From the Google Doc 1

Garnia working file
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Timeline- Circa 60 BCE- Earth- Gaul- Pan-Celtic religious movement starts, ends several years later with a migration to Garnia.

50 BCE- 150 CE- Northern Steppes- Celtic People develop a semi-nomadic lifestyle, following herds of cattle and sheep. Semi-permanent settlements along rivers are developed into small fishing communities. Druidic colleges and cultic centers of worship are mainly found in the areas with permanent settlements, but there are holy men traveling with every band of nomads. In this time there is plenty of space to explore and peace between the nations of men is the rule. Magic is discovered to work very well, and is refined. Humanoids are discovered, as are giant kind, they are considered the Fomor of legend. With their horses, chariots and iron weapons, the warlike Celts quickly become masters of the steppe, hunting tribes of disorganized humanoids to near extinction there.

I am thinking that, despite the alien environment of the steppe, the technological advantages they possess, and the power of their magic are going to make the Celts potent enough to increase their population by at least 50-75% every 20 years in what is, essentially, open country full of game and grazing territory for their herds. Their summer settlements will provide them with the opportunity to grow some crops, so they will never become complete pastoralists either. Additionally, the permanent settlements, mostly along the rivers, will not only become centers for learning, religion and trade for the more nomadic clans and tribes, but also maintain their knowledge, at a minimum of a rudimentary level, of carpentry, stonework, small watercraft and fishing. These “towns” will also be able to support larger populations per square mile than the steppe as a whole in general.

(As an aside, we really need to figure out the numbers of original settlers, I just ran the numbers with a conservative 120,000 original settlers, and they end up with well over 37 million people at 75% population growth/generation, so we either need to give them higher infant mortality rates and shorter life expectancies or they are going to feel the pressure of having filled the steppe to it’s maximum support capacity in about ½ the time I gave them, and I assume, start fighting amongst themselves to keep their populations down.)

Also noteworthy, Gaulish Celts in particular are literate, to a degree, in Greek and Latin, these people had the opportunity to pack their belongings and plan for the journey, so I think we can assume that some educated people may have brought some books, actually codices or scrolls, with them on the journey, and it is possible that they also brought some educated slaves with them to teach their children. These would be mostly Greeks, but it is possible that a Roman ended up in Gaulish hands here too. Clearly this is irrelevant after more than a century, but it does lead to the idea that there is a chance that there will be a literate class of people among the Celts even in the early times on the northern steppes. That literate class is most likely going to be traders though, and maybe some clergy; warriors are never going to see the point.