Coffee Break

"All spells are weighted equally, but at the same time... Randomizers are hardly ever actually random, so it's possible the odds are slightly weighted towards one result over another, by simple probability. After all if you roll two six sided dice you have an equal chance for every possibility technically, but a seven is the most likely outcome regardless. Perhaps the methods of probability generation used by the tower simply favour the unlock spell for some reason," Alide explains with a shrug, "that being said identifying the spellbook might give you some knowledge, but I can also just tell you. At the first level unlock opens non-magical locks, at second level it can open any lock, magical or otherwise, at third level it can open various non-standard locking mechanisms, ie it can bypass puzzle locks and the like and at fourth level it can just forcibly open anything that can be opened. Essentially unlocking free passage anywhere in the tower without ever needing a key or permission. To put it into better perspective... the first level can open the locked doors to my shop, second level can open the tower exit doors without needing to find the special keys, third level could open something like the pain or pleasure hallways you encountered in The Tower Below floor without completing the pleasure or pain requirements and the fourth could be used to open something like the gate sealed and controlled directly by the OTG on the Tower Above floor, essentially, Unlock just makes it so you don't have to worry about any sort of non-combat based requirement to progress. Once someone has mastered the final level of the Unlock spell the only thing that can prevent them from progressing in the Tower, is ****. Unlock also will work on some things that aren't technically doors or gates at higher levels... Like magical and technological forcefields or shields, physical and magical barriers and can dispel or negate some forms of wards... For example and this is a wonderful example of how useful and versatile magic can be, someone with unlock lvl 4 could negate the Cloak of Turbulent Waves, the spell essentially 'unlocking' a path for their projectiles and magic to still reach you," Alide explains.

"Well that's... educational," Yulia responds as Alide finishes explaining. There's something weird about that last bit, Alide seemed to be staring rather meaningfully at Yulia as she talked about the spell bypassing the cloak. Yulia felt almost... Threatened.

"Indeed... It's part of why I'm here after all... As for my thoughts on Malia..." Alide says tilting her head thoughtfully, "she's cute of course, after all she was modeled on one of my favourite people, but she also wants to hurt that person and is kind of just a stuck up bitch, so no I'm not a fan of hers. Archdemons in general are pretty hit and miss, some of them can be fun to interact with, but most of them are just kind of jerks..." Alide says with a shrug.

Yulia presents the Scepter and Alide passes her hand over it and it vanishes and is replaced with a new staff, this one has a handle made of ivory and a modelled obsidian skull on the end, "Ooh necromancy staff, always fun, definitely not your style though, Yulia," Alide says and offers the staff.

Yulia casts a quick identify on it.

"Necromancer's Staff, a spell focus, provides a pitiful boost to most forms of magic, but provides a better boost to support spells and teaches the spell Animate. Animate can be used on any recently killed corpse to transform it into an undead servant that will follow the caster's command. The animated being drains the caster's mana at a steady rate of about 5% per command, standby or a lack of commands is treated as a command for this purpose... (For the voices this means that essentially it will drain 5 mana every chapter whether you have it do anything or not) specifically when casting Animate with this staff there is no limit to the number of servants that can be had at once, though each one will drain mana individually," the spell returns.

"You ever want an undead army?" Yulia mutters as she picks up the staff and puts it away.

"If there's nothing else... It was nice seeing you..." Alide says, "We'll see each other again, at least once more and on the tenth floor I won't have to leave after we complete our business since you'll be meeting me at my home after all," Alide explains and gives Yulia a quick kiss on the cheek of her mask before vanishing.

Yulia is a bit flustered, but quickly recovers and the group heads to the coffee house. Upon arrival they are slightly shocked to see one of the Scorpion women here with an entourage of two wasp women. The Scorpion is lounging in a seat as a number of mummies in maid and butler outfits bustle around. As you watch a maid mummy approaches the scorpioness.

"What would you like, Mistress?" the Mummy asks and the Scorpioness smiles.

"I would like a tall mocha with extra sugar, chocolate syrup added, extra whipped cream on top and sprinkles," she says and the mummy curtsies.

