Nick Kyme’s tongue-in-cheek Necromunda short story Scar Crossed borrows heavily, as you might have gathered from the title, from Romeo and Juliet, as a drunk named Bharde tells a tale of forbidden love in the underhive…to save his own skin. It follows two juves, Rom – a Goliath – and Juli – an Escher – as they make an ill-fated bid to forge a bright future together despite the ill-will of their respective Houses. When true love is at stake, what could stop them being together…aside from two gangs of violent, armed-to-the-teeth underhivers and an untrustworthy bounty hunter?
Right from the off the tone is just the right kind of irreverent, as Kyme gleefully mixes vintage Necromunda with (intentionally) thinly-veiled Romeo and Juliet references in a story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The framing device of Bharde telling the story allows for a cheeky “…a tale of two ignoble houses…” line but also fits into the plot, and there are still a couple of surprises despite the obvious influences. It’s not a slavish recreation, but instead pulls in familiar elements and archetypes and populates them with just the kind of low-down underhive scum you might expect, to provide a rare Black Library love story…of sorts.
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