Best way to get advices like that is irc channel
I know that fortune tellers you can recruit only work in that province. Pretenders probably work the same, but some more experienced players must say about that.
About TC - get on IRC and I can give some advices what not to do. That is my favourite nation and I play them in my first MP newbie game. And I really know what not to do now
And really a lot depends on map size, game settings and so on. I don't think that TC is the best choice for blitz. And you are rather going to play some sort of small game with 3 players only.