#Riders Of Alagaesia

[gemtail]

After seeing a whole map of the world Alagaesia is in, I know for sure now that there is no way in hell that Galbatorix could have wiped out all dragons. Elea has enough room to where I would not be surprised if there’s other races of dragons. In fact, I would not be surprised if there’s some living riders who are alive but couldn’t fight because of age or something. I would not be shocked if Oromis and the other elders arranged for young dragons and riders to run away with another elder rider with a backup set of eggs and a few eldunari just in case something happened to the ones stashed on Vroengard. And then either along with the complicated spell that hid the Rock of Kuthian or a separate spell, the dragons then made it so that nobody would be able to remember them and that they would not be able to return to Alagaesia until its safe. I’d imagine it would have been only a handful of young riders who weren’t able to fight. Maybe only two or three… or there was a decent amount but the journey killed half.

[lensinkmouse]

For the first time in years, I wrote some fan fiction. Inheritance X How to Train Your Dragon. Does anyone want to read it?

[ihearttseliot]

Canonically, as a storyteller, Brom would have had the story of his time as a Rider, storyteller, and as Eragon's father actually written.

Obviously, he chose Carvahall for many a reason. Having fought Galbatorix for over a hundred years, it does also show canonically that Galbatorix does have a habit of underestimating the simplest things, which Brom would have used to his advantage.

With the long winters, his vast knowledge of the Empire and beyond, and everything in it, he would have had the abilities to not only write volumes, but have it hidden to add to the history for future generations.

[sunprophets]

rereading eragon & taking notes on it for fun and you can really tell this was written by a 15 yr old. like it’s quite apparent at times

[clownboy-yeehonk]

AND ANOTHER THING

Murtagh spends like 200 pages being said lonely and disenfranchised from humans elves and dwarves due to some war crimes (he didn't mean it! Couldn't help it! Enslaved against his will! But he still carries guilt and everyone blames him anyway!)

But then he earns the loyalty and support of werecats, a race that's powerful and cool but sorta on the fringes, and becomes blood Brothers with an urgal (Uvek Windtalker, absolute GOAT), a race that's pretty much universally despised and mistrusted by most of alagaesia for the front half of the series.

Like yes yes yes give me the most patchwork random assortment of a found family for my blorbo. I want dinner at Naduada's table with urgals and werecats and dragons and a random child with an enchanted fork and taste for blood. It's perfect.

Also I want someone to give Uvek a dragon if eragon said urgals could be riders 👏 GIVE 👏 UVEK👏 DRAGONNNN👏👏👏👏

[gangseyboi]

I love eragon so much. He loves being a dragon rider because he loves the connection he has with saphira and the ability it gives him to travel. He loves that he can protect the downtrodden and he tries so hard to be good and does not want to seek out power. He loves learning and magic! He hateeesssss the politics aspect. Its so funny eragon would definitely much rather fly all over alagaesia without a care in the world but hes like i want to help people and to do that i must politick. And hes pretty decent at it at least in terms of ensuring he remains semi neutral as a rider but its so funny he hates it so much. Like hes perfect as the first rider post fall but also i’m sure he wishes he was not the first rider post fall

[truehumanform]

congratulations to Murtagh the Rider for becoming Alagaesia’s first computer scientist

[tonhalszendvics]

Alagaesia is like... big. The size of the Empire judging by the travel times is not that big. Imagine, you are a winged reptile. What makes you live in a place roughly the size of modern day Germany, when you can fly everywhere?

Anyway, the point is, that the continent is big, so there were possibly dragons who had no idea about the dragon-elf war. But the rider-pact had its effect on the whole species, like making them able to SPEAK (according to Brom), and so on.

Which means. Two bros, chilling in a mud-pit, because why not, then they suddenly feel something Weird...

"What the fuck was that, Richard?"

"I don't know, but sitting in a mud lake suddenly feels very gross."

"Hold on, since when do we talk to each other like this?"

