Too many interesting choices!
Focus: Subterfuge, misdirection, social intimidation, inscrutability
This would be great, especially the the advantages of subtlsr arts in regards to the imperial court. However, we know strife lies ahead and while subtle arts will certainly leave us no less capable of surviving them it is slightly less applicable in terms of effecting them.
Focus: Curses and afflictions, spirits, 🐍snakes 🐍, dread mystery
This would be a path to a different kind of power influence. I certainly like the snakes. It'll likely win do to the majorities interest in spirits, however I would point out that our agreement with diamond cut perfection means that we will pursue spirits to some degree regardless of what we pick.
[ ] [Goal] Stone Towering Toward the Sky
The motto of your father's faraway clan is aspirational — one can build for a hundred years and never touch the sky, but even the process of reaching for it is ever worthwhile. Ambraea can build on her natural toughness and stoicism to craft herself into a remote and irreproachable edifice, untouchable on and off the battlefield. Invaluable for any house with even modest military ambitions — which is all of them, although some more than others.
Focus: Battlefield sorcery, earthen defence, tactics, stoic virtue
In the end, I have to favor this one. More than any mastery of sorcery and intimidation, becoming a key to support from and within prasad will grant us real power. What better way to build rapport with our fathers clan than to seek to emphasize his clans motto in our sorcery and manner.
In addition serpent witch will make us a feared outcast not only in our own home but by our distant relatives, taking away this key advantage. Diamond cut perfection will more than serve to involve us in spirit issues, which leaves us free to prepare for the coming conflict and gather allies by our value in it rather than because they don't want us as an enemy.
Lastly there is synergy. Inspite of my interest in house sesus, Tepet was always a preference and combined with Vneefs merchant ties and our Prasad connections, would make a formidable alliance. If I'm going to bond with sola and develop ties with tepet, it is a solid strategy to also develop our sorcery along combat methods. We've embraced the foreign aspect of our father thru house Vneef, now we embrace the martial aspect he's known for as well, using it not only to further our connection with the empires most reputable military house, but also draw attention from Prasad by adopting our Prasad relatives motto.
[X] [Goal] Stone Towering Toward the Sky
[X] [Storyline] Swords and Legacy
