Serpentil Books & Folios

The battered Serpentil sign hangs above an old, unkempt stone building whose wares window is boarded over, and whose black door entry is always forbiddingly closed. (When Jannaxil is open for business, a small, sliding viewing panel in the upper part of the door is left open.) Magical guardian glyphs adorn both the boards and the doors and glow faintly after dark. Few care to try their power.

Inside, the shop is very dark. It is crammed with deep-hued bookshelves, and the walls are paneled with wood. The sole light here comes from magical glowing globes that drift about at Serpentil’'s will. Powerful fireguards spells prevent anything from igniting.

Aside from Jannaxil’'s desk and three chairs (two for visitors), books are the furnishings of this shop. More books are piled and shelved together here than most folk of Faerun will ever see.

Jannaxil handles all sorts of printed materials, from magical tomes to maps and charts of the Sword Coast waters. He likes to warn folk sagely that spellbooks give off green flames when they burn. Magical tomes and Sword Coast maps are his two specialties, but he can also find you a tome of folktales of Cormyr or the collected ballads of the long-dead bard Delshryn of Mirabar.

Jannaxil also buys printed lore, and is a cold, hard haggler. He gives 30% of the market value of all items he knows to be stolen. If any sort of literary theft occurs in Waterdeep, he typically knows about it by the next day!

Most people think of Jannaxil Serpentil as just a nasty, cold-mannered old scholar, but from earlier magical researches I know him to be at least a dabbler in magic and far older than he looks. He is no doubt protected by magic, and has been known to clutch a certain slim black volume to his breast when attacked in his shop. Most folk think its just his account book— - but I think it contains a tome guardian monster that he uses to protect himself. There is much of the coward about him.

If Jannaxil has any family or staff, none have ever seen them. He is thought to sleep above his shop, in windowless apartments. Rumor says they include a large spellcasting chamber where Jannaxil conjures up baatezu to do his bidding.

No deals with Jannaxil come cheap. Even the shabbiest chapbook will set you back at least 1 sp. Shoplifters are warned that Jannaxil has some way of knowing when one of his wares is leaving unpaid for, and that a binding spell prevents the guilty party from exiting. Jannaxil never confronts anyone, but simply waits for them to remove the hidden object and either pay for it or set it down and leave.

Most useful tomes, such as engineering instructions, mathematical texts, noble family histories, and detailed studies of the geography and history of a particular area, cost 15 to 50 sp.

Spellbooks are in unreliable supply, of course, and are purchased as is, with no guarantees as to the absence of curses or the efficacy of the spells within. Jannaxil typically charges a base price of 50 sp for each one plus 300 sp per spell or spell fragment contained within. Spells of the fourth or greater level command a surcharge of 1000 sp per spell. Spells of 7th level and up add 3000 sp each to the cost of a book. It is likely Jannaxil copies the useful spells from books he sells for himself, but no one has ever found his cache of magic. Locals talk in the taverns of long crawl - tunnels where guardian monsters lurk, leading to a private study where Jannaxil keeps powerful magic.

Jannaxil does book searches for a deposit of 10 sp plus 4 sp per year thereafter. If the book is found, he charges double the usual price for it.

Papers (accounts and letters) find their way most often to Jannaxil’'s shop. He does a brisk business in blackmailing Waterdhavians with love letters and the like that a malicious or careless person sold to him. Jannaxil typically buys such wares for 1 to 5 copper pieces a sheet, and sells them for 1 tp per sheet or more.

It seems that Jannaxil’'s shop has always been there, but old Waterdhavians tell me its been open some 60 years or so. During that time, Jannaxil has carried on running feuds with several scholars of the city— - feuds carried on in the form of insulting gestures, gifts, and letters, or in ditties that tavern singers have been hired to perform in their taverns, for the amusement of all.

Jannaxil’s cowardice has led him to pile up so many magical defenses that most folk think him to be a powerful wizard. There are many tales of thieves being blasted off his roof, or torn apart in the street outside his shop by huge black talons that appeared from thin air after they disturbed one of the boards covering his wares window.

Jannaxil is said to have a special hatred of elves. He was recently wounded by Elaith “"the Serpent”" Craulnobur— - who pinned one of his hands to his desk with a thrown dagger.

Jannaxil loves good books. He hungers to look inside just about any book he sees or hears of, especially illuminated tomes, old maps, and well-illustrated volumes depicting female beauty. He is known to pay extremely well for such things.