[everythingloveandanimated]

So I have a “What if Eragon stayed in Alagaesia” AU cooking up and had a couple of questions

Would Murtagh have had his break down at Ristvak’baen if he was travelling with Eragon? If they were inside together Murtagh might wait until he could be alone then scream,

OR

If he and Thorn arrived at the Tower first and Eragon and Saphira arrived just as Murtagh started screaming, Thorn would tell Eragon to wait and let Murtagh scream himself out first. But when Eragon goes to comfort Murtagh, would Murtagh just get all prickly and slam his walls up, or just be so exhausted that for once he didn’t care about Eragon seeing him so vulnerable?

Would the ordeal with the Draumars had gone the same way? Ending with Murtagh and Eragon and their dragons being tortured and broken to bend to Bachel’s will? Would Eragon and Saphira pull out? Or would Eragon resolve not to leave his brother in danger again?

I do acknowledge the fact that if Bachel had been able to capture Eragon, she would have devoted a lot of her torture sessions to him. She would’ve passed over Murtagh similar to the way she passed over Uvek.

Or, she would dedicate time to them both because you can never have too many dragon riders as your thralls. I feel like Murtagh would feel mostly guilt for dragging his younger brother into this torment and danger, but a small part of him may also be glad that they had now have an acute shared experience.

While Murtagh relives his repressed/most painful memories, Eragon is tormented by his biggest failures and his insecurities. Being the most senior Rider, have so much power and influence and and having so much riding on his decisions and choices and successes

( a very interesting plot point between the brothers would be what do they think of Bachel’s visions about Murtagh and Thorn. You have Eragon who came onto the scene unknown, untrained and untested, and now he has the most prestige and respect amongst all the races of the land. On the other hand, you have Murtagh who has been eclipsed by his father‘s shadow and judged by his own dark and bloody deeds, has precious few allies, and is universally scorned and hated. Murtagh wants his chance for prestige and respect, but questions how it will come about.

also Thorn and Saphira agree how all kinds should worship the race of dragons while Murtagh and Eragon shake their heads at their soul partners’ vanity)

(Back on track) It would be fun/heartwarming to see the brothers battle against the creatures of the mountain, battling through repressed memories and fears and Bachel. Murtagh may or may not get as injured (I’m personally rooting for getting the same battles as he did in canon just for the angst), but it would be very interesting if she posed a complicated challenge for Eragon as well. (Eragon gets a pretty serious wound of his own. And mentally berating his stubborn brother to “just sit still so I can heal you blast it! Alín is fine and you really don’t need to explore that big gaping chasm over there!”)

When they are safe in Illrea, the brothers talk a bit about their experience. Eragon asks if what they went through, was like what Murtagh and Thorn went through when they were Galbatorix’s captives. Murtagh says the methods were similar, but Bachel was far worse. Eragon fears how much of his knowledge has been passed down the ranks of Bachel’s network. Murtagh does note that the situation is very grave, and they will need to prepare quickly and act smartly. He also makes a point to talk with Umaroth about what he knows. …unless Eragon brought Umaroth with him… would he make that a habit of caring Umaroth with him? He definitely kept Glaedr close by.

Anyway, that’s my idea dump/ramble. Any feedback would be welcome and appreciated.

[dam-mar]

Things that I think will happen or want to happen in Murtagh.

As much as I want him too, I don’t think he’ll visit Eragon. However, I do think he’ll see or run into Roran. They’ve never interacted and I think they should. Same with Arya, they were friendly before, i want to see how the dynamic changed.

Nasuada. There’s gonna be so many mentions of her, and they’re probably gonna visit her too. Hopefully they address her whole “wanting to keep magic under lock and key” thing. Love her but that is not it. And, maybe they get to just exist together without the feeling of impending doom?

Unfortunately the Inheritance Cycle did end with me not learning what Angela’s deal is and she better make an appearance to make up for it. She’s too enigmatic not too. I also think we’ll get just a tad bit of her lore too. Maybe some more glimpses of the nomads and Angela’s master that Eragon ran into?

