In search of the Rune Sphere.

Regarding the elf in the castle: I'm sorry, but I didn't understand – was his army small?

The army isn't proportionally large compared to everything else: walking elves (I saw two), a dwarf, and neutrals. There are no more enemies on the mainland, only the castle garrison. At the same time, there's no way to leave the continent for at least five weeks. Edward is like a cow in a meadow, slowly fattening up on neutrals until he gathers enough strength. It's boring.
The map is entirely built around accumulating resources. There's no faster way to complete it, so it's a "Turtle Kingdom." And, by the way, the city portal doesn't help much. The geography is such that getting to your home city is the most difficult. The most likely landing spot is the dwarf city below it.