1) You are referring to Us? I take it with me 95% of the time.
2) Never experienced that
3) Never experienced that. Try talking past the goblins, then free Volo, invite him to your camp, after a long rest he should show up.
4) Summons (or the druid tadpole form) can sometimes aggro npc's. And its easy to accidentally click on the ground and grab a red item.
