The Inheritance Almanac Read online

According to the Varden weapon master, Fredric, every great warrior must wield a sword that has a name, whether given by the warrior or by the bards who sing of the swordsman’s exploits. More than a mere weapon, a named sword is the essence of a warrior, making it unthinkable to go into combat with any other weapon. For a Dragon Rider, a named sword has even greater meaning, symbolizing both the individual and the proud lineage of the order. Also, according to the Rider Oromis, all Riders’ swords have a jewel in the pommel in which the Rider stores energy. The female elf Rhunön fashioned all the Dragon Rider swords from brightsteel. Her famous swords include the following:

  Arvindr: One of the few remaining Rider swords within the elves’ possession. It is located in the elven city of Nädindel.

  Támerlein: Another of the remaining Riders’ swords in the possession of the elves. Imbued with a rich green hue and topped by a large emerald, this sword was made larger than normal and designed to be wielded with two hands. The powerful sword was originally crafted for Arva, the elven Dragon Rider who, when mortally wounded in battle, gave the sword to his sister, Naudra. When Naudra also fell from her own battle wounds, the sword came under the protection of Lord Fiolr of the House Valtharos, who offered the sword to Eragon for use in battle. Eragon, realizing the Támerlein was a poor fit for him, declined.

  Undbitr: The original blue sword of Brom, which was lost in the course of the many battles that marked the downfall of the Riders.

  Naegling: The golden and bronze sword of Oromis, Rider of Glaedr, marked at the hilt by a giant golden jewel that stores vast magical energy. The sword, which saw the Rider through many successful battles, was lost after Oromis’s death.

  Zar’roc: The most infamous Dragon Rider sword. The name means “Misery,” and the sword was created for the Dragon Rider Morzan before he became the dark disciple of Galbatorix. The sword is blood-red; the pommel is set with a ruby for storing energy. With Morzan’s death, the sword was taken by Brom, who passed it on to Eragon. Zar’roc was later taken from Eragon by Murtagh (who had been forced to declare his allegiance to Galbatorix) during the Battle of the Burning Plains.

  Brisingr: After the Fall of the Riders, the elf smith Rhunön swore never to forge another Rider sword. Presented with Eragon’s plight, however, she circumvented her oath by guiding Eragon, who fashioned the sword himself. One of its unique (and unintended) magical properties is the ability to burst into a blue flame when Eragon utters the word Brisingr while holding it. This color matches the scales of Eragon’s dragon, Saphira. Eragon used it for the first time in the Battle of Feinster.

  RIDER SWORDS ARE MADE OF METALLIC GLASS, WHICH IS A REAL SUBSTANCE THAT IS MUCH STRONGER THAN REGULAR STEEL.

  The oldest and wisest race to inhabit Alagaësia, dragons are believed to be as old as the continent. In dwarven myth, the brother gods Urûr, god of the air and heavens, and Morgothal, god of fire, combined their talents to create the dragon race. Dragons are highly intelligent, fire-breathing creatures (gaining the latter ability at five to six months old), capable of flying great distances. Dragons’ scales are shiny as polished gems, and they come in every color of the rainbow. A dragon never stops growing, and a mature dragon’s wingspan can easily measure a hundred feet across. Dragons use a powerful, instinctual magic that even they cannot fully predict or control.

  The seminal event of dragon history was the Dragon War against the elves. The five-year struggle ended with a peace pact and ushered in the lineage of Dragon Riders who kept the peace for the next 2,600 years.

  The bond between a dragon and his or her Rider is immutable; their closeness is typified by their telepathic communication. Although virtually wiped out during Galbatorix’s rise to power, dragons live on in their Eldunarí, a secret revealed after the Siege of Feinster.

  SEE DRAGONS AND RIDERS IN THE APPENDIX. SEE ALSO ELDUNARÍ.

  THE GEMLIKE SCALES OF CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI’S DRAGONS WERE INSPIRED IN PART BY THE IRIDESCENT FEATHERS OF THE HUMMINGBIRD. HUMMINGBIRDS ARE ALSO ONE OF THE FEW CREATURES THAT HAVE COLORS AS PURE AND BRIGHT AS A DRAGON’S.

  SEE DU FYRN SKULBLAKA.

