Ilmrae's satisfaction vanished as soon as it'd appeared, dashed by the troll and its buzzing accompaniment that'd found their way free of the Well. How long had it been below, so have such a grisly appearance? Not to even mention the poor halfling stuck fast in its snarling jaws!

"Hey!" She barked at the looming beast as its claws raked towards Elagor, the distracting jab of a word laced with magic. Following swiftly behind, a trio of forceful bolts snapped into existence and were sent sailing to bash against the troll's thick hide.

Would Lucky be able to attack the stirge that is stuck on him?

(yes)

... Or else, Elagor would have been bloodied, but with Ilmrae's distracting spell, he manages to avoid such a fate! 

Dierdre's mood has now shifted from annoyed to vengeful. Muttering to herself she moves closer to Lucky.

Calling on her divine power she casts Word of Radiance at the nearest stirges (3 & 4).

Damage 1   🙄

One of the Stirges (3) resists the spell, the other (4) fails! 

Mialee will move away from the table booth, positioning herself about 15 feet Southwest from where she started, she is now on the opposite side of one of the tables from the troll. From here Mialee will cast Sleep centered on the tiny creature attached to Lucky causing 26 hp worth of creatures to fall unconscious in ascending order within 20 feet.

"Burn the troll! We might still be able to save the halfling in it's mouth!" shouts Mialee, hoping everyone works together and it's not too late to save the halfling.

After casting her enchanting spell, a twilight glow falls over all 5 of the stirges. The strange buzz-like cackling suddenly stops as they all peacefully detach from anyone they've stung, fall to the ground, fold in their wings, and fall into a softly snoring slumber. 

It would seem the Stirges have all been neutralized, but the troll remains a problem!

Dierdre looks at Mialee and raises an eyebrow "Sleep? Well whatever works I guess." She winks and turns her attention back to the troll.

Elagor strikes at the Troll once more. His first blow is dashed away while the second grazes, but fails to bite through, the Troll's thick skin. He braces himself once more, hoping to keep the Troll's attention fixed, allowing his companions an advantage. Tough as an old boot, this thing, he thinks. Better make sure my swords are sharpened after this lot's over with.

There was no time for Mercy to enjoy the sight of the Xanathar goons running away like the cowards they were, because a troll was now emerging from the hole in the middle of the tavern. "Gods above!" Mercy exclaims, having never seen a troll before. It's huge and quite hideous. There are strange little creatures stuck to its back, but they quickly detach. One of them attaches itself to Lucky and starts sucking his blood. Mercy grimaces with distaste. Horrible little bloodsuckers!

The warlock decides to take Mialee's advice. "Fire, huh? I can do that," she says, with a grin.

She casts another Eldritch Blast at the troll, but the wrath of her patron gives the spell a fiery edge, dealing 2 additional fire damage!

Attack: 18 Damage: 9 plus 2 fire damage

Mercy's attack unfortunately misses the troll!

The remaining Xanathar thugs spend their entire turns running out the door, fleeing the Yawning Portal, never to return (if they’re smart).

It is Lucky and Elagor’s turn! 

Elagor continues to strike at the Troll but is unable to break through it's tough hide.

Lucky resists an urge to smash the large bugs while they're incapacitated. The innkeeper had said to eliminate them, but they didn't seem in danger of stinging anyone right now, and the troll looked dangerous. And the halfling might still be alive! So he steps up next to Elagor and takes a stab at it with his short sword:

16 to hit

5 damage (rolled two ones)

then he disengages and gets a bit further away this time, hopefully out of the troll's reach.

Elagor's swords don't break through the troll's hide, but it gives Lucky the opening he needs to strike true! The tabaxi jams his shortsword right in the beast's chest, piercing its heart, and it lets out one final howl of pain before collapsing, crushing some tables and chairs underneath it as its body flops to the ground. Cheers ring out across the Yawning Portal - people clap you on the back or put drinks in your hands with wishes of congratulations. Durnan sheathes his greatsword, gives you all a quick nod, and simply says, "You fought well." He and some of the other staff go around and dispose of the sleeping stirges, whacking them on the back of the head and tossing them down the Well before they wake up.

Frantic breathing and grunting emerge from the mouth of the troll, but it sounds too small to be coming from the beast. Slipping out from the monster's putrid mouth is the halfling wizard of the party that went down the well. She's a freckle-faced young woman with blue eyes, blonde hair tied back in a bun, and tan and blue robes. All of these things are currently damp with the troll's stinking saliva, and it looks like she has sustained some bite wounds from the beast. She huffs and picks up her discarded staff, then casts a quick prestidigitation spell to clean herself up, ridding herself of the troll stench and wetness. 

