This one shouldn’t need too much: just a walk-through, more action sequences, and a bigger role for the Slappy Rats. I mean, geez, I should have led with the Slappy Rats.
Like so:
The Slappy Rat screamed and leaped.
Captain Tim Salvager could see that this one was an old bull rat, with a bunch of scars and a stink straight from the swamps, and it aimed its half-broken teeth right at Nora’s throat. It probably can’t believe its luck, the Alliance Scout Ranger thought. It must think she’s a kid. Slappy Rats could get nasty that way.
But Nora wasn’t a kid, and she could get nasty, too. The biting mouth closed on a studded wrist bracer instead of a vulnerable throat; and Nora’s other hand had unsnapped her balisong with typical halfling speed. She shook a little from the impact of something half her weight, but that didn’t stop the knife from ripping through the Slappy Rat’s guts with brutal speed.
Tim casually stepped out of the way of the blood spray, but watched intently as Nora used the base of her knife to break the Slappy Rat’s spine at the bottom of its skull. Luckily, this particular Dire Critter didn’t lock its jaw, even in death; it slid pretty quickly off Nora’s bracer and down into the swamp.
Nora looked down at the limp creature. Tim could see that she was visibly resisting the urge to kick the damned thing, which was smart of her. After a second, she said “There any good eating on this thing?”