Thanks so much!

So to raise my notable level i need to research tech?

Does anyone have a list of the specific techs that increase quest level and location level for each side?  I'm playing my first game as Empire and though there are techs that describe themselves as revealing more notable locations they don't seem to raise your location level.  Should I be pursuing the quest techs instead?

Found it!  Just spotted this after posting: http://elementalwarofmagic.wikidot.com/technologies#toc2

Take that with a grain of salt though.  In my current game I have Mapping, Destiny's Scrolls and The Old Order, which starting from 0 should put me at 3.  I can see plenty of level 3 and 4 locations, but it still tells me I'm level 2.

My current guess as to how it's supposed to work is that you start out at level 0 with a handfull of level 0 locations revealed.  The first upgrade you get doesn't increase your level, but instead reveals more level 0s and a few level +1-2s to tease you.  Each upgrade after that increases your level by 1 and also reveals more level +0-2 locations.  That would at least explain what I've seen so far playing Empire.  On the other hand, I could be missing something or just seeing the result of other factions researching reveal tech.