From the post I got that only the last part was shouted and it sounded like we were the evil

I have posts from a bunch of people - but not much actual action.  I'll post again this weekend, but to what end?  The dialogue is good, but more is needed.  

If I could suggest - if you want to chat with someone send them a PM.  Then the two of you can figure out the whole conversation in messages and post it all at once.  Otherwise we wait a long time for things to get worked out.  

I don't even know which way to send you right now.  Up the path?  try to follow the runaway to the river in the rain?  A few will be headed back to Botkinburg (retainers and such) but what else can I do?

Constantine's got zilch on useful spells or features here, unfortunately, so all he can offer is a hand.

But looking over the druid spell list, @Dragonmist, if Luna has Speak With Animals prepared, maybe finding a rabbit that might have seen which way the goblin ran could give us a trail to follow? Not meaning to tell you how to play your character, but just spitballing ideas to get the party moving in a direction hopefully.

Could a druid shape change into a bloodhound or other animal with good sense of smell?  Maybe track the runaway goblin that way.

 

In a table top game we could search several directions in quick order by saying "we go north" and DM says "you travel several hours and find nothing" and then we try a different direction.  In post play the DM may have to take that upon themselves.  Post that we try several directions without sucess before finding that "x" direction seems to be best.  If you are roling for random encounters you would simply throw that in and compete it before the final correct direction is given.  

 

My intent is to move miles in a single post where possible to keep things moving. 

I was about to have you attempt to follow the goblin towards the river and see what happens.  But . . .two things need to be resolved.

1.  Soledad posted a question about going back to the village.  Is that happening?

2.  Luna offered to shape change into a sniffer.  Is that happening?  

My vote would be NO on returning to village and YES to sniffer.  

I'm with Keeper; going back to the village feels too much like backtracking when we could get Luna to sniff the goblins out.

To that end, I've set up the retainers' return to Botkinburg, and I'm sure they will be lovely company for any non-controlled PCs on the way back.

I am inclined to take the last posts as the parties plan . . . so I will be posting soon - probably Friday.  Sorry for the delays, I just want to make sure I know what is up. 

Right now I show . . . 

1.  The main group headed towards the river hopefully guided by the nose of Luna in Bloodhound form.

2.  The retainers and any non-run players headed back to town.

If Come to Play has any specific things he wants the retainers to look into in town I'd be ok with a little role play in that regard.  If Tann wanted to run Steel for a bit of extension in town I'd let that happen as well before Steel was retired.  But this would be a little sidelight if you had specifics you want to do.  This is a very small sidelight.  The group is the big thing.

Basic perception checks to see if the retainers pick up on any interesting gossip or tidbits would be all I wanted done with them in town; could lead to us getting some leads if Soledad is correct and the townsfolk haven't told us everything.

My assumptions.

1. The mule and cart will return to town with the retainers. There is no way it can progress along the river.
2. Knowing tracking would get more difficult I assumed you would leave now. But . . .this means that you do NOT get a long rest.  Take this into account for your spells.  Short rest only. 
3. The group going back to the town might have some basic perception checks, but you won't know any results until you see them again. 

Some other basic info:

1. I did do a number of rolls for perception for the tracking and such.  In general your druid rolls very well.  
2. You cannot hear anything being said by the bugbears - and would have to get quite close in the rain to make out anything.  
3. I will attempt to get a map up soon but the last time I tried it didn't work - despite getting directions earlier that had previously worked.  

*Let me strongly suggest that you make use of the Q7A or messaging to make plans.  If you do all the planning in character in the game posts it will take a long time to make an actionable plan.

I think that the NPCs of Dragonmist should go back to town to gather info (if there is any more to be gathered).

Also, I agree with Luna transforming into a bloodhound to track the scent of the goblin that escaped. I'm a bit concerned, however. The storm is strong, the downpour heavy. Even the strong stench of goblin may have been washed away in the rain by now. As well as his boot prints.

What are bugbears? Are they like trolls?

Rescue the Otter

Bugbears are not nearly as bad as trolls.  We can take them and rescue the otter.  If for no other reason than to see what it is

I agree, we should rescue the otter creature. Assuming we are going to attack and kill the bugbears. Shall we form an attack consensus here?

I can have Soledad hit them with a Sleep (Lvl 1 or Lvl 2), distract one or both with a Silent Image, or hit one of them with Phantasmal Force (that will take it out of the fight long enough to deal with the other). 

Another option, if someone has Faerie Fire or something similar they can outline the bugbears with glowing light, then Soledad could throw up a fog cloud. Blind them and hit them with arrows. Thoughts?

 

Nomad, just checking spell slots. After the short rest Soledad regains 1 or 2 slots? Thanks!