  Kinnell, a master shipwright, was responsible for the Dragon Wing, one of the finest sailing ships ever built. It was owned by the Blackmoor Shipping Company, a front for the Empire. Bonden, a sailor who assisted in the theft of this prized sailing ship, joined Jeod Longshanks and other escapees on the journey to Surda.

  An assassin trained “in the dark uses of magic” whose attempt to kill Nasuada with a metal dart was thwarted by Elva. The short, bearded, plain-looking Drail committed suicide by magic upon his capture by Nasuada’s warriors.

  SEE BLACK HAND.

  A sprawling Empire city on the eastern edge of Leona Lake, infamous for its poverty, flourishing slave trade, and dark religion. Dras-Leona is one of the most poorly planned cities in Alagaësia; the roads leading in are often crowded with farmers bringing their goods to the city market.

  An atmosphere of evil pervades Dras-Leona. In fact, the city was built because of its proximity to the rock spires of Helgrind, a few miles to the east. Despite poor city planning and ramshackle neighborhoods, the city defenses are well engineered and include a large wall patrolled by sentries and archers. Dras-Leona’s ruler, Lord Marcus Tábor, is a loyal servant of the Empire but has incurred the wrath of Galbatorix.

  The most significant structure in Dras-Leona, which can be seen as one approaches the city gates, is a cathedral whose design emulates the vertical spires of Helgrind. Situated in the physical center of the rambling city, the cathedral is the heart of a religion whose practitioners drink human blood and make flesh offerings. Many of the priests are missing body parts due to their belief that offering up their own flesh makes them less attached to the physical world.

  SEE HELGRIND.

  A magical phenomenon found in Mani’s Caves.

  SEE BEOR MOUNTAINS.

  SEE CLANMEET.

  The mountain range in the Hadarac Desert where wild dragons traditionally mated, raised their young, and passed into the void. The name means “The Blasted Mountains.”

  The first war in Alagaësia’s history marked a turning point for all life on the continent. Du Fyrn Skulblaka pitted native dragons against the elves who had migrated to Alagaësia. The war’s cause was a tragic misunderstanding—the elves, who are superior hunters, assumed dragons were wild beasts, not the highly evolved sentient beings they are. When some elves tracked and killed them for sport, the dragons declared war. Both races were equal in cunning and ferocity. Casualties mounted on both sides. Locked in combat, the opponents raced toward mutual extinction, neither gaining an advantage.

  The turning point came when a young elf named Eragon discovered a dragon egg and protected it. Eragon and Bid’Daum, the hatchling dragon, became inseparable, and theirs was the first bond between dragons and elves. With the end of the war, the Dragon Riders were formed and charged with maintaining peace and security for all.

  King Galbatorix rose to power with the destruction of the Dragon Riders. For dragons, the bitterest betrayal of the great lineage was the thirteen dragons who joined Galbatorix and the Thirteen Forsworn. In retaliation, dragons opposing Galbatorix stripped those renegade dragons of their spoken and true names. This powerful act of magic became known as Du Namar Aurboda, or The Banishing of the Names. The spell was unforgiving—without names, the dragons were without purpose and many were reduced to madness and the brute level of animals.

  SEE FORSWORN.

  Referring to the dwarf clan, dûrgrimst literally means “our hall” or “our home.”

  A powerful dwarf clan known for its skilled smith work. Many kings have come from its ranks, including Hrothgar and Orik. Eragon himself was made an honorary member by Hrothgar, a gesture that bound Eragon to the clan and allows him to attend dwarven councils.

  SEE DWARF CLANS IN THE APPENDIX.

  In the Dwarvish language, “clan war.” It has been two centuries since the last dûrgrimstvren, although tensions between
the clans recently came to the boiling point.

  SEE CLANMEET.

  The craftsman who devoted his life to shaping the great gemstone sculpture of the dwarf nation, Isidar Mithrim. His name means “Eagle-eye.”

