Hey! so I figured it out haha essentially I had just reorganized stuff on my end and in doing so was looking at an *older* version when I answered your original questions.
So I've updated the darkness rules to be more in-line with the current game, and I've removed the reference to the additional trinket table, which did not end up making it into the latest update.
The rest of your questions about leveling and the empire are still valid.
Let me know if you have any other troubles!