World map of the Inheritance Cycle (Elëa)
Jan. 22nd, 2026 03:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nevrmor posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
antishurtugal_rebornHey folks, apologies if this has already been discussed here. I found out in the recent interview with Paolini that he made a map for the entire world... all the way back in August of 2024. Anyway. Here are my very late two cents:
1. Sorry to whoever the artist is, but this... doesn't look like a real map, to put it nicely. Visually, I mean, I don't think it looks great. (It would make for a pretty sick Age of Empires II map, though)
2. We already know the elves and Urgals hail from the Alalëa continent. Brom mentions in the first book that some say Teirm is where the elves first arrived in Alagäesia, so I think it's safe to assume that Alalëa is the big one to the west. Only mentioning this because apparently he named another continent... by way of tweeting. I don't go there, so I'm just telling you here. It's called Ostduin, and it has sand snakes? Whatever those are (probably a Dune ripoff)
3. Here's a map of the continent where Alagäesia is located:
The red rectangle is Alagäesia. I got that from overlaying a map of it on top of this image and lowering the opacity, then drawing the rectangle around that. It wasn't a 100% match with this one, to be honest. I assume that's due to a difference in how the artists drew the maps, or maybe the projection used for the map of the entire world.
That red arrow, however, is what I want to focus on here. You can probably see that it's pointing to a tiny white dot on the map. That little white dot is Mount Arngor (based on the map of the Eastern Reaches). And that's absolutely hilarious to me. I mean, Eragon made a big show of saying how he wanted to raise the dragons away from Alagäesia and its political forces... and that's how far he went?? My guy, you're not even halfway to the eastern shore! Look at how much room there is!
I already thought his excuse for going away was flimsy at best, but this just makes it worse.
4. Despite the meme, it just doesn't sit well with me that Eragon just assumes that any land he finds and settles in will be completely uninhabited. Like... maybe there are other sentient beings there? And they might have politics which could jeopardize the safety of the dragons just as much as the ones in Alagäesia? I can imagine this yet another case of lazy worldbuilding on Paolini's part, but... I don't know, this just makes me tired.
5. Final point in this post: I'm really curious about continental drift and the position of the tectonic plates on the world map. There's probably one immediately to the west of Alagäesia, and that oceanic plate meets the one where Alagäesia sits to form The Spine, similar to the how the Andes mountains work irl. And then maybe a third plate below that one, to form the Beors? Would love if Paolini could elaborate on that...
1. Sorry to whoever the artist is, but this... doesn't look like a real map, to put it nicely. Visually, I mean, I don't think it looks great. (It would make for a pretty sick Age of Empires II map, though)
2. We already know the elves and Urgals hail from the Alalëa continent. Brom mentions in the first book that some say Teirm is where the elves first arrived in Alagäesia, so I think it's safe to assume that Alalëa is the big one to the west. Only mentioning this because apparently he named another continent... by way of tweeting. I don't go there, so I'm just telling you here. It's called Ostduin, and it has sand snakes? Whatever those are (probably a Dune ripoff)
3. Here's a map of the continent where Alagäesia is located:
The red rectangle is Alagäesia. I got that from overlaying a map of it on top of this image and lowering the opacity, then drawing the rectangle around that. It wasn't a 100% match with this one, to be honest. I assume that's due to a difference in how the artists drew the maps, or maybe the projection used for the map of the entire world.
That red arrow, however, is what I want to focus on here. You can probably see that it's pointing to a tiny white dot on the map. That little white dot is Mount Arngor (based on the map of the Eastern Reaches). And that's absolutely hilarious to me. I mean, Eragon made a big show of saying how he wanted to raise the dragons away from Alagäesia and its political forces... and that's how far he went?? My guy, you're not even halfway to the eastern shore! Look at how much room there is!
I already thought his excuse for going away was flimsy at best, but this just makes it worse.
4. Despite the meme, it just doesn't sit well with me that Eragon just assumes that any land he finds and settles in will be completely uninhabited. Like... maybe there are other sentient beings there? And they might have politics which could jeopardize the safety of the dragons just as much as the ones in Alagäesia? I can imagine this yet another case of lazy worldbuilding on Paolini's part, but... I don't know, this just makes me tired.
