The Trio (group)

The Trio is a term used to describe the group made up of Spiffy McSpoffinberg, Glowie, and Grumble. While the term is never used or even acknowledged by the members themselves, it is often used by observers or allies, such as Zamorak. Because of this they are not a formal organization or alliance; instead, they are just three friends who constantly find themselves working together.

Paranoid and The Return
The Trio initially met when they were assembled by Zamorak to face off against the Zarosian Musicians. None had ever met prior to this, but quickly formed a friendship in their mutual position as Zamorak's "helpers". They grew to trust one another even more when they were captured and held prisoner together by the Musicians, before being rescued by Zamorak a few weeks later.

After being rescued the Trio split up, with Spiffy and Glowie assisting Zamorak while Grumble went off to help the Musician resistance. After their victory the Trio remained largely separated, though Spiffy and Glowie maintained their friendship throughout the months.

After the Wizard's Tower robbery Glowie and Spiffy set out to investigate, as they believed one of the Zarosian Generals was behind it. They eventually caught up with the General only to lose their encounter with him, resulting in Spiffy's capture. Grumble, meanwhile, had caught wind of what was going on and managed to catch up with the others just before Spiffy was to be used as Zaros' vessel.

With the Trio reassembled, they stood against the General, only to watch as he sacrificed himself to become Zaros' vessel. Zaros made quick work of the Trio, but before he could kill them Zamorak intervened, having been immediately alerted by Zaros' return. Zaros ultimately escaped, and Zamorak rejected the Trio's help, ordering them to safety.

Of course, the Trio refused to listen to Zamorak, and after debating it among themselves, approached him in his Pocket Realm, intercepting and killing Char along the way. They managed to inspire Zamorak back into battle, promising that they would keep Zaros' allies off of him while he focused on Zaros himself. This plan ultimately worked, and the Trio managed to kill both Nex and Azzanadra while Zamorak fought Zaros. Unfortunately, Zamorak was unable to win his fight, and the Trio were absolutely no match for Zaros. Not even Guthix, who intervened following Zamoraks loss, could defeat him. Fortunately Zaros' arrogance pervailed, and while he gloated in Zamoraks face Spiffy managed to drive the Staff of Armadyl through his chest, klilling him.

Zaros' death and Guthix's subsequent capture by Armadyl led both him and Zamorak to leave Gielinor, in order to trick the other gods into thinking Guthix was still an active threat. This left the Trio alone, without the support of the Gods, to continue their heroics.

Coming into their own
After the events of Zaros' return things returned to normal for the Trio, for the most part. They now kept in constant contact with one another, actually acting as friends rather than simply partners. Glowie adopted a Human personality and took a job as a Detective, a position that ultimately led him to the discovery that his old nemesis, Ark Shine, had come to Gielinor. This fact ultimately drove Glowie into an extreme state of anxiety which was only made worse when Ark utilized his potent Mind Control abilities to force Spiffy to draw him out on live television.

In an attempt to save his friend Glowie complied with Ark's demands, and wound up fighting him and a mind controlled Spiffy and Grumble on the same live broadcast. His loss of this battle, and perceived loss of his friends, drove Glowie into a self-imposed exile which only ended when he discovered his ability to create holographic duplicates of himself, a skill that ultimately led to an increase in his confidence that allowed him to finally defeat Ark and free his friends. In an act of mercy, Glowie and the Trio imprisoned Ark within Zamorak's Pocket realm.

Shortly after this Grumble fell into a state of increased aggression as he reminisced on his past. The Trio's attempts to help him were ultimately futile, as they were cut short by the Silver Warrior, an enemy of Grumble's hell bent on killing him. Just as it looked like the Trio was set to lose the fight against her Alaria intervened, and together the four managed to trick the Silver Warrior into teleporting away, buying them some peace time. Spiffy and Glowie finally learned Grumble's backstory from Alaria, who advocated that she and Grumble run as far away as possible.

Of course, none of the Trio agreed with this plan, so the four of them went on the offensive and tracked the Silver Warrior to Karamja, where she seriously wounded Spiffy in the throat. After giving Spiffy the medical attention he needed, Grumble set off on his own and defeated the Silver Warrior, sparing her life, a fact he kept secret from his allies.

