InVi 5) +8
You might also go with a toad or some other amphibian. 
But an otter is good, too.
I have a copy of RoP:Magic. I'll try and work up a draft for you to take a look at.
not sure how you came up with 23 for creo and rego books as SQ- I get 15+3 (book learner)=18*1.5=27 SQ for those (though in my spreadsheet I do effectively keep track of half points, if it matters later)
also by RAW, the division doesn't apply to personal vis source or covenant resources... that is only for trade later
with 56 creo and 30 aquum vis, you will probably want to start making gifts of some of that so you don't develop a reputation for stinginess. Also if you want to get an apprentice you will need to start accumulating tokens.
D'oh! That's because I forgot to add 3.
Good to know.
I'm happy to distribute vis as gifts as is appropriate. Would it be fair to say that that about half of his accumulated vis would be spent as gifts?
That would be fine.
Can someone explain about tokens? Did I miss them in the base book?
Thanks.
If I may, I would make a comment about his post-apprenticeship advancement.
You describe it as 7 years of un-interrupted study. How likely is that? Wouldn't the covenant require some sort of service from Orion, either in the form of stories (to solve some problem, harvest vis, or whatever) or lab work/scribing texts, etc? Also, wouldn't he take a season to attend Tribunal at the end of the 7-year period? Would he get involved in the creation of the new covenant (although that depends on when that starts, obviously)?
All of this to say that, in play, I've never seen a magus able to simply study whatever he wants for 7 years. So it seems unrealistic to me that Orion would have simply been left alone with the library and a lab to do whatever he wants.
Just my 2 silver pennies. 
It is something specific to Thebes. Here's a few short extracts from TSE pp.28-29:
Another use for tokens is to bid for the right to take an apprentice from the Gifted children located since the last Tribunal and presented right before the Tribunal starts:
There may well have been some activities mixed in, simply ones which did not affect study totals- essentially tasks which could be done in 10 days or less. Given the degree of insularity of the covenant he is at during this time it is entirely reasonable that any assigned tasks would take less than this. It is also described as essentially a political madhouse which has very little in the way of needs.
That being said, someone from the covenant is certainly going to submit a decree of defamation after these 7 years, especially if you are not present at the tribunal meeting.
I can see where you're coming from. Still, I feel that we play the special magi in the special times, much like in most games we play the people who, unlike the rest of the world, have adventures. Bilbo was that strange hobbit who went on adventures. Most of the rest of the Shire sat around and lived normal lives. But that's dull for an RPG, so we play the people who have exciting lives. However, unless most of the people aren't having adventures, then what we're doing is a little less special. Yes, James Bond and Jack Ryan have their spy adventures. But my friend who works at the CIA spends her days doing economic analysis.
The stereotype of a mage isolated in his tower comes from somewhere. It's my belief that many magi never go off on adventures. They are reclusive types who try and stay away from trouble so that they can sit around and study in their towers. Now, yes, Mythic Europa is a more dangerous place than the Shire. It makes sense that magi will occasionally have to deal with messes. But I would posit that most mages are not adventuring every other season. If not, how have they kept mostly hidden all of these centuries?
Also, as Silveroak said, any 'adventures' that take less than ten days can also overlap with a lab task. So it's entirely likely that Orien engaged in some shorter 'adventures' during this time, but simply elected to take the lab experience instead of the 'adventure' experience.
But I take your point. I'll add some 'adventure' slots in the next Tribunal to account for times when Orien is compelled to break away from his studies for a longer period of time to deal with the realities of life, such as vis searches or scribing books. FWIW, I specifically decided not to have him attend the Tribunal this time because I figured that covenants typically don't want all of their magi to disappear for Tribunals. And it's the low man on the totem pole who gets stuck babysitting the grogs while the older magi go off and have fun.
My point is not so much about stories and adventures -- although your comment that we play the 'special' magi would tend to support having to spend time doing just that -- it is even more about doing only what the magus wants all the time. Most covenant charters have one or more clause about services due to the covenant by its members, whether that service is scribing books, doing a lab project for the covenant, travelling to another covenant as an ambassador, or what not.
