Warhammer 40K: Wielding the Anathame Blade
At first sight, you would be convinced that the Anathame sword is an ordinary blade that any expert can easily wield. Yet, this blade is more than an ancient weapon of attack used by the knights or a secret arm used by the Japanese Ninjas.
According to Warhammer, the anathame was a unique sword-like weapon produced by the Kinebrach, which came into the possession of the Interex during the Great Crusade and was later guarded by the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet of the Imperium.
Interex claimed anathames could be instructed to recognize particular people, which allowed them to mortally wound those people with a napped flint blade and golden hilt.
Unfortunately, there was only one of them on display at the Hall of Devices on Xenobia Principis, which was destroyed after being stolen by Word Bearers First Chaplain Erebus. Interex did not know how to manufacture these weapons but had confiscated them from the Kinebrach.
Having taken the anathame to Davin, Erebus gave it to the already Chaos-tainted governor Eugen Temba. When Horus led the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet back to Davin, he confronted Temba in the moon’s shadow.
However, Horus refused to side with Temba, and so Temba spoke his name to the anathame, attacking with a grace and agility that could not have come from his bloated, decaying body. As Horus slew the Warmaster, Temba drove the blade through his left shoulder.
Horus would have healed quickly faced with any other weapon. Yet, his body refused to heal the wound dealt by the anathame sword. His soldiers transferred him to the medical deck aboard the Vengeful Spirit. Even so, there was no known cure that would work against a wound made by the sword.
The blade is not just magical in nature, it has one of the most potent blows that can be made against any foe. The anathame is a sword to reckon with.