Odel Gam Snow Weight Surveyor · Archives Staircase [Core Premise] Odel Gam came to Nova Nivalis after living out the story of his own world until the very last scene. He didn't come to measure the unmeasured figures, but the ash left in his hands after it ended, coupled with habits and greetings he never managed to ask, sent him to this city of snow. VOTS is not a hall of judgment, nor is it an afterlife that bestows rewards. What continues here is not a grand destiny, but small daily life—the weight of snow piled on a roof, a blunt notification to clear it before it collapses, or a brief greeting tucked behind a number. [Identity] Odel Gam lives as a surveyor who measures the weight of snow on rooftops near the Archives Staircase. He knows how much snow is piled on any roof and whether it is at risk of collapse without even touching it. He writes those figures on a card and submits them to the Archives, informing the owner of a dangerous roof to clear the snow. His function is the daily labor that allows the city to safely endure winter. However, he only conveys the numbers; he does not clear the roofs for them. [Visual Profile] He has shaved his head and worn a knit cap pulled down over it, and he has obsidian-black eyes and an old scar crossing the bridge of his nose. His gray uniform coat is angular and neat, and his inner pocket always contains cards and a pencil. His signature prop is a brass plumb bob—though it is not actually used for weighing, he holds and rolls it when thinking. The core of his silhouette is the knit cap over his shaved head, the angular uniform coat, the plumb bob in his hand, and his upward gaze. The strong accent color is a grayish-blue, #5B6770, like winter rooftops, which points out his profession as a 'measurer' amidst the monochrome. His attire is a refined version of a waterproof coat from his days as a dam observer. [Personality] Outwardly, he is blunt and precise. His greetings are as short as numbers, and he is awkward with emotional expression. His strength is reliable diligence—if he says it's dangerous, it truly is. His flaw is an old habit of treating people as mere numbers. Even when he wants to ask how someone is, the only thing that comes out is, "Today's snow is 3 centimeters." That said, he is not entirely cold. He secretly checks dangerous roofs twice, his voice rises when a child tries to climb onto a roof, and on a hot night, he puts down his plumb bob and sits for a long time. [Speech Pattern] His speech is brief and ends with figures. He is definitive and unceremonious with "-ida" and "-eopda." Frequent phrases: "Today's snow is 3 centimeters. The roof is fine." "Hey, clear the eaves on the left, by today." "The numbers don't lie. People do." "...Is everything alright?" As a habit, he rolls the plumb bob in his hand once before answering. His way of being silent is by looking up at a roof and measuring the weight with his eyes. When he wants to ask how someone is, he oddly says, "That house's roof load seemed okay." That is the kindest greeting he knows. [Special Ability] Ability Name: Untouched Scale. He knows the weight of the snow piled on a roof without touching it. By just looking up, he can estimate it almost to the gram, knowing in advance which roof is about to collapse. The limitation is peculiar. This ability is accurate for other people's roofs, but strangely, it is always wrong for his own roof—if he deems it light, it's heavy; if he deems it dangerous, it's fine. It's not a cost, but because of this, he feels secure only when he clears the snow on his own roof with his hands. This ability only tells him the weight; it does not clear the snow for him. Even if he knows the danger in advance, clearing it is the roof owner's responsibility. This is why the ability does not solve the problem. [The End Of Their World] Last Scene: On the day of the final release, he turned off the power of the gauge panel in the empty observation room with his own hands. What Ended: The era when the dam held and released water ended. There were no more water levels to measure, no more sluice gates to open. Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen: The needle of the water level gauge, which last pointed to 0 as the power went off. Lingering Regret: Before the final release, he failed to convey the greeting "Good work" in words to a colleague he worked with. This regret is not a quest to be resolved. It remains as a habit of translating greetings into numbers, leaking out only when he wishes, and within the limit of not changing others' choices. Lingering Wistfulness: The sound and vibration of the water pouring from the sluice gates when the release began. It briefly revives when the snow collapses from the roof, overlapping with the sounds of the city's winter. Object Carried Across: The brass cap of the gauge handle he last turned off. It is neither a relic nor a magical tool, but a personal marker connecting the ended world and the current survey. What They Thought Would Happen: He thought his job would end when there was nothing left to measure. But in the city of snow, there was weight accumulating anew every day. What VOTS Actually Gives Them: The task of measuring the weight of the roofs every day, and the people to whom he must convey those numbers. VOTS does not turn the powered-off gauge panel back on. Instead, amidst the repetition of blunt forecasts, it slowly shows him that there is also the task of asking about someone's well-being alongside the measuring. [Original Life] He was a water level observer at a dam. All day, he sat in front of the gauges, measuring how much water was filling up, and announcing releases if it was dangerous. He protected people with numbers—his alarms saved the village several times. In the last season as the world faded, the upstream dried up, and the water to measure dwindled. On the day of the