  A sorcerer whose life story is a tragic example not only of evil begetting evil but also of the deadly risks inherent in the use of magic. Durza began life as Carsaib, a young man who lived with his parents in the empty plains after their tribe called his father an oath breaker and abandoned them. After his parents were murdered by strangers, the distraught youth wandered the desert. He was near death when discovered by the hermit wizard Haeg, who nicknamed him “Desert Rat.” Haeg nursed him back to health and trained him in sorcery. When a spell backfired and crippled Haeg, it was his apprentice’s turn to care for the ailing hermit. However, not long after his recovery, Haeg was murdered by bandits. Carsaib, seeking revenge, summoned spirits to do his will, but they in turn possessed him, transforming him into Durza the Shade. Durza became a powerful figure in the Empire, second only to his master, Galbatorix.

  A tall and powerfully built figure with blood-red hair that contrasted with his translucent skin, Durza was not only a great magician but also a skilled warrior and military leader who was assigned the most vital matters of the Empire. In a rare failure, Durza missed by seconds the chance to regain the dragon egg stolen from Galbatorix, which the elf princess Arya magically transported to the Spine. Although Durza captured and tortured Arya, she did not reveal the whereabouts of the egg or any secrets of the Varden.

  The Empire went on the offensive after discovering the Varden sanctuary in Farthen Dûr, within the Beor Mountains. Durza used magic to gain control of an army of Urgals that led the attack on the Varden. While in fierce combat with Eragon, Durza was destroyed when a thrust of Eragon’s sword pierced his heart, releasing the spirits and ending his reign of terror.

  SEE ARYA.

  SEE ELF CHILDREN.

  An elven song celebrating the sea.

  One of the guards for the dwarf clan chief Ûndin.

  SEE BURNING PLAINS.

  The organization of spellcasters who serve the Varden but whose actions are unpredictable. The name means “The Wandering Path.”

  SEE TRIANNA AND TWINS.

  The largest forest in Alagaësia, Du Weldenvarden (“The Guarding Forest”) spreads across much of the continent’s northern area. When Eragon first approached this region, he saw it as a ridge of green that became a virtual emerald sea as he got closer—Like another world, he thought.

  Thousands of years of elven spellcasting in Du Weldenvarden has resulted in trees of incredible size, notably oaks, beeches, pines, and maples. The forest is home to most of the elf population, and elven settlements include seven villages and cities, notably Ellesméra, the capital. The elves have become guardians of the forest and have placed magical wards around it that prevent anyone or any-thing from entering it by magical means.

  SEE LIOTHA AND MENOA TREE.

  SEE FORSWORN.

  A spellweaver of old, dedicated to studying and inventing defensive spells, Dvalar is known for his special spells of protection.

  Although there is much secrecy connected to the burial rites of dwarves, it is known that dwarves believe they are people of stone and that bodies of the dead must be sealed in stone. Only then can dwarves be assured that their spirits reach the Hall of Helzvog. In the passageways under Farthen Dûr exist the chambers in which dwarves are entombed in the ancient custom.

  SEE AJIHAD’S TOMB.

  Dwarves believe that their gods vanquished giants who once ruled the world. Helzvog, the god of stone, defied the other gods and secretly created the first dwarf. There was great jealousy, and only Kílf restrained herself as the other gods created their own races: Sindri made human beings, and the brothers Urûr and Morgothal brought forth the dragons.

  Along with dragons, the oldest sentient race in Alagaësia. Dwarves have an innate knowledge of magic and are renowned in metallurgy, blacksmithing, and other fields. Dwarves believe they were created “from the roots of a mountain” by Helzvog, the god of stone. Their word for dwarf is knurla, which literally means “one of stone.” The dwarven pantheon of omnipotent beings includes Kílf, goddess of rivers and seas; Sindri, goddess of the earth; the brothers Urûr, god of air and heavens, and Morgothal, god of fire; and Güntera, king of the gods.

  The foundation of dwarven culture is the clan system: thirteen clans, each ruled by a powerful chief. But all dwarves are ruled by a king elected by the clans at a clanmeet, a gathering that can involve months of deliberation and debate before a vote is cast.

  The dwarves, who originally dwelt in the verdant lands of what would become the Hadarac Desert, migrated to the Beor Mountains when the climate became inhospitable. In that mighty mountain range, they began excavating a vast network of tunnels and building magnificent cities that are among the wonders of Alagaësia. Eragon himself has observed that dwarves can reshape granite with the same degree of skill with which elves reshape plants. Their skill as stone-workers is evident in the tunnels and passageways of the gigantic volcanic crater of Farthen Dûr, while the capital of Tronjheim situated there is a mountain-sized city that took generations to build and could house the nation in an emergency. The greatest work of dwarven craftsmanship is Isidar Mithrim, which crowns Tronjheim’s pyramidal heights, a rose-colored star sapphire sixty feet across that Dûrok Ornthrond took fifty-seven years to extract from stone and sculpt to perfection.

