an icepick through the keyhole

Like I said, I don't necessarily agree with all of this. But on contemplation, perhaps this particular cliche ought to be re-examined. The thing about elves and orcs in modern heroic fantasy is that they seem ultimately derived from Tolkien... sometimes in whole cloth, which gives rise to the somewhat curious idea that elves and orcs are Tolkienish throughout multiple universes.

In fact (again with the caveat that I'm not a big fantasy reader), there only really seem to be one type of elf in modern heroic fantasy... i.e., the Tolkien mold, and for orcs, two types: the Tolkien completely brutish faceless hordes, and the Warhammer/World of Warcraft model of them as a violent, but viable civilization. It's an almost lazy kind of shorthand, as if the writer can say, "that's an elf" and nothing more need be said because Tolkien's elves have had such a powerful impact on the fantasy reader psyche that everything is visualized in a flash. Ditto with orcs.

Again, not that you can't or shouldn't use them, but the question then becomes, why do you need them, story-wise? What's the thematic or in-story role for them? Or even, why call them "elves" or "orcs" to begin with? Can you call them fae, or goblins, or another made up name? Do they even need to look tall and lanky, or brutish and fang-toothed, as the case may be?

My favourite kinds of elves, though, are the ones that Pratchett wrote about in Lords and Ladies, and Gaiman touched on in his Sandman stories. Beautiful, elegant, powerful, and complete and utter bastards. Which turns the Tolkien expectation of them, which has somehow become more prevalent, on its head and takes the idea of the elf back to its more earthy roots. As it should be.