After Spiffy's recovery he discovered his latent Zarosian Powers, which he obtained after killing Zaros. The Trio was again forced to come together in order to find the Stone of Jas, which would be able to give Spiffy the strength to handle these newfound powers. If they didn't, it was likely that they would overpower and kill him.

Fortunately they had a pretty good idea where to look, thanks to The Seer helping them, but they were challenged by a manic, Kalphite-controlled mage named Pargo who was also seeking the Stone, and one of the remaining few Dragonkin tasked with guarding the Stone from "False Users". They ultimately managed to attain a piece of the Stone, giving Spiffy the stability he needed. They then threw Pargo into the same prison as Ark, as they were unsure what else to do with him.

Heroics
With Spiffy's life largely in ruins following his recovery and stabalization, he attempted to take up the role of vigilante, though found he was particularly bad at it. The other members of the Trio tried to help him where they could, but they found that they were generally unnecessary without a singular goal. At the same time, a Zamorakian Cult was nearing completion of a lengthy summoning ritual, a fact that the Trio caught on to after they commit a series of risky rune thefts. They worked together to hunt the cult down, but when they found them they were easily defeated by a young woman the Cult had recruited who had an unprecented level of skill in portal magic.

Losing against Craznia left the Trio stranded in the Abyss, which they managed to escape when the realms residents recognized Spiffy's Zarosian energy and offered their assistance. Unfortunately this setback was all the cult needed to finish their ritual, and as the Trio returned to confront them again they witnessed the summoning of the demon Agrith-Naar, which immediately began laying waste to Varrock.

Craznia, who had been lead to believe Agrith-Naar would be a benevolent protector, turned on the cult and assisted the Trio in taking down its members. Unfortunately, the Trio found that there was absolutely nothing they could do to even effect Agrith-Naar, which forced Craznia to step up and sacrifice herself pulling it back into Infernal. Zhylen, the cults leader, was thrown into the prison with Ark and Pargo.

Witnesses largely saw Craznia's efforts in defeating Agrith-Naar, and the Trio's role largely went unnoticed and uncelebrated. It did, however, give them a renewed sense of purpose, driving them to become better heroes and to live up to Craznia's sacrifice. Over the next few months the Trio honed their skills, and even Spiffy was able to reach a level of practical fighting skill with a bow. This went on until Spiffy's out of realm experience, which resulted in his learning about Tuska and the Airut. When he was able to return to Gielinor he and the rest of the Trio were immediately attacked by an alliance comprised of Ark Shine, the Silver Warrior, Pargo, Zhylen, and a previously unknown surviving Musician General.

The Trio's fight with this "Payback Squad", as it was called by Pargo, was as short as it was tense. Fortunately for the Trio the unholy alliance of their enemies was built on particularly unstable foundations, and their internal power struggle left them disorganized. Their effectiveness was further negated when Ark attempted to control Spiffy's mind while he was in possession of the Jas Shard. Ark's mental connection to Spiffy allowed him to benefit from the Shard's powers, but they turned out to be more than his mind could handle, and he lost his powers in an extremely painful display.

Soon after Ark's incapacitation the rest of the villains fell, leaving the Trio victorious. In an effort not to repeat their past mistakes they sent each of the villains off to a real prison, except for the Silver Warrior who, again, managed to escape. While still not celebrated as heroes, the Trio rejoiced in both their physical and seemingly moral victory.

The World Guardians
After their victory against the Payback Squad the Trio mostly split up. In the following weeks Spiffy left to investigate reports of Airut on his own, while Grumble and Glowie allied with Skillset and Alaria to face off against the Dark Lord. The revelation that Grumble had spared the Silver Warrior had rocked Glowie's faith in him, and Grumble's actions during the fight against the Dark Lord only made it worse. His lack of trust in Grumble got so bad that after they retook Falador, Grumble left and returned to Oorvog with Alaria.

While Spiffy and Glowie remained partners, the Trio itself would never "officially" reform following these events. Grumble ultimately chose to follow his faith and joined Bandos when he attacked Gielinor, pitting him against his former allies. In the end, though, he came to realize the horrors of Bandos' rule, and that he valued his friends far more than his god. In a dramatic display and betrayed Bandos, and rejoined with his allies and their new alliance, The World Guardians.

Despite redeeming himself in the eyes of many of the heroes, Grumble deeply regret his betrayal and left in his own self-imposed exile, thus ending any chance of the Trio reforming.