Sand Mother Interview

After a bit of deliberation, Yulia, Goma and Cherchiel head outside to wait. Mercifully the Tower does seem to see fit to allow the voices to follow Lemiel in this moment.

"So... What can you tell us about this curse, do you know of any cure?" Lemiel asks.

"I know how to cure it, but knowing how to and doing so are two different things. The curse's source must be found and destroyed or at least removed. It has to be something in the area because the source of the curse only affects things in it's proximity. That being said your friend should be fine if they leave this temple, but upon returning the curse will return as well. Whoever applied this curse to us must have imbued something in this temple with the curse and until that thing is found and dealt with the curse will remain," The Sand Mother explained.

"So... The curse is imbued in an object and if that object is destroyed or removed from the temple the curse will no longer affect the temple? A cast of identify on Hess earlier, implied the curse is the work of the Fangs of the Lost Serpent, what can you tell us about them?" Lemiel asks.

"The Fangs of the Lost Serpent believe me to be a false goddess and wish to 'free' their fellow Lamia and Naga from my 'tyranny.' I don't know where they got this idea exactly, but if this curse is their work it's the first actual threat they've posed since their creation. Before this it was mostly just annoying, but harmless harassment, often showing up at the temple to yell at and harangue the guards and workers for 'falling for my lies'. At one point we imprisoned them when they showed up, but eventually we stopped even doing that. Perhaps it seems we should have dealt with them more harshly. If this is their doing it goes far beyond an annoyance," she responds, clearly angry at them and even more angry that they might have been responsible for this.

"Can you think of any reason why, despite the fact we've all engaged in sexual activities with the cursed, only one, possibly two of our number have been themselves cursed?" Lemiel asks.

"As far as I understand it, the curse is not transferred by sex. Sex with the cursed is fully safe, the curse actually acts with... Well a poison. A poison or venom in the body is harmless until put into proximity with the curse's source. Once poisoned the poison is unfortunately impossible to remove, but luckily as said, it's harmless as long as there isn't a curse vessel in proximity," she explains.

"So... Yulia was poisoned? Someone poisoned Yulia, purposely giving her this curse?" Lemiel asks, shocked at the idea.

"Indeed. I don't know how the poison or venom was spread to my followers in the first place, but I can imagine a few methods, poisoning the fountain for instance would have resulted in the poison being imbibed by most of my followers... The poison would have needed to be administered repeatedly every day or so, but I imagine since they achieved one hundred percent affliction rate of my followers, I doubt they're bothering to continue poisoning the fountain if that was the initial method, so it's unlikely your friend got it from the same source as the rest of my followers, someone had to have intentionally administered it to her," The Sand Mother confirms.

"Could it have been the Rack?" Isalia suggests.

"Maybe. We know little of the Rack and while it's appearance doesn't coincide perfectly with the appearance of the Curse it isn't far enough off as to be unlikely. It's use of toxins does also make it an incredibly suitable method for administering the poison and following this to it's conclusion, it may even also be the source of the curse itself. That being said if the Fangs are behind the curse and the Rack is connected to the curse, that would imply the Fangs are somehow also behind the Rack," The Sand Mother clarifies.

"If it was the Rack I can't imagine why it wouldn't have poisoned all of us when it had the chance, why only Yulia and maybe Cherchiel?" Lri considers.

"I don't know why it would poison Cherchiel, but it being the Wandering Monster, it's not unusual for it to take special interest in the Chosen over the Chosen's companions," Lemiel chimes in.

"This speculation doesn't help us really, we need more actual info. We could definitely ask the Fangs, but we don't know where they are," Maple interrupts.

"Unfortunately neither do we," The Sand Mother confirms, "they could be anywhere in the Desert at this point," she adds.

"Speaking of the Desert. We have identified three out of four landmarks, on our current version of the Desert. The Hungry Sands is to the west of our camp, this temple to the north and given the voices are saying there are bugs to the south, I'm assuming Yulia ran into some while we were... busy," Lemiel says and then quickly continues, "do you know anything useful about any of these locations, excluding your temple and any suggestions of what might lie to the east?" Lemiel asks.

"Well... As an Angel I can't imagine there's much I could tell you about Bai'zebul you don't already know, I imagine in fact you could probably tell me much more about them that I don't know, but I can tell you a bit about the Hungry Sands. Not much, very few have ever gone there and returned after all, but what I do know is the entire mountain is a living organism. The whole place is alive and hostile. What little has made it's way out of there has reported giant tongues emerging from the sand to grab people, walls of flesh that absorb people into them and trap them, areas where the floor or ceiling attacks and other things of such nature. If you for any reason have to go there, be on alert at all times. There is nothing there that isn't hostile," The Sand Mother answers before shifting her position, leaning two of her arms against the arm of her throne as she leans her head against her hands.

"bugs to the south however, sounds like the Hives. They're a strictly hierarchical group with the Scorpions ruling. The Tarantulas exist as a servile caste and they have horrifying warrior wasp women seemingly enslaved to them through some sorcery. We've only had a few run ins with them, but what few we've had have been enough reason to avoid them. While almost never immediately hostile, they are nevertheless always malevolent, seeking nothing more than to benefit from the downfall of others, most often by using others as incubators for their own young. While I've never seen the inside of their hive, the rumours say there are potentially thousands of captives in there, constantly impregnated with their eggs and **** to give birth to new Hive members. I'd recommend staying away, though... You might not have a choice. I can't say for a fact, but the rumour is that they built their hive around the base of the Tower, the path forward might unfortunately be through them," she clarifies.

"As for what lies to the East, that could be a large number of things... The Necropolis of the Restless, The Fissure of Sullen Flames, The Deathworm's Den, the desert is a large space and with the warping of space the Tower does for the Chosen, I can't even guarantee that east of you would actually even be only things that would normally be east of the location it sounds like your camp is at," The Sand Mother says with an apologetic shrug of her other arms.

"If we manage to deal with the curse, is there a reward for doing so?" Lri asks and The Sand Mother hesitates, "if you deal with the Curse, or the Rack, our treasury is open to you. While we punish thieves severely, it's a matter of principle more than anything, we hardly have much use for what's in there. There is quite an array of objects in the treasury, we've had our fair share of intruders including previous chosen and not all of them were good people. Some of them ended up in our dungeons or worse and their equipment remains in our treasury. I'm sure some of it may be useful to you," she suggests.

"May we ask for permission to take Hess'hrim Valutti with us while on this floor, as a guide of sorts?" Sally asks.

"If she is okay with it, I don't see why not," The Sand Mother answers, "I would not **** her to go with you though, my followers are my children and friends not my slaves," she clarifies.

"Does anyone have any more questions?" she asks after a bit.

(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, 2 health potion, 3 mana potions, 7 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), 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 ****)

Mindlessly Horny... Can't think of anything, but breeding...

Thirsty

Cool

Companion: Cherchiel, Goma, Martin, Isalia, Lri, Lemiel, Maple, Sally.

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.

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, Unmastered, cost: 5% 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, four 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), Ultra Durable Tech Metal Club (-4)

Sally Status Effect:

Not affected by heat or cold.

Does not require hydration or Nutrition.

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