Given your recent exchange with Ral and your own suspicious nature, you question if Ral intends on releasing you. Perhaps getting rid of Ral IS the way to go and this would be the best time to do it.

You're still under the effects of the geas, and any violent action towards Ral by you would be met with immediate pain, however with his temporary inability to cast spells you wonder if you couldn't dispose of him quick enough that you'd survive it.

Not to mention you do have a pet manticore now.

"Spikey attack! ARGH!" you shout and feel a sharp pain to your crotch, which causes you to nearly double over. The only reason why you aren't completely laid out is your new condition has dulled some of your pain reception to a small degree. (Now is one of those times it came in handy)

Spikey isn't completely sure what you meant, but given that you're excitedly pointing at Ral who is also making loud noises and flailing about due to the shit that Tych poured on him, Spikey isn't feeling comfortable towards him anyway.

Spikey flings several small quills into Ral's body. The old wizard howls in pain. Spikey may be just a manticore cub, but it still hurts.

Due to the geas, a large part of you wants to stop Spikey from attacking and it's taking everything for you not to do that. You feel the pain spread over your body and it's getting worse. You finally collapse to the floor.

Spikey runs forward and begins biting Ral, he even succeeds in ripping off part of his hand. Ral is begging for mercy at this point, but he's getting nothing, but Tych's taunts.

You weakly pull out a dagger, but you can barely hold it in your hand as you attempt to crawl over to Ral. The pain you're experiencing is nearly unbearable.

Meanwhile Ral is experiencing his own form of pain, but despite being unable to cast magic and being a frail old man, he somehow manages to get Spikey off of him, who yelps when thrown into a nearby table.

"Come here, you little bastard!" he snarls and with a blink, Tych is suddenly within the one good hand of Ral. It would appear his powers are starting to come back.

"I'm going to crush you into…ARGH SHIT!" Ral shouts as you plunge your dagger into his ankle.

The old man partially falls on top of you, but that doesn't compare to the wave of agony you experience after stabbing Ral. Your condition is no longer numbing anything, not even a little bit.

You feel like you're suffering a heart attack, castration and a mace smashing your brains in, all the while being burned alive.

Unsurprisingly your body goes into complete shock, shuts down and you go unconscious. Blackness follows.

Time passes and eventually you wake up to a couple sensations. One being a rough tongue licking your face and another being a faint sweet taste on your lips and in your mouth.

"Hey! Did it work? You alive?" Tych remarks.
"Guh, buh, what work?" you sputter and move a bit causing Spikey to stop licking your face.
"The healing potion I tried to pour into your mouth. I guess it did, you're alive. Wasn't sure it worked since you looked pretty dead."
"I felt really dead. Is Ral dead?"
"Oh that plivik? Yeah. Your pet took care of that soon after you stabbed him. Ripped out his throat. I don't think that spell is on you anymore."

You look at your wrist and it's true, you no longer see the mark there anymore.

"So that's it. I'm free. Finally free." You say.
"Yeah, thanks to me." Tych sniffs.
"Ral was planning on releasing me anyway."
"You don't believe that. If you did, you wouldn't have nearly killed yourself, trying to kill him."
"Well I suppose I did have my doubts and followed your lead. What was that shit you poured on him anyway?"
"Oh, liquefied gazer eye. Not sure what Ral was planning with it, but then he was always experimenting with shit."
"Not familiar with gazers."
"Lucky you, they're even worse than wazias. Anyway, you're not the only one who is free, so I guess this is where we part ways."

As strange as it seems you're a little taken back by how quick Tych is to part company, but then it wasn't like you two were great friends or anyway.

"Oh. Okay. Yeah sure, I suppose you'll be wanting to go home to your wife." You say.
"…what the hell, I'll let you on a little secret, I'm not married. I just said I was hoping it would gain me sympathy when we first met." Tych admits.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"But you're right, I am still going home. I need to straighten out some things there. What were you planning on doing?"
"Dunno really. I still got this condition. First thing I think I need to do is try to figure out how to reverse it. Guess I'll start by heading to Holgard."
"Well sounds like you've got the adventure ahead of you. Can't say it was a pleasure being forced to work with you, but I suppose it could have been worse. And we both got revenge on Ral, so it worked out I guess. See you around blivik."
"What's that mean? Dickhead or something?"
"What? Oh blivik? No, it means friend. Well maybe not friend, but comrade in arms I guess."
"Sounds very similar plivik."
"Yeah well, sometimes in our culture the two are interchangeable."
"That I can believe. Bye Tych and thanks."

