Lewvetica was a village that offered its resources to travelers in need, getting them enough supplies to make the journey to the city of Dumhallow within a day's march from there. That was what the village was known for, the happy people and great food that would comfort dozens of wonderers and merchants alike, each brightened by their hospitality. That's what the village cherished most, their hospitality. That's what made it so well-liked by the people of Silentia even if it didn't contribute to magical discovery like what seems to be every other settlement there.

But as well-loved, as Lewvetica was, the village was rarely referred to by its official title, but by the inn and tavern that was placed in the center of the settlement. The Silentian Stream was the tallest building in the village; standing three stories tall, the wooden inn was built on the foundation of the first campfire lit by the village's founder. The freshwater that splashed the south side of the building came from the adjacent stream flowing from the forest west of the village. The owner at the time, Levy, enjoyed greeting people at the door and looking in the stream in her downtime. She'd ask regulars how their day had been and give cheerful smiles to newcomers.

Her smile brightened tavern goer's days for the past fifty years, ever since she was a babe, even on her worse days she kept smiling. She believed in the value of Lewvetica's hospitality and expressed it at every given moment, never wavering in her duty as an innkeeper. Every dawn to dusk, she'd stand outside still wearing her apron covered in flour from the bread she baked earlier in the morning. She stood out there just like any morning, smiled like every morning, greeting patrons like every morning, but then something changed.

After her first couple of usuals entered the tavern, a traveler walked up to Levy. She began to give her usual greeting when she cut herself off. The traveler was beautiful but in a way off-putting. She had a tattered cloak hung over her shoulders, hair as black as darkness tied into a bun so the wind wouldn't shift it in such a way to impede her sight and provoke constant maintenance, and her eyes were so enchanting, like distance stars; so precious that the divines themselves would conjure wars over them. But all of it felt like a mask to Levy, like her skin wasn't real, that her size wasn't true, that her gleeful expression wasn't the spirit of curiosity in the usual traveler but the malicious intent of a corrupt crusader.

That was the first, and possibly last time she'd ever refuse to give a welcome. It went against her every belief in hospitality, and for what possible reason? She entered the tavern without questioning Levy's strange behavior - even her, as a stranger, knew that Levy was acting odd - meeting a scene of usuals eating their favorite breakfasts and a couple drinking way earlier than they really should be. She stepped to the bar and asked the bartender - Levy's apprentice - to cook something up for her. She sat next to a shorter man clearly of dwarvish ancestry wearing padded armor and chugging down a mug of juice. He whipped his face and shot a look at the stranger. He was a part of the village's local militia, in fact, he was their only member.

The woman shifted her gaze towards the guard, giving a sly smile. "Can I help you?" she asked playfully.

The man choked on his upcoming words, making a strange gurgling noise in its place. How rude he'd been, eyeing a stranger like a criminal, not very hospitable of him. The woman laughed at the strange noises.

Eventually, the man cleared his throat with a couple of fists to his chest. "Apologies, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't be, it's your job to be suspicious of others, isn't it?" she asked, doing her best to suppress her giggling. "If it helps calm your nerves, I assure you I'm not up to anything."

The guard placed his elbow on the bar and turned fully toward her ." Then what are you up to?" he asked flirtatiously.

She giggles again and pulls something from her bag.

A single flat seed the size of her palm.

"I was hired to plant a new species of plant in the forest west of this village, an herb that can be used to create potions that could restore limbs," she spoke.

Levy still stood outside but now had her ear to the door. After decades of eavesdropping for new rumors and gossip to fulfill the void of adventurous excitement within her, Levy had gained the ability to completely tune out a rowdy tavern filled with drunkards and listen to a conversation taking place across the room without issue. Her suspicions about the stranger didn't lessen as she listened. She actually became more concerned about Brutin (the guard) falling for whatever spell this woman was casting. Without thought she enters the tavern and approached the two, never taking the time to think about what she's doing.

After a moment of standing between the two in silence - a moment that felt like years but had really been seconds - Levy finally came up with something to say. "Brutin, aren't you supposed to be at the Travis's helping put up fox traps?"

The man sighed. "Of course, I completely forgot! Those damned oversized orange rats!" he turned back to the woman. "They've been sneaking into the Travis's chicken coop and slaughtering every poultry inside. They've done the best they can with fencing and such but the sly things keep getting through! Thank you Lev, I would never have gone if you hadn't reminded me!"

Levy smiled and tilted her head. "What are friends for?" she responded.

