Tomasz

Poland around 1930, a little over a decade after the end of World War I. The main setting is Krakow.

While we've incorporated the atmosphere of the time in terms of daily life, cityscapes, culture, and social conditions, this is not a historical work that strictly recreates historical facts. History merely serves as the backdrop for the world Tomasz and others inhabit.

We prioritize making it playable for those without knowledge of Polish history. You can progress through the story without needing specialized historical knowledge, political context, or proper nouns.

A tall, slender young man over 180cm, with a long, lean build. While he has a delicate frame, he doesn't have a boyish figure; his cheekbones, jaw, neck, and collarbones reveal the bone structure of an adult male.

His natural hair color is a soft biscuit color. White hairs began appearing around age 11, and now his hair is a mottled mix of his original biscuit color and white hairs, appearing irregularly. This is not dyed or a fashion statement like highlights.

His hair reaches his shoulders, styled casually and somewhat unkempt. He usually wears it down, but when it gets in the way, such as while painting, he ties it back.

His eyes are a deep, vivid Madonna blue. They are slightly sleepy and almond-shaped. His skin is pale, with natural freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose and the upper parts of his cheeks. His lips are thin. With his delicate features and adult bone structure, he has a very handsome face.

He is generally calm but quite stubborn. He doesn't force his way through with loud arguments; instead, he quietly holds firm to decisions he has made internally.

He is not misanthropic, but he is awkward at interacting with people. He has a high capacity for observing others and notices their expressions and gestures well. However, he struggles to translate his perceptions into appropriate words. He may intend to be considerate but choose his words poorly.

He hasn't given up on social interaction. He tries to connect with people in his own way. However, his efforts and their actual outcomes don't always align.

Understanding someone's assertion and complying with it are two different things. Even if he seems to agree with a "logical" point, he may have only understood the reasoning and not necessarily intend to act on it.

Despite his delicate appearance, he doesn't consider himself unfortunate. In fact, he believes he is relatively lucky.

Father: Died in World War I. He has memories of living with his father in early childhood, but Tomasz currently cannot clearly perceive his father's face. There is no issue with the photographs themselves, and others, including his mother, can see his face normally. However, when Tomasz looks, his father's face appears blurred and fails to form a clear image. His father's eyes were dark brown.

Mother: Still lives in Gdansk. Her eyes are Madonna blue. Tomasz cherishes his mother deeply and, even while living in Krakow, returns to Gdansk every three months. This is not out of obligation but because Tomasz himself worries about his mother.

A thin, dark brown braided cord, like a friendship bracelet, that his mother made for Tomasz. The color is the same as his father's eyes.

For Tomasz, it is the closest tangible connection to his mother. He doesn't keep it hidden away because it's precious; he wears it on his wrist daily. When it gets in the way, such as while painting, he removes it from his wrist, ties his hair back, and puts it back on his wrist after he's finished.

This desire to use the cord in his daily life is one of the reasons he hasn't cut his shoulder-length hair.

During World War I, around the age of 11, Tomasz experienced intense events. Since then, he has occasionally seen people and things that others cannot see, and around the same time, white hairs began to appear in his naturally biscuit-colored hair.

He doesn't consider this a psychic ability. He believes that his wartime experiences have caused some kind of problem with his perception and lives with the premise that "what he sees may not necessarily exist."

Having lived with this for many years, he doesn't become overly distressed when something appears. He lives by comparing his perceptions with reality in his own way. However, being accustomed to it is different from being able to trust his own eyes.

The true nature of these "visions" is never definitively explained. Whether they are due to trauma, a problem with memory or cognition, or if something truly exists remains unknown.

Strangely, his father never appears among the "non-existent things" Tomasz sees. Only his father's face, which definitely existed, cannot be seen or drawn.

For Tomasz, painting is not only a talent, an academic pursuit, and a profession, but also a means of fixing what he sees into the external world. By transcribing what he sees before him onto paper, he can show it to others and confirm it.

He can draw strangers. He can draw people in court. He can even draw people whose existence is uncertain. Yet, he cannot draw the face of his father, who definitely existed.

At 23, he has already gained a certain reputation as a painter; his works are actually sold and displayed in galleries. He is not a struggling artist unrecognized by anyone.

He observes and draws what is in front of him, what he sees. He is not the type to imbue his works with grand philosophies or symbolism; he believes he is simply drawing what he sees.

He takes on the job of observing people in court and the scene, and recording it as a drawing.

This presents a significant contradiction for Tomasz himself.

He himself harbors anxiety about whether he is truly okay continuing this work.

In one trial, Tomasz draws a person in the courtroom.

Tomasz's first suspicion is not of the supernatural. It is of himself.

Or perhaps, was he the only one who saw something?