Jannaxil Serpentil

Jannaxil Serpentil was a shopkeeper inhabiting Waterdeep during the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

"Spellbooks give off green flames when they burn."

- Jannaxil Serpentil

Description
Jannaxil was a short and plumpish man, whose black hairs were oiled and smoothed into place. He wore a sober scholar robe, open over finely tailored dark clothes, in an attempt to show that he was both a successful merchant and a learned person.

He was one of Waterdeep's best fences. If any printed work was stolen in the city, he usually knew about it by the next day.

Personality
Jannaxil was as greedy and cowardly man who drove a hard bargain. Most people considered him nasty or unfriendly, but he knew how to be charming if the situation demanded it, and acted obsequiously in the presence of nobility.

He never confronted anyone trying to steal from him directly&mdash;as magics prevented them from leaving the shop, he would simply wait until they paid or set down their spoils.

The old man had running disputes with several scholars of the city. They took the form of insults and slander, malicious gifts and offending letters, and even hiring bards to spread discrediting songs in the town's taverns.

Finally, Jannaxil loved good books. He was known to pay a hefty sum for nicely illuminated tomes, old maps, or collections of well-illustrated female figures.

Abilities
Jannaxil was known to dabble in the Art, but the extent of his powers were unclear. Some pretended that he lived for far longer than his looks led one to believe, while others said he was able to summon baatezu and had various monsters do his bidding.

Jannaxil and his shop were protected by hundreds of magical spells, from glyphs attacking would-be thieves to magical alarms warning him if someone entered uninvited or tried to leave without paying for his wares.

Possessions
Jannaxil owned more books than most people would ever see in their life. He used various glowing globes to illuminate the interior of his boutique.

Jannaxil possessed a black, slim book which Volothamp Geddarm believed to be a tome guardian.

Activities
Jannaxil owned Serpentil Books & Folios, a book shop located in Waterdeep's Dock Ward on the eastern side of Book Street just south of Black Wagon Alley. For a steep fee, Jannaxil would perform book searches for customers trying to locate rare publications.

In addition to running his shop, Jannaxil was also a fence for stolen maps, scrolls, charts, and books. He also dealt in the sale of animals and slaves.

Regularly buying account papers and letters from malicious or careless customers, Jannaxil used them to blackmail his fellow Waterdeep residents.

History
During the, Jannaxil was attacked by Elaith Craulnober, leaving him with an intense hatred for elves.

Secret tunnels
According to tavern talks, Jannaxil built hidden tunnels where he hid caches of powerful magic protected by monsters, including copies of every useful spells found in the books he sold over the years.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Elfshadow