First, the Band of Ten Thieves

As the long ride continued, Clara found herself miffed at the oppressive silence. She became determined to break it... after all, was it not her place to spread the word of Geod? All people were her flock. She had a responsibility to deliver the good word, even in a setting such as this. Finally, she cleared her throat and spoke to the cart at large. "Where are you gentlemen headed today?" She'd told the driver to take her to the abbey, but certainly, these men must be headed elsewhere.

The group looked at each other for a moment, before the short man next to her finally spoke up. "The forest. Lumbering," he answered briefly, his eyes locked on the bosom of her robe, which bounced enticingly at every minor bump in the rocky path they traveled.

"Ah. I notice none of you carry hatchets?"

"Tools are aaall on site, ma'am."

"I see..."

The priestess felt that conversation was pretty dry. Perhaps she would have more success with a more interesting topic as bait? "What do you all think of the current climate in Merridan? Things certainly have taken a turn for the odd." She peeked at the man once again, to see if he'd perked up.

It seemed he had. "Well, I'd say the church found a pretty spectacular way to bring in new followers, Miss F-" he started, then quickly shut up, shoving a knot of rope in his mouth to keep himself quiet. The driver was glaring over his shoulder, irritated both at the man's indiscretion and at his praise for the church. "I-I mean, uh, I'm sure they just stole it from the knights! The knights did it first!"

"Th-That's terribly rude! I'll have you know, I... I heard a very credible rumor that the idea originated within the church!" The high priestess had quickly jumped to offense... after all, it had been Broomi's idea to start servicing the faithful with their bodies! The knights had been pretty quick to shamelessly copy that new idea. It was disgraceful, in her mind. The copying, not the sexual behaviors themselves... Actually, she was still wrestling with that part, hence the pilgrimage.

"Ahem!" the driver spoke from up front, clearing his throat with authority. "I'd say we're nearly to the forest, boys."

"The forest...?" Clara questioned, peaking one eyebrow. If the driver was a logger too, was he going to take off with them? How was she supposed to reach the abbey? That turned out to be the least of her concerns, as the large arms of the man behind her suddenly grabbed her from behind, hooking one hand over each of her shoulders and restricting her movement. "W-Wait! Please, unhand me!" She'd finally caught on to her own peril.

"Damn, that was slow, Lionel," the leader of the Band of Ten Thieves spoke up from the front of the cart. Clara had heard just a bit about them... they were an increasingly notorious gang with some loud grievances that caused them to target, rob, and humiliate members of the church. "But you did the job. Heh... Things may not have worked out with that church counselor, but we caught an even bigger fish this time. Miss Clara Fauxbright, head of the Holy Church of Merridan... You dressed like you knew you were gonna be robbed today, didn't you? Barely got a thing valuable on ya."

"I say we take what she's got all the same, Gedd!" the short, afro'd man spoke up, running his tongue along a gross length of rope wrapped between his two fists. "I haven't been this excited to tie somebody up in a while! That pretty, pale skin of hers looks like it's barely ever been touched! It's like porcelain, gee hee hee!"

"Dammit, Stubbs! How many times do I have to remind you we ain't rapin' bandits?!"

"S-Sorry, boss."

"However... I see something worth taking." The lithe bandit leader had stopped his horses and now jumped to stand at the lip of the cart, balancing with all of the poise of a practiced thief. "That amulet she's wearing... it looks like solid gold to me. Plus, it's got the emblem of the world's biggest money laundering racket, danglin' right between those big knockers of hers. Lionel, why don't you grab that? Then Stubbs, I think I'll permit you to tie this one up, as long as you lay off the **** implications. It's just a humiliation bondage, not a **** bondage. Got it?"

"Yes, boss..."

That didn't sound much better to Clara! She hated to do it, but... Perhaps now was the time to use one of her sleep prayers? By doing so, she could easily wipe out the bandit troupe, then make off with their carriage... but she had no idea how to drive horses! She'd be stranded out in the wilderness, unless she further relied on her wings. Plus, she'd be leaving these bandits... evil though they were... to the mercy of demon lord minions that often roamed outside of the town's barrier. Not to mention that relying upon Geod while she was still mid-trial seemed to kind of be a betrayal of her pilgrimage.

At the same time, Lionel seemed to have gotten pretty distracted and was now eagerly squeezing her enormous, somewhere-over-E cup breasts with both hands through the soft fabric of her habit, forgetting the amulet entirely. She winced, squinted her eyes half-shut, and tried to figure a way out of her admittedly easy-to-circumvent predicament.