Elbencort

Elbencort was a gnome village in extreme eastern Tethyr circa the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR. It was a settlement of many small cottages that dotted the hillsides surrounded by small farms and vegetable gardens.

Geography
Elbencort was located on the Tethir Road east of Riatavin where it forded the Shining Stream on the border between County Valashar and County Morninggold.

Trade
This small village was self-sufficient and humble in its understated wealth. Some residents sold various gems to the merchants that passed through town, offering them at the high end of the usual price range and seemingly without need to bargain. It was a well-kept secret that Elbencorters got their gems from trade with the deep gnome city of Kolethloe, about four miles (just over six kilometers) below Elbencort.

Defenses
The town had little in the way of defenses, but was under the protection of County Morninggold and perhaps the patrols from the baronies of Carrelath and Impresk. Carrelath had a garrison in the area to protect the upper Shining Stream and Impresk guarded their portion of the Tethir Road.

Rumors & Legends
Elminster acknowledged that the gnomes might have been bold enough to lie to him about Kolethloe. The story may have been fabricated or "Kolethloe" had a different meaning that what he was told, but the gnomes got their gems from somewhere.