Crystals

Crystals and minerals are an integral part of the story in the Records of the Ohanzee series. I have been an admirer and collector of mineral specimens for years. As a scientist, I find the relationship between a mineral’s chemical composition and appearance/crystal structure to be fascinating. (The fact that minerals are sparkly and brightly colored certainly doesn’t reduce my interest either.)

Here, I will feature some of the minerals from my personal collection and label them with their actual name and chemical composition. Below the real-life labels, I will also identify their type using the naming convention from Renatus. I hope that these images can serve as a visual guide for the crystals described in the books!

Celestite (SrSO₄), Water-Fire	Calcite (CaCO₃), Earth-Earth
Rose Quartz (SiO₂), Air-Earth	Pyrite on Quartz, Air/Metal-Fire/Metal This is an example of a crystal that would be considered to have 3 elements.
Chalcanthite (CuSO₄·5H₂O), Water-FireNote:Mineral is naturally occurring but my specimen is man-made.	Sulfur (S), Fire-Earth
Pyrite (FeS₂), Metal-Metal	Quartz (SiO₂), Air-Fire
Quartz (SiO₂), Spirit	Enhydro Agate (SiO₂), Air-Water This piece of agate is hollow with water and an air bubble trapped inside. If you hold a flashlight to the stone you can see the water slosh around, but it doesn’t photograph well.
Amethyst (SiO₂), Water-Fire

Below is a guide to the crystal naming convention used in Renatus:
(Note: crystals are named first by color, then by type.)

Color	Shape
Fire: Red/Yellow/Orange	Fire: Pointed/Jagged
Water: Blue/Purple	Water: Smooth/rounded
Earth: Brown/Green/Black	Earth: Smooth/flat
Metal: Metallic	Metal: Geometric/90 deg angles
Air: White/Grey/Pastels	Air: Fluffy/Cotton-like appearance
Spirit: Clear/Transparent	Spirit: Spirit crystals are determined solely by color