Several months after Saphira hatches, two menacing, beetle-like strangers called the Ra’zac arrive in Carvahall, searching for the stone that was Saphira’s egg. It is into this tense political situation that Eragon finds himself thrust. The stalemate between Galbatorix and the other races has endured for over a hundred years, during which all of the Forsworn have died from various causes. His actions forced the elves to retreat deep within their pinewood forest and the dwarves to hide in their tunnels and caves, and neither race now ventures forth from its secret places. With the help of those cruel disciples, Galbatorix threw down the Riders killed their leader, Vrael and declared himself king over Alagaësia. He stole another dragon-whom he named Shruikan and forced to serve him through certain black spells-and gathered around himself a group of thirteen traitors: the Forsworn. The loss drove him mad, and when his elders refused to provide him with another dragon, Galbatorix set out to topple the Riders. After many years of peace, the warlike Urgals killed the dragon of a young human Rider named Galbatorix. When humans arrived in Alagaësia, they too were added to this elite order. Under their guidance and protection, the land enjoyed a golden age. The Riders became peacekeepers, educators, healers, natural philosophers, and the greatest of all magicians-since being joined with a dragon makes one a spellcaster. The Dragon Riders were created thousands of years earlier in the aftermath of the devastating war between the elves and the dragons, in order to prevent their two races from ever again fighting each other. He names the dragon Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village storyteller, Brom. When Eragon touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary Dragon Riders. Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges.

Nothing is known of Eragon’s father his mother, Selena, was Garrow’s sister and has not been seen since Eragon’s birth.

Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised Eragon. Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Garrow, and his cousin, Roran, outside the small village of Carvahall. Eragon-a fifteen-year-old farm boy-is shocked when a polished blue stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine.

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