I changed the name of this thread, because I wanted to have some differentiation between this thread and other threads from other sagas... I like to know where I'm going before I get there, and I rely heavily on email notifications. 
I would like to think it is the second one 
Doesn't the subject line in your email notification tell you which forum/thread you're being notified about? Mine does.
Nope, not at all. Just the forum name.
Maybe it's a control panel thing?
Do you subscribe to the individual threads,or to the forum? I subscribe to all the forums ("fora" doesn't work for me, I don't care what anybody says) that I play in, even the ones that aren't active anymore (like Legacy of Rome and possibly Mystikae Eikona, which has been depressingly quiet again lately), and the threads on the main forum that I start or have a vested interest in.
I just checked, and I still have the "Subscribe Topic" option on the bottom of this thread, but on the main page, that box is toggled to "Unsubscribe Forum".
Yes.
I have the fora (:P) subscribed, and I have it checked to subscribe to every thread I post in. So, I get an email with the name of the thread in the title. If I've never posted in a thread, it will detail the forum and the thread, like you said. I don't like that, because I have to read more of the message to know where I'm going. With a forum thread, I typically know where I'm going no matter what. The exception has been Table Talk, because here and in Canaries, it's the same name, so I never knew which forum I would be looking at...
And then, if I don't subscribe to threads, and just the forum, I'll miss emails indicating other posts to the forum in other threads, I think. It's rare, but it does happen that two people post in a thread before I've read it.
So, I've figured out the true inspiration for my discontinuous and out of order time streaming... The Taltos novels by Steven Brust. Extremely enjoyable short novels that can really suck you in.
I see you have taken Korvin's point of view in the Case of the Reluctant Redcaps. I just have to sit there and nod ( and make notes for which Magi could have some trouble in the future). 
I tend to lean that way, yes.
It is generally unwise to torque off the Redcaps, and the magi talking, trying to make things better is only making things worse.
I don't subscribe to the view that a previous player had that House Mercere was the most powerful/best House ever. The House can't really exist without the Order, and can't be a parasite on the Order, either. It's a symbiotic arrangement, and almost all magi should really understand it, and act accordingly in public.
As i said to the Bishop. Servants. Powerful and very useful servants. Not ones to piss off.
Ripping the Bandaid off...
Don't know how to really say this, except to say it. Astute players may have noticed I've locked Chronicles of Ridicule and Mother's Footsteps.
Amul is exiting the saga. He suggested that he might leave after Tribunal. I didn't find that reasonable as I couldn't get any degree of comfort as to whether or not he could complete his current stories in a reasonable timeline. Because I don't care for the wishy-washy 'I might be quitting'[1] I just decided that he was done, immediately. Of course, my mind can be changed on this, but I'll be honest, everyone needs to step up and help out with what he wants out of the Tribunal, for that to happen. He and I have had discussions about what's available and not, and I find myself unable to satisfy those demands. Someone else needs to come in and mediate that discussion, or simply decide some things for me, as I can't really be sure I'm being objective anymore. An of course, Amul needs to agree to want to stay. Even still, I will probably have Viscaria do what I plan on doing anyway, just to expedite the Tribunal start.
Prior to Amul stepping up, The Tribunal preparations might have been hand-waved a bit more, with some seasons spent on "Tribunal" prep. In my desire to let players play their characters, I should have stepped in earlier and just put a hold on Amul's plans. But that's shoulda/woulda/coulda, and doesn't help now. I only state it, because now, at the end of things, Viscaria doing so much of the Tribunal preparations is really unfair to Amul/Viscaria, I had hoped that Amul's/Viscaria's attitude would have been more contagious, but instead observed that most players/magi approached it with a "that matter's well handled" type of feeling.
Of course, I have a lot more to say, and I'm sure Amul has a bit to say, too. This saga is what the players and I make it. Amul and I seem to have come to loggerheads about really detailed things, because while details matter, I think that they've mattered more to the player than the SG, in this specific area. IMO, this is a problem because the character is trying to do things that they really were never optimized to do, and I think a lot of the frustration exists because of that, and I'm unyielding on allowing the character an easy way to make it all happen. I had suggested that Viscaria hire specialists, such as Tektonius (and now perhaps even Praxiteles) to accomplish the things she isn't capable of doing (easily), but because of inaction, I feel as if those suggestions had been rebuffed. Those characters[2] are still available, but some effort on that needs to be undertaken. The whole Confluensis debacle is partly my fault, but I thought I made it clear that Le Maison did it without assistance from Confluensis, and rolled their own, that should be known both OOC and IC, and should have easily resolved the whole go to Confluensis to get stuff thread, but apparently it hadn't.
