The Banniatear Library
| Type | Hidden library |
|---|---|
| Location | Behind the Banniatear rare bookshop, Marterus |
| Keeper | Aegebras Banniatear |
| Lighting | One (1) candle |
| Access | By persuasion [citation needed] |
The Banniatear Library is a hidden archive of rare books, scrolls, and magical items concealed beneath the Banniatear rare bookshop in Marterus. Maintained by the elderly elf scholar Aegebras Banniatear, the library holds some of the only surviving accounts of the demon Ithak'var and the prophesied Mirrorwind, and is accordingly not listed in any directory of Marterus attractions.
The Bookshop
The public face of the collection is a modest rare bookshop run by Aegebras with his daughter Merelle. Behind the shop, a courtyard conceals a magically hidden door and a stair descending into darkness. Visitors seeking more than the shelf stock must first convince the proprietor of their sincerity, a process the proprietor is under no obligation to make easy.
The Hidden Collection
The library itself is a small, dark room packed with books, scrolls, and magical items, lit by a single candle. The collection's strength is in subjects respectable archives decline to hold; researchers investigating the Crooked Man found the city's public library useless on the topic — the books of Lovitar, consulted in desperation, described someone else entirely [citation needed].
The Ithak'var Revelation
The library entered the historical record in 1487 DR, when Aegebras led the druid Brogmar Mossbeard and the cleric Panda (Sean Gardner) to the hidden room and, over glowing scrolls, recounted the true history of Ithak'var: the demon's enslavement of his own summoners, his binding in the Abyss by six legendary heroes, and the apocalyptic Mirrorwind his return is prophesied to herald. Witnesses describe the old elf's eyes as showing fear throughout the telling, which scholars agree is not what you want from the person with all the books [citation needed].