Elf

A humanoid race, elves are typically shorter than humans and have a slender, lithe build and pointed ears. Long ago, the elves had a vast kingdom known as Elvhenan located in the eastern corner of Lordaeron. They had an advanced civilization built on magic and nature and had great immortality. After the fall of their great city of Arlathan to the Tevinter Imperium and the subsequent generations of slavery, the elves lost most of their cultural heritage and identity. Following the fall of the Tevinter Imperium, many Elven kingdoms were founded in an attempt to rebuilt their society. Some of these kingdoms in Lordaeron fell to Orlais in the Hundred Year War. Since then, while there have been a few successful Elven kingdoms established around the world, many of Lordaeron's elves either live as nomads or as impoverished citizens.

History
The Elves of Europa were once an immortal race who lived in the vast kingdom of Elvhenan. They lived in harmony with the natural world and followed the elven pantheon.

City elves
Alienages are close communities of Elves living in Human cities in Lordaeron. These communities are often walled off and found in the poorest, more crime-ridden parts of the city, while elves in villages make home in barns or sheds. Their inhabitants are typically impoverished and survive by begging or taking on the most menial and unrewarding of tasks and in most desperate cases, leave the alienage to steal or murder.

Though overall treatment varies kingdom to kingdom, city elves are universally second-class citizens. Elves are, by law or prejudice, unable to join most organizations or hold decent jobs, and the law often turns a blind eye to their abuses.

Having been heavily discriminated by humans for so long, most city elves try to hold onto their remaining heritage. Artifacts from Arlathan like the vhenadahl (literally, "tree of the People") and an abiding deep pride in their close-knit communities bolster city elves trying to make ends meet in an otherwise hostile world. As such, elves that leave the alienage and try to enter human society are heavily looked down upon much as "flat ears" are derided by Haldaren, Sindarin and Quenya elves.

Marriage is highly important for city elves; it is the rite of adulthood in elven communities and will often be prearranged in order for new blood to join an otherwise concentrated gene pool. The absolute worst thing an elf could do is marry or breed outside their race since only humans are born between elven and human unions; which is adverse for such limited communities that depends on each other and tradition for day-to-day survival.