Bridget nods to the idea of food. So she goes with Mitts and Joe to get some grub.

By the time the PCs have their food set before them, the mayor of town enters the tavern and approaches the group. "I was told you wished to have proof of your deeds as part of your rewards?"

Mittens smiles and thumbs-ups!  "You heard correctly!"

Mittens 2 adds, "I'm also interested in knowing how you feel about the bandits between us and the last town."

  "People seem to find it unconvincing to even mention we gave rations to a starving settlement, so it would certainly help credibility."

The mayor goes to sit at the table and says, "Of course, of course... bandits? Well... I feel that is unfortunate since we don't have the manpower to deal with bandits. But please; one thing at a time, else I forget to reward you properly. The four of you will write your views of what happened, and I can have a scribe make a summary and or I can put a seal on your writings that say that I have read and can attest to the truthfulness of said writings."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:17, Tue 08 Aug 2017.

Mits takes out her fantasy style journal, opens it to the last page, and begins to untie the shoestring...  ( http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CEIY...ok_open_05_sm400.jpg )

"On second thought, I don't need to remove the pages for you to attest to what I've written."

She flips to the page about, "The Indescribable Monster!" that has rather fancy lettering ( http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CEIY...ok_open_03_sm400.jpg ) going into great detail about the adventure, and a relatively well-drawn picture of the monster with an outline of Mittens standing next to it for size comparison.  Looks like she projected an image of the monster onto the page then carefully traced it.  Because that's what she did.

Mittens 2 clarifies, "I was looking for something specific like, 'We would be willing to pay 200 gold a head, dead or alive.'  Or, 'They're just a nuisance, really.  Never killed anybody.  5 years jail is all they deserve.'"
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:34, Tue 08 Aug 2017.

  "Just take the girl's word for it, and then put 'Joe shot arrows' every so often.  Seems to fit most narratives."  It also means not advertising blindsight on public record, that too.

Bridget says, "If all you put for Joe is 'Joe shot arrows', then make sure you just put 'Bridget hit things' for my entries."

The mayor says, "If this town had that kind of money to throw around, we would have the manpower to deal with it. Fact is, we don't. The guy from the Manor might, but since the bandits don't bother our town, I doubt he would care enough to bother paying for the bandits to be dealt with. I don't know enough about the bandits to say what they are guilty of, but banditry alone is a hang-able offense."

Mits has a writing style that plays up the epicness of all members of the team while remaining entirely accurate to what happened without adding or subtracting.  She ohs at the Mayor's response.

"Glad to hear they don't harass you guys!  Thanks for vouching for us."

Mits 2 nods.  "If for no other reason than I don't want to meet Mr. Foot Fetish much less be hired by him."

  "Given how many larger problems seem to stack up, going after the bandits that didn't rob our cart will probably take away from dealing with issues that will or have already resulted in recent injury." Or at least, them getting paid in the process.

  "Though do let us know if they start becoming a more direct problem for this town."

The mayor asks, "How on Earth did you manage such detail in your journal so quickly?" He isn't being obvious about it, but a passive insight of 20 reveals he is making sure the journal isn't just some conjured piece of magic.

Mits' passive is enough to notice.

"I have learned the fine art of writing while traveling," Mits answers.

Mits 2 adds, "It helps alleviate the redundancy of putting one foot in front of another.  Is also why Mittens is able to play music on a flute."

  "Also Mittens knows that learning to write in a journal quickly is the best way to avoid being killed writing mid sentence and finishing by somehow managing to write 'aaaaaargh' before she dies."

The mayor sweatdrops. "...I was more referring to how fine the print is. You have detailed drawings for letters, detailed drawings of monsters... I just find it impossible to believe you wrote this chapter in the course of a few hours. It would take that long for a trained artist to draw even one of those letters, let alone all the other content. Understand: The reason I ask is because the impossibility is such that I believe this journal of yours summoned. So... I can not, in good conscious, sign off to your journal. I will instead, write my own summary of what you have down for our town and sign to that."

Bridget, meanwhile, giggles from Joe's comment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:50, Tue 15 Aug 2017.

Mits laughs as well.  "One day, should Mittens find herself in such a situation, she will make every effort to include a final 'aaarg!'"

Mits 2 sighs.  "I can show you how it's done.  It's not all that hard with the magic available.  Simply project what needs written and drawn on the page, and trace."

