Re: What are _____ like in your game?
I like, and use, the Harn idea that they (dwarves and elves) came from Midgaard. Let Tolkein worry about their origins.
Re: Elves
I got banned from a Warhammer site once because my bile spitting towards Wood Elves (forest rats) was deemed rascist by the moderators. I kid you not.
Re: Recommend a fantasy world map?
You could try Harn and Harnworld from Columbia games. They sell four large poster sized maps of a region of the main continent.
http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/allharnitems.cfg