Why Crystal Heart?
I'm Richard Williams, the author of Tales of Syn. I've loved licensed fiction, mostly scifi stuff like Star Trek, Star Wars and Battletech, since I was a kid. I've been lucky enough to write three novels and several short stories for Games Workshop set in their Warhammer universes. But it's been ten years since I've written any licensed fiction, so why Crystal Heart?
I found out about Crystal Heart at pretty much the same time as everyone else, when Aviv & Eran revealed it within their webcomic Up To 4 Players. I followed the first two adventures of their Crystal Hunters Muna, Raff and Mac through the comic strip but it was an interview Aviv & Eran did promoting the Crystal Heart setting for Savage Worlds that sparked my imagination.
Crystal Heart revolves around the Crystal Hunters of an agency called Syn. Crystals in this world are bizarre, unique and powerful. Crystals in the wild bend and distort reality around them and are a danger to all life around them, but their power can be contained inside the human body in place of the heart. That person can then use some of that Crystal's power and agents wear special harnesses that allow them to both use and swap out different Crystals.
Now superpowered roving agents are nothing new in fiction, but what caught my interest in that interview was how the different Crystals affected not just the agent's powers but the agent themselves. To give some basic examples, a fire-based crystal may make an agent more hot-tempered, a crystal with transparency powers may make an agent more honest, the result varies depending on the nature of the crystal and the nature of the agent.
What interested me in all this was the questions it asked about our sense of self. Stories typically revolve around characters and relationships and adventures, but most are also an attempt to understand ourselves. Our own natures. Who we are.
Agents don't just use Crystals they need them. To become an agent of Syn they have their own heart removed and replaced with the harness with a Crystal inside. Without a Crystal they quickly die. But then who are they without a Crystal? When they get angry is it them or is it the Crystal? When they decide to stand and fight or run is it them or the Crystal? When they fall in love are they falling in love? And what happens when they swap the Crystal for another, as they commonly do?
My imagination had already started to come up with stories.
I happened to know Aviv and Eran already a little and so I reached out to them and asked whether they were open to me telling some of these stories? Happily they were and Tales of Syn is the result.
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As ever, if you're not already, subscribe to Tales of Syn by email for the latest news and exclusive updates.
I found out about Crystal Heart at pretty much the same time as everyone else, when Aviv & Eran revealed it within their webcomic Up To 4 Players. I followed the first two adventures of their Crystal Hunters Muna, Raff and Mac through the comic strip but it was an interview Aviv & Eran did promoting the Crystal Heart setting for Savage Worlds that sparked my imagination.
Crystal Heart revolves around the Crystal Hunters of an agency called Syn. Crystals in this world are bizarre, unique and powerful. Crystals in the wild bend and distort reality around them and are a danger to all life around them, but their power can be contained inside the human body in place of the heart. That person can then use some of that Crystal's power and agents wear special harnesses that allow them to both use and swap out different Crystals.
Now superpowered roving agents are nothing new in fiction, but what caught my interest in that interview was how the different Crystals affected not just the agent's powers but the agent themselves. To give some basic examples, a fire-based crystal may make an agent more hot-tempered, a crystal with transparency powers may make an agent more honest, the result varies depending on the nature of the crystal and the nature of the agent.
What interested me in all this was the questions it asked about our sense of self. Stories typically revolve around characters and relationships and adventures, but most are also an attempt to understand ourselves. Our own natures. Who we are.
Agents don't just use Crystals they need them. To become an agent of Syn they have their own heart removed and replaced with the harness with a Crystal inside. Without a Crystal they quickly die. But then who are they without a Crystal? When they get angry is it them or is it the Crystal? When they decide to stand and fight or run is it them or the Crystal? When they fall in love are they falling in love? And what happens when they swap the Crystal for another, as they commonly do?
My imagination had already started to come up with stories.
I happened to know Aviv and Eran already a little and so I reached out to them and asked whether they were open to me telling some of these stories? Happily they were and Tales of Syn is the result.
--
As ever, if you're not already, subscribe to Tales of Syn by email for the latest news and exclusive updates.
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