"And how would you like to pay?" she asks, hungrily and the Scorpioness sniffs.

"I can't believe I have to pay for this, but fine..." she says and gestures to one of the wasps who quickly uses her spear to cut into her own abdomen. The mummy watches as the blood leaks down and when it hits the ground she shivers and licks her lips, the rest of the mummies in the area similarly shuddering slightly with pleasure as they go about their work and then the mummy maid hurries off presumably to get the Scorpioness' order. A butler mummy greets Yulia et al.

"Greetings welcome to the Dead Drop Coffee House, please have a seat make yourself at home and if you have an order I'll take it now or I'll return once you're all seated, we only accept blood as payment of course," he explains and Yulia looks around. Aside from the Scorpioness dominating one table there are a number of other tables, they're all empty for the moment and Yulia goes and sits, informing the Butler she has no order for the moment and he assures her he'll return in a bit before scurrying off. The rest of the group join Yulia at the table and look around as well.

"Bit weird, but the atmosphere is nice," Cherchiel admits.

"I can't say the attractive men and women in their special attire serving us is... unwelcome," Lri admits, staring at a mummy in a decidedly short skirt as she passes by on her way behind the black granite counter that dominates the back of the large room.

"It occurs to me, the desert is much larger than what we're seeing and the structure of this tomb is as well, given by the map we saw earlier, the mummies potentially get clientele from parts of the desert we don't normally see, it also occurs to me this place seems a lot busier than we would expect with just us and the Scorpioness here..." Maple notes.

"Are you suggesting we're not seeing the entirety of the coffeehouse and there might be people here... right now, we can't see, from parts of the desert we're unable to explore?" Isalia asks and Maple nods.

"Invisible friends," Goma says with a giggle and Yulia laughs as well.

"If we can't see them, they probably can't interact with us either, I mean that would just be weird so it's probably not worth worrying about it," she suggests with a shrug, "any idea what we want? I can't say I was much of a coffee drinker back in my world, but I liked tea... Do you think they have tea?" Yulia adds.

Lemiel stops a passing Mummy, "excuse me, this is our first time here, is there a menu?" she asks and the mummy hesitate.

"Ah don't worry. While we theme ourselves on coffee, the source of our beverages is magical in nature and anything you request can be gotten for you, there's no menu, just ask for any drink you desire. Please don't ask for anything abnormal though... Asking for magically enchanted drinks like potions tends to screw with the summoning magic and last time it ended up summoning a living slime creature that tried to digest most of the staff, so normal beverages only please," she says, "we also offer pastries of various kinds," she adds and leans in conspiratorially, "I'm a big fan of these things called Cwussants that one previous chosen asked for," she whispers mispronouncing the word badly.

"Personally while staying here I made liberal use of the coffeehouse. They do deliver quite lovely beverages and the ambience can't be beaten. If we do decide to stay I'll be getting a black coffee with a bagel," Talwa says, clearly enjoying being in the coffeehouse again, "if I ever decided to write a book, I have a feeling this would be a wonderful atmosphere to do my writing in," she adds thoughtfully.

(Health: 100%

Mana: 100%

Inventory:18 EMP grenades, 17 Aphrodisiac Grenades, 17 incendiary Grenades, 17 fragmentation grenades, 18 flash grenades, 17 smoke grenades, 3 healing kits, 1 sewing kit, 8 days worth of rations, 1 two liter water jug, 3 two liter jugs of Lemiel's Milk, 2 empty two liter water jugs, 12, mana infused health potions, 2 health potion, 12 mana infused mana potions, 3 mana potions, 8 vials of Semen, Quiver, 1 sack of cooking ingredients (Apples), Ash's Quiver, Smithing Ingredients (3 steel ingots), 1 sack of cooking ingredients (Vegetables), Grenade Launcher, Grenade Bandolier with 1 grenade, Smithing Ingredients (1 silver ingot), twenty feet of Spidersilk rope, 1 sack of Cooking Ingredients (Fish), an Onahole, a shard of Illustone, Gloves of Harvest (-3, heal for all damage dealt), modest two piece swimsuit, Binding Bandages, golden bangles, silk gloves, Siren Queen's black heavy armor, black bikini bottoms, Smithing Ingredients (98 metal plates), 12 mana infused cure potions, 1 cure potions, Shutdown Gun.