I’m really hoping that it touches on the fact that the Dwarves and Urgals have been added as riders.

Other than that, I think he’s just gonna do around as an independent rider and deal with politics and society of post-war Alagaesia.

[alagaesia-headcanons]

@marimo331 Thank you for the prompt!!! The timeline I'm working with is rather different, so I though an AU would be fun for this! I didn't exactly include dragon egg idea, but something along those lines. (also I already broke my resolve to keep these under 1k hhhh I am nothing if not long winded :'V !)

As a vague set up for this AU, the conflict that decimated the old Riders doesn’t go so favorably for Galbatorix and he isn’t able to secure power, so he and the Forsworn don’t last long after the war. When the chance to rebuild the Riders later presents itself via Eragon and Saphira, it doesn’t require the bloodshed it does in canon. There’s more weight on the Riders’ impact on Alagaesia’s cultures and power dynamics.

-

One month ago, after a series of concerning reports from the port city of Reavstone, Orrin contacted Eragon and requested aid for their investigation. A number of sailors- too many to be explained away as a crew that helped themselves to an excess of rum- have told similar tales of damaged ships and lines, snatched glimpses of uncanny creatures in the water, and ghastly sounds echoing in the caves of the eastern cliffs. A few weeks later, Eragon declared that Murtagh and Thorn would meet him at Reavstone in five days.

That should make the day of their arrival today.

Orrin can’t help but tersely wonder if the reason Eragon didn’t come himself is because of the wrong foot Orrin started off on years ago when the issue of the Riders suddenly reared its head after nearly a century of their absence. Eragon is kind hearted and has likely forgiven his past falters, and it’s of little consequence either way since he did provide the help they asked for, albeit not personally. But all the idle waiting leaves his mind drifting down such paths.

Lost in thought, he doesn’t notice at first several raised voices mingle with the cries of seagulls overhead. “Sire,” Graytooth utters, touching his arm once. His guard points up, redirecting his returned attention to the horizon. A glittering spark of red hangs there in the sky.

“Tell Powel to hail them and ask that they land in the north courtyard when they draw near,” he instructs.

More than an hour passes as they close the distance, the buzz throughout the city steadily mounting as they do. When he finally gets a clear view of them, Orrin worries briefly that even the north courtyard might not be big enough, but Thorn lowers himself with remarkably graceful precision, neatly nestling his enormity amidst the buildings of the keep. His ruby hide casts dazzling sparkles all around. He tastes the air primly, then lowers his noble head, observing all of them curiously.

As he does, in a flash of movement between his wings, Murtagh dismounts with an unhesitating leap to the ground. Running a hand fondly along the length of his neck, he makes his way around his dragon and Orrin gets his first look at the second Rider of the new generation.

Only having Eragon as a reference point, he’d pictured Murtagh resembling his half brother, but in the flesh, he is actually quite different. His figure is wiry and angular, at once appearing more lithe while also sharper around the edges. Loose curls of dark hair are half tied up behind pointed ears, a mark of the changes of a Rider, although he clearly hasn’t shared Eragon’s transformation into the spitting image of an elf. Murtagh doesn’t look entirely human, but he’s not sleekly polished in that elven way.

He’s very handsome, in fact. His eyes are clever and the subtle, sly curl of his lips is compelling. He wears a fine, form fitting tunic with sleeves that reach to his elbows, perhaps to better accommodate use of magic. Orrin would think he’s more of an athlete than a warrior if not for his scarlet sword.

Hand on his chest, he bows his head and greets, “Murtagh, at your service.” Then he holds his hand out towards his partner. “And Thorn, at your service.” Thorn pushes a paw forward in such a way that it hinders the other nobles from approaching, something Orrin feels an unexpectedly profound pulse of gratitude for. The dragon chuffs sonorously and blinks at him, and a breath of awe flutters in Orrin’s chest.

“I am honored,” he exhales, after almost forgetting his decorum facing the odd pair. “I am King Orrin, and on behalf of Surda, I want to thank you for providing your help with these unusual troubles.”

