Knahaten Flu Elder Kings

Elder Kings is an Elder Scrolls overhaul for Crusader Kings 2. It is huge, ambitious, and clearly made by people who love the setting. It's full of all sorts of nods to the games, including, for instance:
- The classic Elder Scrolls classes in place of the standard CK2 professions, such that your ruler can be a Master Nightblade with Intrigue and a few magical abilities to call his own.
- You can find Artifacts on the battlefield. I am currently wielding a Dwemer weapon that gives me extra martial prowess!
- Vampires and werewolves can move into your land, bringing massive revolt risks with them. Adventurer infestations are almost as pesky, but do, at least, come with some extra tax income.
- Tamrielic faiths and sub-faiths are all over the place, bringing with them various mechanical bits and intrigue events. I had a go at a Bosmer duchy, and engaged in a bit of the old ritual cannibalism on a prisoner for prestige and piety. Yum!
It's pretty big and slightly more daunting than vanilla. I know Dorchadas is playing, and since interest in CK2 seems to have been renewed by the latest DLC, I presume others are doing the same, or would do if they knew how cool this mod was. With that in mind, let's compare notes.
1) I'm playing as the King of Orsinium at the moment, picking off various High Rock petty kingdoms to feed my growing empire. Orcs, as expected, use some pagan mechanics; i.e. they can conquer anybody who's next door, and you'll take a prestige hit for being at peace for too long. Kingdom laws are Agnatic Rule By Might, which seems to be a fancy way of saying Open Succession. There definitely seem to be a few cultural buildings, as I've got an orc encampment available that boosts my heavy infantry at the cost of some cavalry. (That said, money is super tight due to the serious lack of developed holdings, so I can't afford a damn thing). The Cult of Malacath doesn't seem to offer much in the way of mechanics. There is a holy site in Orsinium, but there's no pontiff or whatever. This might be because I start with no temples in my realm, though. I do have an intrigue option to claim Volendrung, but it costs an enormous amount of piety and I haven't been able to try it yet.
Also, getting around Orsinium takes forever and a fucking day.
2) Wayrest, right next door, uses Republic mechanics, and income makes it pretty scary. Curiously, they've been able to raid my lands, which makes me wonder whether looting is a universal mechanic in EK.
3) How does spellcasting work if you don't personally have the ability? In my brief mucking about with Bosmer, I was able to cast a spell because I was myself a mage (and there didn't seem to be any natural magicka regen, so I guess the potions are essentially mandatory?). Assigning my court wizard to prepare his reagents doesn't seem to do anything. I assume that task exists so that I can have him cast spells on my behalf, but I haven't found any intrigues or diplomacy options to that effect.
4) Holy shit, revolt risk. Go wander around in Northpoint, you stupid giants! (Not that I mind terribly. Crushing a rebellion is the perfect way to spice up a vassal relationship).
5) Any thoughts about improving income? Are there any EK-specific mechanics to that effect beyond having your steward survey sites in the hope of finding moonstone or whatever?