A place called Dreadmoor

What the sage says:

Once the Evil was defeated, the men turned on the elves. Having in the before times joined forces with elves, and with dwarves too, in a cooperative effort to defeat evil and thereby bring peace to the land, the nation of free men afterward came to resent elves. The men became jealous of the gods, whom they saw as distant and uncaring to men, and to hate elves whom they saw as unfairly favored by the gods, for did not the gods call elves their "first-born" and grant to them certain natural magical abilities and long lives. The men then practiced their talent for war upon the elves. A lifetime has come and gone - well a human life-span has come and gone and all the while the men have waged war upon elves. 

What the priest says:

Few can now recall the first days of the conflict or how the fighting first began. For most living today and calling themselves "free men of the west" there has only been war against the hated elves. Some say there were a few of the elvish people who dwelt among men prior to the start of open conflict, but most men alive today have never seen an elf, alive or dead, other than on the field of battle. It is said that the war has gone hard on the elves and that few of their people now survive. Some say the remaining elves made allies with evil forces, those who had previously served the dread lords in the before times, and that it is only through such an unholy pack with evil that the nation of elves now hope to continue their war against men. If this is true, and the presence of such evil folk raiding the settlements of men is surely evidence that it is true, this is taken as proof that the elves are an evil people who deserve death.

Building a game world:

The above description is the set-up for my homebrew setting I call Dreadmoor. As a game concept, Dreadmoor has been evolving through four decades of play. Starting in the years before there were any published settings - Greyhawk and Blackmoor were mostly known of at the time through their use as the titles of Supplement 1 and Supplement 2 respectively, I was like most early referees who also handwaved the details of setting and went straight to the dungeon. In those days I had some vague concept of a setting I kept in the back of my mind that was loosely based on whatever reading I could draw upon for inspiration. In this, I was and remain heavily influenced by various and sundry weird tales, favorite sword and sorcery yarns, and more generally so, by my understanding of history and the natural laws of the universe. I enjoy a spooky tale and I strive to include such supernatural elements in most of the games that I run.

It is a dark world of constant warfare and mistrust. The lawful forces of the city state of Dreadmoor are locked in a desperate struggle with the chaotic forces which seek their downfall. There is peril aplenty and death awaits 'round every corner. But if an adventurer is both quick and lucky fame and gold may be their reward. As I explain to players, Dreadmoor is the name of the city and the state, Dreadmoor is the name of my campaign world, and Dreadmoor is a philosophy and the central theme in my personal play-style. Welcome to Dreadmoor and bring your own dice!

(Readers who have a good memory for geography may see a strong similarity in the Dreadmoor map to a certain area on Earth. I find things in real life are often very inspiring.)