"They left me! Abandoned me like an old boot! Those monsters, worse than the troll that nearly made me its supper!" She cries, on the brink of angry tears. She blinks through them, leans over the Well, and shouts down, "I hope you get lost down in that pit, you cowardly bastards! Let Tymora's luck twist away from you!"

She then lets out a sigh and sees all of you nearby. "Sorry about that. It's what I get for joining a random party, I suppose. Thank Mystra you all were here to keep me from becoming an appetizer for that troll."

"Yeah, seems saving random people in trouble is what they're good at," the half-orc who was jumped by the Xanathar gangsters says with a laugh. "For real, though, you didn't have to get involved. Could've just let them toss me down the Well, but you stuck your necks out for me. I'll remember that. Still, I think I coulda handled 'em. Name's Yagra Stonefist. And you may have figured this out already, but I work for the Zhentarim."

The halfling, who had just finished imbibing a healing potion, narrows her eyes a bit at the half-orc, but she doesn't say anything to her. "And I'm Bryony Fleetfellow, just another fool trying to make ends meet through adventure. Thank you for your assistance - it would seem I'm in your debt." 

Dierdre brushes herself down, and looks around the group, casting Healing word on Lucky and Elagor. (4hp each)

Returning to the table she sits down and takes a sip of her drink "Well, that's quite enough excitement for one night I think."

Elagor silently sheathes his swords. The scornful voice of his former drill and sword instructor rang in his head. "You're a wastrel! You'll be the first to die and I won't be the one to pull you off the line. You'll be left to rot!"  He hadn't made much of an account of himself, besides getting in that first strike. Mostly luck probably. Still, instinct had driven him to the front, partly to protect his companions and partly to assist the halfling.  There was a reason the instructor had despised him - Elagor did not relish combat.  Yet cowardice was not part of his character. Not relishing it wasn't the same as not stepping up to it when necessary.  As was his habit, Elagor pushed these thoughts away. He turned back to the party and smiled broadly.

"I think we've earned another drink apiece, don't you? Dierdre, didn't you volunteer for the second round?"  He nods to lucky. "Good work there."

Elagor muses that the single-minded purpose that the barely-assembled party had shown in the face of an unexpected crisis was reassuring. The Xanathar would not be happy - but possibly they might hesitate to act, given the group's display of ferocity and willingness to support each other. Having favour with the Zhentarim was no bad thing - from a business point of view.

Lucky steps his weapons and returns to the table, quietly. In truth he’s a bit shaken, this is all rather a bit more than he’s accustomed to. He shyly says to Bryony, “Thank the gods you’re alright, I saw your arm sticking out of that thing’s mouth and, well… thank the gods.”

Lucky grins at Mialee’s encouragements. “Thank you Mialee, I was just trying my best.”

When he gets a chance, Lucky will give thanks to Elagor. “You fought bravely. I was glad to be able to hide behind you,” he says self-deprecatingly.

Mercy returns to the table with the others. She hadn't expected the halfling to still be alive but was glad she managed to survive. "My name is Mercy," she introduces herself. She gives a nod to both Bryony and the half-orc, but to the half-orc she performs a quick sign with her hand. It is one of the silent signs used by the Zhentarim to identify each other. Among their current group, only Lucky and perhaps Dierdre know she belongs to the Black Network. It's not a fact she wants to advertise readily. The Zhent have a rather dark reputation, and who knows what her new companions would think of her if they knew?

Back at the table, she compliments Lucky as well. "Nice moves," she says with a grin. To Elagor she says, "That was quite brave, stepping up to the troll like that." The tiefling looks around the tavern. It looks like Durnan found a mop and is cleaning blood stains off the floor. The body of the troll still lays where it fell; its hulking weight will likely require several strong men to lift. Even from their table the stench of the troll is noticeable. Mercy wrinkles her nose. "What do we do if our patron never shows?" she asks.

Narrow shoulders sagged in relief as the troll fell, and a smile to match broke out across Ilmrae's visage with the halfling's apparent survival. "That was thrilling," She said with a touch more enthusiasm than one would expect after a brush with being turning into another's dinner. They bounded up to those still surrounding the troll, both hands up to deliver a reassuring pat to both Bryony and Yagra- the former reaching much lower than the latter, and coming away sticky with troll saliva.

Their patron's lack of appearance was definitely noted, though it didn't seem to bother the sorcerer as she gave Mercy a shrug. "I'm sure he'll show, sooner or later. Volo never struck me as one who'd disappoint a waiting crowd. And agreed: no debts," She began in agreement with Mialee, but the affirmation paused at Elagor's proposal. "Except in the manner of drinks, it'd seem! 'Put it on my tab', I believe the saying goes? Come, let's wash away the unfortunate business with a few."