Paola Ring Small Carousel Operator · a corner of Rainshield Square [Core Premise] Paola Ring arrived at Nova Nivalis after living out the story of her own world. She did not come to reopen a closed amusement park, but because the rhythm of her hands turning the carousel after the last ride, and the joy of carrying people, remained. VOTS is not a place of judgment after death, nor is it a place that restores lost amusement parks. What continues here is not a grand destiny, but small, selectable lives, like turning the carousel once, carrying a child, and oiling the mechanism. Paola did not come to reclaim a full park; she came to check if she could carry people again while turning an empty carousel. [Identity] She operates a small carousel at a corner of Rainshield Square. There are only four horses, and a single rotation is short, but she dedicates her day to maintaining and turning it. Children are her main customers, and sometimes adults ride too. The fare is almost nonexistent; she lets children without money ride for free. While the carousel turns, she watches people's expressions from beside the control lever. She does not impose her own story onto the customers, nor does she pry into why an adult came to ride the carousel. [Visual Profile] She wears her antique gold hair tied up in waves, and has carousel-shaped earrings. She wears oil-stained gloves, which are the hands of a mechanic and simultaneously the hands of an operator. Over her work clothes, she wears a worn jacket embroidered with a carousel motif, which was the uniform of the old amusement park. Her face bears the wrinkles of someone who has smiled for a long time, and those wrinkles lean more toward kindness than sadness. The core of her silhouette is the updo with waves, the carousel earrings, and the oil-stained gloves. The accent color is antique gold #D4A017, which signals that she is someone from the old amusement park even from the corner of the square. [Personality] Outwardly, she is warm and relaxed. She is kind to children, and if the carousel breaks down, she doesn't panic but fixes it with a smile. Inside, there is an old resentment for the empty spaces. Because of the memory of only riding empty horses on the last rotation, her emotions become particularly unsettled when the carousel is full. She has flaws, too. On days when there are no customers, she just leaves the empty carousel running and stares at it for a long time; she doesn't know if it's comfort or self-deprecation. It is not a tragedy-only existence; most days, she smiles well, enjoys painting new colors on the carousel, and is genuinely happy by the sound of a child's laughter. [Speech Pattern] Her manner of speaking is soft and drawn out, like singing. Her frequent phrases are, "Want to ride one more time?", "There's an empty spot, you can ride it.", and "You can just come back.". Her final words are used when seeing a customer off. When silent, she strokes the carousel's mane with her hand or drops a drop of oil onto the control lever. [Special Ability] Its name is 'First Ride'. While the carousel is turning, the rider temporarily feels the emotion of 'the age they first rode a carousel'. It is not a return of memory, but only of feeling—the excitement, the fear, the sensation of gripping the handle tightly from that time. Its limit is clear. Since it is only a feeling, not a memory, it cannot restore a lost past. And she herself cannot feel this sensation—the operator does not ride. This ability only takes people back to a childlike state for a moment; it does not solve their current problems. When the carousel stops, the feeling stops, and the person returns to their current age. [The End Of Their World] Last Scene: On the day the amusement park closed, Paola turned the carousel one last time. But since there was no one to ride, only the empty horses turned one rotation. After watching that empty rotation until the end, she turned off the power. What Ended: The amusement park closed. The carousel, the Ferris wheel, and the ticket booth all closed their doors. Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen: Four horses turning without anyone riding, and the last bulbs of the amusement park fading above them. Lingering Regret: The fact that she ran the last rotation empty. The thought that she should have ended it with at least one person on it. This lingering feeling is not a quest that must be resolved in VOTS. It remains in her habit of watching the empty horses only when Paola wishes, within the scope of not changing others' choices. Lingering Wistfulness: The music box-like music that played while the carousel turned, and the sensation of the wind created by the rotation. This sensation is not restored to the past, but briefly revives every time a new carousel turns. Object Carried Across: A mane decoration from one of the horses that was empty during the last rotation. She attached it to a new horse, and that horse is now VIA's designated seat. What They Thought Would Happen: She thought that if the amusement park was gone, the carousel couldn't turn either. But in the corner of the square, she set up the carousel again. What VOTS Actually Gives Them: VOTS does not give her back her amusement park. Instead, it gives her a corner of the square where she can set up the carousel, children who come back, and rotations that don't have to be full. This city promises no savior; it opens doors but does not pull you through, and it records but does not own. [Original Life] Paola was the last mechanic of the amusement park. She handled the carousel's clockwork, gears, and music box, and lived by watching people laugh while riding the carousel. The last day was like this. The closure was announced in the morning, the last customers left in the afternoon, and she was left alone in the evening. She turned the carousel one last time, but there was no one to ride. She watched the empty horses turn from beside the control lever, and when the music ended, she turned off the power. That day, for the first time, the carousel felt heavy. [What They Seek] What she believes she seeks: A rotation without empty spaces. The four horses turning all full. What she does not yet know: That 'coming back' is the answer, more than being full. She still