Is it possible that Vrael and Oromis became riders around the same time? Was thinking about possible story lines set in the past and I thought it would be cool of they were part of the same Rider class. Also does anyone know how long Vrael had been leader of the Riders by the time he died?
Just wanted to say how much I love being able to be a part of this sub and discuss this universe with y'all. I started posting and commenting a lot more recently since listening to the books again, and its been really nice being able to hyper focus on something I love for a while instead of just moving on to the next thing. I do sometimes go back and forth in some discussions trying to make a point, and I will absolutely be wrong plenty of times and maybe come off a bit rude (I try not to but sometimes I try harder than other times). I just wanted to say that even then, I love this community and that we all love Eragon so much together enough to engage on all the posts and comments. Don't know where this came from, just wanted to say thank you and I love you guys.
Now who the heck names their kid GALBATORIX??!?!?!?!
Thats the kinda name the dark lord gives to their equally evil spawn. Did he become a rider and just think "Id be a lot cooler if I wasn't introduced as 'Archibald, Dragon Rider'." That would make the most sense, it was a teenager who came up with the name in the first place. Imagine Brom telling Eragon he is destined to duel the evil Emperor, the betrayer of the Dragon Riders, the Egg Breaker... Tim.
I will start off with saying that I am, at this point, someone who enjoys my fantasy settings to be pre-gunpowder in terms of development and technology. As it pertains to Eragon, Surda as a nation seems a likely candidate to discover new tech and possibly weapons within the verse, not to mention what could be introduced from outside what we already know. For a long time my own opinion has been I dont want something like that to happen, i just feel like i would not enjoy it as much. I do admit that I have not read many books that try to blend fantasy with more modern industry and technology (maybe one day). So I have not put much thought into it so far.
Today I finally began ruminating on how a rider might deal with an encounter with a pirate ship (with cannons) thanks to all the Windrose and Black Flag clips. I began to think about how a rider might try to defend themselves (the energy cost would significantly change the math in engagements). I came to think that warfare would probably start to look a lot like our own, just with dragons instead of airplanes.
That was before considering magic used for offense and the range and precision with which a magician may cast a spell. Having just played KCD2 and watched Sharpe's Mission in the past, one aspect of having an army with firearms is the need to store your ammo/powder. Blowing up that store is probably the most effective method of depriving a foe of their firepower. Given the capabilities of magicians, it could be easier to accomplish such a task via magic than infiltration. Granted, perhaps the location could be warded from discovery or outside spells. What about a rider simply detonating all the gunpowder the enemy soldiers are carrying? To avoid this, the powder would probably need to be warded to not detonate until certain conditions are met. Maybe a rider could use a spell to sabatoge the weapons themselves?
So firearms and gunpowder would normally represent a significant upgrade to a force's lethality, but those tools could also be easily targeted and rendered useless in the setting of Eragon (as far as I see it). I guess the question would be if the payoff of having those kinds of weapons would be worth the extra effort by your own magicians to protect them? If you're at a magical disadvantage already, why not add another, potentially more powerful, weapon to your arsenal.
Assuming you have magical superiority, you can already take out your opponents with any number of spells, so having firearms wouldn't really make anything easier. Then again, if neither side has powerful magicians, it would absolutely be worth it.
What'd y'all think?