Tych nods his head and flies out the lab door, leaving you alone. (Well with a manticore cub that is currently eating Ral's body nearby).

You don't leave right away, instead you take the opportunity to start going through Ral's lab seeing if you can find any clue of what he did to you. You find lots notes, but his handwriting is pretty bad and you can't make much sense of the diagrams. You think they might pertain to you, but you aren't really sure.

You temporarily slump in a chair nearby realizing that you've lost some of your life and your thoughts keep wandering back to Lisa. What happened to her? You were supposed to meet up with her in Holgard as you often did. At the time the city was on the verge of a rebellion. Does she even still live? And if she does, she surely must believe you are dead and moved on.

It's a bit depressing considering your feelings for her, but lost love is the least of your concerns right now. You suppose either way, your next move is to Holgard, either to seek her out or to seek a way to fix your condition.

In any case, you're sitting on a small fortune of magical equipment. Granted you don't know what most of it does, but at the very least, you'd be able to get a good price for some of the stuff that you can't figure out. Holgard will be the perfect place to

At the very least you can use this place as a home of sorts which seems strange given that you've been stuck here, but then you're not exactly beholden to Ral anymore and it's not a bad place as far as homes go. You even have a pet to defend it when you're not around.

You spend a few more days going through Ral's house before finally deciding to make your way to Holgard. Takes awhile to convince Spikey not to follow you, but eventually he gets the hint and stays around the house. You figure he's probably more than able to hunt whatever wildlife is in the area.

You make your way to Holgard and the journey is uneventful and the same as you remembered, though you're noticing that when you camp down for the night, the next morning the grass has a layer of frost on it. You're going to be leaving a trail of it at this pace.

When you get to Holgard, you find that the city is a lot calmer than when you remember. While doing some business with an apothecary, you learn that the old ruler got overthrown and his daughter now rules the city.

"Yeah, be glad you missed that one. It was a pretty brutal time…did it just get chilly in here? In fact, did the temperature drop outside because everything you've handed over to sell feels a bit cold to the touch." the apothecary says.
"Hadn't noticed." You answer.
"…you uh sure you're all right pal? You look a little pale. I figured when you came in here you came in to buy, not to sell."
"You got anything that can cure this?" you say and grab the apothecary's wrist.
"Shit! You're fucking ice! Let me go! Please! Take anything you want!"
"I'm not here to rob you! I'm serious when I ask, if you have anything that can cure this condition." You say and let go of the man's wrist.

The apothecary steps back and rubs his wrist a bit.

"I can honestly tell you that I have nothing that would help you. I can only believe that magic must be at work. Is that the case?" he asks.
"Yeah, and I killed the wizard who did it."
"Well, I guess he had it coming. Wasn't one of those Dornans was it?"
"No."
"Hm, okay that's good, because they're about the only folks that I think would be able to help you. They're pretty interested in all things pertaining to magic, though I'd be careful since it'll be the knowledge that's important, not the person. You might have killed a wizard, but I don't think even you would be able to kill a whole temple of them if things go south."
"Noted. Can't think of anyone else?"
"Not really, I mean unless you want to head all the way to Delantium Kingdom and their magic university. It has a good reputation and they aren't swayed by religious fanaticism. There's a small magic college in Klyton, but I wouldn't waste my time."
"Why not?"
"Because I graduated from there and the magic college there is rubbish, that's why. It's understaffed and only kept afloat due to one of the council members being a mage. It's not bad if you want to learn how to mix potions and such, but the wizards there aren't exactly the most skilled in magic and they'd probably be just as baffled by your condition as I am. You'd probably end up as a toad with their bumbling."

Great, more wizards.

You head to the Temple of Dorna

Considering you don't trust wizards anyway, you might well check out the ones that are already here. You're going to just be on your guard as usual. You figure while you're at it, you can look into trying to find out what happened to Lisa and if she's still around.

You ask the apothecary where the temple is since it isn't exactly a place you ever visited when you used to come to the city and your memory is still hazy on where everything is again.

You head to the temple and while you remain hooded as usual, you still draw a little attention from people who are close enough to get a better look at you. Fortunately, you're strange enough looking that nobody gets hostile.

When you get to the temple, you don't even get very far since two of its members stop you just inside the entrance.

