Visitors

From Glen Cook Wiki

Visitors, AKA "silver-elves", are basically little gray aliens from outer space. They are humanoid, small in stature (comparable to Elves, with large bulbous eyes, pallid skin, a strange Y-shaped nostril flat against their face, and no ears. They are hairless. There is some degree of sexual dimorphism, but atrophied sufficiently so that their sex is not readily apparent when they are fully clothed. They communicate telepathically.

The Visitors live in a technologically advanced culture where base sexual instincts are frowned upon and violence is virtually nonexistent. In general their laws prohibit interacting with or sharing technology with lesser cultures, such as that of Karenta. They do visit primitives, however, most often for clandestine scientific observation. Occasionally, members of dissident philosophical sects will attempt to share technological secrets with primitives.

Their technology is typical of what you'd expect from aliens (flying saucers, cloaking devices, etc.) but is all interpreted as sorcery by Garrett and his compatriots. In fact they assume the Visitors are some sort of weird elves until The Dead Man learns the truth by sifting through the Visitors' minds. The Visitors exhibit no sign of magic or magical ability, but apparently recognize its potential, taking care to neutralize the wizards first whenever a fight arises. From what is seen of the Visitors' technology, both throughout the book and in one climactic battle between a stormwarden and a flying saucer, it is superior to most sorcery.

The Visitors are an odd and uncomfortably integrated puzzle piece added to the already vaguely defined mythology of Garrett's world. They appear mainly in Angry Lead Skies; in the subsequent Whispering Nickel Idols they return to spend time with Morley and visit briefly with The Dead Man.