Swamped

"Should we send a runner to alert pest control?" Mark asks. He seems unsure of how to attack; he's got his mudpike raised, and you can see it's modified to be more aerodynamic, but throwing it would leave him disarmed.

"Not safe," Tom Eighth replies, pulling a tiny stick off his belt. It starts extending into a quarterstaff. "There's probably more rats lurking around the halls, and a lone runner wouldn't stand a chance. And we need to block up the hole with something so we don't get flanked."

"What about the bed?" Stacy asks. "It's right there." She doesn't seem too concerned about the oncoming rat, even if she does have her aquablade drawn.

Juliet nods. "Not like I'm going to be getting much sleep tonight anyways." She shoves the bed over the hole, just in time for you to hear a loud growling in that direction.

"Seems we just missed the reinforcements," Tom Ninth says, relieved. He's looking at his dagger, probably thinking about how it would be nice if it had better range.

You've got your skyslicer out. You haven't had practice throwing it since you lost your arm, but it's not as if you used a two-handed throw in the first place. At least unlike Mark, you don't have to worry too much about retrieving your weapon most of the time.

"Right. Now that the hole's blocked, we want to get that thing cornered," Eighth says. "I've got the most range without throwing, so everyone stick behind me while I try to herd it."

"With just a big stick?" Mark asks, sounding doubtful. Still, he follows Eighth just like the rest of you as you maneuver around the stacks of, well, junk.

Eighth doesn't say anything in response. He just taps the greatrat with the edge of his staff once it turns towards him.

Then there's a strong flash of light as it connects. You can see some kind of spark on the end of the staff. The greatrat shrieks, and backs away, further into the room.

"Not quite cornered, but it's an improvement," he says.

"Can you just, do what you just did again?" Juliet asks. "That seemed pretty effective."

"Unfortunately, it discharges all the power at once, so that's all I've got right now. But your axe should be good enough to take it down, if we can keep it distracted long enough for you to make a clean slice. Anyone got any ideas on how to do that?"