Tichiba was a practitioner of dark druidic forces previously unknown to most of druidkind. She was a Druin – an evil druid that harms nature to absorb its life force. As her powers grew, her evil attracted others of her disposition, and they all plotted and waited. She and her demented allies animated a sizeable force of giant exoskeletons, buzzombies, fallowjacks, and undead swarms. Her grand plan was to disintegrate the forest, inflicting upon it a deadly undead vermin plague that would kill all animals and vegetation for a hundred miles. She may have been successful, too, if not for a giant owl.
Creeplow, as the natives called him, is a powerful giant owl that makes its home within the forest. Creeplow met the undead swarm head on as it entered his territory. These abominations had already created a swath of damage across the forest. The ensuing battle was horrific, enjoined as it was by Treants, Giant eagles and other giant owls. In the end, the "Battle of Flora and Fauna" was won, but at a great cost, as Creeplow was the only survivor. The Druin, sensing her defeat, let loose a wave of explosive energy that consumed her. The resulting explosion was unfathomable in scale, knocking down the ancient cypress forest, creating a deadfall of trees — some of which were 20 feet wide — in an area nearly 12 miles in diameter.
Creeplow retreated, disheartened but satisfied for the moment that the forest was safe from immediate further harm. The forest, he knew, would slowly heal and recover. Saddened by the loss of family and companions, Creeplow made his way to the epicenter of the devastation. There, Creeplow rested in the only tree left standing in the blast area. He brooded for decades, even refusing apotheosis sponsorship offered by Leacon. Unwelcome visitors were chased away or eaten.
Tichiba reformed as an allip.
A corruption of Tichiba, a dark energy, lingered and festered, forming as an allip, and wandered slowly to the deepest reaches of the forest, babbling all the way back to Tichiba’s lair. Here the thing settled into the husk of an enormous, lifeless oak shell of rotten wood and fungus. That is where it would have ended, if not for the green hag, Ursuline.
Nearly a hundred years passed before Ursuline arrived. Ursuline had no visions of world domination or defilement. She was an Artifice Hunter in search of a powerful magic item known to have been in possession of Tichiba before she was defeated. Although Ursuline uncovered the ''witch hammer'' deep within a cave, she never returned with her prize. Passing the dead oak tree, Ursuline grasped one of its low branches. The tree began babbling and grabbed her. The hag swung the witch hammer at the attacking tree, hitting the trunk. An unusual catalyst of magical forces was brought together, draining the unsuspecting Ursuline of a bit of her life, empowering the tree. Ursuline was shocked and disoriented for a moment, but that was enough for the evil tree to immobilize her and drain the rest of her life. The hammer was dropped at the foot of the tree as Ursuline desiccated into dust. She was dead, and a new evil was born — the Somesuch.