A Waterfront Tavern

We need an inventory of all the friendly inns visited by Poul Anderson's characters. There is one between the universes. There are several in the city of Ys; many in diverse futures and on other planets. Here is yet another. Ivar and his new Ythrian acquaintance:

"...sat in a waterfront tavern, wood-paneled, rough-raftered, dark and smoky. Windows opened on a view of the dock."
-Poul Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2010), p. 152.

Locals discuss Riverfolk, tinerans and Elders. One man practices Oneness under the Morning Star. A church-goer denounces such heathenism but both look for outside help against the Empire. Elders? God? Ythri? There is nothing better than a pub conversation to summarize current affairs and popular aspirations.

The reader does not yet realize that Anderson is preparing Ivar for the next stage of his journey, from tinerans to Riverfolk with the Ythrian's help - and closer to the source of the rumors of the Elders' return.