Serpentir's Books & Folios

A battered sign hangs above this 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. Inside, the wood-paneled walls of the dark shop are crammed with deep-hued bookshelves, and the sole light comes from a few driftglobes that wander the shop at its proprietor's will.

Behind its modest sandstone shopfront sits one of the dustiest but most exclusive shops in Waterdeep, which some have called the single best source of maps, charts, and books in all the Realms. Jannaxil Serpentil's shop is frequented by those who have come from afar in search of the rare or the unusual, and those who wish to sell stolen goods.

No deals with Jannaxil come cheap. He rarely pays above 30% market value for stolen goods, and for those browsing his wares, even the shabbiest chapbook cost at least a dragon. Magical tomes are the one thing he will not sell; those must be traded for with a similarly bespelled book.

The proprietor is also known to do a brisk business blackmailing Waterdhavians with love letters and the like that careless or malicious persons have sold to him. Though some have thought to steal these back, few make the attempt. The shop is quite strongly protected by magic, and the magical glyphs adorning both the boards and the doors glow faintly after dark.