More Talking Trees

Aerglas charged into the clearing mounted on an owlbear with five other owlbears in tow. He was raving about how some kraken named Slarkrathel was going to wipe everything out, or something. Honestly I'd had enough of crazy, egomaniacal, power chasing zealot types by that point and didn't pay much attention, readying myself for combat instead. The fight was intense, by we worked well as a team. Even as the newest member, Po's abilities fit well with the group, and while Zarruk incapacitated the druid the rest of us focused on taking down the owlbears. Aerglas finally did manage to get over whatever spell Zarruk's magic dagger placed him under, but the bard immediately hit him with a fire ball and finished him off.
Once we killed the last of the owlbears Tharra urged us to find Turlang, but we took a moment to recover rather than rushing after her, not knowing what we might encounter ahead. Zarruk retrieved his dagger from the body of the druid and Dru tried to harvest an ear from one of the owlbears, although it was badly mangled by the time he actually cut it off. Once we had caught our breath and gathered our wits again after the fight, we followed Tharra back into the forest. We met a huge, strange creature lying on the ground. It appeared to be almost like a tree but with a face. If he had been standing he might have been nearly 50 feet tall. Roots had already sprung from the body into the ground and appeared to be healing and revitalizing him. Tharra told us this was Turlang. Dru cast plant growth on the creature, and immediately it appeared to hasten the healing process Turlang was already going through and within moments he awoke and seemed more or less fully restored. He rose to a sort of sitting position and spoke with us. Tharra vouched for us as friends and the defeaters of Aerglas, which seemed to please him. Turlang told us that he knew Amara and was the one who allowed her to place a gateway to the feywild in the forest.
In thanks for our service and because our actions had respected the forest (mostly) Turlang offered us an initiation into the Emerald Enclave. We took some time to deliberate on the pros and cons of such an initiation. Turlang told us that there would be some responsibilities as members of the enclave and we may be called on to render assistance with some tasks, but we would mostly be free to continue with our own missions. Inclusion in the enclave would also grant us safe conduct within the High Forest and the Shadowtop Cathedral. I was reluctant to enter into a pact with another group; our experience with the Splinters went less than favorably, and considering how easily Turlang fell to Aerglas, who in turn fell to us, did not inspire me with confidence that these were the types of friends we wanted. In my mind we need more powerful allies. However the group felt that safe passage through the forest would be helpful, and the worst case scenario seemed to be that if we refused a task from the Enclave then we would merely be expelled as members. So we agreed to the initiation. Dru was ecstatic. We all received green brooches with designs of intertwined roots as signs of our status as members of the Enclave.
Turlang told us that Aerglas had held a seat of power within the Enclave, but had been turned by someone to instead serve a kraken named Slarkrathel, and had sought to bring down the Enclave. What a kraken could possibly want with a forest cathedral is beyond me, but the motivations of these entities are muddled and seem driven only by greed and desire for power, whatever the source.
Before leaving us, Turlang asked Tharra to accompany us on our journey. She seemed competent in the battle, so having her with us could be useful. We'll have to see how well she fits in though. I'm wasn't sure that she fully realized what she signed up for though.