Yulia's Equipment: Simple black one piece swimsuit(currently removed). Ceramic Beaked Mask (currently Removed), Reinforced Monastic Scapular (currently removed), standard bra (currently removed), Standard Panties (currently removed), Ornate Rapier (-3), Silver Staff (-2 added to the effect of all spells), A tarnished Silver Ring of clear mind (warded against demons and angels, can bind a Demon or Angel), Cloak of Turbulent Waves (immunity to ranged attacks and offensive magic), Demon Horn Hairband (-2 to all ice magic, currently removed), tech armor, tech bodysuit (Core upgrade: speed, Special Upgrade: Light Module, Arcane Flux), plasma rifle (-10, 5 remaining charges.).

Spells known: Great Heal (Lvl 2, Mastered, Cost: 25%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 12%)

Great Cure (Lvl 2, Mastered, Cost: 15%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 7%)

Energize (Lvl 1, Mastered, Cost: 25%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 12%)

Icicle (Lvl 1, Mastered, cost: 15%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 7%)

Masterful Unlock (Lvl 2, Mastered, Cost: 10%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 5%)

Repair (Lvl 1, Mastered, Cost: 5%-20% depending on factors, Cost currently halved rounded down: 2%-10%)

Undermine (Lvl 1, Mastered, cost: 25%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 12%)

Life Drain (lvl 1, Mastered, cost: 2% per 1% Health healed, Cost currently halved rounded down: 1% per 1% Health healed)

Blizzard (Mastered, cost: 5%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 2%)

Lightning Strike (Lvl 1, mastered, Cost: 15%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 7%)

Identify (Lvl 1, mastered, Cost: 10%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 5%)

Fireball (Lvl 1, mastered, Cost: 15%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 7%)

**** Lance (Lvl 1, mastered, Cost: 15%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 7%)

Cloak (Lvl 1, mastered, cost: 10%, Cost currently halved rounded down: 5%)

God's Light: (Mastered, cost: none. Passive ability. Fully heals mana and health outside of combat)

Fetish: Bondage Rank: 3, Masochism Rank: 3, Lesbian rank: 4, Submission Rank: 3, Incubating Rank: 1, Large Insertions Rank: 2, Degradation Rank: 2, Exhibition Rank: 1, Anal Rank: 2, Breathplay Rank: 1, aphrodisiacs Rank: 1.

Status Effect: Permanent increase to physical attribute. Combat level raised to medium

Atrophied: Permanent Decrease to Physical Attribute. Combat Level lowered to weak. (Countered previous Permanent Increase)

Faithless: Yulia gains no effect from support spells cast on her, but offensive spells cast by her double in effectiveness. Lasts until faith is restored or replaced.

Psychosexual Break: In order to deal with her trauma, Yulia has begun to subconsciously fetishize her experiences.

Deflowered: Virginity Lost, sexual experience changed to: Inexperienced, non-virgin.

Trauma Rank 1 : Costs of all spells doubled for the remainder of the floor. (Caused by **** involving aphrodisiac ****)

Calm

Not Thirsty

Cool

Companion: Cherchiel, Goma, Martin, Isalia, Lri, Lemiel, Maple, Sally, Talwa'Ish Renni.

Cherchiel Health: 100%

Cherchiel Mana: 100%

Cherchiel Equipment: Ultra Durable Spear( -5, -10 with Boar Mask), Ultra Durable Shield (-5, -10 with Boar Mask), Staff (-1), God's Favour (Halo. Prevent **** one time), Bikini(currently removed), plasma Sword (-10, five charges), Tech Armor, Carapace Armor (Currently Unequipped), Aspect of the Apex.