"And just where do you think you're going, you…what the hell are you anyway? Damn you're cold, step back." a man with a goatee asks.
"Yeah, I was hoping you guys could help me with this." You say.
"Maybe we should tell Elder Flynn about this, Travis." The other one says.
"The Elder is in meditation and can't be disturbed for a week, you know that! Still, this is something he might find interesting. Tell me, how did you come to be this way?" Travis asks.

You give a brief rundown on what happened, when you mention Ral by name the pair of them seems more interested in that, than what happened to you.

"Wait, you're telling me that YOU killed Ral?" Travis asks.
"I helped…oh shit…he wasn't secretly a Dorna worshipper was he?" you ask.
"No true follower of Dorna would do it in secret! He was an infidel as far as I know. Though honestly, I'm not too familiar with the man, Elder Flynn apparently knows him quite well and all I know about that is they're not fond of each other. So…he's dead huh?"
"Yes."
"Okay, this is something Elder Flynn would definitely want to know about. Unfortunately as I said, he's in meditation and can't be disturbed at all. You could come back then. I'm sure the Elder would be able to help."
"Well…I guess I can wait a little longer. So I just come back here in a week?"
"Yes, in a week."
"Okay then."

You turn to leave and look back to see Travis and his buddy whispering about something. Probably about you no doubt.

Still, at least they didn't try to do anything bad to you or anything, though that's still a possibility you suppose.

The only thing to do now is wait, but you're going to have to find something to do in the meantime. You could go back home, but you honestly don't feel like making that trek again, not to mention after spending so much time in Ral's house, you aren't exactly itching to go back so soon.

You have more than enough money so you figure you'll just find an inn to stay at.

You stay at a place called the Baroness. (Named after the current ruler no doubt) The innkeeper is a bit wary of you, but after giving him a few extra coins for a room he no longer has a problem with you. (Other than telling you to stand back from him)

You spend a couple days not doing much of anything important except information gathering. It's difficult to eavesdrop on conversations (let alone trying to strike up one) with your new condition, but you do manage to at least figure out some basics on the underworld situation.

Apparently along with there being a new ruler, the Ebony Claw Syndicate has a greater monopoly on all criminal activity in the city. There are still independents as such things can never be completely wiped out, but the Thieves' Guild was completely destroyed along with any other minor organized rivals

Last time you remember, Lisa said she was thinking about joining them. At the time you hoped she wouldn't, but given the situation now, you suppose if she has, it's better that she picked the winning side. Of course this is all still assuming she's alive or even still in the city.

You can't be sure of any of this, but since you have time to kill and not much else going on, you seek out Ebony Claw members to question. Not exactly something most do, but then you don't have much to lose and at this point you'd wager that you're a much better than average fighter than you used to be if it comes to that.

You head to a place called the Poisoned Blade Inn, which even before they took over the entire underworld was a known Ebony Claw hang out.

As soon as you enter, it's almost like the Dorna Temple all over again, because you gain everyone's attention, mainly because you don't even bother covering yourself with a hood like you normally do.

"Well…this is an unusual sight."
"Looks like the Dornans have been experimenting again."
"Did it just get colder in here?"
"Hey, pale man! You lost?"
"Careful, he looks like he might have magic about him."
"Yeah, well he ain't the only one."

Several obvious ECS members are already converging on your position.

"Not here for trouble, just looking for the most direct way of getting answers. Does anyone here know a woman named Lisa? She'd be around my age." You say holding up your hands. The ECS members do not put down their guard just because you are though.

"Even if any of us did know such a woman, what makes you think we'd tell you?" the most aggressive ECS member says.
"Look, if you haven't heard of her, fine, I made a mistake and I'll just go."
"Oh you made a mistake alright just by walking in this place and the only place you're going is the sewers after we dump your body!"

The man suddenly grabs your arm and attempts to pull you towards him in order to stab you, but as soon as he grabs your arm he pulls his hand back. You draw your weapon and everyone steps back a bit.

"SHIT! This guy is fucking freezing!" the man exclaims.
"He's a sorcerer! Quick, shoot him before he unleashes more frost magic!" another shouts.

Soon another man with a partially shaved head and a huge black claw tattooed on the shaved part appears from the back of the crowd.

"Alright, alright, everyone fucking settle down. Obviously the man didn't come here to fight, he wants information, but that's going to cost. I trust you have some coin?"
"Yeah, hope you don't mind it cold." You say and toss a small pouch of coins at him, which he catches.
"Fine with me, you bought yourself an audience. Come with me into my office."

