[Laurentius]

This is more an exercise in creating a character I would play (Laurentius, or Laur for short, as a matter of fact). Unfortunately (fortunately?) I'm the GM for my group. I agree that the two spell pools is strong and the only one with such a thing is Dark Goddess, who causes a lot of problems.

What's everyone's opinion? Combat and fire spirits, or Manipulation and fire spirits? Thoughts on the revised daylight disadvantage (changed because in highly populated cities it would be near impossible for a salamander magician to leave his home/lodge on most days, the way it was)?

EDIT: Just as an area test, if you were G.M.ing for my character, which version/take on the spirit would you allow? Would some of you recommend not really worrying about a mentor spirit for a Chaos Magician?

[anotherJack]

Chaos magician don't really need a mentor spirit, but if it does, I would see something less mythical and more "modern" than Salamander.
Salamander seems to me more adapted to classic hermetic mages, studiying alchemy, searching for the philosophal stone, and so… you get the picture.
For a Chaos magician, I'll choose something linked to the modern life, "Trader", "Power", "Luxury", "Fashion", somethin' like that, and search in the mentor archetypes which one fits the best.

About your Salamander, I'd say manipulation spells ; but I don't like the daylight disadvantages as it is designed, not because it's unbalanced, but because I think it won't be fun to play, for the player and for the GM. I prefer let him engage in social activities, but give him a stronger malus (-2 to all social tests), and describe the character's attitude : moody, half asleep, shy and so.

[Laurentius]

In this case, he draws influences heavily from Chinese magic, as well as Christian, with a bit of Egyptian symbolism. From the books, I'd probably say Phoenix would be the best match for this particular magician, or Artificer for a general Chaos magician focused on mixing and matching the different traditions.

Tempted for the salamander to say half asleep with a -1 to initiative, how would that feel?

EDIT: Would be referred to as "Phoenix Empress", though the archetype is referred to as Phoenix, which I'll use for simplicity's sake here.