There is the wider order of the Druids, there is the secluded Verdant Veil, and then there are the Green Cloaks, an extremist splinter group of that same Verdant Veil. Revered by some as the “Gods in Green” and despised by others as “tree hugger zealots”, the Green Cloaks are made up of former Verdant Veil members disillusioned with their mild tactics. They form an ecological cult of warrior Priestesses and Druids, which sees itself tasked with rebuilding, nourishing and protecting the deep woods. Green Cloaks are all green types who have given up their bodies to fungal assimilation (→ [[Sporecloak|spore eyes]]), and all of whom have mastered the arts of Forest Sight and Forest Blending.
The Bone Willow is an effigy in tribute to Kelandir, the controversial mythological figure, which the Green Cloaks worship as their domain’s deity. Kelandir was supposedly murdered in cold blood, when she was the lone woman trying to protect the last tree from being felled. With her passing the land was overcome by the Corruption. Kelandir holds two titles which seem mutually exclusive: “Goddess of Beauty” and “Goddess of Rot”. On closer inspection it makes sense. In Verdant Veil culture there exists this adage: Blossom enters the fray; growing towards decay. This forms the ideological foundation of the Green Cloaks.
Throughout a year, their Priestesses perform blood rituals at the roots of the Bone Willow, sacrificing enemies, those who have entered their domain uninvited. With blood vine the victims are bound to the tree. As they slowly bleed out, their blood is absorbed by the roots. Saprotrophic fungi feed on the remains, which in turn sustain the tree through the symbiotic mycorrhizal relationship. Over the year the willow is decorated with the bones of the sacrificed. Before the tree is burned at the end of the year, an orange sap, called Kelandir’s Tears, is gathered from it. The drug is used in rituals and combat. After the burning, the ash is collected and distributed in the forest; a fertilising ritual which is supposed to bring good fortune and bless the next tree for the coming year. Knowing all this, it is no wonder that a sighting of this effigy is a warning of the ultimate horrors lurking further down the deep forest.