I find it somewhat . . . disturbing that the world knows what scrolls you've read? You just learn about the next level of adventuring tech, and then the world is suddenly full of new notable locations, and new monsters start spawning. It's as if the destructive forces of the world are waiting and saying to each other 'can we go yet' 'no, nobodies read and understood the third scroll of the late king ____' . . . 'can we go now?' 'He only touched the scroll, relax he'll read it eventually' . . . ' can we go NOW?!?, I'm hungry' ' Yup DINNER TIME he JUST FINISHED, I saw the glow in his eyes as he finally understood EAT HIM!!'. I don't know about anybody else but I find it a tad abrupt (and annoying when it's somebody else who finishes the tech). So I thought up a solution to Integrate heroes an adventuring at a deeper level.
Firstly I am assuming some form of Monster lairs system is reinstated https://forums.elementalgame.com/394330/page/1/ where spawns come out of, and can 'hide' stronger spawn points that only become visible once the upper level spawn point is cleared / destroyed.
Second I am assuming non recruitable heroes and static Inns https://forums.elementalgame.com/396298.
The system,
Random spawn points pop, infrequently but constantly throughout the game.
When a new spawn point pops it pops with a set depth, the number of layers of nastier baddies. The maximum depth a spawn point can pop with is determined by adventuring technologies.
If a Spawn point is ignored long enough Heroes will begin to collect at the nearest Inn, collecting both people and equipment until they have enough strength to take the spawn point. (during which time they will have Quest available such as . . . ' find and escort to here the hero named _____' . . . 'find for us 5 swords of at least attack 8' . . . 'find for us 10 units of food' . . . 'Join us on our quest to exterminate the spiders at ---,--- ') above and beyond the normal quests the inn might have available.
Once the Inn collects all the necessary people and equipment (equipment at any Inn since they are treated like an empire sharing resources). The Inn spawns an adventuring party that can be seen going to the spawn point.
If the adventuring party is defeated by the spawn point some of their equipment gets added to the local spoils, If the adventuring party wins the spoils are divided up amongst the heroes who then equip them or sell them for money to buy food, and if the spawn point has a deeper level to it a popup comes up warning you that some foolish adventures have awoken ____ which is now terrorizing the land (or whatever the lower level spawn point's doing you get informed).
If Quest objects are collected by the heroes there is a chance that it will be recognized, and the heroes will seek out factions which they like 'see alignment from non recruitable heroes' and try to extract a good price (or extra hard quest) for them, if not they are 'lost' and the next spawn point of the appropriate depth will contain the quest object.
Now you have a more gradual, and sensible system in which the world is alive (because heroes are always coming and going and asking for supplies for their quests), and things get nastier progressively rather than all at once.