Nick Silver Attacked by Party

Summary

In Session 6 of the campaign, [the party's paranoia about Nick Silver culminates in a violent confrontation](timestamp://45fd473b-ed24-4ed5-ac6b-dc14138c34ca/01:52:08) when Cat shoots an arrow at Nick's head as he walks away down the trail. Despite Vasso and Sucks attempting to interfere, the shot connects, slicing through Nick's ear. The ensuing struggle sees Cat thrown to the ground, Sucks failing a dramatic dive to grab Nick's staff, and Vasso invoking I Am The Law to compel Nick to justify his actions. The confrontation ends catastrophically when Nick, losing patience during Sucks' emotional accusation, taps his staff on the ground and freezes the entire party in place with a paralysis effect. Unable to move or speak, the party remains helpless while Nick lectures them about their unprovoked attack, keeps the Hillary Duff Poster, and walks approximately a mile down the path before the effect wears off.

Details

[As Nick Silver begins walking away down the trail](timestamp://45fd473b-ed24-4ed5-ac6b-dc14138c34ca/01:52:08), Cat draws her bow and attempts a Called Shot to his head. Both Vasso and Sucks try to interfere, physically attempting to push Cat out of the way. Despite the interference imposing penalties, Cat rolls high enough—achieving a final result of 9—to hit Nick, though not with the full damage of a clean shot. The arrow slices through Nick's ear instead of striking the back of his head, causing pain and bleeding.

Cat attempts to restrain the wounded Nick by putting sweaters on him under the pretense of stopping the bleeding, but the attempt fails immediately. As a child facing a 35-year-old man, Cat is easily overpowered. Nick pushes Cat, causing the sweater to drop, then grabs Cat by the front of the shirt and throws the child over his shoulder onto the ground, dealing 2 damage. Cat protests: "Ow, I'm a child."

Sucks, who had been chastising Cat for shooting a stranger, sees Nick moving to retrieve his dropped staff. Sucks attempts a dramatic dolphin dive to grab the staff first, going for a jump roll. However, Sucks' arms—debilitated from wearing the sweaters—crumple beneath them. The failed roll results in Sucks' legs whipping over their head, leaving Sucks landing on their stomach and skidding down the road in a scorpion position. Nick successfully retrieves his staff and starts to leave.

Vasso then activates I Am The Law, invoking the authority of not being mean to children. Vasso yells: "Hey, stop what you're doing and apologize." Rolling a 10, Vasso successfully compels Nick to stop and defend his actions. Nick stands with his staff held defensively, his ear bleeding, and argues: "You attacked me. Unprovoked, you just attacked me. Well, your friend did. Could have died. What did you expect me to do?"

Sucks delivers an emotional, tearful speech: "We try really hard to be your friend, and you didn't. And you lied to us. And then you left." In the middle of Sucks' sentence, Nick loses patience entirely. He says "Enough," taps his staff on the ground, and freezes all four visible party members—he does not see Monster—in complete paralysis. The party cannot move or speak. Sucks discovers they cannot even control their bladder and involuntarily pisses themself.

Nick lectures the frozen party: "All right, I was trying to be kind to you. I just wanted to pass by, maybe hear a bit of the news of the road and move on. And you attacked me and I. I defended myself. And now I'm going to be gracious, forgive you to take my life. And now I am going to leave." He looks at Sucks and adds: "And I'm keeping the poster." Nick walks approximately a mile down the path before the paralysis presumably wears off.

Participants

Cat — Initiates the confrontation by shooting Nick Silver in the ear with a Called Shot. Attempts to restrain Nick with sweaters and is thrown to the ground for 2 damage.
Nick Silver — Target of the unprovoked attack. Defends himself by throwing Cat and retrieving his staff, then freezes the party with magic when his patience runs out.
Sucks — Attempts to interfere with Cat's shot, then tries to grab Nick's staff with a failed dolphin dive. Delivers an emotional speech before being frozen and involuntarily urinating.
Vasso — Attempts to interfere with Cat's shot, then uses I Am The Law (rolling a 10) to compel Nick to stop and justify his actions.
Monster — Present but not visible to Nick, thus not affected by the paralysis effect.
Safia, Brad, Abdul, Dayna — Also frozen by Nick's staff.

Consequences

Mechanical effects: Cat takes 2 damage from being thrown to the ground. The entire visible party is frozen in complete paralysis for an extended duration, with Sucks suffering the additional humiliation of involuntary urination.
Nick Silver keeps the Hillary Duff Poster and walks approximately a mile down the path.
The party's standing with Nick is destroyed. Nick explicitly forgives them for attacking him but makes clear he was trying to be kind and they responded with violence.
Nick's true power is revealed. The party discovers that Nick possesses magic capable of freezing multiple people simultaneously with a tap of his staff, leaving them completely helpless.
The party is left in their most vulnerable position yet, entirely at the mercy of someone they attacked, unable to move, speak, or defend themselves.