Elf
Much like the Dwarves, The elves are a people who suffered greatly under the reign of the serpentfolk, although the elves haven't bounced back to nearly the same extent as the hardy dwarves have. Today, the elves guard their hidden cities well, and tend towards isolationism and even an amount of xenophobia, particularly towards humans.
History
If you name a location in the Shattered continent, the elves can likely tell you what it was called back when elves lived there. The elvish histories go back futher than any other recorded histories, although getting the elves to allow direct access to their libraries is anything but a trivial task.
Before the Serpentfolk
The elves were once a people spread across the entire continent in settlements of all sizes, although they mostly favored smaller towns to minimize the impact on the surrounding environment. They often tried to mentor the younger races, teaching them trades, and helping them learn to make their own way in the world while minimizing their negative impact on it.
The Reign of the Serpentfolk
The rise of the Serpentfolk empire was absolutely catastrophic for the elves. Despite their individual martial prowess, the scattered nature of the elven settlements made them easy pickings, and the serpentfolk went as far to prioritize the raiding of elven settlements over all others. Due to their beauty, elegance, and longetivity, elves were considered to be ideal slaves, and even more unfortunately, they were considered to be a delicacy for any serpentfolk of high enough status to afford an elf for their table.
By the time the elves realized that the serpentfolk were an existential threat and gathered their forces to fight them, it was too late, and their armies were crushed on the field of battle. In desperation, the elves retreated to their larger cities and hid them through both magic and physical means, hiding away as the serpentfolk came to dominate the continent, their numbers a mere fraction of their previous population.
After the Cataclysm
By the time of The Cataclysm, a number of the elves hidden cities had fallen, and their numbers were truly tiny, but the disappearance of the serpentfolk wasn't to be the end of their troubles. The unfortunate combination of their low birth rates and long time to maturity meant that recovery to their pre-serpentfolk numbers would take millenia, and that would be without outside interference. It was a number of centuries before the elves ventured far outside of the territory immediately surrounding their cities.
When the elves finally ventured out into the wider world, they found that the humans had exploded into the vacuum left by the serpentfolk, and were in the middle of violently establishing the borders of their kingdoms, and they werent particularly interested in sharing with the elves. After a number of violent clashes, and the utter extermination of the forces of at least one human kingdom whose ruler decided that the elves would be a good next choice for conquest, the elves retreated back to their cities and debated their next actions. In the end, with very few exceptions, the elven cities decided that it wasn't worth it to engage in warfare with the humans and risk further lowering their already low numbers, so they retreated back into their cities and hid away again.
Modern Times
Despite the human kingdoms having settled into a period of relative peace, the elven kingdoms have mostly maintained their isolation. They hold a good amount of resentment towards humans, seeing them as violent, greedy, and ungrateful. The elves mostly keep to the territory immediately around their cities, protecting it zealously from incursion by the human nations in which their territory sits. Uninvited visitors to their lands will quickly find themselves intercepted by armed elves, and usually invited to leave at arrowpoint.
Elven Society
While elven society was once open and welcoming, today they are very much a closed society. Their near extinction at the hands of the serpentfolk followed up by the what they perceive as betrayal by the ungrateful and violent humans has left them wary of outsiders and extremely defensive of their remaining territory. Outsiders may find some friendly faces in the most outlying villages, but any attempts to move deeper into elven territory will likely result in interception by elven patrols and an escort back to their borders.
The Hînoidór
The humans who reside in elven territory tend to regard the elves as mentors and guardians, much as they did in ancient times. These humans are known by the elves as the Hînoidór, meaning "Children of the land" in elvish (Hîn -o i dór), and hold loyalty to the elves rather than the human nations in whose lands the elven lands are located. They are often trained as rangers or druids by the elves, and there is a high percentage of half elves among them.
Religion
The elves have worshipped the same gods since time immemorial, but just as the elves have been greatly changed by the events of the last few millenia, so have their gods. The elven pantheon is centered around the Teriethae and Fhaarauth, gods who each represent different aspects of the natural world, it's ability to nurture life and it's capacity for destruction. Where once the elves primarily worshipped Teriethae, as their fortunes have fallen and their numbers dwindled the more warlike Fhaarauth has largely replaced her.
Elves out in the world
Occasionally, an elf will take it upon themselves to travel outside of elvish domains, whether on a specific quest, out of simple curiosity, or simply feeling that they don't fit into elven society. These elves will find themselves an object of some wonder, particularly in lands which arent directly adjacent to elven territory. Adjacent to elven lands, they may find the wonder tempered by some resentment, but further away elves are often regarded as near mythical. In these lands, wandering elves will find themselves objects of interest of people ranging from scholars to traders to nobility, and even the rulers of the lands they travel through. They are often treated as ambassadors, whether or not they have the desire or standing to be such, by governments seeking to establish better relations with the elves.
Notable Elven Enclaves
The elves hidden enclaves were the salvation of their race during the reign of the serpentfolk, and allowed them to ride out the eras of expansion and conquest that the humans went through without further reducing their devastated population. Today, they allow the elves to maintain their independance despite their territories being inside of the lands claimed by human nations.
The Jumhirran Elves
The Jumhirran elves have the most tragic tale of all the elves currently residing in The Shattered Continent. Slavery is a core component of many of the human cultures of The Eastern Wastes, and much like the serpentfolk, they prize elves and half elves as slaves due to their beauty, elegance, and longetivity. There were once several elven cities in Jumhirra, but they fell one by one until in desperation the elves asked the Djinni caretakers of the legendary hidden library of al-Hafiz for sanctuary. The Djinni offered the ruined temple areas above the library to the elves, and they moved the remainder of their people to the plateau on which the temple and library are built. Today, Yana Olla Hafiz is their last stronghold, hidden by extensive enchantments, both djinni and elven, including permanent sandstorms which circle the area continually.
The People of the First Forest
Deep in the primeval forests of the Shielded Lands, a number of elven tribes live as they have for millenia. Hidden within the shielded lands, most of their settlements avoided discovery by the serpentfolk, and they were entirely spared the instability and violence that the rise of the humans post-cataclysm caused elsewhere on the Shattered Continent. Their settlements are commonly built high in the boughs of the largest and most ancient trees, and they live very much in tune with nature and the land.
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