In particular, TSE describes the tribunal has having a very strong expectation that magi will perform services to the larger community, which is not only their covenant but also other magi of the tribunal, other covenants and the tribunal itself as an entity.
So, on a seven-year stay at Aegaea, I would not have been surprised to see one to three seasons "lost" (i.e. with only exposure xp) to some tasks assigned to your magus by the covenant or by some other agency within the Tribunal.
That's just a suggestion, of course. The final judges are yourself and silveroak. 8)
The magi come back from tribunal, a decree of defamation was filed against you, a representative of the conciliatory board comes to deal with the matter, and after several days decides his is a nuisance suit and awards the person who filed the decree a shard (decided by die roll).
Three years later you are requested to make a diplomatic assignment for one season to the summer court (faerie).
Here is a second tribunal worth of advancement for Orien:
Again, I tried to go for what I thought were common spells. The only ones that might be slightly uncommon (and they're still from the core rules) are Aq spells, which seem like they'd be more common in Aegaea.
Vis Gifts Received: 1d10=3, 1d10=7, 1d10=4, 1d10=10, 1d10=2, 1d10=5, 1d10=10 = 3 + 7 + 4 + 10 + 2 + 5 + 10 = 41 Aquam vis
Accumulated Personal Vis: 1 Cr/season = 56 Creo
Counting on giving away half of what he accumulates as gifts, Orien would have: 56 Cr and 36 Aq at the end of this period, less his costs below.
[size=150]Longevity Ritual[/size]
Orien could manage a level 36 LR himself. So if he pays, he'll want one better than that. I'd say that he'd be willing to pay one token, up to 10 Cr and 10 Aq (in addition to the vis cost for the ritual itself), and a season of work for a higher level one (at least level 46 or 51). If it would be more expensive than that, he'll do it himself. I'll wait to hear results before I post the final vis total.
[size=150]Teaching Qualities[/size]
[tableborder][tr][th][left]Skill[/left][/th] [th][left]Invisible Castle Link[/left][/th] [th]Roll[/th] [th]Quality[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Teach[/td] [td]1d10=5[/td] [td]5[/td] [td]15[/td][/tr][/tableborder]
[size=150]Aging Rolls[/size]
Simple Die + 4 (age) -1 (living conditions) -1 (faerie blood) -10 (assuming a magnitude 10 ritual) = SD - 8.
(Should the magnitude of the LR be different, I'll adjust the aging rolls accordingly.)
[tableborder][tr][th]Age[/th][th][left]Aging Roll[/left][/th] [th]Result[/th][/tr]
[tr][td][center]35[/center][/td] [td]1d10-8=-2[/td] [td][center]-2[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center]36[/center][/td] [td]1d10-8=-5[/td] [td][center]-5[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][center]37[/center][/td] [td]1d10-8=-5[/td] [td][center]-5[/center][/td][/tr]
[tr][tr][td][center]38[/center][/td] [td]1d10-8=-5[/td] [td][center]-5[/center][/td][/tr]
[td][center]39[/center][/td] [td]1d10-8=-4[/td] [td][center]-4[/center][/td] [/tr]
[tr][td][center]40[/center][/td] [td]1d10-8=-2[/td] [td][center]-2[/center][/td][/tr][/tableborder]
Also, I'm assuming that over the course of time, Orien has given out some tokens for various reasons, and that some remain outstanding. So it wouldn't surprise me if someone showed up at the covenant and redeemed one.
He would need to earn those tokens first... If he was apprenticed in Thebes, he would start with 1 or 2 tokens at Gauntlet. After that, you need to perform cumminity service to the Tribunal in order to get more.
Here's some of the things that give tokens, as per TSE p.28:
Ah, I misunderstood how tokens worked. I was thinking they were personal in nature. They're clearly not, but are provided from up high.
Thanks for the clarification.
He is also going to need to save tokens in order to get an apprentice...