"It was during that time that my people underwent a change that defied explanation. We ceased to give birth to our own kind, and instead, another type of elf came into existence through us. These elves were, in essence, a weaker stock. Though possessing magic, they could not wield it as powerfully, and were greatly diminished in their physical beauty. Most importantly, they did not carry the effect of magic that we had imbued upon our lifespans. They lived only as long as the first of our kind before dying. These were the forbearers of the common elves who now exist.
"But the change didn't end there. The succeeding births by our kind turned out in different forms from our own altogether: from a much larger and stockier variant of ourselves with a much shorter lifespan and ears of a different shaped from our own -humans -, to a short, bearded race that was very distrustful and violent -dwarves. At first, there was confusion and fear over the change in our children, but in the end, it was decided that we should be their caretakers, and nurture them in the way we believed to be right. So even in the time that began our war against the dragon clans, we nurtured these 'lesser races' to civilization, but in so doing, ruled over them.
"I was very young then, one of the last generations of High elves born and a mere scholar of magic, but my home was near to the dwellings of the lesser races, whom I grew to love. Often, I would go about in the guise of a common elf simply to mingle and learn what I could from them. But in their company, I saw all too clearly the evil that we had embraced. To the lesser races, we were more like slave drivers than parents; even though to us, they seemed happy in their tasks, I could see the hatred in their eyes, suppressed by fear.
"The dwarves were kept under strict control, mining diamonds and precious gems for us, channeling their aggression into the art of war against the dragons, which, as I came into adulthood, had been waging for many centuries. The humans were the most loyal to us, aiding as generalized servants and soldiers alongside the Dwarves, and worshiping us as gods. The common elves assisted humans in worshipping and serving us as acolytes in the way of magic. And much to my horror, we accepted and encouraged this.
"As the war raged on, we rested safely in our magical trees and cities, ignorant to the destruction that the war had caused the lesser races. But of course, the kind of life we led could not help but breed only complacency. And as we laid back in security and comfort, we did not realize that the veil of enchantment had been pulled away from the eyes of the lesser races by the wisdom of the dragons. And by this, those whom we thought to be utterly loyal began to turn on us, little by little. In the end, we had to re-learn how to defend ourselves, but instead of one enemy to fight, we now had to withstand the combined forces of the dragons and the lesser races.