+2, like this idea very much.

That's right and if you made the mob offer very little XP then it just wouldn't jive (I think the low xp for killing enemy faction armies is lame).

If the mechanic won't change though for low xp rewards for faction armies, then we might as well apply it towards these special spawned mobs that will harass and attack the settlement/outpost/improvements.

I'd like to keep the mechanic the way it is. Disturbing a lair is a potential risk. Ninja looting is the reward for that risk.

I once disturbed a banshee lair with expanding borders, and she starting laying waste to my mines and shards. My sovereign stack was on the other side of the map, and none of the defensive units in the city had magical attack abilities.

When the monsters destroy mines/shards/settlements/outposts, it is not because they are priority targeting them, they are bumping into them in their random meandering.

If a player dares to incur the attention of a Lair, that attention should be immediate and swift reaction by the Lair to eliminate the intruding force. Whether it is a Mite Mob or a Ash Dragon, that is up to the player to decide if it is worth plopping down anywhere near it, but the consequence of doing so shouldn't be a randomly wandering mob. It should be, "If I push the wildlands, it WILL push back DIRECTLY and IMMEDIATELY."

And it really would fit into the lore of the game, the land is wild and requires the direct intervention of the Sovereign to retame the wild for the emergence of civilization. As it is right now, the Sovereign pretty much founds the first settlement and screams, "LOOOOOOOOOT RUUUUUNNNN!!!" as he drags the whole army away further and further away from the capital. And for the most part, the Capital will be safe as will the follow up settlements, even IF monster lairs are disturbed.