You follow the man as the rest of them get out of your way. His "office" is really just a more secluded table towards the back, but it serves its purpose. The pair of you sit down and you learn the man's name is Mantis.

"Geez, you really do give off the cold. Not sensing that you're a sorcerer though. You look human…curse perhaps?" Mantis asks.
"Something like that, getting it taken care of." You respond.
"Well good luck with that iceman. In any case we're not here to talk about your condition, you were asking about a woman named Lisa. Now for some reason you came to a know Ebony Claw location to ask us specifically. So what makes you think we might know this woman? And a better description would help."

You give a physical description of her based on what you remember of what she looked like. It's almost a little concerning that you've almost forgotten what she looks like, but you believe your description has sufficed and it's your additional information that you think that she may have joined the Ebony Claw Syndicate that gets attention.

"Hmm, I see. So you're looking for your long lost girlfriend? Is that it? You sure she just didn't want any more to do with you? It happens you know."
"I'm fairly certain that isn't the case. We were on good terms before our…separation which wasn't either of our faults. Look I already know she could have very well moved on or even be dead. If that's the case, then I'll just deal with it, but one of the last things she was talking about was possibly joining you guys. I didn't think it was a good idea, but if she did join and she's still part of your organization, then I'd just like to know so if I have to ask every EC member, then that's what I'll do until I get confirmation."
"Well, From what you've told me, she doesn't sound like ECS material, but then maybe she got lucky and blew the right person…(Sigh) Look, I can ask around, but I can't make any promises. Our organization is fucking huge you understand and I couldn't even tell you every member in this city, let alone anywhere else. Shit, for all I know she might be a higher rank than me because I'm nowhere near the top of the food chain. And if that's the case then I can't just be giving away her location and I'm also not doing this for free."
"I just paid you."
"Yeah, you paid for an audience with me. Now you're going to pay for me to ask around about your ex. However, I'm not going to ask you for money. I want you to perform a task for me."
"A task?"
"Yeah. If I'm going to potentially be giving information out one of our members to a stranger, I want to see just how dedicated you are about this. Now you look like you'd be able to handle yourself in a fight. You came in here by yourself after all."
"You want me to go rob a bank or steal something?"
"Pfft. The syndicate has no need to be involved in such petty activities to supplement our income. The Blue Dream trade is thriving and whores and gambling are too. No, what needs to be done is something a lot more violent. You familiar with Karn?"
"The God of warriors?"
"Combat, strength, all that related shit. Well their priests are starting to become a pain in the ass by encroaching on our territory."
"I wasn't aware the Karnites were into drugs, whores and gambling."
"They aren't, but they're in the business of faith and that's a problem to the Temple of Fel. Not long ago, a Karnites broke all the limbs of one of Fel's faithful. This can't go unpunished. I want you to go kill the asshole and bring me back the ring he wears on his hand as proof."

You always heard rumors that the Ebony Claw Syndicate were more than just a criminal organization and the reasons why they were so powerful were due to their ties to the God of shadows. Looks like this confirms such things.

"Okay. So why send me? The syndicate has loads of assassins I'd wager. In fact don't the followers of Fel specialize in that sort of thing?" You say.
"And you'd be right, but we just got finished with a full blown war with the Thieves Guild and the other petty organizations. We're really not looking to get into another one so soon without rebuilding a bit. As for the Fels themselves, well apparently it's not high on their priority list, but you can bet that if it did get taken care of, those involved would find favor with the temple." Mantis says with a smile.

Obviously Mantis wants to use you to advance his own petty ambitions.
"In any case, you're not affiliated with us and you're not a follower of Fel. If you purposely start a fight with a Karnite and kill him then it has the added bonus of not being attached to either of us." Mantis continues.
"Wait, you want me to just kill this guy out in the open?" you ask.
"You're not too familiar with the Karnite faith are you? Issue a personal challenge and it's all perfectly fine. Hell, even the city watch isn't going to do shit about it. Other Karnites themselves won't even retaliate, as they'll see it as an honorable challenge from a lone challenger. Though to be on the safe side, I'd try to make it seem like a natural challenge. I dunno, bump into him on the street and pick a fight or something."
"What about the ring? Won't they be upset about me taking a holy item?"
"Eh, well they probably won't be happy about it, however you'd be taking a trophy and if someone wasn't strong enough to keep it, then in their eyes they don't deserve it. In fact, they may even ask if you want to join them…but obviously I wouldn't advise that."

