Cheap Scouts

This bit of "gamesmanship" actually represents the historical use of spies and informants in distant places. Your man would have sufficient funds to send off a fast rider to deliver information he uncovers. The routine in the game works like this. Have an NPC with you who speaks the language of the fiefs you expect to encounter. He needs no other skill. He should have as low an ID number as you can manage as you don't want to waste time paging through several pages of NPC lists. You use him to "peek" into fiefs to see who is there. You invoke the kidnap option and name him as the kidnapper. Then you will see a list of all inside and outside the fief. You can also hire such men in the local taverns (be sure that they speak the language of that fief) and then drop him in fief you want to keep an eye on. This way, wherever you are, you will be able to use the kidnap function to get a report about who is in a fief. Eventually, someone will notice him and take action, but in the meantime you have "eyes" in important fiefs.

Hiring is inexpensive, so there is no great loss when they are discovered and you lose their services. When you are hiring NPCs, always offer a series of 2 kd bids until you succeed. This is much less costly in the long run then making higher bids. The one drawback to this is that if the other player has his court locked, a common occurrence in wartime, you won't be able to get inside it to look around and leave your spy.

It is important to always keep track of who is online, who owns the fief you are in, and who is fielding armies. An enemy player can't hurt you if they are not online. A compatriot who is on line can help you and coordinate actions with you, transfer troops, etc.