"The Phoenix Sword, what's that? And of course, if you allow me to envestigate the bottle, I will do my utmost to maintain strict secrecy about it."
"The Phoenix Sword was created by my ancestor, Valdarius. It has a lot of magics relating to the mysteries of my lineage. I'd just as soon keep it private to my line, if it's all the same to you. But as for the bottle..." Vulc glances up to make sure the door is still sealed, then takes a deep breath as though he's nervous.
Vulc touches the anvil and sponts a ReTe20 (base 5, +2 metal, +1 Touch) to instantly teleport iron about half a pace away. (He casts successfully.) The anvil pops away, leaving the brass bottle behind. Vulc tries to catch it, but oops, the brass bottle falls a few inches and clatters onto the floor. He picks it up and hands it to the Quaesitor.
"Smuggle it in your shirt, and keep all your doors and windows shuttered while you're investigating it, and don't let anyone into your lab, not even servants. Keep it secret, keep it safe. Don't let ANYONE see it, no matter how much you trust them. In fact-- any time we talk about it, we'll start off the conversation by working in some secret code word into a sentence. Like... Polenta? Just to ensure no one is being impersonated."
gasp!
So assuming the bottle doesn't break, Solomon will take it and hide it in his robes, "Polenta? Sure, I suppose. Rest assured, I will keep this between us."
He'll then take the bottle back to his lab and start examining it.
(what season is this happening in?
I would rather latter than sooner, because this could blow the lid off of everything. Sometime in 1232 or 33?
Actually, is it possible that this occurs Summer or Autumn of 1230? It looks like Vulcanus is just doing lab work during those times, so he could have easily taken a couple of hours to show me then Vault during that time. It would then make sense for him to learn Tell of the Forged when he's in Duresca in 1231.
I was also imagining that this doesn't take place all at once. Each new item looked at was a different conversation, a different season. But I do not mind much either way. Just as long as I can place a hold on your activities specifically pertaining to the bottle until after I have cleared out current material.
Okay, I'm fine with waiting on doing the bottle later if that's what you'd prefer. I'd honestly envisioned all of this happening relatively quickly because there wasn't much else he could do with tablet until he goes to Duresca. But we could push the bottle to a later season/year if that works better for you.
Let us come back to this after we finish off Duresca then 
Solomon will Investigate the enchantments on the Brass Bottle in the Winter of 1233.
First, he's going to cast Sight of the Sigil (HoH:TL pg 75) on it to make sure there are no booby-traps waiting to explode when he starts examining it.
17(In) +15(Vi) +2(Sta) +5(Aura) +2(loud & exaggerated) +10(non-stress die roll) = 51 (success with no fatigue)
If he doesn't detect any boob-traps, he'll proceed to investigate it (using the rules on ArM5 pg 100).
First Investigation Roll = 17(In) +15(Vi) +2(Int) +7(MT) +5(Aura) +2(Fam Int) +5(Fam MT) +2(lab GQ) +2(lab Items bonus) +4(lab In bonus) +4(lab Vim bonus) +16(stress die roll of 1 and then 8) = 81
Second Investigation Roll = 17(In) +15(Vi) +2(Int) +7(MT) +5(Aura) +2(Fam Int) +5(Fam MT) +2(lab GQ) +2(lab Items bonus) +4(lab In bonus) +4(lab Vim bonus) +4(stress die roll) = 69
Third Investigation Roll = 17(In) +15(Vi) +2(Int) +7(MT) +5(Aura) +2(Fam Int) +5(Fam MT) +2(lab GQ) +2(lab Items bonus) +4(lab In bonus) +4(lab Vim bonus) +7(stress die roll) = 72
Fourth Investigation Roll = 17(In) +15(Vi) +2(Int) +7(MT) +5(Aura) +2(Fam Int) +5(Fam MT) +2(lab GQ) +2(lab Items bonus) +4(lab In bonus) +4(lab Vim bonus) +8(stress die roll) = 73
Vulc would offer to let Egon assist Solomon for the first two seasons, which would give you an extra +6.
There are no booby traps, and your first roll is sufficient to discover the lowest power in the item, the others are ineffective.
ReIg79 Coerce the Spirit of Fire; base 5, +2M Voice, +1M Conc, +5L Item Concentrates, +10L Unlimited Use, +3 Environmental Trigger (releasing the spirit within), +38L Penetration of 76;
Are you scared yet?
Wow 
I was actually feeling pretty damn good about my InVi lab total...until now.
Feel good. Feel very good! Because I doubted your ability to crack even that first one!
The Penetration of the Coercion effect should give you a clue as to the might scale being dealt with here, and thus the level probably required for further effects.
That reminds me, what does Vulc's mentor Andres discover about the Phoenix Sword?
I'll have to get back to you on that one.
What season does this take place and where?
Vulc could give Andres the use of his own lab during Spring, Summer, and Fall of 1231. +4 GQ and +2 to Items will add +6 to his lab total. Also, Egon can assist any of those seasons for another +6. And our Aura is probably better than whatever Andres has, since he lives alone.
roll up his lab total, start out with five rolls
I don't have a character sheet for him. I could just pick out likely numbers for the relevant scores?
sell me on some likely numbers
and you are going to owe him a favor 