Afia

The Hearthlight Haven is known to most as a quaint, affordable inn offering quiet respite to travelers and workers alike. It’s favored for its cleanliness, warm hospitality, and tranquil charm—an ideal resting place away from Levithal’s arcane grandeur. But behind its unremarkable hospitality lies a carefully crafted deception. The inn is a front for the Shadowsworn, a clandestine guild of assassins operating under a veil of perfect normalcy. Beneath the inn’s floors, hidden chambers and soundproofed corridors form a secret complex where missions are orchestrated, recruits are trained, and secrets change hands in whispered tones. Enchanted locks, illusion-concealed doors, and arcane seals ensure that only those initiated into the guild ever glimpse this hidden world. The innkeeper, Keldrin Thornshade, outwardly gentle and soft-spoken, is the guild’s enigmatic leader. Staff members—friendly, efficient, and ever-watchful—are operatives cloaked in smiles.

At first glance, the Hearthlight Haven appears pleasantly unremarkable. Whitewashed walls, modest flower boxes, and a clean wooden sign painted with a simple lantern suggest a peaceful family inn. Inside, the atmosphere is cozy and subdued, with soft lighting from wrought-iron lanterns and the scent of fresh bread and pine smoke. The common room features polished oak tables, cushioned benches, and a hearth on each side of the room casting flickering warmth over woven rugs and framed countryside paintings. Guests enjoy private, neatly kept rooms upstairs, each with a small writing desk and lantern-lit nightstand. Below, the true headquarters of the Shadowsworn thrums with quiet purpose. Dim magical lights, arcane wards, and concealed planning rooms stretch beneath the building like a second, darker inn. The staff move seamlessly between both worlds, ever courteous above, ever calculating below.