IOT4: Scars of the Apocalypse by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

Oleksiy Dmytrenko and Yaryna. Mr. Dmytrenko, 53, from Drogobych, Ukraine, took the wolf under his care after finding it disoriented in the woods. "She sometimes has trouble walking and tends to squint with her right eye, but otherwise she's in good health." Veterinarians determined the outgrowth was caused by radiation exposure, but was not a tumor as originally supposed. "Animals like her are in this mess because of us," says Dmytrenko. "It's our duty to make it up to them."

First of four illustrations for the epilogue to Imperium Offtopicum IV, September 2010. Like the other three, it was something of a rush job and I'm forever kicking myself for not fixing the arms.

When the game started to slacken, I had the bright idea of giving everyone nukes in the hope the warmongers would kill themselves off and a "winner" could be scavenged from the surviving wreckage. Turns out even this wasn't enough to push it through to the end, so I finally just pulled the plug. One of the players voiced interest in continuing the story, so I began drafting an epilogue as a springboard for a sequel that I would ultimately end up running.

This image is set in the early months of the post-apocalypse as the fallout is still settling and the damage is starting to be registered in earnest. Subjects like Yaryna, survivors of bizarre but benign mutations, foreshadow the much more radical children of the Apocalypse that would follow in later years.

Originally submitted to Buzzly.art November 2021; reuploaded to DeviantArt February 2022.