The defeat of the "Dusk" Elf tribe of the Zarovich Valley followed the betrayal of their own blood, and the closing grip of the von Zarovich conquest. Diminished by the murder of their elder council when Rahadin betrayed the elves and punished them for his exile, the elves were pressed into surrender by Strahd von Zarovich's armies. They were forbidden from returning to their sanctuaries in the Svalich Woods and stripped of alliances beyond the valley. By Strahd’s decree, the survivors were gathered and relocated to the Vistani Camp west of Vallaki, placed under Vistani watch as wards and prisoners alike. What remained of the tribe endured in exile, cut off from their lands, customs, and names.
Life beneath Vistani oversight varied with the character of its leaders. Under Velikov, the elves were given shelter and a measure of dignity, though never freedom. After his death by the hands of Zandros, the camp hardened. The dusk elves were tolerated only so long as they remained compliant and invisible. It was during this long confinement that Patrina Morvaris, once the tribe’s pride, withdrew from her people and pursued forbidden knowledge. Her return was marked by fear, as rumors of her dealings with Strahd and darker powers spread among the elders.
When Patrina was finally confronted by the elven leaders and her brother Kasimir Morvaris, she was bound by elven magic and forced to speak truth. She confessed to many acts of corruption, foremost among them the murder of an elven child in pursuit of arcane power. The act shattered what restraint remained among the leaders. Believing they needed to deny Strahd a weapon and a bride, and in rage at a second betrayal by their own kin, the council condemned Patrina to death. Once magically depleted, she was stoned to death, and her body left as proof of their defiance and their shame.
Strahd’s response to the stoning was swift and absolute. Declaring the dusk elves guilty of stealing what was his, he ordered their destruction, and ordered Rahadin to carry out their punishment. Every female elf was slaughtered, and the surviving males were mutilated as a lasting reminder of submission. Leadership fell to the broken and the grieving, and the dusk elves ceased to exist as a people in any true sense.