your questions regarding the game rules (improving the interpretation).

It's high time to allow digging for the Grail without restrictions. Cases where it appears on the starting map are rare. And even if you find it, you might lose tempo trying to dig it up. You place it, and an opponent who has already explored the map defeats you...

Yeah. In HotA, you can dig for the Grail, and there are fewer obelisks, and they aren't guarded, but after about a hundred official games (and who knows how many fan-made ones), there haven't been any complaints about it. Although, I think someone did dig it up.

I don't think it will be dug up more often in SoD, скорее, less often. The Anarchy example demonstrates this.