Gray Elves - Sindar
The Sindar established the great city of c. 400 years after the exodus from Culuvian. It was deemed the City of , for it was built of white marble from the mountains to the north. Under the hand of Fingoflin the Sindar prospered with a rural grange based culture. Only the City of was a true reflection of the common perception of “Elven.” But the Sindar also had extensive mines, and in the City of the armorers of the King forged mighty armaments. The Sindar did not understand the purpose of weapons at the time, but Fingoflin was the only Quendi who truly perceived the threat of their Kin that did not abandon Culuvian. Soon the seeds of Morgoth worked their way into the Sindar society. Fingoflin was forced to raise a great army to enforce the laws of peace throughout the vast plains. About 1500 years after the erection of the City of a great host of Orcs swept out of the Wilds of Twilight and besieged the countryside of the Sindar. The might host of Fingoflin resisted them, but were bitterly defeated at every confrontation, for war was a new concept to the Sindar. Ultimately, the Sindar found themselves sealed within their beloved city besieged on all sides by Orcs, and Trolls, children of Morgoth that swept down from the (The first documented confrontation with Trolls was in one of the Sindar Mines). Curiously, the Sindar had the victory. Legend has it they were helped by the Twilight Elves, but the civilization of the Twilight Elves had been wiped out 400 years prior when they vanished without a trace. A passage was found in an ancient tome that elaborated on this point and this is what it said: We were aided by our Iron Brothers of the . Their pikes were our salvation; their mattocks an omen of our victory. Naught could withstand their might—not Traoli, or Avari, or foul Orkrist. They felled all that stood before them. Conspiracy theorists believe that it was the Trolls that aided them, because the Twilight Elves never ventured into the . Scholars counter that in the passage above the word Traoli, the older form of Troll, implies that the Trolls opposed the Iron Brothers. Even more outlandish rabble-rousers claim that it was the Dwarves that aided them. Though the Dwarves existed by this time, they were far too backward and few to have helped the Sindar. In any event, there is no evidence of contact, or trade between the Sindar and Dwarven, and there is no indication that Dwarves ever inhabited the . The Sindar civilization suddenly vanished soon after this victory. Scholars believe that the Sindar were slaughtered unsuspectingly while they still cowered within the walls of Alaricroft, because when the exiled Noldar reached the city it was devastated and they found a Balrog slumbering within. However, as a race, the Grey Elves continued to exist, constructing cities and kingdoms throughout the ages, but would never reattain their former glory.