Mits leans over to whisper, "I think the tip they got was referring to us."

Mits 2 blushes.  "Adorable?  Thanks for the compliment.  I was aiming for intimidating back there, though.  What do you do when rich folk refuse to give you their stuff?"

The bandit gives Joe a weird look. "What kind of question is that? That's like asking if orcs are jerks. Name one non-adventurer rich person you've known that wasn't a jerk."

Bridget gets a jigglypuff frown as though the bandits words angered her.

The bandit gives Mittens a helpless look. "Intimidating? Sorry, but you're about as intimidating as a box of free kittens. As for what we'd do if reach people refuse? Well usually, we have to fight their guards and then we take their stuff. Most rich folk don't know a single bit of self-defense. After all, why bother when you can hire others to defend you for you?"

  "Well there was this one guy with some kind of bird horse offering free repairs to people." Wrong setting Joe, that was Faction.

"Friend of yours is rich?" Mits whispers, "Sounds like these are normal evil bandits.  If nowhere near as evil as some."

Mits 2 grins sheepishly.  "This wagon is the only one that was hiring adventurers from that town that I know of.  We may not be intimidating, but we've accomplished quite a lot of impressive heroics already."

The bandit thinks Joe is joking, so he chuckles in response.

Bridget whispers back, "Tell you later..."

The bandit ohs. "OK. Then you are probably the wagon we were looking for. Do you have any idea what you are transporting?"

  Joe shrugs, "Not at the moment. Though known bandits would have trouble selling most materials in such a sparsely populated area.  If these were something like fine silks, you'd at least be well dressed when you starve to death?"

"I seriously doubt these guys are in any danger of starving."

Mits 2 asks the driver, "So what's the cargo?"

The bandit says to Joe, "Unsurprisingly - and perhaps to your credit - you don't know much about how people like us make money. Trust me - we have our ways."

The driver says, "This wagon is carrying stuffed toys for the orphans in the next town."

The bandit gives an unbelieving look. "Alright... that is an obvious lie. We're gonna have to ask to search and see for ourselves."

  Hmm that's right, hardly any of his player's characters are proficient in streetwise.  "Maybe growing up in Luskan made me a bit complacent about overt sales of stolen goods.  But we still can't let you swipe this stuff even if it were stuff animals filled with gemstones, like that story about the singing chimpunks"

"Aww?" Mittens responded to the teddy bears answer.

She then tries to cover up that she believed the lie.

Mittens 2 laughs at the polite bandit being all polite.  "Wow.  Well since you asked so nicely..."

The bandit says, "....can we at LEAST look? I mean, aren't you curious if he's telling the truth?"

Bridget says, "You guys are holding us up. Please get out of our way so we can finish our job while we are still young?"

The bandit says, "We'll walk with you then. Tell us about your exploits."

  "If things keeps up like this the whole way, I'll probably buy you all a round at the nearest tavern even if I end up having to shoot at you."  Though he does nod in appreciation to Bridget still paying attention to, you know, the job.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:53, Mon 24 July 2017.

Mittens is rendered speechless.

Mittens 2 hovers along with the wagon.  "Are you always so polite?"

The bandit walks along, he and his crew having gotten out of the way rather than blocking the wagon. "Is it every day people get to see adorable cat girls turn into angels?" That moment when you roll so bad on intimidate that it works in your favor. We're looking at you, Nathan, for making someone literally laugh to death at your attempt to intimidate them.

Bridget looks slightly relieved. But is still a little tense and subtly annoyed to where only insight 20 or more notices (we're looking at you, Joe. And Mittens too if her passive insight is that high).

The bandits can't contain the fact they are pleased by Joe's offer.

  Joe's passive insight is in fact, EXACTLY that high! Thanks, background feature!

  "I know this is an odd job compared to most, Bridget. But you learn to appreciate the ones with good conversations no matter how they end."

Mittens mutters under her breath, "Mittens is not in the least bit curious what the cargo is.  No sir.  Would never consider taking advantage of bandits wanting to search it to sate her own curiosity even if she were."

Mittens 2 clarifies, "The novelty is that no one is trying to kill us to eat us."

The bandit sweatdrops. "...eat you? I'm guessing your enemies so far have been orcs, goblins, or some kind of monster race like that. Maybe catfolk like to eat people who think and feel, but that's rather rare among humans, miss. Anyway... fill us on in the details? Tell us about your exploits so far, since you said you have done some rather heroic things already?"

Bridget leans over to whisper in Joe's ear, "Appreciate is one thing. Doesn't mean I have to let my guard down or feel comfortable with bandits escorting us."

  Joe nods to Bridget's common sense, he has to remind himself that not everybody has baked in quick draw... Even though Monks are technically always armed at all times.

  "Mittens tends to be a better story teller than I am even without the props, yeah."

"Monster races.  Giving the rest of us a bad name."

Puppet show is go!  Starting with the mystery of the missing provisions.  The fight-cloud involving the goblin in-fighting has several mini goblin finger puppets violently fly out of it.  Mittens also makes a big deal out of Flirt's pigtails.  The puppet show will continue until asked to stop.

The bandits (and the wagon driver) are very clearly entertained by Mittens' puppet show. By the time she catches the bandits up to present day, the bandits have soar hands from all the clapping they've been doing.

"Well... you sure have had quite the adventures. I'm sure you realize that I, and probably most people, do not believe half of what you told us. Such as goblins being friendly or cute. Or befriending a water goddess. Though I guess that last one is easy enough to prove if you wanted to."

Though the requirement to summon her is still "a body of water large enough to hold a person"

  "To be fair, most of the goblins were still pretty doorstop faced by our standards, and even their tallest one needed a step ladder to see eye to eye."

Mits bows to the clapping.

"'Doorstop faced?!'" Mittens 2 echoes with a laugh, "What does that even mean?!  That they have flat faces?"

"Do you at least believe the part about a town being racist against non-humans?" Mittens asks.

The bandits laugh to Mittens' question. The lead bandit says, "What a refreshingly naive statement. Of course we do; that was the most believable part of your entire story. Everyone's a little bit racist. It's just a matter of how open and/or honest they are about it."

Bridget breaks out another puffy-cheeked frown.

https://avvesione.files.wordpr...uffy_cheeks-cute.jpg

  "I'm not sure where the term started, but I think it's more along the lines of 'you look like your face got used for' sort of things."  Yes, Joe has biased preferences over which maw of jagged teeth looks dangerously cute and which look like a bear trap met the wrong end of an iron golem.

Mittens 2 continues to laugh, smashing a plank of wood into a goblin puppet's face repeatedly.  Or is she clapping?

Mittens grins impishly and answers, "Then there you have it.  Racist town rejected their non-human future savior.  Well, half the town.  In the same way, non-human is now being friendly to a pile of humans surrounding her, some of them calling her cute, and yet not believing that another non-human was friendly and cute.  Even with a fellow Human vouching for it.  Racism is nonsense!"