Generic Rural Alehouse Slab
10 x 15 alehouse using the rural tile set. The dining area has a recessed firepit for stew and meat on a spit. This is surrounded by large tables and benches for local villagers. Ale is kept in a backroom where servers access it through two adjacent windows. There is a private room, called a snug, for patrons seeking privacy. In the back are two small sheds (or outhouses if the GM prefers). Furnishing is minimal. Paste and copy into your maps to save yourself time.
Ale was an early and cheap drink that was consumed in great quantities during the medieval period (some historians estimate the average peasant consumed a gallon of ale per day). It quickly spoiled so it had to produced continually throughout the year. The primary producers of ale during the early medieval period were women, who would either sell it directly from their homes, or sell it to the local alehouse.
Alehouses or public houses, where the term pub comes from, were often the center of village social and political life, acting as a town hall. Village leaders might hold councils in this alehouse, using the open space between the firepit and the backroom as a platform to speak to their peers.