Brutin stood up and began gathering his things. Once he was fully packed he turned to say goodbye to the stranger. "Will I be seeing you later?" he summoned up the courage to ask.

The woman shrugged, "I'll be spending the day here but once the sun falls I'll be heading to bed, I've got quite the walk tomorrow."

Brutin was hurt but he did his best to conceal it and nodded in acceptance. He then left the tavern with his heavy pack bouncing up and down as he went. Levy couldn't help but stare at her longtime friend leaving the tavern, she feared that his interest in this stranger would lead to danger. The concerned thought began to go wild, branching and stretching into multiple scenarios of Brutin's demise in Levy's head.

When the stranger's voice entered her head she jumped out of her mind and back into reality. "Perhaps I should get some rest now. I've been awake since before dawn." She stretched and stood up, yawning as she did. She then pulled out a small coin purse and handed it to Levy. "I suspect you're the inn keep?" she asked.

Levy nodded.

"Well you should know what to do with that then," the stranger continued. She began to walk into the first-story hallway and into a door with a sign reading 'vacant.' Levy's assistant then returned to the bar and placed a plate with two still sizzling eggs.

"The customer went to her room," she told him. She took the eggs and a fork and began to walk outside, back to her spot by the stream. "Can't let some of your cooking go to waste Tom!" she shouted as she left.

***

That night Levy went to sleep in her personal bedroom in the inn. She did have her own house next to the inn but enjoyed staying in her third-story suite with a view beyond the village and to the ocean and horizon. She had trouble sleeping that night. The stranger never showed a hint of evil in her voice, speech, or mannerisms, but Levy couldn't shake her suspicions towards the traveler. she tossed and turned until the worry eventually exhausted her enough for her eyes to shut close, not to be opened until the next morning.

She dreamt of wandering the fields outside of the village, the wind blowing through the tall grass and flailing her hair like the desperate white flag of a losing army. She would walk through the fields, and then onto the road to Dumhallow, a pattern she'd follow almost every night, but just like it had in the day, something changed. She began walking up the stream and into the forest, to the water's origin.

She explored the thick terrain, weaving between trees and doing her best to not trip on exposed roots. After pushing a group of bushes to the side did she see what she was truly looking for. The stranger stood in a clearing, her form crumbling like a broken stone.

Levy felt a moment of dread, but just for a moment, for the true form of the stranger had been thrilling, filled her with love and appreciation for her goddess-like appearance.

The stranger levitated off the forest floor wearing a silken dress that draped past her feet that had almost touched the grass. She was kept a flout by a pair of spectral angel wings, they were wide with a tint of translucent blue and beaming a divine light. What Levy was mostly entranced with however was the stranger's hair. It flowed with long stings of golden thread. Her demeanor was powerful, purposeful, and determined like she and the world around her were absolute, inevitable.

Fated.

She held the flat seed she showed Brulin the day before, and dropped it. The seed had glided gently and slowly, beautifully dancing through the air in calming movement. When it touched the dirt the feeling of calm fell out of Levy and terror filled its void. The seed began to sprout and grow into a strange purple-red plant. Its few moments of life were soon taken away from it as a hellish fungus consumed it. Plates of mushrooms began to expand out and take the clearing. Soon, Levy's immediate surroundings were infected with alien mushrooms and mold. The terrifying speed of its growth had struck Levy's stomach, filling her body with nausea. She did her best to stay standing, to not unleash her bowels on top of the strange new terrain in fear of how it might react to such an insult. It was like it was alive, a part of a living, sentient organism.

It was then she shifted her gaze back to the stranger. Standing in front of her was a tall structure, no, creature. It had a dress weaved with vines and eyes as red as hellish fire. Its mere presence was enough for Levy to fall into a fit of dread. She laid on the ground motionless listening to the two's conversation. It was in a language she couldn't understand, but she knew what had been happening. An angel and a demon, joining forces in an unholy alliance, but for what purpose? Why would the angel betray the way of the heavens and resort to dealing with demonic creatures? What danger to the heavens threatens them to drive them on this dark path? What truly terrified her was that the angel was asking the demon for help, so it wasn't the hells threatening heaven's peace, but something else.

A chill went down her spine. The nightmare ended as the mushrooms had begun to spread again, filling the forest with their evil corruption. She woke to a blanket of sweat and jumped out of bed. She rushed down to the tavern in her nightgown and asked her apprentice Tom if the stranger had left. When he shook his head no she had bolted towards her room and opened it slightly, just enough to peak inside, her eyes widened and she fully opened the door. The room had been completely untouched.