elves?

their earliest historic memories are as slaves to an ancient evil. as slaves they
worked as personal attendants, and household servants. They were forced to be
entertainers and artisans, cooks and cleaners, serving meals and drinks to their
harsh masters. when the evil fell the elves escaped to the forests, carrying with
them every vestige of valuable finery they could take. like the dwarves they
established cities and developed a society quickly, unlike the dwarves, the elves
saw no difficulty in keeping slaves. These are tall, calm, and proud peoples, they
are long lived, often called pompous and arrogant. Since the fourth age, most elves
no longer keep slaves, although at least 2 factions still do. They are slow to make
alliances, or to even trust anyone who isn't an elf. Their society places high
value on art and beauty, in craft, appearance and the nature around them. as they
grow from youth they will spend decades working to achieve perfection in their
chosen path or craft, before daring to enter the world at large and ply their
trade.
Elves are known for great magics, making the finest fabrics (silk), and for having
one of the 2 longest and most intricate and accurate histories alongside the
dwarves. their metal work is second only to the dwarves, fine and intricate,
endurable. the only thing that could break an elvin sword would be a dwarven
hammer.

as elves spread across the world, some divided into factions, founding variant
cities with vastly different morals, ethics and visual aesthetics. Though all are
physically similar. these are the factions.

High elves:
the original faction, culture revolves around calm contemplation, wisdom,
objectivity and record keeping. They want to remain apart from the world, keeping
their shining cities of sculpted marble and stained glass quiet and safe with great
magic and powerful armies at their borders to keep the world out.

Wood elves:
these split from the original faction to pursue a more natural existence and
aesthetic. They focus on trees. their cities in the forests are grown and sculpted
from still living trees, their lives are obsessed with the art of growing things,
plants, trees and flowers, but otherwise they don't differ much from the High
elves. but these elves keep slaves

Hulder elves:
These split from the Wood elves to become more attuned to nature still. THey live
as wild creatures, in the deepest, darkest forests, eating only plants and
protecting the wild wood and its trees and creatures from anything that might enter
their domain. They have no cities, prefering to sleep high in the branches of
ancient trees. They are the source of most human legends about fairies and sprites
in the dark woods. They are seldom seen and most who do see them never leave to
tell the tale. if you treat the land and animals with the same respect they do, and
treat them with respect, then they might let you live and let you leave.

Sun elves:
these and the moon elves split from the high elves at the same time, over a single
argument. which heavenly body was greater and had more influence over existence.
the sun faction have daiurnal cities, glittering with brass and gold, and revere or
worship the sun, focusing their magics and crafts on the sun. and are otherwise
about the same as the high elves

Moon elves:
these and the sun elves split from the high elves at the same time, over a single
argument. which heavenly body was greater and had more influence over existence.
the moon faction have nocturnal cities, glittering with silver and white marble,
and revere or worship the moon, focusing their magics and crafts on the moon, tides
and dreams. and are otherwise about the same as the high elves

Dark elves:
these split from the moon elves, deciding that the creatures of night were as
important to the world as the moon was. For their blasphemy they were forced out of
the moon cities and decided to go underground, building their cities in great
ancient caves they found beneath many of the great ancient forests. they took totem
animals of night creatures that lived in the caves with them. The spider clan even
found a way to make their own silk, stronger than worm silk and even able to be
used as armor. They changed their colours from silver and white, to purple and
black, but still prefer silver to gold. Even with all this difference, they are
still isolationist for the most part, and seldom allow anyone else into their
cities, except as slaves.