Saga/story impact is that Viscaria will get out of Lapis Crudus, and coordinate the Tribunal preparations, and then at some point be going back into the regio. Somnifer fails in his attempt to kill Norbert, but Mnemnos is out and doesn't return quickly[3], trapping Virgil in the regio. Virgil, Olivia and Viscaria trade off periods of time in the regio, with most of Viscaria's time being deferred until after the Tribunal. All of this is something Amul can have input on, I gave him that option.[4]
[1]I had designed this saga to operate the way it does, so that a single player doesn't bring the saga to a standstill. I let that get away from me a bit here, so without my being sure that Amul could complete the responsibilities he took on as a player, I made an executive decision to just move on as best as I could. Yes, it's mercenary. But having a story and a number of threads languish because a player drops off the face of the earth for a period of time is just as mercenary.
[2]Also, Alexei knows, from his first meeting with Valerian in March of the Primi, that Mons Electi's castle was built by a Janus, who is also another specialist who could be available for hire.
[3]Acquiring the virtue of the Roman Empress takes time, you know? And besides being Gifted, he has no appreciable skills at seduction, nor Virtues that help.
[4]I'm also not closing the door on Amul ever coming back, but for now, he's out, unless I'm overridden and others want to step up where I indicated in the second paragraph above. I could go on and on about this, but it doesn't serve much of a purpose.
Arthur is doing a cameo in 1225.2 Cuts Like a Hot Knife Through Buttah. Any and all available in 1225.2 and 1225.3 can talk to him. He might have some useful insights about certain things.
i will bring my questions on blacksmithing here.
the intent when i created pedro (years ago) was a guy who had been a smith his whole life, specializing in making swords and weapons and the like. He grew up in a military camp and trained under his father who did the same thing (Herrero means Smith).
I didn't realize how good a smith I made him though!
We need to put this guy to work when he heals. Give him whatever he needs and pay him well.
But I was told Blacksmithing is the wrong skill. What skill am I looking for? Can I make adjustments?
I was thinking that maybe weaponsmith might be a bit more appropriate for someone who's making swords. That doesn't mean he can't do blacksmithing...but I don't see him cranking out shears.
It is an odd thing of ArM or perhaps i do not understand the art. I would think Blacksmith(weapons) would work but perhaps Blacksmith has a lot of skills ( like making a rivet) that a weaponsmith would not have.
Shears no. Spears yes
perhaps blacksmithing specialized in weapons? he can craft swords and mend armor, but he also needs to shoe a horse.
Jebric has a point. ArM5 is obscure that way, as it lists Craft (whatever) as an ability but gives no list of (whatevers).
Being a bit of a woodoworker, the Craft system sucks. Carpentry and cabinet making are different than making fine furniture, although the skills blend together...
In any event, I like picking weaponsmith, and retaining the existing specialty. If he were to do traditional blacksmithing tasks I'd just up the difficulty factor a bit. Makes some sense, since he's not used to cranking out plows, shears, pots and pans, etc. It's well within his capability, it's just not something he does normally and so it becomes a bit harder for him. Does that seem reasonable? On the same vein, I'd make a blacksmith making weapons such as swords a bit harder. Sword smiths were highly specialized, and i'm fine with calling it weaponsmith in this saga and calling it done. If you want him to be more of a generalist producing equipment needed by farmers the occasional magus's cauldron or other iron based lab work, then blacksmith is the correct craft skill. My sense is that you see him as making weapons...only or at least mostly.
tl;dr: I agree with changing Pedro's Craft: Blacksmith to Craft: Weaponsmith and allowing him to do blacksmith stuff at a penalty.
City & Guild considers occupations by the raw material they work with. Blacksmiths work with iron, while weaponsmiths work with the trickier steel (page 64). On the other hand, I did just now (re)find some rules for crossing over:
I will point out that the sentence underlined above, which is the one most relevant to the current discussion, actually departs from the pattern in the rest of the paragraph: mostly it talks about craftsmen making familiar items from unfamiliar materials, while the underlined sentence talks about making an unfamiliar item.
Still, I think that a troupe can make a judgment call as to which professions are "related" (like languages) and allow some crossover in item type as well. Personally, I suggest: blacksmith wants to make a horseshoe out of steel instead of iron: -1. Horseshoe out of stone: -3. Sword (not a usual item for him) out of steel: -3. Sword out of stone: -5 perhaps. Cloak out of anything: tough, not related.
Speaking of specializations: I think "Toledo style" sounds like it could be applied to every single weapon a character makes, and thus is mechanically too broad for a specialization. YMMV 
By Toledo style, I mean to say "Strong Sharp Blades". From my research, the style is just craftsmanship techniques imported from Damascus, and like Damascene steel, it incorporates a metal known as Vandium. In my game, I grant a +1 attack bonus for the craft (which seems to fit here) and +1 damage for the metal (which is rare, and in the modern day there is none left that hasn't been forged into a weapon).
So perhaps Craft-Weaponsmith, specializing in swords. Presumably he can do all the other blacksmith stuff at a slight penalty (shoe a horse, mend a suit of mail, fix a shield, and craft simple stuff). With a score of 9, a -3 penalty won't matter much at all.
My very basic understanding is Toledo steel makers produced only a couple of these blades a year, it was an extremely detailed process, and I'm inclined to stick to the historical understanding, rather than what the game mechanics suggest might be possible.