I never had need of potions when I played 1 & 2 so I don’t know if the alchemist’s shops existed. I was totally overlooking a major part of the gane. I know healing, spiritual, and energetic herbs are in the games so I guess potion-making is, too.

They are. I only used them for emergencies, which made the final battle in the second game alot easier, because I had a large selection of potions stored up.

If I’m sacrificing Stoneshatter and Dispel Barrier, it’s a harder sell, but those seem to be more optional in this game and piercing crystals are more plentiful.

I never joined them in Avernum III, but in Exile III I remember that the Anama had a shop that sells cheap piercing crystals. I don’t remember if it was just in their capital for everyone to use or if you had to convert to gain access to it.

Make sure you have a backup save when you join the Anama, so that you can take a look at whether you’re happy with the benefits.

I assume the towns that get destroyed are just the wayside-inn-plus-mute-peasants ones, right?

Not every town can get completely destroyed, so those are probably the ones that can be totally wiped out. The big capital cities can have permanent damage, but they won’t be annihilated.