In the surprise round, four gnoll archers fired from partial concealment on either side of the road. The Brothers Eld each have AC 3 (chainmail, Dex). The THAC0 17 gnoll archers get a +2 bonus for attacking from surprise and concealment, meaning effective THAC0 15 — necessitating to-hit rolls of 12+. The Eld Brothers — Olophorn, Belphor, Mintarn, and Caspius — begin the battle with Hit Points as shown below:

Surprise round results: Olophorn gets hit once by an archer, sustaining 5 damage. Poor Belphor gets hit twice by archers, one of them a critical, and drops to 7 of 22 HP. Mintarn gets hit twice, taking a total of ten damage, which reduces him to 9 of 19 HP. And Caspius gets hit twice, one a critical, for a total of eighteen, dropping him to 4 of 22 HP. Ouch!

To their credit, the Brothers Eld — though surprised and badly wounded — hold their ground. With the practiced efficiency of fighters who have been in battle many times, they each begin the first regular round of combat by quaffing a healing potion as the first of their two actions. This brings them to the following HP totals:

Olophorn: 21/21
Belphor: 16/22
Mintarn: 18/19
Caspius 11/22

Mintarn takes a free 5-foot step southeast so that he is adjacent to Belphor, who then grins and takes advantage of his Flanking Strike Heroic Deed. Ordinarily, Belphor is adjusted THAC0 16 (level/STR). He sacrifices a Risk Die to active his Flanking Strike, getting an '8' result. Adding his STR modifier to the to-hit roll will modify his already adjusted THAC0 to a 14, meaning he'll only need a '7' on his to-hit roll to hit the AC 7 gnoll due west of him. The raw to-hit roll is '19' — he hits, inflicting 6 (+8 from Risk Die). Total damage 14, which slays the gnoll! And Belphor has three Risk Dice remaining. Bye-bye, Gnoll #9...

Round 1 contiinues. Belphor takes a free 5'-step West, so that he and Olophorn both menace Gnoll #7. Olophorn attacks but misses. Meanwhile, Caspius skewers Gnoll 11 for 11 damage, slaying it! Mintarn crits Gnoll 17 for ten damage, slaying it! Well, the Brothers Eld gave a pretty good accounting of themselves, slaying three ogres among them in round 1. Now let's see how Matthie and Aury fare.

As Gnoll 12 takes a 5' step northeast toward a mirror image of Mattie, the real Mattie sacrifices his memorized Unseen Servant spell to fire an Eldritch Bolt at Gnoll 15. It strikes unerringly for 4 damage. He hopes that will assist Aury in killing that particular foe. Aury casts his Daze cantrip at Gnoll 15, but the creature succeeds in its saving throw and is unaffected. At this point, our heroes and the Eld Brothers have acted, and we'll now see how the gnolls perform in their actions.

Gnolls 2 and 3 rush east, to join their fellow (Gnoll 12) in assaulting one of the caravaners. Gnoll 2 attacks and misses. Gnoll 3 'hits', and the mirror images is disrupted, eliciting a surprised grunt from Gnoll 3, then angry growling from the entire trio of gnolls. Gnolls 3 and 12 then use the remainder of their turn to move SW to engage Caspius, while Gnoll 2 heads east to engage the caravan member there (a mirror image of Mattie).

Gnoll 1 moves south to get closer to Belphor
Gnoll 2 (acted in rnd 1, moving east to engage another mirror Mattie)
Gnoll 3 (acted in rnd 1), deceived by mirror image and then moved S to close with Caspius
Gnoll 4, moved SE, E, attacked Caspius (missed!)
Gnoll 5, moved due E, attacked Caspius (missed!)
Gnoll 6, moved to SE of Belphor and attacked (hits), dropping Caspius to 13/22 HP
Gnoll 7 attacked Belphor (missed!)
Gnoll 8 moved E attacked Belphor (missed!)
Gnoll 9 (slain)
Gnoll 10 moved E attacked Belphor (missed!)
Gnoll 11 (slain)
Gnoll 12 (acted in rnd 1), closed with Caspius
Gnoll 13 stepped NW attacked mirror Mattie (missed!)
Gnoll 14 moved NW attacked mirror Mattie (missed!)
Gnoll 15 crits Aury, dropping him to 08/22
Gnoll 16 SW attacks mirror Mattie (misses/fumbles!)
Gnoll 17 (slain)
Gnoll 18 steps E to attack mirror Mattie (hits, dispelling mirror image)
Gnoll 19 moves to SE of Aury and attacks (missed!)
Gnoll 20 moves to E of Belphor, SE of Mintarn, attacks (hits for 2, drops Belphor to 11/22)