“Of course your majesty, the Riders will always serve people’s needs,” Murtagh replies automatically, giving the formalities only a cursory consideration. “I am the Riders’ expert on unusual troubles, after all, and I feel like I’m due to get another one under my belt,” he quips, wryly alluding to his past which Orrin isn’t wholly familiar with, but that he grasps the broad outline of well enough to know ‘unusual’ is an understatement. “Eragon told me what you said. I was impressed by the insight you had on all the reports.”

“Ahh, well,” Orrin fusses his fingertips over the clasp of his cloak. He didn’t realize that’d been passed along. “With Aberon’s library at my disposal, it seemed only right to do a bit of research.” He pauses for one beat, but Murtagh doesn’t interject, watching attentively. “Well- from all the sources I could gather, I’m very skeptical that it could be a Nïdhwal of any kind. It would be far too close to shore and I couldn’t find a single thing that would account for the sounds. One crew had convinced themselves that Ra’zac had made a den in the cliff-” Murtagh hums in his throat, entertained- “and their paranoia was threatening to spread into a panic. Luckily they listened well enough for me to assure them that it can’t be Ra’zac, as they’d never get so close to the sea.”

“Exactly, exactly,” he concurs intently, waving a hand towards him, “because they suffer in damp nests and-”

“They can’t swim,” Orrin finishes, gesturing back. “Right. Old accounts were thorough enough to rule them out easily, but left more to be desired about other creatures. I have a handful of theories on what this could be, but nothing definite.”

Thorn snorts, his breath ruffling Murtagh’s hair. “Thorn’s right, it sounds like you would be quite the asset for figuring this out. Do you plan to be on the ship that’s going to guide us to the cliff side?”

Orrin falters for a moment, taken aback by the prospect, then instinctively glances over at Graytooth. The look he gets in return is faintly exasperated, although not particularly determined to deny him. His guard wontedly remarks, “It would be dangerous.”

But Orrin can’t focus on that, his mind alive with the thought of fresh, open air outside of city walls, escaping the overbearing and ever present pressure of his court, the allure of a meaningful mystery where his curiosity and urge to understand might have a purpose for once. -And having a dragon and his Rider circling overhead! Surely, with them, the danger wouldn’t be so great.

Indeed, Murtagh offers, “We’d do everything we can to see to your safety.”

“...Do you think it’d make any difference? If I were there?”

Murtagh considers him with an even stare. “I think there’s no way it wouldn’t. In my experience, the right companion might make all the difference when it comes to unusual troubles.” The right companion. Orrin struggles to believe he could ever fill such a role. Murtagh tips his head and shrugs, saying, “It’s up to you if that seems wise, though. I can’t say for sure, and there’s only one way to know.”

Scattering the people gathered in the courtyard like a flock of startled sparrows, Thorn rearranges his legs beneath him and lays down, resting his head on his front paws, flicking the tip of his tail. Orrin feels the projected touch of his mind and his instinct to immediately refocus on his mental defenses lurches up, but after a heartbeat, he relaxes and listens to the dragon say, We’d like to hear your theories.

Orrin can’t restrain a small smile, touched. Murtagh shifts his weight and straightens his shoulders. “I’ll tell you what I learned, then. Whatever I can do to keep this danger from harming anyone else, I’ll do it. So- if it might help, I will join,” he vows.

Thorn purrs as Murtagh grins.

[newtwithinternet]

Some eragon movie sugar (because like yes 90% of this movie is shit, but there are parts i genuinely love):

Brom. Literally all of him. His appearance of a village idiot instead of a storyteller is questionable, but fun, his character is, imo, nailed and i definitely feel like many of his scenes were written with eragon bromsson twist in mind, because they hit hard, when you know ("plow the land, sow wheat and don't get in trouble"? The "better to ask forgiveness than permission" exchange? Brom's last words? Etc, etc, etc). Also his outfit design? Edgy just enough, to be cool, and blue as its signature color? Chef's kiss. (And Irons' performance is great)

the whole thing with soldiers and recruiting, which hopefully helps to avoid complaining about the empire "not looking evil enough"

a thing with the forests of spine being the king's property, because i do think crown owning forests and lands and harming people by it (as they can't use resources from there) is fitting both the "evil enough" empire and the medieval setting.

