Renaissance Men
I'm the first to get here, and my lead in total technologies has grown. Sweden is the academic center of the world, which is just the way I like it. I start research on the Printing Press, which will speed the spread of Awesomeness.
Winter, 1345 A.D.: Swedish troops and siege weaponry head South through the treacherous passes of the Snowruns for German-held Salzburg. It is the first time in history that Swedish troops have marched on foreign soil.
The Guildmasters of Sigtuna work with the Swedish Lord-Governors to establish a spy network, setting their sights on the German capital of Hamburg.
The Celtic Chronicle ended before spies really became relevant, so this is my first time really trying the ins-and-outs of Gods & Kings' new espionage mechanic. Spies are not units you move around on a board, but rather a separate window where you can deploy them to any city you've discovered. Putting them in your own cities orders them to guard against foreign spies. Putting them in city-states will increase your influence with that city-state. Stationing them in a foreign city, as I've opted to, allows them to steal technology and intercept AI attack plans.
1360 A.D.: Turku is founded South of Birka, in the sparsely-settled coastal woodlands between Sweden and Austria. The Swedish government offers incentives for settlers in the new territory, and many flock to claim them.
1360 A.D.: Swedish spies report that Germany has nothing of value to steal technologically (surprise surprise), but they do uncover plans to attack the Celts. The Swedes elect to share this information with the enigmatic woodsmen, hoping to bring them into the Continental Alliance. The network delivers the information, then immediately sets up in the Celtic capital of Edinburgh to learn what they can of the long poorly-understood civilization.
The spy network uncovers their Danish counterparts, who have already been in Edinburgh for some time. The two groups elect to work together, and discover that the Celts are, indeed, planning to invade the Northern Stormlands.
