I had an idea for story that could be shared between covenants, regardless of relative time frames. Here it is:
During a visit to the nearby city, one of the magi sees, at a copyist shop, he is shown a book talking about hermetic magic ("Now, this is a strange book, my lord. I certainly wouldn't show this to anyone but an open-minded scholar like you. But see this fine script and illumination? I can do the same, for a price.").
When the magus (or maga) asks the copyist about it, he is told that he received this book as payment for another job, just a month ago, from a merchant who found it [somewhere undefined]. Unfortunately, the merchant have left town a week ago, so can't immediately be questionned.
Of course, the magus should realize that this is could be a dangerous thing for the Order (what if the Church found out a book about magic).
At the next Tribunal someone (either the magus or one from another covenant) will bring up the problem. It will then become clear that more than one book has been found all over Iberia! Where do those books come from? Who sold them? Who wrote them?
Some possibilities:
Note: I plan to introduce the first elements of this story during the current adventure, so I,ll keep you informed about my players' reactions. I haven't decided yet where the books come from.
Some of the situations that could put up in any Saga. They are presented as scenes, that can be used in any order. Also, you don't have to use them all.
During a shopping trip to the city of Tortosa, one magus from Amphoria was visiting the various copyist shops. To his great surprise, in one of those he is presented with a book about hermetic magic (a Tractatus on Magic Theory).
"Now, this is a strange book, my lord. I certainly wouldn't show this to anyone but an open-minded scholar like you. But see this fine script and illumination? I can do the same, for a price."
The book is not signed, and if asked where it comes from, the copyist can only tell that is was given to him as payment for a job he did for a foreign merchant.
The magus who found the book was Guillaume of Jerbiton, a great lover of books and knowledge. When Guillaume found this book, he tried to show no particular interest in it, to avoid being labelled as a magus. He then asked to buy another book. The copyist then told him the rates for making the required copy. He then asked to buy the "strange" book, supposedly as a gift for a friend who could be interested. He wanted the original "because my friend is leaving soon, and I don't have time to wait for a copy to be made".
Sensing an interested customer, the copyist then proceeded to haggle, asking for a considerable sum. His argument for such an high price was that one of the Bishop's assistants had shown an interest in this book, and asked for a copy to be made. Selling the original would mean disappointing a good customer... The whole thing is a lie. Anyway, Guillaume decided to borrow some money to buy his books.
Some months after the discovery of the book, the covenant receives the visit of a middle-aged magus, Cervantes of Verditius. He will present himself to the covenant as an independent magus who is visiting other covenants in hopes to be allowed to study in their libraries. In exchange, he offers raw vis and potions as payment. He is not interested in joining a covenant, though he would accept offers of future exchanges. He say that he is a Seeker, searching for long-lost magical items throughout Iberia.
If the covenant seems receptive to his offer, he will stay one season to study in the library, paying generously for the privilege. If showed the book that was found in Tortosa, he won't know anything about it, though he finds it interesting.
When one of the magi decide to study a particular book in the covenant's library, he finds that this book is missing. After some asking around, it seems that nobody have it in their possession!
If the magi find a way to investigate the disappearance by magic means (I don't know how they could, but maybe they will find a way), they will find out that the book is now either in the library of another covenant (don't forget that the Aegis could have prevented them from finding out), at a copyist shop, or in the hand of a local Churchman.
As an added twist, the missing book could one that was written by someone from your covenant, and his name his present in the book. This would cause more problem if in the hands of the Church. It should also motivate the magi to find out where the book is, just in case...
While visiting library (to study or bring back a book), one of the magi (or a companion, if they have access to the library) see a book (about magic) he is unfamiliar with. That, of course, suppose that this magus knows the library enough to identify all the book inside.
You will have to decide if the book contains something that could help identifying the author or the owner of this book. If there is, they could try to trace him to give it back. Else they could use magical means to identify the owner. In any case, the book comes from the library of another covenant.
A magus turns up at your covenant, claiming that you stole a book from their library. He is threatening to bring in the Quaesitoris if you don't give it back, and pay his covenant a compensation (probably in vis). He can give the title and description of the stolen book. If the magi looks for it in their library, they will find it, much to their surprise (or not, if you used Scene 4).
A local member of the Church comes investigating the activities of a magus (or the whole covenant), sent by the Bishop. They found a book treating of magic (or Occult Lore), which identified the magus (or covenant). The Churchman has been asked to verify if the persons living at the covenant are good christians, and if they practice magic.
