Grey Folk
From The Inheritance Encyclopedia
The Grey Folk are rare race native to Alagaësia, now thought to be extinct. Although not much is known about them, their primary acheivement was fixing the flaws in the system of magic present in Alagaësia.
Magic wasn’t always used the way it is Eragon’s time. The Grey Folk were the ones who first bound magic. During their time, magic was controlled by thought - thinking the spell in the Ancient Language. For example, thinking “Brisingr” (which means “fire”), depending upon your intentions, would light a fire, burn a door, etc. However, a stray thought could prove devastating. For example, while trying to light a fire, if a nearby conversation distracts you, you could easily burn the people speaking by accident. That is why young Riders were not taught this “mind magic” until they were ready to use it.
The Grey Folk were the original speakers of the Ancient Language. They were not Elves, or Humans. No records of the Grey Folk exist, so not much is know of them. The Grey Folk used magic differently than Eragon and those of his time do. Their magic could devastate all of Alagaësia, and not all of a spell's outcomes could be anticipated. This is the primary reason why the Grey Folk cast a spell that changed the Language itself, making it so that speaking the Ancient Language formed the spell. Although this made magic easier to use, the Grey Folk were diminished and faded away.
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It is thought by some that they merely faded into wraiths and merely disapeared from time and space. It is speculated by others that they cross bred with the other inhabitants of the land, and integrated themselves into that culture, letting their own die out.
All the old tales differ on what happened to the Grey Folk after the spell. However, as the race is no more, it seems evident that they either intermixed with the younger races and abandoned their ways of life, or they remained diminished in their cities which fell into decay around them.