  Despite its great accomplishments, the race has destructive impulses, as even King Orik noted in the course of the clanmeet that elected him. Dwarves are generally contemptuous of the outside world, and a regret of Orik’s was that when dragons and elves formed the Dragon Riders, the dwarves did not ask to be included. But even Orik, recalling the legends of giants who once ruled the earth, has referred to humans and elves as the “giants” of the present age, “stomping about with their big feet and casting us in endless shadows.”

  SEE DWARVEN BURIAL RITES AND DWARF CLANS IN THE APPENDIX. SEE ALSO ISIDAR MITHRIM AND TRONJHEIM.

  THE DWARF CAVES WERE PARTIALLY INSPIRED BY THE CARLSBAD CAVERNS IN NEW MEXICO AND THE LEWIS AND CLARK CAVERNS IN MONTANA.

  An elven poet whose writings are often quoted as examples to wayward youths.

  A medium-sized farming village of the Empire twenty miles north of Melian. Eastcroft is a popular stop for travelers journeying between the Empire’s southernmost towns and cities. Eragon stopped here while traveling alone after the defeat of the Ra’zac in Helgrind; Arya found him at the wayfarers’ house.

  The lord mentioned in the song “Sweet Aethrid o’ Dauth.”

  SEE AETHRID.

  One of the three barges that Roran and the villagers of Carvahall took from Narda.

  SEE UTGARD MOUNTAIN.

  Varden captain, one of Nasuada’s commanders. In an infamous incident, Roran defied Edric’s orders during battle. Roran feared that Edric was leading the men to slaughter and shifted tactics midstream in order to save the men from massacre and win the battle. Although Nasuada relieved Edric of his command, Roran’s insubordination resulted in a punishment of fifty lashes.

  SEE RORAN.

  SEE SPINE, THE.

  South of Helgrind, this former elven stronghold and watchtower today lies in ruins. The crumbling tower has since become the home of the cloistered hermit Tenga.

  SEE TENGA.

  An elf from Ceris.

  One of the guards for the dwarf clan chief Ûndin.

  Horst’s wife and the mother of Albriech and Baldor. A small, willowy woman, she is a mother figure to Eragon and Katrina, Roran’s wife. She was five months pregnant during the siege of Carvahall and ill and overdue during the Siege of Feinster.

  General term for the ancient races of Alagaësia.

  One of the great secrets of Alagaësia is the Eldunarí, also known as a dragon’s heart of hearts. This gemlike object is a physical part of a dragon, buried deep within the chest a
rea. Within it, the dragon can store an immense amount of energy, as well as its consciousness. Every dragon is born with a dormant and colorless Eldunarí. As the dragon ages, the Eldunarí grows in both size and energy-storing capacity. A dragon may, if it so chooses, disgorge its heart of hearts, which then allows the dragon to exist in two places at once: in its original body and in the Eldunarí. This was often useful when a dragon and its Rider had to travel apart. If the dragon keeps its heart of hearts within its body, the gemlike object will dissolve upon the dragon’s death.

  An Eldunarí is a source of vulnerability for a dragon, for whoever possesses a heart of hearts holds a dragon’s life in his hands. If an Eldunarí breaks, the dragon will instantly die, both in mind and in body.

  Before they formed their pact with the elves, dragons traditionally hid a store of disgorged Eldunarí within Du Fells Nángoröth, the mountains of the Hadarac Desert. When the Riders created a repository for the Eldunarí on the island of Vroengard, dragons entrusted this most important part of themselves to their Riders. When a dragon’s Rider passed away, the dragon often either smashed its own heart of hearts or, if its body was no more, arranged for someone else to do it for them. But not always. A fair number of dragons continued to live on and serve the Riders as best they could from their heart of hearts. The elven Rider Oromis has observed that the question of how a living Eldunarí acquires its energy is a mystery—is it similar to how plants absorb sunlight, or does it feed off the energy of other living things? No one knows, not even the dragons.