5. Final point in this post: I'm really curious about continental drift and the position of the tectonic plates on the world map. There's probably one immediately to the west of Alagäesia, and that oceanic plate meets the one where Alagäesia sits to form The Spine, similar to the how the Andes mountains work irl. And then maybe a third plate below that one, to form the Beors? Would love if Paolini could elaborate on that...
BattleAxe First Read: Chapter Thirty-Eight: Sigholt
Jan. 21st, 2026 10:16 pmteres posting in antishurtugal_rebornChapter Thirty-Seven (Part III) | Chapter Thirty-Nine
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, Faraday, Timozel and Yr finally found transport to Gorkenfort, and Faraday tried and failed to go to the Sacred Grove again. For the reader post:
( A lot of exposition about various topics, compounded by lots of analysis from yours truly. )
Paolini interview posted on the r/Eragon subreddit
Jan. 20th, 2026 10:53 pmnevrmor posting in antishurtugal_rebornHey, everyone, this is my first post here (apparently I created this account about 2 years ago and then promptly forgot about it)
Anyway, I just saw this Reddit post today (posted a couple of days ago) by someone who managed to interview Paolini about some of the upcoming stuff in the same universe of The Inheritance Cycle, and I felt that it would be interesting to discuss it here. Not gonna lie, I have more questions than I did before.
I am now super confused about the actual order of the books that will be released. After the second Murtagh book, there will be a full trilogy to resolve all this Azlagûr stuff, and THEN we get Book "6", but there's still a Book 5 before it? How does that even work?Then Paolini mentions something about transferring consciousness, and upon further questioning by the interviewer, hints that's something that Galbatorix delved into, which, if true, would be the most "Somehow, Palpatine returned" thing ever, as if he hadn't ripped off Star Wars enough. Even the sequel trilogy isn't safe, I guess.
To me, however, the most baffling part is the conversation about the biggest dragons. The only mention of Gogvog is in the Urgal end-times myth, which Uvek briefly tells to Murtagh. Now, when I was reading the Murtagh book, I just assumed that it was referring to Azlagûr with a different name, which would make sense in the lore of this world, and it's never confirmed if Azlagûr is even a dragon in the first place. But apparently not?? Paolini just straight up says that no, Gogvog was an actual dragon that actually existed and is a separate entity from Azlagûr, and not only that, his eldunarí is the Star Sapphire??? Like, sure, that's not on paper yet, but it's a wild revelation for sure.
And I only know this because I could not remember where this Gogvog had come from, and neither could someone in the comments of the Reddit post, to whom the OP replied with the above information. They also mentioned that, in a Reddit AMA, Paolini stated that Gogvog was the same dragon as in the Urgal creation myth, about how Rahna had fled from a great dragon and raised the Beor mountains while she did it.
...which is, in itself, a very weird creation myth to have, since the Urgals are not originally from the continent where the Beors are located. But I digress.
Anyway, apparently Paolini is also being forced to finally put the lore on paper with the TTRPG, which should finally start to cover some of the holes in his writing. Even admitting out loud that he hasn't done that before, and that most of the actual lore is in his head... sorry, but that is incredible to me. And not in a good way. In any case, I'll be patiently waiting for the release of the digital version... on Anna's Archive, of course.
Well that's about all my thoughts regarding this latest interview, wanted to see what the people here had to say.
The Arts of Dark and Light: Summa Elvetica
Jan. 14th, 2026 06:35 ammasterghandalf posting in antishurtugal_rebornWarning: This post necessarily contains discussion of a particular individual's history of abusive and bullying behavior and general bigotries.
