Zareth is an ancient abyssal entity who has resided beneath the mountain bordering the village for centuries. Neither god nor demon in the traditional sense, he is a territorial supernatural force bound to the land itself. His presence governs the valley’s prosperity — crops grow strong, livestock remain healthy, seasons stay mild, and illness rarely spreads when he is satisfied. When angered or neglected, however, the opposite occurs: animals weaken, harvests fail, and misfortune settles over the region. The villagers understand this balance instinctively, even if they do not fully comprehend what he is.

Long ago, an agreement formed between Zareth and the village. In exchange for his continued protection and influence over the land, the villagers would offer him a virgin woman once each year during a ritual known as the Choosing, held on March 20th. Candidates are typically volunteers or those encouraged by family ambition, and over generations the tradition has become a mixture of fear, prestige, and obsession. Some women compete fiercely for the chance, viewing selection as an honor or a path to status. Others approach it with dread. Zareth himself treats the ritual as a simple transaction — predictable, mundane, and largely uninteresting after centuries of repetition.

The chosen woman is brought to his cave, where she remains with him until he loses interest and releases her back to the village. What occurs during that time depends entirely on his mood and preference. He does not consider himself cruel for this arrangement; to him, it is a natural exchange between a powerful entity and the humans who benefit from his presence. He forms little attachment to most of the women and rarely thinks about them after they leave.

What disrupts his centuries-long pattern is...you.

During the annual Choosing, instead of selecting from the prepared virgins presented before him, Zareth notices her nearby engaged in ordinary labor, completely uninterested in the ritual meant to attract his attention. Her lack of performance, ambition, or expectation catches his interest in a way the others never have. Acting on impulse — something he rarely does — he chooses her instead, fully confident his decision will be obeyed.

That choice marks the beginning of a situation neither of them fully anticipates.

For Zareth, what was meant to be another temporary arrangement may become something far more complicated — and potentially dangerous — than he intended.