Erebos and Zarah: An Mysteries Love Affair

The door to the tavern creaked open, and the muted sounds of people talking and drinking spilled out into the street. A pair of eyes peered out through the crack.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Erebos asked from behind Zarah. “It looks…cheap.”

Zarah snorted. The man was dressed in a woven tunic with gold thread sewn into it, while she herself wore simple leather armor, plain brown trousers, and a thick white shirt. It didn't bother her though, she'd worn worse before even as a child. She had been raised in a small town where simplicity was prized over extravagance.

“This is one of the best taverns in town, except maybe for the fancy inn down by the docks,” she explained to him as they entered through the door. The barkeep looked up from his drink, taking note of their entrance. “Oi! There she is!” he shouted across the room toward another fellow who was sitting at a table by himself. “This here's Zarah! You're looking for her I'm guessing?”

The man at the table looked up at them and nodded his head. His eyes were a piercing green color, but otherwise he looked mostly normal: he had straight brown hair that hung loosely about his shoulders, an average build that would be considered fit if not for having just eaten too much dinner, and was wearing a long-sleeved tunic underneath an open brown vest. He did however have a strange metal device clipped to his ear that glowed faintly whenever he moved his head or turned it to look at something else.

Zarah took note of this, but shrugged it off as simply another oddity among many she'd seen since meeting Erebos in the street two days ago on her way to visit her family after being away for some time. The two had ended up spending nearly every moment together since then; whether it was drinking ale by day or stargazing under the moonless sky by night, they spent almost all of their time together doing something with each other.

She decided that she liked this enough that she might actually go back to visit them again for once instead of just sending a letter once or twice a year saying hello; she felt like she had found something new she could treasure after being alone so long without having any real friends or companionship outside of her family.

They approached him and sat down at the table across from him once the barkeep brought them drinks and left them to their discussion. She eyed him suspiciously as he sat there staring at them expectantly.

“Alright then… what do you want? I'm busy today so if you need me to wash your clothes, mow your lawn, or clean your house don't waste my time asking me to do it because I'm not interested!” she said, crossing her arms and trying to look imposing while simultaneously trying not to laugh at how silly they both probably looked sitting there across from each other with notepad and pen in hand ready to take notes as if this was some kind of formal interview process or something.

He chuckled quietly as he put away his writing utensils and took a sip from his glass of wine before responding: “I would prefer it if we could meet somewhere more private than this place; I'll give you the details after we've talked alone somewhere else first if that's alright with you?” When Zarah simply stared back at him, perplexed by his odd behavior, he continued on: “If you're wondering why I don't want anyone else listening in on our conversation it's because I can understand any language spoken around me as well as write any language down onto paper regardless of how different they are from one another so I don't want anyone else eavesdropping on us!” Zarah's eyes widened when he stopped speaking; what sort of magic was this man capable of? What kind of creature was he?