There had to have been animals at some point. Something must have happened to them. [Even in caves, there's still always some sort of naturally occurring wildlife - like bats or moths or other insects.]

We have things like that, the Forsaken. There used to be Endarkened too but they were all defeated in the war. The Forsaken are misshapen but not the Endarkened. They look normal. My father became one; my brother killed him.

I don't know what a qunari is. Is that a kind of faerie?