John Lee chuckles at Rosamia's response. "Not a bad idea, missy. Perhaps a good punch would do the trick." The young mage reaches into his pouch, pulling out a snakeskin glove while offering a wink to the ladies. "Like? It's all the latest rage in the brothels." He then produces and eggshell, crumbling it into the glove while muttering quietly over it. Suddenly, a large shimmering arcane hand appears. John Lee offers another quick wink and smile before winding up for a punch. "Ya'll might jus' want to find yerselfs a place to hide jus' in case I'm about to blow myself up." Finding as much cover as he can while still seeing the orb, John Lee lets loose his arcane hand as a clenched fist to punch it. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, mutha****a!"

Attack: 20 Damage: 22

KSHKSSHSSs! Shards of glass come raining down as Bruce Lee's fist of fury smashes into the orb, breaking it. The runes on the ground flicker as if damaged, and finally wink out. You can still see that they are there, but they are no longer lit magically. There are now shards of orb and glass on the floor, as if someone dropped a large expensive glass vase by accident.

Taeli nods a few times in approval. "Well, that worked! Excellent job, Mr. P. Mind the glass on the floor, everyone." 

Kit echoes Taeli's nod of approval. "Well done, John Lee. Let's keep moving." She leads the group into the room and towards the next area.

ABYSSAL PRISONS AREA FIVE
THE TEMPLE OF CHAOS

The sweet scent of incense hangs in the hot air of this opulent chamber. The walls are covered with silk tapestries in green and yellow, and the floors are spread with cushions. To the south, two sets of sliding double wooden doors are set in the walls. 

An attractive human female is surrounded by Thayan warriors. The entire room is uncomfortably hot.

"Oh, finally!" she says, relieved. "Saved at last!" 25

This woman appears to be a prisoner.

Rosamia looks at the Thayan warrior guarding the woman. "Well gang, are going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Amelia tugs at the collar of her shirt due to the heat, then begins to fan herself with her hand to try and cool down, but when it proved to be a fruitless effort, she ceased. “Jeesh... Leathers aren’t the most comfortable thing to wear in here...” She mutters to the group, only to then have her brow raised at the woman who appears to be a prisoner here.

Insight: 21

Taeli stared at the woman and the five Thayan guards she was surrounded by. The guards did not advance, or speak, and the woman almost pulled it off.

Insight: 25

"She's lying." Taeli whispered. "This is some sort of trick. Wisdom of Pelor, it's hot in here."

"Just a touch," Kit agrees, casually drawing an arrow from her quiver and nocking it to her bow. "Like Rosa said, easy way or hard way?"

“Alright, wait, hold your horses guys,” Amelia raises a hand, then looks to the liar and her friends. “What’s going on here? It’s obvious your lying, but why the lie in the first place?”

John Lee looks from Kit to Amelia to Taeli to Rosa then shrugs. "Whatever you ladies think best."

The woman sighs, clearly, this tactic wasen't working. Fine.

"Alright." she says. "I am a prisoner of Tarul Var. Certainly you have heard of him? I have managed to charm these guards, HIS guards, but I am seeking a way out of this place. He has bound me here as his.." she looks around, thinking of a word to describe it. "..plaything." 

"Tarul Var doesn't ring any bells for me, but you can explain later."

"Explain later?" The woman asks, "Is there something happening now? Like, maybe, getting me out of here? I seem to have forgotten the way. Are you going to help me, or just going to stand there silently."

Commander Kit, please make a DC15 WIS save for me.

"We're here to save you. It might not be immediate, but we're here to save you."

The sweltering heat has no impact on Mongo, other than his temperature sensors pick it up. What does capture his attention is the striking beauty in the center of the room. (Mongo has a 15 PP, so he realizes that she’s lying.)

”You don’t strike me as the type who forgets anything, miss. So you can drop the old damsel in distress act. You’re too perdy for that crap.”

"If you could just direct me to the exit of this place, that would be fantastic." she says, starting to lose her patience. "You see, the curse Tarul Var placed on me doesn't allow me to leave on my own - someone has to lead me to the exit. You know, silly curses and what not." 

Mongo just shakes his head, turns, and continues into the room to look around (Perception: 18) while the rest of the group in enthralled by the charlatan.

John Lee mumbles to the others. "I've got a bad feeling about this here damsel." He offers the lady a lopsided smile. "Perhaps we play through and catch her on the rebound."

"I agree." Taeli admits. "She seems like trouble and she sure has the Thayan guards wrapped around her finger - magic perhaps. It doesn't make sense, and she sure doesn't look like a prisoner. I say pass." She turned to Kit. "Your call Commander."

Kit frowns. "This is supposed to be relatively covert, and as far as I can tell, you haven't given us any reason to trust you wouldn't go running to someone and warn them as soon as you were out. So you can stay here until we're gone, then see if you can persuade the vampire in the next room over to lead you to the exit. He'll probably just want a sip of blood in return." Several streaks of red appear in her hair.