Mercer is taking control of the situation. It's more subconscious, so he doesn't think about it too much, but his read on Achak is that he's freaking out and unsure of how to proceed, so Mercer is trying to be as calm and cool as he can - act as if everything is just as it should be and the sort of thing he deals with as casually as grabbing a coffee at the Stuffer Shack. This might call for a leadership roll to determine if he inspires the confidence that he's trying to cultivate. He's established that he's familiar with Stake and implied that they were on friendly terms, so that should hopefully buy him a little trust, in addition to him sharing the common enemy of the attackers.
Secondly, it's worked into his casual monologue, but there is an unmistakable threat, which is certainly an act of intimidation against the mage. He's pointed out his superior numbers by calling attention to her fallen allies, he's given her hope of escape by intimating that he has no desire to kill her, and he's given her a compliment which is a common trick to build trust. He's hinted at having some knowledge of their recent activities (he's been monitoring Tiny's comms for at least 4 days, probably a week or so) without giving specifics, so she'll have to wonder how much he actually knows if she chooses to lie. Now, she's probably not planning on lying, but he doesn't know that, hence sealing the deal with Intimidation.
Things Mercer thinks that aren't necessarily true, due to his lack of knowledge:
- He thinks that maybe the gangers are protecting the church and only tangentially helping Achak even though the truth is the opposite.
- He assumes that the last week of work that Tiny has done is a simple ambush even though it likely also involved more than that. I doubt that the runners had much to do with planting the painting, so I'm not sure what their role was prior to the previous night, but neither is Mercer. He's also unaware of the planned ambush site that the decker (likely) attempted to lure them to with Stake's faked message. To him, they basically got a location and hit it. Under normal circumstances, the previous week might have been legwork to locate the team, and Mercer suspects this since he doesn't know about the painting, but he's trying not to "lead the witness".
- He has linked the ambush of his team to the larger (rumored) disappearances of the other Hunters from Grotto1 and states it as fact. It may not be, but for now he believes that it is.
Rolls (if needed):
Leadership 5 + Charisma 6
Leadership:
11d6t5 5If I need other mods added, let me know and I'll roll them.
Intimidation 5 + Charisma 6 + Interrogation 2 + Ounumbered 2
Intimidation:
15d6t5 5Again, other mods might apply, like outcome advantageous to NPC (her and her friends get to walk, and she might get to spit in the eye of the lying Ikiryo).