You take the job

If this is going to help you find Lisa, then this is what you're going to have to do.

"Okay fine. Tell me what this corpse looks like." You say.
"That's what I like to hear iceman." Mantis remarks.

Mantis gives you a physical description of the Karnite in question and his few haunts when he isn't at his temple. As befitting of a follower of Karn, he is constantly training his body and you can see him running laps in the area close to his temple early in the morning.

Before you leave, Mantis tells you that he'll look into finding out all he can about Lisa and if she is in fact an Ebony Claw, he'll tell you how you can contact her providing that you're successful.

The next few days you spend scouting and spying on your target's activities. As expected he doesn't indulge in much. Most of his time is spent in the temple. He only occasionally leaves to purchase a few pieces of fruit, which he seems to enjoy. He doesn't exactly purchase them either, he just takes them from the poor fruit seller who is far too intimidated by the burly holy man to tell him not to.

You thought about picking a fight with him when he was taking one of his morning runs, but you believe this might be better.

So eventually you make your move.

"Hey! Watch it! I was going for that apple!" you say mildly bumping into the priest.

The priest looks at you with annoyance, but he doesn't make a hostile move towards you. In fact he backs off a bit, but he also doesn't give you the apple either.

"Are you fucking deaf? I said I WAS going for that apple!" you say raising your voice.
"Sir! There are many other apples to choose from! Please pick any of the others. They're all fresh I assure you!" the fruit seller remarks nervously.
"I suggest you listen to the shopkeep." The Karnite priest says.
"Pfft, I don't give a shit what fruit boy says, let alone you! You're one of those karnites aren't you? I can tell by your shitty brown robes. Supposed to be masters of combat or something. I'm hardly impressed."
"I'm not here to impress you, but if you would like a sample of my abilities, I would be more than willing to show you."
"Yeah, right. And after I kick your ass, you'll get all your Karnite buddies after me."
"With how you're boasting, I'm surprised that would be a concern. However, we can make it a one on one contest as per the doctrines of our faith. No retaliation for whatever the outcome. This one and any of these onlookers can be witnesses."
"Um…sure…okay. Whatever you say." The fruit seller responds.
"I will say though, I'm detecting magic emanating off of you. If you're a sorcerer of some sort, this agreement is off." The priest adds.
"I'm not a sorcerer. This is just me. You backing out?" you respond.
"No, I just suppose this will make things more interesting. Though I hope you realize that when we do this, I don't intend on just…in your words kicking your ass. Karn's honor demands no less that I end you permanently."
"That's okay, I wasn't planning on holding back either."

You pull your short sword and the priest adopts a defensive stance. He doesn't seem at all worried that you have a weapon. After a couple of swings, you find out why since he easily disarms you.

When you attempt to go for your dagger, he grabs your wrist to stop you and punches you hard in the face. While it doesn't hurt as much as it would a "normal" person, you still feel the impact. Despite your icy skin and emanation, the priest shows no signs that he's bothered by it. Though no doubt as one of the Karn's faithful he's trained himself to not feel pain like other people. This is very apparent when you actually land a couple of blows and he reacts about as much as you would, which is barely phasing him.

You may have had your battles with arguably more "powerful" beings and creatures than this priest, but then there were other circumstances involved. You are learning first hand that the priests of Karn live up to their reputation. It's only due to your condition that you manage to stand as long as you do, but eventually he lands a really good punch and this time you go down to the ground.

With you on the ground, the priest immediately takes advantage by taking one of your legs and breaking it. You definitely feel the physical trauma of bone snapping through your skin, though thanks to your dulled senses you don't go into shock and you manage to swing your other leg as hard as you can and kick the priest in the side of the head. He isn't expecting that reaction and you catch him slightly off guard. He's temporarily dazed and lets go of your broken leg.

It isn't enough however, since you're still at a disadvantage with a broken leg. You finally manage to pull your dagger in a desperate attempt to even the odds.

The priest avoids your attempts at stabbing at him with your dagger from your prone position. Instead, he kicks your hand, followed by stomping on it, breaking your fingers.

Sensing that you're much more manageable prey now, the priest puts his foot to your neck and stomps on it. It's enough to crush your windpipe causing you to gasp for air, but your slow asphyxiation is put to an end when he breaks your neck with a couple more stomps.