The tree is not undead as it appears. It is an animated oak tree controlled by the residual essence of Tichiba, the allip. The allip did not bond with the tree as it expected, but instead it fused with the lichen that had been growing throughout the tree. The lichen animated the tree with its tendrils, but a dead tree husk was of little use. The lichen began channeling lifeforce from the surrounding plant growth to its new host. As it grew, it became a single entity – the Somesuch – and sprouted gray leaves and rotten acorns. During the spring, it began to emanate bizarre, black pollen. This Dark Pollen was as corrupt as the Somesuch, and everything that breathed or touched it absorbed some of this chaotic corruption.