I was on my way to Whiterun from Ivarstead, when I reached this huge drop in the mountain side connected by a very long log bridge; the log was held probably at least a hundred feet from the bottom of the crevice. Anyway, there is a bandit highwayman standing on the log bridge looking over the edge, and as I approach her, instead of attacking me, she just shouts, "stay away! I'm warning you!"

Has anyone encountered this or know what it's about? If it has to do with some miscellaneous quest or? It's bizarre. I've never had a bandit tell me to stay away from them and not attack them, much less while they seem to be contemplating a swan dive.

typical AI. Some of the mobs hold their ground for the area they are in. I think this is so that if you happen to cross close to an undisclosed area you don't need to engage the enemy for content you will later explore.

I was under the impression that most randoms say that as a warning, if u get close they agro and attack you...
but logic aside that's awesome!!!!

I'd call that a coincidence. Many bandits will give you warnings depending on your distance from them. This is much more noticeable outdoors than indoors, where bandits tend to see you sooner and farther away.

How close did you get? Most bandits will offer some kind of warning if you get kind of close to them.

Ahahaha, thats awesome! Yeah, some people (like a lot of bandits) wont attack you unless you tresspass and get too close to them, so they say that. It just so happened she was standing on a bridge. Haha!

Really? I've never gotten one before. HOWEVER, I am a stealth character, and an arrow from the dark to the head probably does put a damper on those warnings I've never heard before hahaha!

Yes, several bandits warn you like this. Some bears and wolves behave the same : they make noise when they notice you, but if you don't go too close they don't attack.

This is IMO a great improvement compared to OB.

That's happens to me all the time actually, not just coming from bandits but rouge mages as well, I usually just kill who ever threaten me

If you get too close to a bandit, they'll warn you to stay back, if you get closer, they'll attack you.