If they do, or if he finds something suspicious about them, he will make a report. Later, someone will be accused of heresy by the Church.
Alternatively, the instigator of the investigation could be a local noble, who wants to blackmail the covenant. Or the Bishop could do the same...
The perpetrator of all these complications is the magus Cervantes of Verditius. He arranged for Hermetic books to be available to mundanes by stealing them from various covenants, while also leaving some of the books he stole in other covenants as false trails. His overall goal is to provoke a conflict between the Order of Hermes and the Church, because he wants to destroy the Church.
An important note on Cervantes. Since he has lived most of his life far from the politics, both of the Order and of mundanes, he doesn't realise that his plan could cause the destruction of the Order of Hermes. He is convinced that the might of the Order can destroy the Church in Iberia, though it will be a painful war. The following, which describe his background, explains his motivations.
For most of his life, Cervantes of Verditius has been someone who enjoyed life and tried to make life happier for those around him. He was sensible to the needs and concerns of mundanes, since he lived among them, and even married a non-Gifted woman. Though she died some years ago, they had a son they called Mathias. Mathias had the Gift, and became his father's apprentice.
While the Reconquista raged in Iberia, Cervantes and Mathias (still an apprentice) never directly implicated themselves in it. Their only contribution was to provide charms against magic to protect the nobles from the depredations of Islamic sorcerers. They lived in a small village in Aragon, near the town of Rueda, until the greed and intolerance of the Church destroyed their small world.
Father Jacques Longchamp, the confessor to the lord of Rueda, is a strong supporter of the Reconquista. Learning of the existence of Cervantes, he decided that this sorcerer's might should be controlled and used to further the Church goals (meaning his own ambitions). Playing upon the greed of the lord of Rueda, Longchamp convinced him to bring the wizard under their control. If that proved impossible, he would have to be eliminated to prevent such heresy (sorcery) from spreading.
It was thus that Mathias was abducted, while his father was absent gathering some vis for his work. When he came back to his house, he found it destroyed and his son gone. In their place, a message from Longchamp ordered him to come to Rueda, where he was ordered to work for Longchamp and the lord of Rueda. His son was kept hidden from him, to prevent any rescue attempt.
Torn between his love toward his son, and his loyalty to the Order of Hermes, he capitulated to the demands of his son's captors. They asked him to create more powerful and destructive items, to aid them in their wars.
Still, he used his magic to spy upon Longchamp, trying to find out where his son was held in order to rescue him, and leave the war-plagued Iberia. It was in this way that he finally found out the Mathias was dead. Longchamp had though it fitting, because ``a sorcerer is a servant of hell, and should go there as soon as possible''.
Broken and beside himself with grief, Cervantes used his magic to destroy the castle of Rueda and kill his tormentors. This magical display quickly brought the Quaesitoris to Rueda. Cervantes was judged, and found guilty of dealing with mundanes, thus ``bringing on his sodales the wrath of the Church''.
The heartless behavior from the Quaesitoris, and the greed displayed by Longchamp, a representative of the Church, has driven Cervantes to seek further revenge. He wants to provoke an open war between the Order of Hermes and the Church, so that the Church is destroyed. That way, the other magi of the Order will also learn what it feels to see their lives destroyed by war.
The revenge of Cervantes can affect your covenant in various ways. In the Part I, I descrided some situations that could result from his actions. Usually, he travels from covenant to covenant in order to scout out their physical locations, under the guise of studying from their libraries. Then, after some time have passed since his visit, he will come back to either steal a book or put a book from another covenant in the library. He does this last action to put suspicion on someone else.
His most damaging actions, however, concern mundanes. He put most of the books he steals in places where members of the Church can find them. In that way, the Church will become more and more aware of the existence of the Order of Hermes. This will certainly cause problems, and could drive the more aggressive members of the Order (such as Flambeau magi) to kill those members of the Church that are aware of their existence.
During the Tribunal of 1194, someone should address the problem of stolen books from their library. This could be by accusing another covenant of the deed. If no further investigation of the theft was done, this will probably result in a fine to the covenant perceived as the perpetrator (regardless of their claims of innocence).
Another way that this problem could influence the Tribunal is if someone share their concern about some magical books found in mundane hands. At this point, it should become clear that this has occured many times at many different places. At that point, Cervantes' implication could become apparent.