JohannThierial

"I...hate...running."   Eadberht huffs and puffs as he tries to keep up.   "Where are they?"

Merry (delayed) Christmas, apologies for not posting. Things got busier than expected over the holidays.

"Following them at a distance is probably for the best. I'm not amazing in a straight up fight, which is why I don't like getting involved in them."   He dusts himself off as he talks to Silas, following behind the hooded figure. He tosses his bat up into the air.   "Adain, keep an eye on things from the sky."

Seeing that the others have gone upstairs, Eadberht backs off to a distance where he can observe the entrance and the building as a whole. He allows the earthen grasp to end as it exceeds his control range.   I'm sure they can handle it.

Is there anyone still in range of the hand? I can reposition it by 5 ft. a round, or make another grab if someone breaks free. It can grab anyone within 5 ft. of it.  

Probably not, at least not yet. That's the kind of heat he wouldn't necessarily need. If it's not possible to use the spell nonlethally, I'll eschew using the damage.

Leaving the man trapped, the mage moves out of the line of sight by hiding behind the doorjamb, just outside the building, but maintains his concentration on the spell. He retrieves a bag of caltrops in case he needs to make a quick escape, preparing to drop them and run.

"O Servants of Stone and Earth, reach out and grasp mine foes."   Eadberht holds the crystal while reciting the spell in an arcane tongue. Though the floor of the tavern is made of wood, earth seeps through the cracks and forms a hand, which reaches out and attempts to grab the leader. Casting Earthen Grasp, targeting the leader. The spell forces a DC 13 STR save, or else he is restrained and takes 2d6 bludgeoning. Should allow them to either get him or get out more easily. https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/maximilians-earthen-grasp

Jesus, if I'm using all my luck here...I hope we don't fight any dragons.

Eadberht snaps back to his own senses, overcoming the minor disorientation with a quick shake of his head. The shot was almost painful to the bat's sensitive ears, and Adain whimpers slightly as it flutters near the ceiling. He hopes that in the chaos, nobody cares about a bat in the ceiling of a tavern.   There's too many people to use anything crazy. He palms a strange crystal and holds it in his hand, preparing to intervene.   "No way! I know that mug from the wanted posters! He's that famous outlaw, Barg Bugroad!" Since it looks like I'm the current high roller, I'll try to go ahead and attempt to follow along with the bluff. If attempting deception doesn't take an action, I'll ready an action to use mage armor if things start heading in my direction.

Eadberht remains near the entrance to the tavern, but he has his bat familiar, Adain hang onto Kaspar's clothing as he makes his way into the bar. Adain then flies to the ceiling and looks down to find Silas and the woman. Once he's close enough, Eadberht will try to listen through the keen hearing of his familiar, trying to determine what the woman and gnome are saying.

I mean, it doesn't autorefresh, you have to F5 the page to see new posts. Other than that, not really.  

I understand. That's just how he operates; he doesn't want anything he does to be traceable back to himself, for the most part. The "Duke's servant" is a common disguise he uses. He has a signet ring belonging to "Duke Gedanklich" that he uses sometimes.

"Apologies, it's someone specific. I must go, my master's other servants await."   He finishes his drink in a swig and leaves the money for the drink on the bar, along with a few copper tip.

Works for me. It's a neat function.