Snapshot at end of Round 1:

At the top of round 2 of combat, Aury unleashes a Healing Surge. He is successful: Belphor, Mintain, Caspius, and Olophorn each regain 1 HP, and Aury regains 7:

Round Two

Aury does a Healing Surge (restores 1 HP to allies, 7 to Aury)
Gnoll 1 moves to southcentral on map, fires arrow at Mintarn (armor absorbs it)
Gnoll 2 attacks mirror Mattie in NE of map (misses!)
Gnoll 3 hits Caspius for 5 dmg: Caspius now 07/22
Gnoll 4 hits Olophorn for 8 dmg: Olothorn now 13/21
Gnoll 5 attacked Caspius (missed!)
Gnoll 6 attacked Belphor (missed!)
Gnoll 7 hits Olophorn for 7 dmg: Olothorn now dead!
Mattie casts a 5d6 fireball from scroll for 16 dmg!
   Gnoll 3 successfully saves and is at 2/10 HP, does not flee
   Gnoll 4 slain by fireball
   Gnoll 5 successfully saves and is at 2/10 HP, does not flee
   Gnoll 7 successfully saves and is at 2/10 HP, does not flee
   Gnoll 8 successfully saves and is at 2/10 HP, does not flee
Gnoll 13 attacked mirror Mattie (missed!)
Gnoll 14 attacked mirror Mattie (missed!)
Gnoll 8 hits Belphor, dropping him to 06/22
Belphor tries to quaff a healing draught, rises to 19/22
Caspius attacks Gnoll 5 (misses!)
Mintarn takes 5-ft step NE attacks Gnoll 15 (misses!)
Caravan Master Thromb emerges, targets Gnoll 15 with wand, slaying it!
Gnoll 10 attacked Belphor (missed!)
Gnoll 12 attacked Caspius (fumbles)
Gnoll 16 steps W and attacks Aury and hits for 14; would drop him to 01 HP, but...
Aury tries to Defy Death. While still at 14, he rolls 3,4,1 drops to 12 HP instead
Gnoll 19 crits Aury for 9 (will drop him to 3 unless Defy Death...
Aury tries Defy Death 2nd time today: 1,4,1 drops him to 6 HP instead
Gnoll 18 10' NW misses Thromb
Gnoll 20 attacked Belphor (misses!)

Snapshot at end of Round 2:

Tough round! We sure don't want Aury to have to make a third daily Defy Death attempt. So, at the top of round 3, Aury attempts to quaff a healing potion. Aury begins round 3 by declaring In Defense, garnering a 3-point bonus to AC (his AC goes from 5 to 2). Since In Defense precludes any actions involving more than 5-ft step of movement, Aury will attempt a Healing Surge and attempt to quaff a healing potion.

Round Three

Aury regains 9 HP from potion, putting him at 15/22
Aury's Healing Surge restores 1 HP to allies, 7 to Aury (he's now 22/22)

Gnoll 1 edges E, lines up a shot on Thromb: hits for 5; Thromb 6/11 HP

Gnoll 2 attacks mirror Mattie in NE of map in Rnd 3 (misses!)
Gnoll 3 misses Caspius in round 3
Gnoll 5 misses Caspius in round 3
Gnoll 6 attacked Belphor for 4: Belphor now 16/22

