Elhaembroe

The Elhaembroe were a clan of gnomes that lived in the Dessarin Hills north of Beliard in northwest Faerûn, circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR.

Organization
The Elhaembroe were a typical gnomish family that kept to themselves and tried not to be noticed.

Activities
They subsisted by foraging in the hills, hunting and snaring game with many traplines. They whittled both novel and useful items from wood and sold them in Beliard. By far, their most lucrative activity was collecting the offerings left for the "Rasping Spirit" that dwelled in the Talntower, a waterworks located at the eastern-most point of their home caverns and tunnels.

Tactics
Elders of the clan would take turns hiking the quarter-mile (400-meter) twisting tunnel from their main chambers to a spying room adjacent to the main cavern of the Talntower. From there, they could observe visitors and pretend to be an oracle, known as the Rasping Spirit, who would answer questions or spout advice or warnings, always in cryptic terms and in whispers just loud enough to be heard over the falling water in the cave. Folk who came to the Talntower to consult the oracle left an offering on the floor or beside the pool (but not in the pool), which the Elhaembroe collected once the visitors were gone. The gnomes never tried to barter or sell any of the offerings that could possibly be recognized in Beliard. Instead, they traded with trusted gnome traveling merchants that went to Waterdeep.

Base of Operations
The Elhaembroe lived in an extensive cave system likely carved by the same dwarves that made the Talntower. The entrances in the hills west of the waterworks were large round stones that rolled in grooves to seal each opening to the complex. When open, these access ports were set with snares and traps to prevent skunks, snakes and other pests from getting inside. They had six large chambers dedicated to grain storage, and a kitchen with an outdoor stone oven for cooking or smoking meats. Dozens of sleeping chambers were scattered down various tunnels, with plenty of storage nooks and ledges that could double as ambush points, if necessary. They also had ten jail cells with thick iron bars in one wing of the complex.

History
The Elhaembroe clan resided in this location at least as early as the Year of the Empty Goblet, 1252 DR, which is the earliest known report of the existence of the Rasping Spirit of the Talntower.