| abstract | - The Mortis Engine is a horrific magical artifact that radiates strongly with Dark Magic and is kept afloat by a horde of vengeful spirits. Within the Mortis Engine are powerful relics that are saturated with strong amounts of Dark Magic, such as the remains of powerful Necromancers and Lich-Lords of ancient times. Mortis Engines are almost always watched over by deathless attendants known as Corpsemasters, trusted servants of the Vampire Counts, whom have proven immune to the dire energies that emanate from the relics within.[1a] When the Corpsemaster removes the locks and opens the lead-lined reliquary, the deadly artifact within can be held aloft, leeching enemies' life energy away and invigorating any nearby Undead creatures. The longer a battle rages, the more energies the relic absorbs, and the more powerful it becomes. Mortis Engines can typically be found where the fighting is thickest, ominously drifting into bloody battle lines. Such positions simultaneously fuel the Engine with the energies of the dying and allow the engine to support Undead forces where the fighting is thickest.[1a] However, so redolent with Dark Magic are these artifacts that opening the reliquary is not without risk, for its power can sometimes tear apart the Engine itself. Indeed, if such a dread relic is ever shattered upon the field of battle, the subsequent release of pure evil has been known to smite everything in the vicinity, living or Undead, in an explosive wave Dark Magic. Some reliquaries also carry blasphemous tomes to battle, or scrolls of parchment rumoured to have been penned by Nagash himself. Often the Winds of Magic become nigh uncontrollable when such a fell tome is near. Heavy with evil magics, these tomes are painstakingly illuminated with such effort that often their creators' souls themselves are inked upon the parchments of human skin. In battle, these books can be a boon to the twisted practitioners of necromancy, but also the bane of reckless and inexperienced spellcasters that would dare to risk relying upon such diabolical relics.[1a]
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