The Green Flag

A heavy exterior door opens right into the tavern dining room. There are only two other ways out - a door into the kitchen (which has its own door to the outside) and the stairs that lead up to Widow Felgermacher's home. A locked door at the top of the stairs keeps tavern patrons from getting into the widow's things.

You enter the tavern and immediately notice how dark it is. The only light comes from a fire in the hearth on the right-hand side of the room (an interior wall that connects to the building next door) and lanterns on either side of the bar. Two small windows are situated high on the left hand wall, but since that wall faces East, light only shines through for a little bit of the tavern's open hours.

The dining room is smokey and smells like a mixture of burning logs and savory herbs. Widow Felgermacher is known for her use of herbs in cooking. If you go into the forest early in the morning, you might run into her foraging for herbs, and the tavern certainly smells like it.

It's also loud. At any given time, the dining room is packed with patrons from within and outside the city. It's usually so full you have to wait to get a seat, if you don't mind shoving people over on the benches and sitting in next to them. At least with so many people packed in to the tavern, it heats up quickly. On cold winter's knights, the Green Flag is the place to be to keep warm.

To have a meal in the Green Flag is to get a taste of Frankfurt, and east Francia as a whole. Every Frankfurt resident has stopped in there once or twice for something to eat or drink. It doesn't matter if they're merchants or artisans, or if they work within the imperial palace itself, they know the Widow Felgermacher will take good care of them. Occasionally someone higher ranking than the knights or ladies in waiting will come in for a spell, though usually in disguise. It's not uncommon for visitors to leave up their hoods and keep to themselves, even if they're squeezed in on a bench next to people they don't know.

Country folk from the farms outside the city, and even from neighboring villages, will stop in the Green Flag for a bite to eat while they're in the city. You can always spot the country folk. They tend to clump together in groups and ask awkward questions. Local know not to get into a conversation with visitors from the country side, or they may get stuck with an unforeseen obligation.

The most interesting denizens of the Green Flag are all the foreigners passing through Frankfurt. You can tell the ones from West Francia by their accent, especially when the come from the south. Italian merchants are always good to talk to. They're friendly and always happy to share their tales of sailing away to far away lands to trade in eastern goods. In earlier days, you might even spot a Norse, but since they've been at war these past few years, if you spot a Norse in the Green Flag, then Frankfurt's in trouble.

The Green Flag is a modest establishment, but it's well equipped. The dining room is furnished with three long wooden tables with benches on either side. Around the hearth on the right-hand side of the dining rooms are some more benches and smaller tables tucked into the corners. A long bar spans the back of the room, and a dozen-odd chairs that can pull up to the bar. All told, the tavern can seat about sixty, and it usually does.

Behind the bar are shelves on shelves, holding no end of drinks and provisions. A door behind the bar leads to the kitchen, which holds two stoves, a wash basin, and more storage, as well as two long tables for preparing food. A pump located just outside the back door means the kitchen has easy access to water. With such a well-outfitted kitchen, it is no wonder the Widow Felgermacher has run such a successful tavern for so long.