Too many questions, I'll try to solve some of them
- FE is a new game in the lore of WOM. It is, in fact, the game that WoM should have been.
- Growth is related with grain: the more grain in the tile you settle the city, the more max food, and then, the more max population (pop cap). Once you get new techs for improving food from grain, the max pop increases. The growth mechanics has some complexity too: it seems that your faction prestige is divided by the number of your cities, and that becomes the total growth for each city. You will have to check about this...
- Population is intended for: increase the level of the city, and for paying taxes. Production and research, I think are independent form pop. They depend on the type of buildings.
- A city with negative growth will not loose level, just will not grow. That was answered to me, I have not checked.
- In the tech tree, each building tells you the prerequisite (previous building or type of city). There are 3 types of cityes: fortess (for training better troops), conclaves (increases research) and towns (increases food and money). You need at least one of each. If you like to expand with many cities, you will need more towns that provide food for all your empire
- Influence is a weird resource, with few uses. You need it for building those camps, and to train certain units (henchmen, and sion). Apart from that, you can use it in diplomacy as any other resource (sell or exchange).
- Caravans. Not sure. They appear with trade treaties, that makes a road between your capital and the other trader, and a caravan goes from yours to theirs. That gives you money, I think that once they arrive to the other city.
- Spells. I can help little. Download the spell manual (see it on pinned posts). If it is not enough, then post about the spell you want to know, people will help you on this.