Gnoll 7 atks Belphor rnd 3 for 5 dmg: Belphor now 11/22

Matthias sacs Read Magic to cast Eldritch Bolt at Gnoll-5 for 4 dmg
Thromb then targets the same gnoll with three more missiles from wand: 17 dmg (slain!)
Gnoll 13 atks mirror Mattie (hits!) dispels mirror image
Gnoll 14 charges/atks Aury @ +2: deals 5 dmg

Belphor In Defense and quaff healing draught for 7: now 18/22

Gnoll atks Belphor rnd 3 (misses!)
Caspius attacks Gnoll 12 for 6 dmg
Mintarn takes a step backward from Gnoll-14, pivots, and executes Flanking Str Gnoll-12
Mintarn's Fl. Strk. fails; but atk succeeds: Gnoll-12 takes 8 dmg (slain!)
Gnoll 10 atks Belphor rnd 3 hits for 17 but...
Belphor retcons Defy Death with 3 dmg; now at 15/22

Aury steps NW & Mintarn pivots eastward
Gnoll 16 mv N 10' fires at Mintarn; deals 4; Mintarn: 15/19

Gnoll 18 closes with Thromb, but drops weapon!
Gnoll 19 steps west and attacks Thromb (fumbles weapon!)

Round Three ends. Snapshot at end of Round 3:

As Round 4 begins, Aury attempts yet another Healing Surge, succeeding in healing himself back to full hit points and giving his five surviving caravan members +1 HP each. Aury does this along with In Defense.

Aury takes In Defense, Healing Surges, and atks Gnoll-14 but the gnoll parries
Thromb targets Gnoll-18 with a 3-missile wand burst for 14, slaying it!
Mattie sacs his last remaining 1st lv spell to power an Eldritch Bolt at Gnoll-14, for 6 dmg
Mintarn takes a 5' step NW and Flanking Strikes Gnoll-3: successful hit and slays!
Caspius, relieved by Mintarn, moves SW to aid Belphor, atks Gnoll 7 but is parried
Belphor also atks Gnoll7 but he too misses
Gnoll-1 move ENE 10-ft and fires on Aury, misses
Gnoll-2 charges Mintarn, hits for 4 dmg, dropping Mintarn to 12/19 HP

Gnoll-6 atks Belphor rnd 4 - misses!
Gnoll-7 atks Caspius rnd 4 - gets parried!
Gnoll-8 atks Belphor rnd 4 - misses!
Gnoll-10 atks Belphor rnd 4 - misses!
Gnoll-20 atks Caspius rnd 4 - inflicts 9 dmg! Caspius Defies Death, taking only 1 dmg!

Gnoll-13 mv to assist Gn2 vs Mintarn - it's parried!
Gnoll-14 atks Aury rnd 4 and deals 3 dmg; Aury 19/22
Gnoll-16 closes w Mintarn to atk crits for 9 dmg ; Mint 03/19
Gnoll-19 atks Thromb rnd 4 inflicts 4 dmg: Thromb 03/11

As round 4 ends and we move to round 5, here are the Health totals and a snapshot of the combat map:

Aury starts Round 5 with In Defense, another Healing Surge, and attacking the already injured Gnoll #14. The Surge succeeds, but only heals Aury's companions 1 HP apiece. At least Aury regains full HP. Mintarn and Thromb could buy the farm this round. Aury misses (or is parried), unfortunately.

Aury acted
Matthias uses his last fireball scroll, targeting #1, #14, #19, and killing these three gnolls.
Thromb turns his wand on Gnoll #20, killing it
Mintarn steps NW and Flanking Strikes #7; hits and slays it!
Belphor swipes at #8 & misses, then takes a 5'step to stay adjacent with Caspius
Thromb, seeing everyone is near spent, calls "To me!"
Mintarn inflicts 8 on #2, then steps SW, adjacent to Caspius

As the surviving caravan members draw together, the surviving gnolls survey the scene. Five gnolls on six foes — foes who have slain quite a few gnolls in the past half-minute — doesn't seem like good odds, not in comparison to the initial ratio of gnolls to people. They run off.

END OF ENCOUNTER.