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"Bolstering the fighting spirit of all those around it and blasting enemy ranks with savage, dark energy."

—Description of the Mortis Engine in Total War: Warhammer.[2]
Mortis Engine

A baleful Mortis Engine[1a]

The Mortis Engine is a horrific magical artefact that strongly radiates Dark Magic and is kept afloat by a horde of spectral Undead spirits who seek only vengeance against the living.

Role

Within the Mortis Engine are powerful relics that are saturated with Dark Magic, such as the remains of powerful necromancers and Liche Lords of ancient times. Mortis Engines are almost always watched over by mortal 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 artefact 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 artefacts that opening the reliquary is not without risk, for its power can sometimes tear apart the Mortis Engine itself. Indeed, if such a dread relic is ever shattered upon the field of battle, the subsequent release of pure evil magic has been known to smite everything in the vicinity, living or Undead, in an explosive wave of Dark Magic.[1a]

Some reliquaries also carry blasphemous tomes to battle, or scrolls of parchment rumoured to have been penned by the Great Necromancer 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]

Notable Mortis Engines

  • Claw of Nagash - Unspeakable dark magical energies are exuded from this Mortis Engine, both empowering the Undead legions it serves and crippling those who stand against them.[2]

Miniatures

Videos

Total_War_WARHAMMER_-_Introducing..._the_Mortis_Engine

Total War WARHAMMER - Introducing... the Mortis Engine

The Mortis Engine.

Sources

Gallery

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