"i expected someone a little more… Well, more." Also that Durza appears more often (he's written rather terribly, but at least he's here). And that he sent eragon the dream about arya (it makes no sense for the lore and little sense for the plot, yes, but i like it better than eldunarya apparently trying to patch all the holes that are there in alagaesia using some greenie rider.)

"I waited a thousand years to hear your thoughts"

[modern-inheritance]

Swords and Glyphs post war

I think in the MIC post war Rhunön takes some sort of apprentice. Maybe one of Eragon’s 12 guards (not including the Trauma Twins) or someone else. Ooo, maybe Naela. She wants the Rider’s swords to continue on with the new order, start fresh again and this time with spells to prevent the spilling of innocent blood or some such. They don’t move their operation/forge to Mt Arngor, but the journey to Ellesméra for your final tests and Riders sword is a big deal.

When Arya and Firnen start taking students (probably 10-15 years after she and Firnen join Eragon, focusing on general teaching for a while and occasionally being official liaison to Alagaesia for the order during times of crisis since she’s used to that job) and they begin getting their first Riders swords at the end of their training (which, from what we know from IC canon, it seems to take multiple decades to be deemed fit for a Rider blade), Arya starts a new little thing.

Whenever her students successfully clear their trials and they name their swords with Rhunön and her apprentice and the glyph is added, Arya gets Rhunön to tattoo the glyph on her. Smallc probably somewhere like around her forearm, upper arm, etc. Arya and Firnen have an immense pride in their students and it’s a way to show them physically that the teacher isn’t the only one who leaves a mark, but the student does as well.

Eragon occasionally does the same, but he rarely has the time to take direct students. He does, however, with permission from the chieftains of course, accept the gift of tribal tattoos signifying friendship with the urgal clans on his upper arm from the first Urgal student.

[scintillatingfish]

I am rereading the inheritance cycle at the moment and the amount of potential for sequels is crazy. Honestly Christopher pasolini has so much sheer content. I'm thinking older eragon training new riders, new threat from outside alagaesia leading to more exploration of the world as a whole. Timelines with Angela and Elva and an ultimately rewarding love story with arya. There could also be descendants of people like roran and katsina, potentially a love story between nasuada and murtagh and their children. Oh and there could be new races and creatures as well. Maybe a shade becomes a rider or something I dunno. I think spirits should be covered in more detail. Focus on Dwarf and urgal riders and stuff. It would be great I can't be the only one that wants this rlly bad

[glbtrx]

I decided that I'll try to defend every villain of the Inheritance Cycle (it's just for fun, don't take it too seriously lol)

The Raz'ac: that's easy; They were practically animals, and animals are not "evil" or "good" because they only think about the survival of their race, just like the Raz'ac, who we remember, were blackmailed by Galbatorix to work for him. And let's face it, if pigs had a conscience then we'd be monsters too, right?

Morzan: ehm he was in his rebellious era, you know how teenagers are *nervous giggle*. I mean, I don't blame him. Imagine having a kid (nerdy and polite) as friend who loves you through and through even though you're trying to be the bad boy. And then a really badass dude comes along and asks you to join his gang; what do you do, refuse? No, you don't refuse.

Durza: If we are to be objective and truthful, Durza were a group of spirits who only wanted chaos. So? Who says chaos is "evil"? He is believed to be bad only because he has killed people, but first, it is in his nature, second, you think he is unfair only because it is inconvenient for you, who that you are human, and therefore potential victims of him. I bet all the slugs in Alagaesia love Durza.

