I think the Alsirian Empire should just start showing more of its aggression and expansionistic side. It is, afterall, an empire, and the original story was that they're running out of resources and land and need to expand, but they need to have their own reasons for hating Syrtis or Ignis because otherwise it wouldn't make sense.
To draw a parallel from Warcraft, Ignis to me seems a lot like the Forsaken and the Blood Elves (before the Forsaken crossed the moral event horizon and the blood elves went good again, that IMO ruined two perfectly good races). They're vengeful, hated by those who they would've once given their lives to protect, and are trying to survive in a world that hates and fears them (which means making them different from wood elves in a way other than skin colour and fighting style). They're pragmatic, savage and brutal, placing their own survival above anything else, and ensuring that they do survive by any means necessary. When applying this to their war effort, they'd take a "shoot first, ask questions never" approach when it comes to enemies who dare encroach on their sacred land.
As for Syrtis, they shouldn't be fighting purely to defend their forest, but rather should be zealous about protecting their land, and take the "YOU DEFILED OUR FORESTS SO WE'RE GONNA GENOCIDE THE HELL OUT OF YOU" approach. As it is, they're just generic fantasy elf race #471 and it is not interesting.
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