Hey GFirefly!
Glad you had fun!
SPOILERS!!!
To your points:
Darrell
Darrell is a 'unique' design. Essentially, he is a single-member unit, and not a Champion. This was deliberate, as I didn't want two Champions to be the reward amongst other things. ALSO, this means Darrell can die in battle. Sure, he's a missile user, but I've noticed that the AI loves sniping at him at later points in the game. NOTE that Darrell's group size can NOT be upgraded... also, while he is slightly more powerful for now, do keep in mind that he doesn't get to play with accessories, special hero armors and such (he only has the unit upgrade path). His abilities/bonuses do help with this, but I don't think overly so. Several of his bonuses are tied to shards as well... hmmm why would that be? (Plot point).
So your 'squire' analogy isn't too far off the mark. Darrell's design framework might give other quest makers some ideas r.e. recruitable quest NPCs...
And, while you might not immediately notice it, some accessories have different weights when calculating upgrades; essentially his Soldier Boots and Soldiers Gloves check Movement and Accuracy, not Defense for upgrades, although I don't think that you can do better than +1 Initiative/+5 Accuracy ingame currently with existing boots and bracers/gloves, at least amongst the equipment that beomes available to generic units.
He's essentially designed to NOT slow your Sov stack down (at least until you get a mount, etc.), and will have a role in the followup quest(s). Also, since he's a unit/NPC but not a Champion, he can't collect things/clear goodie huts for you, so while he'd otherwise make a great scout, you'll need a Champion or Sov for that purpose. His abilities tie in to how we was able to escape the Wildings BTW, although one might wonder where he found the bow...
Darrell's boots are actually akin to Longstrider boots (hence the +2 to move instead of +1). The other +1 Move comes from his 'mixed bloodline', which BTW will be elaborated upon at a later point/quest (It's not natural is all I'm sayin').
As for his mixed heritage, and unique blood abilities, there's a story behind that... which will be elaborated upon in the followup quest(s).
As for being able to/not being able to disband him, I hadn't noticed that before. He doesn't have wages, though, at least the tag says so. Not sure what to do on that one, but it may be a non-issue for most players - just sending him off to die in some (in)glorious battle is a way to get rid of him.
I'm strongly considering adding a 'fourth' dialogue option in the Fortress, for you 'evil' types, where you return Darrell to the Wilding leader in exchange for your friend, and maybe even a fifth option where you sell Darrell back to the Wilding leader. Obviously the rewards need to be commensurate to such an act, and I have some ideas...
It occurs to me that Darrell might not survive long enough to make it to the fortress, so if he dies, or if Darrell is elsewhere for reason, some of the dialogue will make no sense. I'll need to address that...
I'll be interested to see how well Darrell fares in the mid and late game (i.e. how well/often is he faring/surviving?).
Loriantha
Loriantha is, by design, an Administrator, and has been for much of her life. Career choices aside, her handicap lends itself more to staying at home than adventuring. Hence the hobble. While this isn't clarified in the text - people don't brag about their birth defects, she's had this issue for a while, and as such it is not a 'curable' injury. Loriantha isn't an ideal Adventurer type, and the Move of 1 kinda limits your desire to add her to your roving stack. Procipinee's Crown is in place to allow Loriantha to have 0 cost enchantments cast on her, but maybe this is too much?
As to your 'should have been able to escape on her own' comment, well there are probably more wildings out on patrol, and there are other reasons why she ended up being captured... I probably should elaborate on that further in the next quest installment!
BTW, she was designed using the Sov creator, with the only significant change being the limp (think Weak on steroids) and note that her path (Commander) is already set. I like having her tend the store while the Sov is off doing battle, but of course each player will have their own ideas on this. The -1 to move is also there to 'balance' the additional +1 to Research she provides BTW.
Other Points
As for that 'Quest Counter' thing? This is the thing you've heard mentioned previously where we modder types create a resource that future quests can see, to let the game know that you have completed certain options in a quest. It doesn't do anything else, but subsequent quests tied to a specific quest need a resource to see, hence this resource/reward. I'd hide the reward, but there isn't an option for this. Plus, it adds to the mystique...
As to your dialogue suggestions, I like them and will look at changing some of the dialogue.
I can't take credit for the Fortress tile itself, or the battlefield, both of those already exist ingame. I just appropriated them for this quest (thanks Stardock for those!).
Delaying this quest to later in the game is certainly possible, but I like having it 'In Your Face' in the beginning, to distract you from empire building. If I could but a 'timer' on it, to force you to resolve it earlier once you are presented with it, I would, but that's not really something we can check once a quest fires.
I see that you enjoyed the fight! I think it's pretty well balanced and challenging, but did you have any thoughts? It's a variation of another quest battle force of course, with the Troll twist and the leader being the rider instead of the Shaman...
The Reward - Unknown thing was deliberate, of course. Made you wonder, at least... this is a pet peeve of mine - telling the player what to expect reward wise before he accepts a quest seems a little too precognative to me... I like keeping people in the dark.
