I really want more of the history of Gridania to be expanded upon.

If the elementals are eternal as the dragons, then we can reason that they take any sort of violence towards them and theirs in the same way.

Essentially, the ancient peoples of the Twelveswood bargained with the Elementals to stay within the forest. After getting the list of strict rules that put keeping the forest in balance, a portion of the population refused to deal with them, and were driven into the caves. This is how the split between Wildwood and Duskwright happened to the Elezan, and essentially the root of all the racial tension.