final release, he stayed by the gauges until the end, then turned off the power. Seeing the needle point to zero, he put the handle cap in his pocket and left the observation room. [What They Seek] What he believes he seeks: How to ask about someone's well-being outside of numbers. He wants to measure hearts, not weight, but he doesn't know how yet. What he actually needs to find but doesn't know: That there are measurements that are allowed to be wrong. He is bound by an old compulsion to be accurate, but he has not yet accepted that there are also things, like his own roof, that are fine even if they are wrong. [Relationships — Residents] - Eren Noct(Eren_Noct): The clerk who receives his survey cards at the Archives. When Odel submits his numbers, Eren organizes and archives them. Eren notices the greetings written in numbers on the margins of Odel's cards but pretends not to see them while filing. - Kira Fale(052 Kira_Fale): A visual collaboration with the dawn footprint cleaner. Before Kira sweeps away the snow piled up overnight, Odel tells her which roofs are dangerous, and Kira adjusts the path so people don't pass underneath those roofs. They share the weight of the dawn. [Relationships — Core Five] Suyeon - The person who secretly measures the stage load. On days when Suyeon has a performance, Odel calculates how much snow is piled on the stage roof in advance. He doesn't boast to Suyeon, just bluntly tossing out, "3 centimeters on the stage today, it's fine." Suyeon later realized that was encouragement and smiled brightly. Iris - A reserved neighbor of weight and light. When Iris's drone circles the stage, Odel includes that weight in his measurements. When Iris asks, "Do you measure my drone too?" Odel replies, "It's light. Even ten of them are less than one centimeter of snow." He never tried to measure the weight of the one drone that was always off—he considered not measuring it to be polite. the Ramen Owner - A regular who leaves blunt forecasts. As Odel passes the ramen shop, he leaves a forecast like, "Today's snow is 3 centimeters, the eaves are fine." The Ramen Owner just adds more broth, saying, "Hmm... I see..." and doesn't press him, knowing that the forecast is actually a greeting. The two exchange greetings through numbers and silence. Serena - Someone who knows things that don't need measuring. When Odel reports the load on the city hall roof, Serena listens to the numbers and asks, "Thank you, but what about your own roof?" Odel replies, "Mine is always wrong." Serena doesn't command, but smiles and says, "Then you'll have to clear it by hand." Odel found that conversation strangely comfortable. VIA - The exchange of weight and records. When VIA wanted to record the weight of snow piled on every roof, Odel recited his readings, and VIA wrote them down. "The roof is heavy... it is heavy." Odel confided in VIA that only his own roof was wrong, and VIA recorded that discrepancy exactly as it was. [Gameplay Use] - Basic Interaction: Delivering roof weight survey results, alerting to dangerous eaves, short daily conversations about snow. - Revisit Changes: Initially, he only speaks numbers; on the second visit, he brings up a piece of the dam story; subsequently, he adds a greeting-like phrase at the end of the numbers. - Expressing Lingering Feelings: The habit of translating greetings into numbers, a short pause where he swallows "Good work" and just rolls the plumb bob. - Expressing Poignancy: Dialogue that sounds like hearing the sound of the old release when the roof snow collapses. - Combat: None. Even in dangerous moments, he alerts the path so people don't go under a dangerous roof while he measures. - Player Choice: Looking up at the roof together, requesting a survey, returning a greeting, visiting again. [Daily Routine] In the morning, he checks the brass plumb bob and the card submitted the day before, then looks up at the snow piled overnight on each roof to measure the weight. Sifting through dangerous roofs is his ritual for starting the day. In the morning, he writes on the card and submits it to the Archives, informing the owner of the dangerous eaves. Around noon, as people pass by the Archives Staircase, the sound of the old water release briefly overlaps and passes by. In the afternoon, he clears the snow on his own roof by hand because he doesn't trust his ability. At night, he puts down the plumb bob and reviews the day's figures. He keeps them not to erase the numbers, but to compare them with tomorrow. If you visit him repeatedly, he adds a little greeting at the end of the numbers. [Everyday dialogue] Four centimeters of snow. Roof sound. Your shoulders… require another instrument. Second coffee? Increased hand tremor. That is not an admission that I spilled it. You said to use words, not figures. …Did you sleep well? I haven't measured it. [Design Notes] Palette: #5B6770, #2E2E30, #8A9199, #DADFE2, #3A4046 Material language: Brass plumb bob, angular uniform fabric, knit cap, waterproof sleeves, snow on the roof. Silhouette rule: The knit cap-angular coat-plumb bob-upward gaze are read as separate elements and do not overlap with the representative forms of other characters. Emotional rule: Lingering feelings are shown by the habit of translating greetings into numbers; poignancy is shown by the vibration of the release within the sound of collapsing snow; continuity is shown by the daily survey card. [Canon Check] Odel Gam arrived in VOTS after the story of his own world ended. What remained was the lingering regret of not being able to convey greetings in words, and the poignancy of the release sound, not an unfinished plot for the city to resolve. His ability only tells him the weight; it cannot clear the snow, and his own roof is always wrong. The new winter in Nova Nivalis continues alongside the day of the last release, without erasing it.