So, things are finally starting to get sorted.
We had a council meeting. We decided that, given that I have a rather Blatant Gift and Tethys doesn't want to travel much, that Martin and Valeri would represent Aoide Covenant at dinner with this local chieftain, Thord Sturluson. This they did, and apparently he has agreed to "lease" us five farming families, to work our land. Apparently he is very keen to have a steady supply of wheat, which our more temperate clime in our lands will allow us to grow.
We have also written to the local monastery (they have Christians on this island, apparently) asking for someone to act as a scribe and bookbinder, but it seems that they will only deal with our "Father Confessor", which of course we don't have. There is however some itinerant priest who can minister to us, which might count.
So, we now have a small farming community, which is a good start, and if Sturluson's enthusiasm for wheat is anything to go by, then we should be in good stead for local trading (they do not appear have currency here).
In other matters - I have written to my parens and secured the services of a Venditor, who should be arriving soon. This will be extremely useful, as through this agent we can procure the materials we need to set up our laboratories. If he is worth his salt, we should be able to get a glassblower from Venice, with any luck.
We also had some discussion around to which Tribunal will we have allegiance. By default it is apparently Novgorod, which seems quite a way to travel to the meetings... Tethys has no inclination to sort this out, and Valeri seems to want to set up a new Tribunal (I don't think he understands the politics of the Order that well).
So, until we have our laboratories set up (sometime towards the end of next year, I would presume) then my time will be spent reading the books in the library, and (once we have secured a supply of vellum) writing up my spells. I can think of worse ways to spend my time...