SPECULATION
Based on my understanding of Earth history.
Originally (some 1,000,000 years before the Banestorm), there were humans on Yrth. They were beautiful, strong, unaging; their women (but not their men) had strong, full beards. They stood about 8 feet tall (4' wide shoulders) and had
ST 18,
DX 12,
IQ 12, and
HT 12.
Then they rebelled against their Creator, choosing to worship instead their fellow creations that they were intended to be masters of. As punishment, they were given unto Entropy, and different populations started devolving into other races.
Those in the forests kept their height, beauty, agelessness, and a limited form of the control of the universe they originally had. However, their strength dwindled, their bodies withered. Their women lost their beards. They are the elves.
Those in the mountains kept their strength, to a limited degree. Also their width and weight. However, their height dropped considerably, as did their lifespans. Their women kept their beards, but there men stared growing them, too. Sometimes the limited control of creation, found universally in elves, is found in them(sometimes limited to Earth, Fire, or Enchantment). These are the dwarves.
Those in the plains lost everything...besides the memory of their original purpose: to dominate the whole of the created universe! Unfortunately, this, too, became warped over time, and they have mistaken dominance with destruction. Some of these share the talent of the elves, but use it to the wrong purpose of destruction. Orcs, these be.
When they made the Banestorm, their Creator sent them messengers to bring them the good news, and to remind them of what they're there
for. The
Christian humans.