I have some kind of a bug during the meeting with Eder. I talked to him and when he asked what I am doing here I answered something along the lines of "looking for someone to help me". He was all like "Sorry to hear that" and the dialogue ended. 

I didn't knew that he is a recruitable character so I played for some time and later read somewhere that I can recruit the guy. I came back to him and now he only smiles, says "Hello in our lovely village" and ends conversation.

I would hate to lose the time I already played and start the game new (no save from before talking to him for the first time".

Is there any way to  get past around it and recruit the guy or he is lost forever??

 

Thanks!

That's actually not a bug.

 

Without spoiling anything... Eder will say a line of dialogue when you walk near him after you finish one of the main quests that's in Gilded Vale.

 

You're not able to recruit him off the bat.

Ah, and all is clear now

Thank you, and here I was already creating my new character

It freaked me out a bit at first. The casualness of how it happened made me just keep going though. It didn't feel like a "you just blew it" moment. Sure enough, not very long after...