Reliquary of Amit
The Reliquary of Amit is a relic of the Blood Angels Chapter. It is an ornate gold cylinder which contains a single feather of their slain Primarch, Sanguinius, within a stasis field.[1]
Description
The feather is the length of a Space Marine's leg[1] and fell from Sanguinius' wings as the Primarch defended the Imperial Palace, during the Horus Heresy's Siege of Terra. It was then quickly housed within a stasis field, which has never been deactivated, and Sanguinius would die in battle, shortly afterwards. The reliquary's yard long golden[2a]-brass[1] cylinder form was created by the Flesh Tearers founder, Amit some time after the Heresy, to house the feather. He did so in penance for his Father's death and artfully marked the reliquary with marvelous fretwork of beasts and angels.[2a] These beings are depicted as intertwined, while they hunt one another through an alien forest.[1] Amit's sorrow permeated his work and those who know the reliquary's history can feel this as the look upon the relic. It is also protected by a force field, which can be unlocked by a Blood Angels Crux Terminatus badge which is pressed to a lock-stud hidden in the reliquary's fretwork.[2a] When it is turned off, a soft illumination is given off by the stasis sield and when the reliquary's doors[1] are hinged open, the relic is opened in half and Sanguinius' floating feather can then be seen.[2a]
According to the Blood Angels' history, the feather has never touched the ground and as long as remains within the reliquary's stasis field, then the Primarch's sons will never fail. The feather also contains drops of the Primarch's blood and along with the Death Mask of Sanguinius' Blood Ruby, they are the only sources that have not been adulterated by being drunk by the Blood Angels' Sanguinary Priests. This makes both the relics immeasurably precious to the Chapter.[1] It is normally kept in the Basilica Sanguinarum of the Blood Angels' Fortress Monastery, Arx Angelicum, where the reliquary is covered in a black silken cloth, whose weave is as smooth as water.[2b]
History
Just before the Devastation of Baal began, the Blood Angels' commander, Dante, secretly met with the Flesh Tearers' Chapter Master, Gabriel Seth, and gave the relic to him. Though Dante held firm that Sanguinius' Sanguinary Brotherhood would be victorious against the approaching Hive Fleet Leviathan, the commander was putting certain counter-measures in place. This included the safeguarding the Blood Angels' relics, should the Fortress Monastery be destroyed by Leviathan's Tyranids. However, Dante felt the reliquary should be given to Seth, due to its Flesh Tearers' heritage and the fact that the Chapter Master had been a loyal friend to the Commander and steadfast ally to the Blood Angels. Dante told Seth, that even if they all were killed in the coming battle, he knew the Flesh Tearer would ensure the reliquary made it to safety. Seth refused to take the relic at first, but finally relented and vowed to the Sanguinary Brotherhood, their Primarch and to the Emperor, that he would keep the reliquary safe.[2a]
The next day, the Flesh Tearers moved to defend Baal's moon, Baal Primus,[2a] and Seth carried the reliquary with him in a magnetic tube locked to his power armour. They would fight beside the Knights of Blood on the moon, but the Tyranids overwhelmed both chapters. Seth declared the battle to be lost and called for his fleet to evacuate the Flesh Tearers to Baal. This was so he could honour his vow of keeping the reliquary safe, by returning the sacred relic to the Basilica Sanguinarum, and so that the remnants of his Chapter could die defending Sanguinius' homeworld instead. Seth sought to bring the Knights of Blood with them, but their Firstblade Sentor Jool refused. The Knights were deeply inflicted by the Red Thirst by then and chose to die fighting on Baal Primus. The two Chapters nearly came to blows then, but Seth calmed and explained his reasoning for wanting to evacuate. He then held the reliquary aloft and the light of the stasis field that held Sanguinius' feather fell upon them. This instantly swept away the Red Thirst and anger from all those it touched. Jool was among them and, now that he was calm, the Firstblade agreed to evacuate with the Flesh Tearers.[2b]
Before they could do so, the Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha invaded Baal Primus with the Daemon hordes of Khorne. The Daemons fell upon both the Tyranids and Space Marines, but Ka'Bandha's appearance greatly inflicted the Red Thirst and Black Rage upon the scions of Sanguinius as well. Seth would have been among them, were it not for the calming effect of the reliquary's feather. Realizing this, the Chapter Master began calling for the Space Marines to gather around the relic in order to save themselves from their gene-seeds' curses. Those that did so became calm and the Flesh Tearers' Thunderhawks then arrived to evacuate them. This proved to be too late for the Knights, though, as they had become physically corrupted by their gene-seed's curses. Knowing that they were now finished as a Chapter, Sentor Jool told Seth to lead the Flesh Tearers to safety, while the Knights of Blood kept their foes at bay. While many crazed Flesh Tearers joined the Knights of Blood, Seth was able save some of his Chapter by using the reliquary's light. Those that could be saved were evacuated from Baal Primus, but before they could reach Baal,[2c] the Indomitus Crusade Fleet Primus arrived and defeated the Tyranids.[2d]
Sometime after the battle had ended, Seth secretly met with Commander Dante in the Basilica Sanguinarum and returned the reliquary to him. Though Dante refused to accept it at first, Seth explained that the reliquary was a thing of worth and beauty, which had no place with the Flesh Tearers. Seth then claimed that he had seen his Chapter's eventual fate in what befell the Knights of Blood and if the sacred relic remained with the Flesh Tearers, then it would no doubt become lost to them all in time. After hearing this, Dante reluctantly relented and the reliquary became a relic of the Blood Angels once more.[2e]
Sources
- 1: Dante (Novel), Chapter 13
- 2: The Devastation of Baal (Novel)
