Colonization

Played the first mission. Again, I killed the Necromancer and just skipped my turn to build up my army – I know that Assassins are waiting there ;) I can continue like this for about a month on auto-battle without any problems. It's boring. I demand additional quests after capturing a castle and more hardcore challenges!!! :
Regarding the second map – I jumped into the portal after the Phoenix, but there's no ship nearby. Where can I learn the 'Summon Ship' spell?