The Cast:

The Heir, Sylvie Blackburn: The words of her player 'She doesn't start fights but she'll end them' describes Sylvie very well. Raised by the Historian Morano, she is a fairly well-rounded young woman- if a bit fiery and naive. Morano is both proud and frustrated with her headstrong independence, although he's really only frustrated when she's being snide with him.

The Spy, Valen Aventura: A compulsively-lying kleptomaniac who hopes to someday gain political power in the land- if he can stop pissing off important people and organizations long enough to actually get any work done.

The Drunk Blacksmith, Ruz: A superb worker and craftsman, Ruz has an appreciation for alcohol that is tempered only by his resolve to stay out of other people's business.

The Huntress, Bretia Faulkner: Preferring the company of most animals, especially raptors, to people, Bretia makes a living hunting and training falcons for local nobles in the area. She's very skilled with animals and taught Sylvie how to use a bow.

The Ranger, Althalos Yerel: Convinced that trees speak to him, and that trees never lie, Althalos is a very talented warrior. However, the trees do not actually talk to him, he just believes they do.

The Witch, Rowena Foxglove: The local witch doctor, Rowena recently took over the position from her now-deceased mentor. Rowena is an adept healer and spellcaster, and a huge flirt to boot.

The Disgraced Captain of the Guard, Albert Nash: Removed from his post due to the actions of his prior second-in-command, this character wants revenge for the disgrace he has suffered. Is a very capable fighter and administrator, and did a good job of leading the guard while he maintained his rank.

The Heir Pretender, Reginald: <-Just click his name, it's a link.

The Retired Historian, Morano: The now-reclusive historian has raised Sylvie since her birth, and now hopes to place her on the throne. Captured as of the end of session two.

Planning

So, the player of Albert Nash took a secret disadvantage. In GURPS, this means that his character has an unknown disadvantage of my choosing. After giving it some thought, I've come up with something absolutelyevil.

Secret Disadvantage:Delusion
Albert Nash was never truly Captain of the Guard, he just falsely believes that he was.

Now, doing this sort of thing causes some interesting scenarios. For instance, the two enemies he took (the Captain of the Guard and the Guard itself) are not actually out to get Albert- although they are well aware that he's crazy. The negative reputation modifier he has works well with this. Either way, the player's own paranoia about the guard should make it extremely easy to make him believe that they are a fully functioning enemy group- even if they aren't.

That said, if I allow this player into my next campaign, I'm barring him from taking an enemy. Not only does it seem to be a crutch that he relies on too much, I'm tired of trying to fit whoever his character hates into my plots. Having the entire Royal Guard hate my party could be great- but it's not a decision I want taken out of my control. Giving Albert such a disadvantage will go a very long way towards making things interesting.

Gameplay

Play began with the battered group going back to the farmhouse. Morano is gone, Reginald has been knocked out, and Adriene (Ruz' adopted daughter) is curled up in the corner. Someone entered the house by breaking out a window, overpowered Morano, and kidnapped the old man.

GURPS has a lot of skills that would apply in a situation to try to gain information on what happened:

Criminology- Any success will determine that this group of bandits is not the same group that waylaid Lenny in the previous session. They were here specifically to kill/kidnap the group.
Tracking- A large success reveals the general direction the man who took Morano went off on. The trail disappears once it hits a small river, however.
Psychology- In case nobody has Criminology
Peception (vision mostly)
Area Knowledge- A success will tell players that the closest establishment is a small village that started as a military school for clerics and paladins- an unlikely place for Morano's kidnapper to go. A large success (5+) will allow players to know of a cave nearby that is commonly used for such things.

With healing and patching up being done by Rowena, the group starts thinking about figuring out what happened to Morano. Albert manages to find tracks, and even make some sense of them. Rowena's attempt at a spellcasting solution produces similar results- a general direction, not much else.

'Last I remember-' His (Reginald's) eyes go wide. 'Somebody broke the window, climbed inside, walked towards me. Morano was pulling out a knife or something and then... I woke up out here.'
The players go through the inevitable debate over what to do and how to proceed.

Eventually, Rowena, Albert and Valen follow the tracks to the stream where the trail goes cold. Reginald manages to make an IQ-5 check to use criminology without knowing the skill to inform the players that the bandits who attacked are not the ones who attacked Lenny.

Deciding to go to the nearby town of Hounsfar (the aforementioned military school), the group comes across four dead men. The men have been shot, each with a single arrow causing their deaths. Each arrow has black and red fletching, with a white cockfeather.

The monks within Hounsfar are cold, but helpful. After making the players wait for three hours for morning religious services, the Abbot and Brother Marin both give them information regarding their knowledge of bandit activity in the area.
A large group of men (~50) recently moved through the area towards Pyrim. They were well-armed and moving on foot.

A Hounsfar Monk was told by a survivor of a bandit attack that after she was captured, she overheard Bandits talking about some of their trouble clearing their old base of operations.
High Baron Fruit recently sent a request to the Abbot asking him to increase patrols down a road leading towards the capital based off increased Bandit activity
By this point, I'm down three players- one to timezones, one to family, and another to an unexpected guest, so I ended the session.

XP- What my players learned:

Ruz: Skills are useful for modifying weapons
Bretia: I've learned that my bird sometimes can't find things and likes to bring presents instead.

Valen: Monks dislike singing and merriment.

Albert: I learned different uses for some of the skills I have and a few of the skills I plan of taking when I have enough points for them.

XP- Giving XP to other players:

Skipped this session

XP- MVP:

Skipped this session.