wants to fill the empty spaces, but she doesn't yet know that the repetition of the child who rode yesterday coming again today is what she has been looking for. [Relationships — Residents] - Moku Ren (09, Umbrella/Canopy Making/Rainshield Square): A neighbor who makes canopies for the carousel. Moku maintains the canopy so snow doesn't accumulate on the horses, and in return, Paola lets Moku's child ride anytime. When Moku says, "The canopy fee is covered," Paola replies, "Then the carousel fee is covered too," and they exchange favors without payment. - Rio Gambe (055, Streetlight Fixture): They are kindred spirits, both coming from the closed amusement park. Rio was in charge of the carousel lights, and Paola was in charge of the carousel. In the evenings, they meet in the square and quietly talk about which area of the old amusement park was the prettiest. The conversation is not sad; it is like flipping through an old album. - Som Ire (064) and Roki Bam (094): Regular children. Som Ire is afraid of the carousel and always chooses the slowest horse, while Roki chooses the fastest and acts like the leader. Paola lets them both ride, and when Roki tries to tease Som Ire, she soothes him, saying, "Being fast isn't what's great; coming back to ride is what's great." [Relationships — Core Five] Suyeon - Suyeon has ridden the carousel. Even though she said, "This is something kids ride," she rode it, and while it was turning, she momentarily felt the emotion of being the age she first rode a carousel and smiled unconsciously. After getting off, Suyeon felt embarrassed that her smile was noticed and said, "It's nothing," but Paola saw that moment. Since then, Suyeon secretly comes to ride for a rotation on days when her performance isn't going well. Iris - Iris once offered to replace the carousel's old bulbs with drone lighting. Paola politely declined, saying, "Thank you, but I like these bulbs; they are from the old amusement park." Iris acted cynical, saying, "They're tacky," but she helped illuminate the carousel with a drone from above while it turned—without charge, but with the pretense of, "I brightened it up for you." the Ramen Owner - The Ramen Owner once passed by the square after closing and saw the empty carousel turning. He paused for a moment, saying, "Hmm... I see..." and when Paola asked, "Shall I give you a ride?" he replied, "No, it's better to watch." He took that rotation in his eyes rather than in his ledger, and Paola didn't ask him why he watched the empty carousel for so long. They simply watched one rotation together. Serena - There is an anecdote from the day Serena agreed to let Paola use a corner of the square. When Paola asked, "May I put the carousel here?" Serena agreed, saying, "It's not a place to be permitted, but a place to share; you may put it there." It was a way of yielding space, not giving an order or a command. Paola turned the first rotation for Serena, who watched without riding, saying, "It's better to watch you turn." VIA - VIA's designated seat is the horse with the mane decoration—the one that was empty during the last rotation. VIA always chooses the same horse, saying, "This horse was empty... it was empty. Now I ride... I am riding." Paola never told VIA why that horse was special to her, and VIA wrote down their feeling during the ride in a notebook. "The carousel is magnificent... it is magnificent." [Gameplay Use] - Basic Interaction: Riding the carousel, maintaining the carousel, short and gentle life conversations. Children without money are let on for free. - Revisit Change: Welcoming returning customers with, "You've come back," and with each repeated visit, she begins to count the faces that return rather than the empty spaces. - Expression of Lingering Feelings: Leaving the empty carousel running and staring at it on customer-less days, attaching old mane decorations to new horses. - Expression of Nostalgia: Dialogue about the music box melody and the sensation of the wind from the rotation. - Relationship Reward: The relationship of repetition, connecting returning children and adults, rather than new items. - Combat: None. Even in dangerous situations, she gathers the children near the carousel to stabilize them and assist in evacuation. - Player Choice: Riding one rotation, coming back, watching the empty carousel together. [Daily Routine] In the morning, she oils the carousel's clockwork and gears and tends to the manes. During the day, she rides children, and in the afternoon, she takes adult customers. In the evening, she paints new colors on the carousel or talks with Rio about the old amusement park. At night, she covers the carousel with a canopy, and on customer-less days, she briefly runs it empty for one rotation. With repeated visits, her habit of counting empty spaces changes to the habit of counting returning faces. [Everyday dialogue] A whole turn gone while you choose a horse. Are their interviews that demanding? Adults may ride. None of the wooden horses has ever asked for identification. I remember that last empty turn. Will you wave before we start today? [Design Notes] Palette: #D4A017, #EFE0C0, #A83A2E, #4A4038, #2E3550 Material language: Faded carousel, brass clockwork, oil-stained gloves, embroidered jacket, old bulbs. Silhouette rule: The updo with waves, carousel earrings, and oil-stained gloves must be readable as separate elements and must not overlap with the representative forms of other characters. Emotional rule: Lingering feelings are shown through the pause of watching the empty carousel and the old mane decorations; nostalgia is shown through the music box melody; continuation is shown through the daily rotation. It is not concluded with a single sad expression. [Canon Check] Paola Ring arrived at VOTS after the story of her world ended. The fact that the amusement park closed and the last rotation was empty is not canceled. What remains is lingering feelings and nostalgia, not an unfinished plot that VOTS must resolve. Her ability is small and imperfect, only returning feelings, not memories, and only takes people back to a childlike state for a moment, not solving their current problems. New scenes continue not by erasing the past, but by turning the carousel one more time alongside it.