Krombopulous Returns

5/12/2107

The minion of Krombopulous was discovered to be a construct of some kind.  They found a note on him witch indicated that there was a bounty for Grandpapi.  The not was signed with a hidden arcane mark witch read "Bounty paid by Patlog" (which sounds like a Giant name.)  The GoG stripped him of any valuable gear, tended to their wounds, and began the trip back to town.  They weren't walking for long before things went bad.  The spiked creatures emerged from the darkness and Krombopulous and his cohorts were upon the GoG once more.

Ambushed in the dark, tired from traveling all day, and weakened from their previous encounter, the GoG had a tough fight ahead of them.  They organized well and kept the old man safe from attacks for a while.  It was then that Krombopulous himself unleashed a wave of psionic energy.  Half of the GoG were rendered helpless and unable to move.

Prioritizing Grandpapi's safety seemed like the right thing to do, Krombopulous' creatures had manged to pull the old goblin away and get some distance from the party.  The Guardians who were still in control of their own bodies pursued him, leaving their stunned allies to be defended by Skia, alone.  Despite her best efforts, one of their foes, the giant man made of gravel, managed to push through her defenses.  He ran past her and straight up to Bastion.  Raising his massive axe over his head he swung down, cleaving into Bastions left shoulder.  The blade was not slowed by his strike and found it's way through Bastions body, nearly slicing it in half.  The bard was killed instantly and silently fell to the ground in a splatter of blood.  Krombopulous had managed to kill one of the GoG but had lost far too many allies to continue the fight.  He and the giant escaped into the darkness, leaving Grandpapi with the Guardians.

Bastions' death was a surprise to all of them.  Krombopulous seemed more like an annoyance than an actual threat, but he had proved otherwise.  The Guardians gathered around Bastion as Kaszuk performed last rights.  Once he was finished with his prayer Skia presented an idea.  She explained that she was able to perform a Reincarnation spell and bring Bastion back as a different creature, but with his memories and personality in tact.  Kaszuk, using Speak with Dead asked Bastion's remains what he would want done.  The corpse responded, in tune, that he would like to return, in whatever form that may take.  Death may have effected Bastions singing skill, but not his heroic spirit.

Defeated, but hopeful, the Guardians of Grog returned to Grissol.  At the city gates they were greeted by Tisha, the goblin who had asked to to rescue Grandpapi.  She glowed at his sight and ran to his side as soon as they saw one another.  The GoG, broken and angry at their own failure, stood by as she ran to him and embraced him.  Then, without warning, she revealed a hidden weapon and stabbed the elderly goblin at the base of his skull.  Grandpapi was killed instantly.  The GoG, shocked by this, sprung into action.  From the back of their group Zorak screamed as he leapt at Tisha, driving his sword into her chest.  Tisha was killed, with a malicious grin still on her face.
Once again, the Guardians have been lied to and used, this time it had cost Bastion his life.  Kaszuk and Zorak removed Tisha's head so that Kaszuk could speak with it later and they entered the town.  No one seemed to care about the bloodshed that had just occurred just outside the city walls.  Vath collected the deed for Tisha's farm but the Guardian's still decided that it was safer to sleep outside of town.

The day finally coming to a close the Guardians discussed their next move.  Vath wants desperately to find out more about what just occurred; why was everyone after Grandpapi?  Why had Tisha killed him?  The rest of the team is intently focused on acquiring the necessary materials for Bastian's reincarnation.  The materials are not common, especially in a place like this and they only have a week after his death to acquire them.  Grissol had none of what we were looking for but Vath insists that there may be some at Trisha's farm, where he got this information, no one knows.  When the morning comes they will decide how to move forward, for now, Bastion's fate is still unknown.