The Arts of Dark and Light: Summa Elvetica
By Vox Day, aka Theodore Beale
Alternate Title: An Introduction To An All-New Fantasy Saga That Will Likely Put You Off Continuing It Further
SPORKER: MasterGhandalf
SUMMARY
In a world torn by religious and political conflict, the head of the Amorran Church decides the time has come to answer one very important question – do elves have souls? To determine the truth, a young priest is sent on an adventure so irritating that by the time it’s through, none of us will probably be left caring about the answer, if we ever did to begin with. Following this will come a series of shorter tales which supposedly set up the “epic” to follow, but at best tend to raise more questions than answers and at worst will leave the reader mystified as to just what the author is trying to accomplish, if not horrified by the implications – but hey, the great news is, very little of this is going to end up mattering anyway! Save for possibly more insight into the author’s mindset and creative process than we ever needed or wanted, that is.
( Introduction to Vox Day )
( Introduction to the Arts of Dark and Light and Summa Elvetica )
( Table of Contents )
By Vox Day, aka Theodore Beale
Alternate Title: An Introduction To An All-New Fantasy Saga That Will Likely Put You Off Continuing It Further
SPORKER: MasterGhandalf
SUMMARY
In a world torn by religious and political conflict, the head of the Amorran Church decides the time has come to answer one very important question – do elves have souls? To determine the truth, a young priest is sent on an adventure so irritating that by the time it’s through, none of us will probably be left caring about the answer, if we ever did to begin with. Following this will come a series of shorter tales which supposedly set up the “epic” to follow, but at best tend to raise more questions than answers and at worst will leave the reader mystified as to just what the author is trying to accomplish, if not horrified by the implications – but hey, the great news is, very little of this is going to end up mattering anyway! Save for possibly more insight into the author’s mindset and creative process than we ever needed or wanted, that is.
( Introduction to Vox Day )
( Introduction to the Arts of Dark and Light and Summa Elvetica )
( Table of Contents )
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Recommendation: Into the Witchwood
Jan. 14th, 2026 10:25 pmtorylltales posting in antishurtugal_reborn
Epistler’s recent review of Dragonsword reminded me that I’ve been wanting to share a positive review of my own.
Into the Witchwood is Méabh McDonnell's first novel. Technically it is written for middle grade children, but I think it is just as enjoyable for adults. The author doesn’t talk down to or patronise her audience, so it’s written in a way that most adults can also enjoy without feeling like they’re reading a children’s book.
Basically it is a fantasy adventure starring two sisters from a family of witches, their new friend who knows nothing about magic, and an evil witch who lives in an enchanted wood. It blends traditional Irish folklore with familiar fairytales, in a story that ultimately is about family, believing in yourself, being brave, accepting responsibility, dealing with loss and grief, giving and accepting help, and healing generational trauma.
The writing is fast-paced and wonderfully descriptive, without anything being over-described. The writer manages to create a really interesting atmosphere of mystery, wonder, and magical surreality, with an undercurrent of lurking malice and danger in the shadows.
This is a story where fairies are as dangerous as they are enchanting, where nothing is entirely as it seems, and where the lessons of the old fairytales could save your life. Don't step off the path. Don't eat or drink anything given to you, but don't refuse anything offered to you. Help anyone who asks, but do not get distracted. The only way out of the wood is through it.
If that hasn’t hooked you yet, here are the first two opening sentences:
Nana was doing magic again.
I could smell it through the gaps in the windowframe.
As opening lines go, I think that’s up there with “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” It drew me in right away, and I devoured this book in about a day.
Oh yes, and this book contains one of the most satisfying and unexpected Chekhov’s Guns I’ve ever read. I won’t say anything more about it, except that it was a tiny throwaway detail in chapter 1 that didn’t become relevant until more than two-thirds of the way through the story. It's not exactly a mystery story, but the way little details come together to fill in the background of the story and characters is really satisfying.
Overall I rate this a 4.5 out of 5, and Goodreads similarly has given it 4.6 out of 5.
If you see it in your local book shop, and you can afford it, buy a copy. If you see it in your library, borrow it.
Murtagh Group Spork, Part 3 Chapter 7: “Tusk and Blade”
Jan. 12th, 2026 11:12 pmtorylltales posting in antishurtugal_rebornWelcome to yet another Chapter What Ought Not Be. (CWONB count: 29)
Up next is chapter 8, “Mother’s Mercy” (eww), with our favourite feline predator, Ultimate_Cheetah.
