You can't buy the second hint in the tavern. It requires 50 wood, and I only have 14. I checked the map, and there are only a couple of unclaimed resources.
And another question: Here's a mini-screenshot of the map http://floomby.ru/s2/cWXjxA. There's an unexplored area at the top. I think I've taken everything else except for the gold mine (the phoenixes are too aggressive and deal a lot of damage to my army). I don't know how to get to that area. There's a one-way portal in the small lake, but it hasn't worked since the beginning of the game, and it still doesn't work. Is that intentional?