Ash Forge

The Ash Forges, also known as the air purifiers, are world objects and cut constructible workshop objects in Fallout 76.

Background
Ash Forges were designed using technology from the Clear Skies Alliance originally meant help purify the air and lessen the environmental damage done by the Appalachian mining efforts, such as the Rockhound installed atop Mount Blair which polluted the southern region of Appalachia by filling the air with soot and ash from the strip-mining the mountaintop. The Clear Skies Alliance approached Hornwright Industrial to partner in an endeavor to remove harmful particles from the air and improve health and living conditions.

Daniel Hornwright, the Hornwright CEO, accepted the offer only when his daughter and senior operations executive, Penelope Hornwright, discovered the air purifiers could instead be used to pull heavy metals out of the air by ionizing particles and convert them into usable minerals. The marketing department dubbed these altered machines "Ash Forges."

Though the machines were built across the Ash Heap, implementation of the Ash Forges was ultimately delayed by Dominick Heyward after he discovered the alternative plans for the air purifiers. 

Around 20 years after the Great War, Jen and the Foundation Settlers were planning to pick apart one of the air purifiers in order to make them work again.

Characteristics
The Forges appear as tall, cylindrical fans. At the base of the fan is a terminal which the player character can interact with. The terminal cannot be used to activate the forge.

Ash Forge sites
The Ash Forges are grouped into 4 sites, arranged around Mount Blair in a clockwise fashion.
 * Hornwright air purifier site 01, located northeast of Mount Blair.
 * Hornwright air purifier site 02, located east of Mount Blair, near Lewisburg
 * Hornwright air purifier site 03, located east of Mount Blair.
 * Hornwright air purifier site 04, located west of Mount Blair.

Unused content
There is an unused holotape describing Penelope's involvement with the Forges.



Correspondence from Dominick to Penelope indicates that Hornwright Industrial capitalized on the ability to gather aerosolized minerals by setting fire to old, toxic mines and further contaminating the air around Mount Blair.

The original plan for Fallout 76 intended for player characters to crack Heyward's locked terminal, gaining access to the ash forge system, and activating the Old Flames quest, during which the Vault Dwellers would activate the forges, deposit "precursors" at target burn sites, and then harvest the raw materials from the air. The quest was ultimately cut, but the Forges and several terminals referencing their alterations from simple air purifiers were left in-game. The Forges could optionally collect iron, black titanium, aluminum, coal, copper, lead, gold, silver, uranium, or Ultracite.