Fancy words are projected upon a blank sheet and Mits 2 traces them.  "Viola!  'And thus, were the mayor's doubts dispelled in but a few moments of real ink on real paper.'  That took less than a minute.  It is usually Mittens' narrative way of speaking that people object to."

  Well, at least the Mayor's reaction was 'I'll stop to write something myself' rather than throwing a tantrum and deciding not to sign anything at all.  Even if Mittens's explanation ends up not satisfactory.

  "I get the feeling a lot of my completely true assumptions are going to make Bridget laugh." Well, that's true for a lot of people Joe.  That or dawning horror you are telling the truth rather than making oddly specific jokes.

Bridget says, "The truth can be funny all its own, you know... but I don't think Mittens is going to ever write "arrg" while being injured."

In older editions, doing so would require a concentration check.

The mayor is just baffled. "I knew magic had to be involved, but... well in any case. I will sign in the entries that have to do with this town. Be warned, though, your technique means that you could also trace signatures and thus, invalidate most of your book. So be sure that when you get people to sign, ask them to also put their seal on it. You can't trace wax, after all."

Actually, with mage hand and other cantrips, you can. And we have just come across a "why did I not think of this before?" for use of cantrips to conquer kingdoms.

Mittens writes "aaarg" on the page while a hand puppet bops her on the head with a foam mallet.

Mittens 2 objects, "Forgery is a thing even without magic.  As is falsifying signet rings.  Yet civilization marches on in spite of such things."

Mits shrugs.  "A seal would look awesome!  Thanks!  And will lend all the more authenticity.  If anyone is so completely skeptical as to doubt such, they can always travel here and ask everyone face-to-face.  Or they can simply miss out on having a real group of heroes help them."

  "Things get by from a combination of society being too polite to break certain unwritten rules, and anyone who does having a distinct habit of getting violently caught after maybe one or two uses."  Forged royal seals are a plot coupon anyone who values their criminal empire stays far away from.

The mayor thumbs at Joe. "What he said. There is a reason these things are accepted. And a reason why forgery is accepted pretty readily until the forger is caught."

He signs where indicated and uses his own seal to show it was him who signed it.

After that, the PCs are offered the reward of "free rooms whenever in town" as well as the two families who got reunited with their loved ones insisting on serving a meal to the PCs. However, it is clear this town is now dry of any adventure and Mittens' "adventure sense" is pointing her out of town. However, it points north, where there is no path out of town. Just fields and woods.

Mittens and Mittens graciously accept the offered hospitality and compliment the hosts.  She also shares with her friends the direction the adventure sense is leading.

"I think it high time Mittens invested in a mount," Mits concludes, "And maps."

  Oh no, not a thank you meal from thankful families!-Wait, that's actually perfectly acceptable in most cases.

  Joe won't be able to summon a ghost horse as a freebie ritual cast once a day for six more levels.  "Not walking everywhere would probably be for the best, given our travels are more frequent of late."

The town actually throws in 3 horses as a thank-you. Not a cheap thank-you either, given the town isn't all that rich. (This is so that you don't have to worry about deducting horse price from reward money)

The town only has a map of the town. They tell the PCs that maps of the region are probably sold in the cities. And the nearest city is very very far away.

Having bought some provisions with a tiny portion of the reward, Bridget mounts up and says, "You know... with that adventure sense of yours, maybe going to a city first would make sense. You only came out here to the middle of nowhere because it was the only lead you had at the time, right?"

"I have an un-detailed map," Mits answers, "Lest we be surprised by sudden impassible cliffs or massive rivers on our way to Falls River.  Was hoping for more detailed local map for points of interest.  I doubt what we'd get in distant city would be any more detailed about this region than what I've got."

Mits 2 adds, "And this is one place where magic does not compensate for Mittens' lack of skill: making said detailed map."

  "Well, either way we're going to be traveling in that direction for a while.  Or until the first distraction."

Bridget says, "Not either way. If we go to a city, we probably will want to stick to roads. If we go the way Mittens is leading and don't have roads or a map for, we will not likely land in a city."

Welcome to Bilbo's world.

Bridget looks at Mittens. "I'm willing to go north as you are indicating. But if it looks like we are reaching half our provisions and still no sign of anything, we head back here. Agreed?"