Galbatorix: There's no telling he wasn't doing the right thing. Was he cruel? Yes, absolutely. But many times in story the leaders had to be 'cruel', or had to sacrifice great things for even greater and more just causes. Galbatorix was a good king, who wanted to remove the greatest injustice of Alagaësia, namely magic, for the good of his people. This required the destruction of the Riders, the limitation of the command of the selfish elves, but Galbatorix would finally do the right thing, even if with harsh methods.

The twins: There are no excuses for these assholes.

[shipfishwrites]

Tell us about the pern eragon coss over ideas please ? <3

oh my goshh ahh now i'm nervous that my ideas are bad but ok if you INSIST i will do it because i think it's so fun

so first of all there are some random floating ideas about like, how to compromise how dragons work on pern versus in alagaesia. obviously the main thematic parts are all there (dragons hatch for one person and have a very tight psychic bond and there's not really a temeraire-style crew situation) but you have to think about the ranks, the hatchings, the magic, eldunari, the riders vs the weyrmen, etc etc

i chose to do it more like importing some aspects of pern dragons onto alagaesia dragons as the base. i was just more interested in doing that since i wanted more alageasian world building elements also (like different species of humanoids). doing it the other way around would surely be super fascinating, or doing it like a direct isekai/true crossover would be fascinating as well (surely between can get you to parallel universes!!)

so like the obvious main thing is RANKS. i chose to keep the alagaesian dragon idea that dragons can be any color and that sex/gender doesn't matter and instead ported over some of the thematic or narrative purpose elements of each canon pern color and made them physical characteristics used to "sort" dragons -- but the lines are somewhat fuzzy, bc i like fuzzy

in reverse order of perceived importance: (also happens to be reverse order of rarity)

arrow (green equiv) - kind of a lumper section. anyone who isn't anything else is an arrow, right? a prototypical arrow is small and fast and has good stamina, and might be stereotyped as somewhat adhd or direct or jocks

whip (blue equiv) - also kind of a waste basket group. prototypically more sinuous and longbodied than other types, with better flexibility and agility. it's unclear to what extent this is a real morphotype or to what extent it is just handy to have two groups for everything that isn't one of the next three. supposedly more calm and rational and scholarly than arrows.

shield (brown equiv) - the unique thing about shields is that they have magically-enhanced healing -- but like many magics in alagaesia, it's not exactly perfect. they are visually distinct because their scales are opaque and even harder than other dragon's scales

tower (bronze equiv) - while adults may or may not be noticeable as towers, as young dragons always are. they are developmentally delayed. if normally a dragon begins to speak around two weeks old and begins to flame by six months, a tower might take a month or two to speak and a year or two to flame!

spirit (gold equiv) - very little distinguishes spirits from arrows or whips -- they can also masquerade as shields or towers, but very rarely. once they are grown and their rider discovers or develops their capacity as a mage, their uniqueness shows: spirits confer their riders huge amounts of magical power, even more than a dragon typically does

i would be... so happy to discuss more about my thoughts for any of the ranks bc i really did think about them very hard!!! ehehe

as for the other things...

@firecoloredwater helped with the plot. the one i think about the most is sort of an alt version of the rider war! instead of galbatorix there's a different young and hotshot rider sort of based on the worst of kylara and f'lar's characteristics... so she's called kyf'lara LOL

some riders and dragons are hiding in various places when someone finds a small cache of eggs. this along with kyf'lara forcing the urgals into the evil spell that makes them all go fight leads to several slightly feuding groups of riders and support join together to try to get these eggs hatched!

alas! everything sucks too much!

they flee into the spine but are found by an urgal village!! it turns out they were protected by their shaman from the evil spell. she takes the lead in welcoming them but isn't shy about needing help in return. doot doot her granddaughter the shamaness in training hangs out with the riders and elves and

oops

egg

this causes the riders to realize kyf'lara has somehow fucked with the rider bond bc that's supposed to be impossible, only humans and elves can impress dragons

my main squeezes there are an indlvarn pair, formerly spirit, a shield and her dumb man, and an elf whose main job is to hang around cryptically and in a nonbinary manner