Vestige Engines

To be able to prevent the spread of the Withering would be possible, if difficult. To be able to destroy it would be a miracle.

— Zalto Solamnan, head of the Crimson Pentasophical and chief Remnant researcher

Back in the ancient days of Renath, not long after the Passing, the great disease known as the Withering first began to take hold of certain regions, beginning to turn them into drab grey husks, devoid of life. The peoples of Renath, still working together to defeat evil on the whole, banded together to hold it at bay, using the power of the Remnants of the Passing to do so. They built great devices to channel the Remnants' regenerative power, and these devices became known as the Vestige Engines.
But time went on, and the peoples of Renath began to squabble amongst each other. They grew too spread out, too angry, too conflicted. While the Vestige Engines were still working, they began to be carted all across the globe. Some were waylaid, stolen before they could reach their destination. Others were even destroyed, their parts scattered across the world. The few who had built them passed away as the millennia went on, and the secrets of their construction and upkeep were lost. They were left where they stood, and time slowly claimed them. They passed into legend, and now few believe them to have ever been real.

Possible Locations

Besides the discovered Engine in the ruins of the Tower of Gruz-hilk, there are many other places that claim to have been the site, at one time or another, of a Vestige Engine. The dwarf kingdoms at the edge of the Yugos Desert built the Clockwork Tower, it is said, from the broken pieces of a Vestige Engine. In addition, recently discovered carvings in the mountains of southern Woîjne appear to show a strange clockwork device that left trees and flowers in its wake, which is consistent with tales of the Vestige Engines. Attempts to scry on the location of a Vestige Engine, though, have otherwise been largely unsuccessful.

Related Item

Remnant of the Passing

Rarity

Very high; only one is known to still exist

Tower of Gruz-hilk

Most people believed that the stories of the Vestige Engines were just that, and that they had never truly existed. That is, until an expedition into the Tower of Gruz-hilk a few years ago led to the discovery that not only were they real, but some of them could be salvaged and made operational given enough time. The one in the Tower of Gruz-hilk was under control of a terrible lich, believed to be the remains of the terrible Lord Gothruk IV, who was using the Remnant to extend his life beyond the normal human lifespan. The lich was slain and the Remnant removed and taken to Zhoris, but the machinery was still operational. A few members of the Crimson Pentasophical have since studied the Engine to see if it can be replicated.