Cherchiel Status Effect: Divine Grace. Combat Level raised to High

Not Thirsty

Cool

Goma Health: 100%

Goma Mana: 100%

Goma Equipment: Ritual Knife of Escaping Threads (-1, -3 with boar mask, automatic -5 when being used against tentacles, webs or other binding methods), Hunting Horn (-2 for each ally affected), Reinforced and Nethicite Augmented Thick Hide Outfit (Negate most physical damage, Currently removed.) Tech Armor (currently removed), Swim Trunks (Currently Worn), tentacle dagger (-3), Scepter of Still Waters, Plasma Rifle (-10, five charges).

Goma spells known: Heal (Mastered, 15%), Puppet (Mastered, 10% per active command)

Goma Status Effect: Atrophied: Permanent Decrease to Physical Attribute. Combat Level lowered to weak.

Not Thirsty

Cool

Isalia Health: 100%

Isalia Mana: 100%

Isalia Equipment: Isalia's Sword (-3), Masterwork Trident (-3)(Unequipped), Isalia's Shield (-3), One Piece Swimsuit (Currently removed), plasma rifle (-10, five charges), Tech Armor, Tech Suit (Core Upgrade: Speed).

Isalia spells known: Life Drain (lvl 1, Mastered, cost: 2% per 1% Health healed)

Isalia Fetish: Submission Rank: 1, Domination Rank: 1.

Isalia Status Effect:

Not Thirsty

Cool

Lri Health: 100%

Lri Mana: 100%

Lri Equipment: Twin Daggers (-3), black swimsuit (currently removed), Blood drinker, tech armor (Sans helmet), tech suit (Core upgrade: speed), plasma rifle (-10, five charges), 3 EMP grenades, Veil of Hidden Depths, fishbowl of Illusions.

Lri Status Effect:

Not Thirsty

Cool

Lemiel Health: 200%

Lemiel Mana: 200%

Lemiel Equipment: Angelic Visor, twin magic blades (Summoned, -10, take 5% mana to summon), Tech Armor, Tech Suit (Core Upgrade: Strength, Special Upgrade: Arcane Flux), plasma rifle (-10, five charges).

Lemiel Spells Known: Angelic Rays (Lvl 1, Mastered, cost: 20%), Heavenly Soothing (Lvl 1, Mastered, cost: 25%), Retribution (Lvl 1, Unmastered, cost: 100%, unusable, triggers automatically at 0% hp if Lemiel has enough Mana to trigger it), The One True God's Judgment (Lvl 1, Mastered, Cost: 100%), God's Light (Mastered, cost: none. Passive ability. Fully heals mana and health outside of combat)

Lemiel Status Effect: Divine Grace. Combat level raised to high.

Not Thirsty

Cool

Maple Health: 100%

Maple Mana: 100%

Maple Equipment: Tech armor (Helmet removed), tech suit (Core upgrade: Speed, special upgrade: Conversion), plasma rifle (-10, five charges), targeting helmet, rail gun bow (-10 when used ignores evasion abilities or resistances), 8 cross bow bolts.

Maple Status Effect:

Not Thirsty

Cool

Sally Health: 100%

Sally Mana: 100%

Sally Charge: 100%

Sally Equipment: Ultra Durable tech metal shield (-4, unequipped), Ultra Durable Tech Metal Club (-4, unequipped), Mirror Shield (-4, reflects all damage and spell effects to the caster/attacker), Needle Mace (-5, Inflicts hit targets with a deadly poison, potency increases with each hit)

Sally Status Effect:

Not affected by heat or cold.

Does not require hydration or Nutrition.

Talwa Health: 100%

Talwa Mana: 100%

Talwa Equipment: Bustier, Glasses, Prism Staff, Potion of Libidinous vitality.

Talwa Spells Known:

Magic Armor (Lvl 1, Mastered, Cost: 10%)

Firestorm (Lvl 3, Unmastered, Cost: 50%)

Great Fireball (Lvl 2, Mastered, cost: 25%)

Fireball (Lvl 1, Unmastered, Cost: 15%)

Talwa Status Effect:

Calm

Not Thirsty

Cool

https://forum.chyoa.com/threads/the-tower-of-voices-voting-thread.3460/ )