*spoiling a bit more*
I had that swimmer problem once, but it was on level one with the fishermen. With the kids, I just picked them up myself. When it happened on land one, I quick-loaded from the last autosave.
Hopefully your autosave is on, or you save frequently. (I saved the game starting at right before the second challenge on land one, since that's the first opportunity to be evil...and I do intend to play this game through the evil way...
)
As far as the Portal goes, you either have to go
right then or continue your original plan of destroying Lethys' temple, when you'll get the opportunity you were hoping for.
BTW, for
LAND 3 (yep, minor spoiling)
Once you get the village that prays for the Shield spells, I highly recommend getting them to the worship site right away. You'll have to either be superman or very very patient later on if you don't.
*done spoiling for now*
Okay, I'm convinced now that the click-trick for food and wood is "cheating" or whatever you might want to call it. Aside from it working
anywhere where you can trick the cursor into thinking you want to move instead of cast, I have got to the point that I can get 30,000 to 50,000
per casting of Miracle Wood and Food spells. Water works in a similar way, though I haven't found any practical application for it.
Suggestion: Don't forget that duration spells (Shields and Forest, for example) have an "upkeep" cost. if you decide to run one of these for any length of time, you'll need more worshippers, or you'll need to be prepared to wait for power to build up for your other spells. Also be aware that trying to cast spells for which you do not yet have enough prayer power can cause your duration effects to be cancelled.
Also: Teach your creature to use the totem! Definitely do this!