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Post-Autumn

IllustrationWritingPersonal Work

A uniquely powerful technology arises, along with a uniquely terrifying despot, after a planetary apocalypse.

An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, standing before a cluster of dead ravens as more fall from the sky; a dead white raven rests at his feet
An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, standing against a wall smoking an e-cigarette, his mechanical right eye glowing green
An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, holding a sci-fi gun and a sword

Overview

In 2009, I finished an illustration that was in need of a story. A would-be assassin plummets from a skyscraper window, his adversary soaring after him, seemingly unconcerned that both are falling toward their deaths. I envisioned that the latter was somehow immortal, while the former was about to find out that he was, too. After asking myself why this would be, reasons gave way to narrative, and Post-Autumn was thereby born.

01Designing Crow

An Anti-Hero Is Born

Crow is the name of the assassin I originally envisioned. Though he has gone through many iterations since his conception, his core has remained the same.

Crow is a sociopath who was severely traumatized at a young age and, as a result, developed a predilection for killing as a coping impulse. After his first arrest, he was recognized for his unique gifts and given a chance at a life that would both indulge and reward his murderous tendencies. And so a state-sponsored assassin was made.

From his home city of Valkyrie, Crow is sent on missions across the planet to eradicate threats to the global world order. In his storied career he has never met an adversary he could not subdue.

A preliminary design for Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve
02Deceased Gods

The Ravens

An unknown element of Crow's past collides with an even more ancient history.

Crow shares a connection with the long-dead deities known as Ravens. What that connection is, and what role these ancient gods have to play in Crow's future, is a mystery that Crow must solve if he is to achieve his ultimate destiny.

An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, standing before a cluster of dead ravens as more fall from the sky; a dead white raven rests at his feet
03A Bionic Assassin in

A Cybernetic Future

Owing to his dangerous profession, Crow often suffers grievous injuries—like the loss of an eye.

Luckily, he lives in a booming technology age, and cybernetic enhancements are commonplace among those of his position.

What humanity has yet to grasp, however, is what ultimate price these technologies will force them to pay. Though civilization has never been more technologically powerful, it has also never been more vulnerable—or more ignorant of that vulnerability.

An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, standing against a wall smoking an e-cigarette, his mechanical right eye glowing green
An Ages-Old Mystery on

A Seasonless Planet

For Post-Autumn, I conceived of a world bereft of its seasons.

Civilization, having severed itself entirely from the natural world, finds itself, after a planet-wide cataclysm, completely dependent on the very technology that caused its downfall.

What caused this cataclysm and who is ultimately to blame are central mysteries to this world. Before Crow can uncover those mysteries, however, he is faced with a new threat—one that promises to finish the job that the cataclysm could not.

The illustration that inspired the world of Post-Autumn is very old (and very bad) at this point, so I won't be sharing it. The world it spawned, however, continues to live and grow in my imagination.

An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, holding a sci-fi gun and a sword
An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, standing before a cluster of dead ravens as more fall from the sky; a dead white raven rests at his feet
An illustration of Crow, an original character by Kyle Jorve, standing against a wall smoking an e-cigarette, his mechanical right eye glowing green

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