The Elves who came to Earth found a land just beginning to blossom with life. They settled in many regions of the world, using what magic they had to survive. They were told not to use their magic to create life or alter it, instead allow it to grow and evolve as per the will of the One God.

As time progressed, changes to the world and the environment caused changes in elves themselves. The Earth warmed and cooled, and the Elves learned to ignore and live within the differing temperatures with ease. With the coming of early reptiles and eventually the larger dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, the elves learned to make weapons to defend and to hunt these creatures, adding meat to their historically vegetarian diet. They also learned how to hide from predators, and eventually to build strong fortresses to live safely from them. Some elves used magic to hide these fortresses from the eyes and senses of beasts while other found ways to cloak their communities naturally.

Elves have a low birth rate, at the most keeping their population steady, and until the coming of predators, at a slow rate of increase. As a result of this, they found it better to hide, and to fight enemies with weapons at range. Thus the beginning of elven archery.

As Pangaea shifted and created the modern continents, the elves migrated until almost exclusively settling in what is now Central Europe.

Following the disaster that destroyed the dinosaurs and the ice age, elves removed themselves more and more from the world. Many used magic to make the insides of the their castles larger, while those who lived amongst trees did the same with their huts and bowers.

During all this time the elves continued to pay homage to the One God, although they did not actively worship Him. They knew that simply being and living good lives would be enough. The elves at this time had no religion per se.

But some elves, especially those who wandered, made contact with the Forgiven, who had returned to Earth. Humans had begun creating civilizations of their own, and had started worshipping these new gods. To them, elves were fairies who lived in the forests, or were servants of the gods, or were bogeymen who stole their children.

Eventually many elves turned to worship these gods. As more and more of them did so, a rift occurred between those who remained loyal to the One God. Some of the gods, seeking to expand their power, drove their followers amongst the Olven folk to take lands from them by force.