[Foodstamp]

I start off just using the starting scout and my dominion to see what is going on. I am usually lucky enough to find a province or two that produces scouts. If I can't, then I use leftover gold to recruit scouts from fortresses if I can't afford another mage. By mid game, I usually have enough black servants running around as PD killers to do scouting in addition to indy/fortress scouts I am able to make.

The indy scout is probably one of my favorite units in the game though. 20 gold in addition to not using a mage recruitment spot... absolutely priceless!