The History of Elves

ften regarded as the caretaker's of this world, the long-lived elves are a proud race who have had a very mixed experience over the course of Daënfel's history.
As one of the first of the Avanís Pantheon's creations and the only humanoid race that has a lifespan to remember life before the ascent of Avlar, elves have a unique perspective of this world that can come only from watching so much history pass in one lifetime.
Elves value kindness, intellect, and beauty, with many elves striving to improve their manners, appearance, and culture. Particularly fond of the Arbiter, Elves appreciate the natural world and all its creations. In times of yore, the Arbiter was said to frequently wander amongst elven communities, revelling in their songs, tales, stories and culture. The Astronomer is another strong deity amongst elves, for his timeless wisdom, patience and divine guidance of what is to come.
Elves are often rather private people; they're slow to build friendships outside their kinsfolk, as elves who spend their lives among shorter-lived peoples often become morose after watching generations of companions age and die. Their studies delve into a level of detail that most shorter-lived peoples find excessive or inefficient.
History
The treatment of elves has differed heavily across time and place in this world.
During the of the Kingdom of Eá-galwen, elves stood alongside Man as the most dominant race of the world. Their practice of the arcane arts was second to none, and many elven families stood in positions of power within the courts of the Kingdom. Indeed, it was thought that before the Wayland line, it was the elves who built and ruled over Carrag Nuine in the earliest days of this world.
It was the rich and powerful elves that decided to settle within the beautiful valleys of Dol Gadmen, erecting the monument of The Astronomer overlooking the valley and their hunting estates.
In other areas, it was an entirely different story. The Sultans who presided over the city of Helias and Old Nissia prized elven slaves for their longevity and fragile builds. The perfect butlers, household workers and concubines, elves were feeble enough that a beating would keep them in line, but a sultan would only need one elf slave for his entire bloodline's history.
After the fall of Eá-galwen and the destruction of Avalon, the elves faced persecution at the hands of the powers to be in Trinity - first the zealous nobles who had resented the Galweni elves for generations and fought against them in Avlar's ranks, which was then continued by the earliest Prelates of the Founding Fathers, who brought with them fearmongering against many of the races in this world. Decades of killings against the elves drove them from the region but, however bad, were not nearly as horrific as what the orcs of the region faced.
The elves that have since shackled their chains and are an accepted race amongst the Dawning Empire, but they have not forgotten the suffering they befell as a people. Few live now who remember such times directly, but many of the warriors, wizards and leaders amongst the Empire now are only one or two generations removed from their bereaved kin, and make sure that their superiority is remembered by those people with shorter memories.