Something a lot of people appear to have missed:
Instead you stop, smile and greet the man, drawing him from his distraction.
"Vittorio Malvora, pleased to meet you," he says with a smile easy as it is oily. Malvora, fear eaters, also posers according to Isabela since their founding myth has the sound of medieval puffery, but skilled and patient politicians according to Thomas. They had taken on much of the culture of House Raith without losing an iota of loyalty to their house elders and they are liable to play the long game. Also... this is probably the heir of the House. "I have heard a great deal about you."
He's fishing for information, not really a dazzling discovery on its own, the question if if you should take the chance to cast your own line and read him in return or keep up the act you have been using so far and drift away with weightless pleasantries.
Dude put himself in our way so we would bump into him, and we've already stopped and greeted him courteously.
We've already chosen not to be an ass prematurely.
VOTE
[X]Plan Swimming With Sharks
-[X] Engage with Vittorio, try to get a feel for him
--[X]All Things Betray: 1wp
--[X]Hellscry Chakra: 1m Essence
--[X]STUNT: You cock your head at his statement "Oh? Have you now?" You feel rather than see the weight of Lydia's presence beside you as you bend the weight of your attention on this man, senses occult and mundane sharpening even as the porticullis of your mind slammed down. You arch an eyebrow at the man, an invitation to share, to demonstrate the breath of his knowledge."Only memorable things I hope."
SPENT: 1wp, 1m
STATUS
Essence: 14/15 Essence
Willpower: 7/9 Willpower
EFFECTS
Impervious Primacy Mantle: Thought and emotion magic immunity
Demonic Primacy of Essence: -2 DC to social interactions with lesser Creatures of Darkness
All Things Betray: -3 DC to all Perception rolls for the rest of the scene
Hellscry Chakra: See aura of Creatures of Darkness
RATIONALE
We have already chosen to be gracious.
Molly rolls Cha/Man 3 + Etiquette 5 + Stunt 2 for a total of 10 dice with a -2DC Demonic Primacy buff.
Alternatively, Cha/Man 3 + Empathy 5 + Stunt 2 for 10 dice with -2DC Demonic Primacy.
Thats mortal dice cap without trying.
And for social Perception?
Molly rolls Perception 3 + Empathy 5 + Stunt 2 for a total of 10 dice with -2DC Demonic Primacy and -3DC All Things Betray plus whatever advantages Hellscry Chakra add. Which would make him essentially an open book to read.
No real need for Excellencies here. Dude isnt an elder, and sure as hell isnt Lara Raith.
Save it for the elders. And the fight.
===
Our aim is to get a feel for this guy. That means we need to boost our perceptions of him.
All Things Betray improves our social perception rolls (Perception 3 + Empathy 5) for the scene across the board, which makes us better at sussing out what people we are talking to mean, or what they are trying to hide.It should also make it easier for us to detect magic shit, whether items or someone using a Discipline or just outright magic.
We were also warned about the possibility of doped drinks in the reception, and ATB helps with those rolls.
=
Hellscry Chakra helps us read the emotional state of CoDs by reading their anima, and whether they are possessed.
It will also help with detecting Creatures of Darkness hiding under a veil or a glamor, like the skinwalker we captured.
Also?
This guy was canonically possessed by an Outsider. If that is true in this AU, we want early warning. Especially since, if he's Outsider-possessed here, they want to know what happened with Maeve two weeks ago.
Furthermore, we know the Skinwalkers have been interested and lurking outside the Raith Estate for weeks, if not months.
In the event they have someone infiltrated here, we want this up and running.
=
EDIT
Actual question that just occurred to me:
Are we sure this is Vittorio Malvora, and not an impersonator? Or even a skinwalker?
After all, we've never met him before, and a lesser skinwalker would ping as a Creature of Darkness.
EDIT 2
Rereading the update, I get the impression that Lara arranged for a lot of people to show up for several reasons.
And is deliberately arranging for us to run the gamut of a lot of Whampires. I suspect she's hoping to use us to screen for infiltration; she is one of a few people with the perspective to guess what happened during Molly's meeting with Maeve.
