The two bonuses I'm wondering about. One (Hedigah Bathhouse) gives +1 Water Power, -30% Unrest. The other (Can't remember it's name" states "Unrest does not effect research".

Is the second effect nation-wide? Because it seems lackluster. I can understand level 5 bonuses being reasonably unimportant due to the time and effort it takes to acquire them. I usually find there is no unrest in these cities, and most other cities that have an appreciable amount of research have too low to matter unrest anyway. If there is any unrest left in the Conclave, the bathhouse will fix that, and provide a shard bonus (I have a water magic bias so it's a big deal for me despite not being as useful as other shards... LOOK AT THAT NUMBER NEXT TO THE BLUE THING!).

Not sure on any alternatives. But I can put forward some for brainstorming. Like providing an elemental/construct every x turns. Reduce the cost of strategic spells. Mana "interest" effect (like the Treasury Vault).

Maybe it's perfectly fine and I just crack down on unrest too hard? Or waiting hundreds of turns after being able to cast the spell of making just to see what would show up left me a little disappointing.