I'm not sure when I'll be entering the narrative (as magus, companion, or grogs), so I can't tell whether I'll be ready for this adventure.
Building the grogs. I am quite happy with the result so far. 5 grogs, 2 with second sight, and 2 that can fly. All are developing clear personalities as I write them down. The breakout is
VICENÇ: Vicenç is a veteran sergeant. Gruff and oversensitive to the disrespect of the young lads. He lacks an eye but can see spirits. And your bad intentions too, laddie, so stay quiet. Damned younglings...
BARTOMEU. A guy with no supernatural abilities except his keen ability with the cauterization methods. He does not like the level of butchery that the Borthers sometimes implement and has faced a few heated discussions about that. Still, the Brothers respect him a lot since their life will be pending on his operation knives in the future for sure.
PAU. The vanguard of the group. Pau is a tough and competent fighter. He centers in his role as point man and is one of the best warriors in the company. He is outfitted by the best arms and armor the company can provide and he is a deadly fighter using them. He is missing an eye, since his leaders wanted him to be able to see and fight invisible beings and so initiated him to Second Sight. However, this did not go well. Pau is one of the reasons why the Flame Brothers are investing in enriched items to get warriors able to see the invisible world; he is not the only one to develop a pessimistic streak as a consequence of his abilities. He tends to complain at the futility of life, and has a common complain about the inadequacy of his own name (Pau meaning Peace in Catalan) given his trade in this stage of being.
BERNAT. Bernat is being tested to see if he has the mettle to become a captain of the Flame Brothers. He is certainly being tested and feels like he needs to prove himself (reckless). He has not been initiated into Firecasting, but he has been initiated into the art of flying and has a perforated stone like Arnau (second sight). He is younger than the other flame brothers and usually accompanies Arnau in his airborne missions.
MIQUEL. Miquel has a bad relationship with authority. This includes his sergeant and his commander. He is still a loyal warrior and a competent fighter, but he will question them and talk back if they correct him. This also places him as a kind of tragic “people’s hero” for the other flame brothers when they feel mistreated, and so he tends to be picked to express the base soldiery disaffection if that is the case. He has quite some friends among the base ranks. This good manipulation has made him a competent negotiator, even if he tends to overdo it if management pushes a harsh agenda. He is still a trusted warrior, and Arnau has him covering his back more often than not when doing airborne infiltration operations.
Just out of curiosity, since I'm relatively new, how does one get initiated into the art of flying and/or Firecasting?
Vibria grins playfully. [color=red]"Stand there, and don't move," she says as she draws a deep rumbling breath... 
The Hedge Magic Revised Edition (HMRE) book has rules for initiations into supernatural virtues. Basically you spend a season doing something freaky like walking up and down a path no more than half a day in length and never leaving it and after that you earn a virtue and a flaw of the same category (minor or major). The Flame Brothers are a folk witch coven by anything but name, and have 7 initiation scripts (the abilities of the witch coven) for the abilities of Firecasting, Hex & Mythic Herbalism (3 major virtues) and Flight, Animal Ken, Premonitions & Second Sight (4 minor ones). Some of the Flame Brothers are initiated in those abilities. Firecasting marks you as a fairly important officer (like Arnau) while having only one of the minor virtues is uncommon but not rare among the rank & file soldiers. Arnau is bringing 2 flying dudes to the city of brass, for example.
These rules have spread and refined from the original place where they were introduced (Rhine tribunal book) and are now a fairly common feature of mystery cults, hedge traditions and all kinds of kinky supernatural features of the game.
Arnau watches as the dragon woman incinerates Trogdor. Hot woman! he thinks for himself.
Yikes!
Xavi, slow down on the grog creation!
Just because you have a bunch of guys in your command, does not mean you get to create and control a bajillion characters in the game. Other players may want to play a soldier from your company as a grog, and the SG gets to design a theme for what NPC's are like.
Now, keep what you got so far and post them up in a thread titled "Flame Brother Grogs", and let the troupe see what we are working with. And actually, I am more interested in seeing what a generic Flame Brother grog looks like. The regular common Joe Flambebrother. Social Status-Almogavar. Free Virtue, just call it Mercenary if you want. It is cannon from Grogs. It allows you to take Martial Abilities and have Standard Armaments, and your fortunes are tied to your band. Remember, everyone must have a Social Status. And it makes me cranky if you forget to take Profession-Soldier. They should each take Hermetic Experience. Minor Virtue, 50xp for Latin/Magic Lore/Order of Hermes Lore (I suggest 3/2/1). It is also a plausible excuse to allow the purchase of lesser enchanted items.
All are based on the vibria company template. They are just worked out from there: 1 personality flaw, another virtue and flaw + 100 XP spent on stuff. I am investing some of the point in weaponry as per the rules provided, generally 15XP (+1/+1 swords and +3 armor, but droping this since it has already been vetoed). 2 of them are lame, and 2 are lacking an eye due to their initiations (flight & second sight respectively).
whew
Post your results thus far 
In a new thread.
Heavy work weekend coming up, as usual. But come Sunday or Monday, I intend to post in this thread the proposed unit/group divisions I had spoken of last week. Training Classes will take place Spring, Summer, and Fall. Fausto will teach Leadership to up to 20 people in Spring, then in Summer & Fall he teaches Single Weapon to up to 25 people. Boot Camp teachim Profession-Soldier will also be taught all three seasons. These are mainly taught by Moe and Armando. Then in winter, Fausto takes a break, and [spoiler]Moe dies in his sleep[/spoiler].
So, state any requests for group arrangements and class participation. Update all characters through to and including Winter 1235. Any further side stories we want to fit in between now and then will be limited to the short-&-sweet variety that takes less than ten days out of a season.
Who is Moe and how much xp to he and/or Armando provide in boot camp? Fausto can't teach Bernhard much.
Is that Spring 1234 or Spring 1235?
The point isn't to improve skill, it is to qualify them to form trained groups. And I will be a little lax and say anyone who participates in either single weapon class can participate in a trained group, even if they attended different classes.
For large classes in this ability, Moe imparts 6xp and Armando only 5xp. It is a side skill, and those who have no score in it can pick up an easy score of 1. Smaller classes can result in gains of 8/9xp or 11/12xp.
Moe is our steward, former grog grown to companion, one of Antonio's original stooges, senior sergeant and old man on longevity. [spoiler]And as the spoiler text keeps telling you, I am planning to have him die off this Winter.[/spoiler] Selim was newly hired to be his assistant steward (and to eventually replace him). Selim's experience as a merchant makes him well suited for this role.
The rotation of seasons per calendar year are Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. All you have to do is call.
The year starts with winter. The Hermetic calendar starts it on the Winter Solstice. However, some magi with a pagan background like to date the year as starting in spring, which leads to some confusion.
Ah well, then I shall have to hope that the class is repeated at some point.
Fausto is at the disposal of the magi. If Lucas wants to pick up some Leadership, he can get some one-on-one attention sometime in 1235.
I also want to remind people that Micaela is available to assist with enchanting (+6 to lab totals) in spring 1234 and winter 1235.
So much time; so little to do
...
Strike that; reverse it.
A magus's lament.
Could she perhaps assist Roberto in winter 1235?
Sure. I was figuring first come, first served. Which Arts is he using so I know how to spend her exposure xp?
Agh! I was planning on having her help Solomon in Winter of 1235 since you offered her up to him a while ago.
Question, because I lost myself in the discussion: What transport method are we using in the end? A flying ship that can also act as a perfect logistics platform or plain mundane camels?