So who is going to be the first magus to find an apprentice for me to claim?
I really suggest not playing it that way.
It is called humor. Yes, I can claim apprentices but I am not likely to until I have need for one because that 1 season a year is heft burden that my character is not ready to take on.
Smileys...
Or other tags...
Disagree. Humour is funny, which your post wasn't.
Announcing "I fully intend to screw with other PCs" at saga start is generally a quick way to piss people off.
All I'm going to say is, "I wonder if Siobhan's related to Cannophori?" Then say "not cool, bro" and suggest we move on.
If serious, that is one thing. If not, serious, it is jest and humor.
Yes, 10-15 years into the game it might come up, but definately not any time soon.
Which is why I said smileys and other tags. If someone goes through the effort (stories and what not) to acquire an apprentice, and then spends time building that apprentice, it's seriously uncool to consider poaching said apprentice. I have no issue if that's a direction that players agree to take the apprentice story. I have no issue if Siobhan goes out and steals an apprentice from an NPC. I have an issue if any player invokes a mechanism of House/Order to shortcut a story process.
Peregrine brings up Cannophori, whom I had to actually put my foot down and be creative about blocking him, because he was completely insistent that things worked his way, and I found his story unintersting and abusive to another player. Sagas are a collaboration.
To wit: I may, and I say may, be interested in exploring this story element with you. If Talia's son is Gifted, and she open his Gift and Siobhan steals him away, that may be interesting to play. But it's something that needs to be negotiated, and it would apply to only this specific circumstance of Talia's son being a possible apprentice. He would also be an older apprentice as he'll probably be 10-12 years old at the start of play.
a more likely story would Siobhan's paren stealing Talia's son. Siobhan is not interested in an apprentice any time soon. Odds are she would have to see something very unique to become interested, otherwise she is more likely to look for apprentice that suits her and want to open the arts herself.
Regarding companions:
Halia would travel around with someone outdoorsy, but could possibly do well with a scholarly type as well. Ideally I'm thinking someone like Professor Lyall, of Gail Carriger books (a good beta to go with Halia's alpha). Anyone interested?
Since my maga is a total girl scout, I'd like to play a companion who's maybe a bit shady. The stereotypical rogue-with-a-heart-of-gold, or maybe a slimy merchant of some sort. Would either of those work for anyone? Note that I could absolutely see a venditor being a slimy merchant 
I am thinking that for a companion, I build a magical animal from RoP: Magic and one that perhaps could become familiar to someone eventually.
What sort of season and power should I be using (for might and xp).
Are boons and hooks open to us to select, in addition to build points?
So, I'm thinking Talia would be leaving the Theban tribunal after a few years. Her affair with Aeliophanes ends disastrously and she flees the tribunal altogether. To give her a reason to come to Insula Canaria, she probably picks up some Flemish and French and does some trading between ports in Flanders, Cherbourg, Edinburgh and Inverness. In Bibracte I had placed a Mercere House in Edinburgh, don't know if Peregrine had any plans for that. It's possible that the characters could've met up in Edinburgh or Inverness. Having someone to help fence ill-gotten goods is something I've thought she needs.
Part of me is wanting to have pirated the interests of Fengheld. A three-tribunal fight could be fun. What I'm thinking is that the hook Illusory Resources hook, and she arrives with 325 build points. 75 are hers and legit, of course, and the 250 she brings is essentially mundane, but could be some magical, but stuff Fengheld doesn't want anyone to know about, too. Throwing it out there. For some reason, I've always disliked Fengheld, and having that eremite in Cherbourgh just makes it such a good target for predation in that particular respect. I can drop the idea if no one is interested.
How would you feel about a swaggering pirate who puts the "Art" in Confidence Artist? Should be able to fence your goods and steal more on the high seas. Plus, in a pinch, those axes aren't just for juggling. Doesn't care about the money, and really does it all for the thrill. Would that work?
Wait. Our names are going to rhyme? Uh oh.
It'll either be really funny or very confusing. Or both
Ye
Some hapless ship captain, "Talia and Halia came by and robbed us blind! It was all fun and games until we woke up naked and our ship was missing."
That's very cool. Talia's not in it for the money, either. She just likes being at sea[1]. However, the last job (if it's Fengheld related) was a bit too big and need to lie low. Or, the accumulated piracy makes her need to lie low for a bit. She'll be back out to sea eventually. Although a really big loch might do...
[1]I may be playing the MMF:Ships as a Latent ability, something she hasn't figured out really, due to her inept master. I need to rework a Virtue to give her back Method Caster: Singing and write words for all her formulaic spells, and then the bonus will only apply when she's singing the words.
"Halia" is short for Haliaeetus, the genus name for sea eagles. I name all my Bjornaer after their heartbeasts Leona, Uncia, Ursa... Seems everyone else does too-- Cygna being the obvious one, and plenty of canonical Bjornaer as well: Falke, Ardea, Corvus, etc.
Re: companion-- Done! I'll see if I can find a template character that's close to what I want, then tweak. Not sure what kind of Presence a con artist should have. "Lies of Locke Lamora" described the ultimate con man as having a face that's very ordinary and completely forgettable in every way, which is why he's so believable in all his roles. I equate that as negative Pre, high Com. But a lot of swindle skills seem to be based on Presence, so I don't know if it would work, in practice. Meh.
Then Siobhan walks by and they forget they had a ship in the first place 
.
See? Teamwork, people!
And now for something completely different.
I had some major insomnia night before last, and was thinking about the whole longevity ritual thing ladyphoenix and I were having. And, since I'd been thinking that I should probably make a buttload of aging rolls for the remaining indigenous magi of Insula Canaria, I decided that now was as good a time as any. So I opened up my fuzzy blue dice box and started rolling d10s in groups of five. First time I'd really touched them since I moved up here in aught eight. And...my God, they didn't hate me! My dice always hate me! One of the first groups I actually three 20s!
But...yeah. Anyway, all three magi have had their Aging done for them. They all look to be in their late 30s to 40ish. And of course, the only one that took a Aging Point is the youngest. Go fig.