Unconscious, he was taken to their holdings, and his body healed. He slept for four days. Upon awakening he gave no sign of his fevered mind. When he was brought before a council convened to judge him, Galbatorix demanded another dragon. The desperation of the request revealed his dementia, and the council saw him for what he truly was. Denied his hope, Galbatorix, through the twisted mirror of his madness, came to believe it was the Riders’ fault his dragon had died. Night after night he brooded on that and formulated a plan to exact revenge.— Brom
The Fall of the Dragon Riders was a period in Alagaësia when the Dragon Riders began to be destroyed.
History[]
The Glory[]
Before your grandfathers’ fathers were born, and yea, even before their fathers, the Dragon Riders were formed. To protect and guard was their mission, and for thousands of years they succeeded. Their prowess in battle was unmatched, for each had the strength of ten men. They were immortal unless blade or poison took them. For good only were their powers used, and under their tutelage tall cities and towers were built out of the living stone. While they kept peace, the land flourished. It was a golden time. The elves were our allies, the dwarves our friends. Wealth flowed into our cities, and men prospered. But weep… for it could not last.— Brom
After Du Fyrn Skulblaka, the Dragon Riders were created as a means to stop the races from ever fighting such a bloody war ever again. Their mission was to protect and serve: for thousands of years, it worked, with the elves as allies, and the dwarves as friends, although some dwarves protested against the dragons. The land experienced a golden era of peace and happiness. Wealth flowed into all the cities, and the races were growing strength forcing the monstrous Urgals into the barren lands of the far north.
When humans arrived the first signs of fall began with the Palancar Crisis. Later, the War of Iron, though resolved by the Dragon Riders, marked Alagaesia deeply unstable.
Then a young boy named Galbatorix was chosen as a rider and thus the fall began...
The Cause[]
A young Dragon Rider named Galbatorix recklessly took his friends and Dragon Jarnunvösk to lands where Urgals were known to live, arrogantly believing that their dragons and Magic would protect them from danger. However, they were attacked, and while Galbatorix survived, his friends were butchered and Jarnunvösk was tragically killed by a stray Arrow which pierced through her heart. Galbatorix wandered around looking for Death, half-mad with the loss of his dragon. Urgals and other monsters soon fled from him as he attempted to travel through the Spine. Galbatorix was close to death when a farmer found him collapsed in the mud and he summoned the Riders.
When Galbatorix recovered, he requested another egg to replace the dragon he lost. The Elders, however, refused, as they could tell that Galbatorix had gone corrupt.
Shruikan[]
Angered, in 7886 AC, Galbatorix instigated the death of two of the order's members and fled. He later convinced another Rider named Morzan, one strong of body but weak of mind, to unlock a gate to the Dragonhold in Ilirea. Galbatorix found and stole a black dragon hatchling, which he bound to his will with dark magic and named Shruikan. Only after, he began his rebellion against the Order.
The Fall[]
At the beginning, only Galbatorix and Morzan began their campaign against the Order. The order's members didn't worry too much, as Galbatorix wasn't the first Rider to turn against them, though he was the first who had a follower.
Every time Galbatorix killed a Rider's dragon, he took their Eldunarí. Soon, with the power of the enslaved dragons, he was much stronger than the Riders and easily slaughtered them. Thirteen other Riders, including Morzan, joined his ranks and formed the Forsworn.
The first Forsworn's attacks were confusing, and nobody knew exactly what was happening. Searching answers, one of the Riders' leaders, Oromis and his dragon Glaedr, traveled to an Order's outpost, but after arriving there, their two escorts, the Riders Kialandi and Formora, in reality two Forsworn, attacked them. They expected to force the Elf to join them or capture him, but he and his dragon managed to escape, crippled both. They escaped to the city of Ilirea, but found very few Riders: most had departed in search of Galbatorix or to Vroengard, the Riders' headquarters. Oromis sent all important documents and Eldunarí to Doru Areaba before congregating any nearby Rider in Ilirea, reading to defend the city... but in vain: In the Battle of the Plains of Ilirea, Galbatorix and his men, every time stronger, attacked and took the city, killing any Rider they found. Only Oromis, still recovering from his wounds, managed to escape before the attack.
Battle of Doru Araeba[]
All the remaining Riders congregated in Doru Araeba. As the Forsworn were slaughtering any wild dragons, others, like Belgabad, the biggest wild dragon of his time, joined the defense, leaving Oromis and Glaedr the only two not present. It was futile, for when Galbatorix and his Forsworn attacked, they were unstoppable, slaughtering any Rider easily and even killing Belgabad. Realizing the Riders were doomed, their leaders made a plan to save all they could: they hid all the eldunarí and Dragon eggs they had in the Vault of Souls. After that, a Rider whose Dragon had been killed, Thuviel, made himself explode to cover the eggs' absence, made them appear destroyed. The explosion killed a Forsworn, Glaerun, and several Riders. Galbatorix and the other Forsworn, however, managed to survive. After the explosion, the Forsworn killed all the remaining Riders and looted Doru Areaba of anything useful before leaving.
The only known surviving Rider of the battle was Brom, who lost his female dragon, Saphira, in the fight.
At least a battle happened in the South, near what later will be Surda. There, a Dragon put on fire the turba underground, being named The Burning Plains. 100 years later, during Battle of The Burning Plains, it was still burning, with fires reaching the surface everywhere.
The Riders' leader, Vrael, was said to be the only one who could defeat Galbatorix in combat. However, he too finally fell in battle to the insane Rider due to his hesitation to deliver the fatal blow, allowing Galbatorix to capitalize and wound Vrael in the side. Vrael then fled to Utgard Mountain to rest and regain his strength, but Galbatorix did not let his advantage slip and followed him. They met once more, but as the injured Vrael attempted to fight, Galbatorix kicked him "in the fork of his legs," before decapitating the elder Rider. By the year 7900 AC, the Order had been destroyed.
With Vrael dead, Galbatorix murdered King Angrenost of Broddring, slew the Elvenking Evandar and then declared himself ruler of the new Empire.
The Last Riders.[]
At the end, only two Riders survived: Oromis and Brom. Unable to fight, Oromis hid in the forest, awaiting for a future opportunity. Meanwhile, as Galbatorix remained in Urû'baen, bending the enslaved Hearts of Hearts to his will, a large portion of the south rebelled and formed the independent country of Surda under the rule of Lady Marelda after she lead the Surdan army to victory against the Imperial Army at Cithrí. After the creation of the independent country of Surda, Brom, one of the two last free riders in existence, used the turmoil to gather and merge various groups opposed to Galbatorix and the Broddring Empire together into one rebel movement known as the Varden. Brom led the Varden for a few years and during this time, his name became a nightmare to the Forsworn and a beacon of hope to all who wished to rebel, with at least two members of the Forsworn, alongside their dragons, eventually perishing at Brom's hand and more than five others dying due to Brom's arrangement. Unbeknownst to anyone, Brom was not alone and was often silently aided by the hidden Eldunarí of the Vault of Souls. Eventually the remaining twelve Forsworn trickled down to one: Morzan. Brom eventually surrendered his position to Weldon in order to pursue his true passion: Morzan's downfall.