The elves are a common race in Thedas, distinguished physically by their large eyes, willowy frames, and pointy ears. Their long history is colored by ages of human oppression. The onece powerful elves are now second-class citizens in most of Thedas.
Today's elves are mere shadows of their ancestors. The proper name for elves is elvhen, meaning "the people." They once ruled a vast kingdom called Elvhenan, translated as "the place of the people." The lost city of Arlathan was its capital.
It is said that the elves were once immortal beings who lived by their own rules and beliefs.When humans arrived. the elves lost their immortality and blamed the humans for this "quickening." The elves were eventually conquered by the Tevinter Imperium. Most were enslaved, and generations under the Imperium's thumb all but killed elven culture, language and history.
When Andraste and her Cult of the Maker rose to prominence, they brought a successful war against the Imperium, forcing the empire to pull back its borders. Led by the controversial elven disciple Shartan, enslaved elves of Tevinter rose up to aid Andraste's cause. For their service, the elves were freed and and given the Dales, a land in southern Orlais, and a new capital called Halamshiral. The exodus to their new homeland was called the Long Walk.
In the Dales, the elves attempted to rebuild their culture and once again worship their pantheon of lost gods. After generations under Tevinter, much of the old ways were gone, even some of their god's names. The elves practiced what they could remember and adopted new beliefs to fill the gaps.
Relations with humans remained hostile, and elven rejection of the Maker became cause for Chantry ire. The elves founded a legion, known as the Emerald Knights, to protect their land from human intrusion. Tensions mounted, and when a small elven raiding party attacked the human village of Red Crossing, the Chantry called an Exalted March to crush the elven people and conquer the Dales in a series of battles.
The surviving elves, kicked from the Dales, split apart. Some became the wanderers known as the Dalish, traveling in groups and stubbornly clinging to barely remembered traditions. Other elves, bitterly resigned to their fate, now live among humankind as "city elves," second class citizens, servants, and laborers segregated to ghettos known as alienages.
An alienage is a section of a predominantly human community reserved for the elven population. In many cities, the alienage is walled off from the other quarters. This is to allow the city authorities to lock down the alienage, should the need arise.
Many alienage are plauged by poverty and crime. It is also common for infrastructure to fall into disrepair, as human tend to let alienage residents fend for themselves, often without access to city services. While this segregation has allowed the elves a fair bit of social autonomy among their own people, it has also encouraged their isolation and substandard status.
The Dalish are a nomadic breed of elves who openly refuse to live under human rule. They see themselves as the keepers of ancient elven lore and dedicate themselves to gathering and preserving the remnants of their lost culture.
Before the Exaulted March of the Dales, many Dalish were elven nobility. Though their status has long been stripped away, they maintain the same pride and sense of duty held by their ancestors. The Dalish live and travel in clans. Often unwelcome in human cities, they tend to stick to forests and other wilder places, never staying anywhere for too long. Their small band's often made up of only blood relatives, are each led by a wise, senior member known as a keeper. The Dalish travel in ornately carved wagons known as aravel, drawn by large white stags called halla. These landships are adorned with broad hoods and bright silken cloths that flap in the wind, often displaying the noble banners that once flew over the family's house.
The halla are a domesticated animal unique to the Dalish, originating in Arlathan and breed to large numbers once more in the Dales. The stags served as mounts for the Emerald Knights when the Dales were still home to the elves. All adult Dalish have tattoos on their face. the inticate ink work is called vallasin, or "blood writing." The tradition serves not only to identify the Dalish, but to illustrate, in a permanent fashion, their commitment to the old ways. Embracing the ancestor's crafting skills, Dalish shape wood, bone and leather into effective hunting weapons.
Most Dalish groups tend to keep to themselves. However, once every ten years, clans will congregate in a single, remote location to take part in Arlathvhen, an event meaning "for the love of the people." Lore keepers exchange stories and knowledge at this massive gathering. While the old ways of the elves are celebrated, sad lessons of the destruction of both Arlathan and the Dales are also recounted and discussed. It is an important time for the clans, a show of unity for an otherwise isolated people.