The warriors emerging from the doors on the balcony looked better fed, stronger and better equipped than those that Broneslav had fought so far. Worse yet, some of them had bows. He would have to see if defending the passage was still viable, so he backed up. Unfortunately, these warriors were clearly more experienced. Instead of charging straight in, they formed up in a line around the largest of their number. The archers prepared to fire. Broneslav ducked behind the rubble and the first volley flew past him. He drew his bow and placed his sword and shield within easy reach.
Ducking back out, he saw that the archers were preparing to fire again. Broneslav shot first! Letting arrows fly as fast as he could, Broneslav quickly slew two of the archers. The return fire saw arrows leaving gummy trails on his armour, but none found a gap.
The shaman beside the largest headhunter chanted as the arrows flew. As the shaman completed his spell, Broneslav suddenly felt paralysed for a brief moment, but his willpower pushed him through and he shook it off. The shaman looked startled.
Another arrow flew and another enemy archer died. One of the archers scored a hit on Broneslav. The poison on the arrow tip made him feel slightly queasy but his armour and strong constitution ensured that he felt no worse than that. He shot the enemy archer and two more in quick succession as arrows bounced off his armour. Despite the deaths, the headhunters screamed defiance at him and stood firm.
With the archers being whittled down, the chief of the headhunters decided that enough was enough. He and his bodyguard charged as Broneslav's arrows missed their mark for once. Seeing them charge, Broneslav grabbed his shield and sword and braced himself. The chief stumbled as he charged and his bodyguard reached Broneslav first. The plucky hero fended off their blows easily, the narrow gap he stood in making it easier for him to defend.
Deftly wielding his sword, Broneslav cut the first bodyguard down with two swift blows. Another lightning-fast lunge skewered a second bodyguard as he fended off their slashes with his shield. This was too much for the remaining bodyguard, who fled and left the chief to face Broneslav alone. The pair were evenly matched, it seemed as each scored hits on the other. Grunting grimly, Broneslav settled in to the fight.
Seeing his chance, the shaman rushed forward chanting a hasty spell and tried to grab Broneslav, but the youth twisted his way out of the shaman's fiendish assault. He retaliated against the chief, scoring a heavy blow on the large headhunter, but it was not enough to cut the man down. As he fought desperately against both the shaman and the chief, Broneslav sought an opening while fending off their further attacks. Suddenly he saw one and slid his sword into the chief's gut. The big man fell. The shaman fled. A single archer joined him.
The remaining archers howled their ire and fired. A single arrow found its mark. It was just a scratch, but it was enough. Pain flashed through the young hero and his guts curled up into knots as he wretched violently. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand straight again despite the pain, the fever and the need to vomit that the poison on the arrow had caused. It felt like his guts were being ripped apart, but he stumbled forward towards the archers at full speed.
The archers stood horrified as the young warrior flailed wildly with his sword, cutting all of them down in short order. They had not even had time to react to his sudden assault before the room was quiet once more. He stumbled back to the corridor as the fever took hold and rested a few minutes to gather his strength once more. He felt awful and was quite badly wounded now, but the worst of the poison seemed to have gone through his system already.
Standing up once more, he scooped up the chief's sword, which seemed to be better quality than expected and prepared to advance further into this temple.
I used the Defy Death mechanic for Broneslav to survive the poison without further problems. It cost him hit points and it might have been more interesting to let him fail and have him be captured. I am sure there will be time for those sort of shenanigans later though. He is bound to fail another saving roll at a critical juncture in this or another adventure.
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