Atra esterni ono thelduin,

Welcome one and all! This "story" is a collection of various works that I'll be putting together for your viewing pleasure. I seek to explore the various openings that Paolini left for so much fantastic literature that we have yet to see bear any fruit. Within here, you shall find everything from one-shots to series, romance and adventure, Urgals and werecats and dwarves and elves and dragons and humans and if you're lucky, even herbalists. We shall explore the far reaches of Alagaesia; from the Beor mountains to the Spine, Du Weldenvarden to Surda and everything in between. If fortune smiles upon this outing, we might even be lucky enough to explore lands not yet seen by anyone.

I will do my best to update this collection regularly. On a daily basis, if I can; however you shall never wait for more than a week to see new content. If you do, spam my PMs to let me know you're upset with my lack of forward motion. This chapter is a one-shot, centered around the tomb of a certain storyteller that we all know and love. Enough with the extended A/N; adventure awaits!

A Tomb of Diamond

Dirk knew that if he didn't find it soon, he'd have to turn back empty-handed once more. And that was an unacceptable proposition. His employers would not allow another failure to go unpunished, and their punishments were not something one survived. At least not in the same manner as which they had lived previously. Dirk had seen men's eyes torn from their sockets, limbs decapitated, tongues cut out, ears filled with molten iron. He shuddered to think what might happen to him should he be unsuccessful in his current venture.

Dirk was a treasure hunter, of sorts. He had grown up without parents, and had fled the orphanage. He didn't like the rules they had, and he had no intention of letting someone tell him how to live his life. He snorted, amused that such a childish ambition had driven him to exactly the place he didn't want. In order to survive without parents, he often stole food from various houses and stalls in Surda. He was rather good at it too; his small build made it easy for him to slip in unnoticed, and he was an excellent lockpick; a trait he developed at a later time, fiddling around with a broken lock.

This petty thievery didn't go unnoticed, however. By the time Dirk was fourteen, he had been jailed several times. Had he been an adult, he surely would have been executed far before that, but the courts deigned to grant him mercy on account of his age. He considered them fools, but didn't argue, lest they dismount their high horse and treat him as an equal. During his latest jaunt in the cells of the Surdan dungeon, he met a fellow whose name he never learned. This person told him of a man, more myth than fact, who supposedly ran Surda from behind a curtain of illusion. A man few people knew of, and even fewer ever met. A man who wanted to meet Dirk.

All of this was terribly exciting for the youth; to be thought of as more than common scum, someone of notice, someone of importance. He eagerly told the man that he'd love to meet this living legend, and a rendezvous was quickly arranged for the day after his release. Dirk was nervous, but he barely felt it underneath all of his giddy excitement at the opportunity to prove himself worthy of recognition. Little did he know, this would be the last time he was his own man.

The man he met only went by one name; The Boss. The Boss was a short, rotund fellow; clad in simple garments, and rather unnoticeable if you knew not for whom you searched. He spoke eloquently, but with an accent that was hard to place. He had a limp in his left foot, and result of a deal gone wrong. "The other guy limps a little heavier, though." he had told Dirk when the youth asked him about it. The Boss told Dirk that the courts and the royalty might be the ones that have the people's attention, but he and the men he employed were the ones that really kept the wheels of commerce turning. They would acquire certain articles of value, and invest said articles in various political allies in order to ensure a continued style of living for themselves. He told Dirk that if the youth would like, he could join the crew. He'd never go hungry, nor want for anything that money could buy.

These stories were exactly what the boy had wanted to hear, and he joined without a second thought. From that day forward, he worked for The Boss exclusively. He never met another member of the crew, and had no desire to. The man who held his heart was the one that showed him there was more available than a simple life of stealing to survive until the next day. Now, eight years later, on the eve of his twenty-second birthday, he was on the biggest mission he'd ever been entrusted with. He was to steal at least part of an enormous diamond that lay on a hill, somewhere in a barren wasteland. Tracking it down had been nigh impossible; nobody seemed to even know of its existence, and the few that did were not keen to discuss the subject. Indeed, simply mentioning it to one man had driven him into hysterics so wild, Dirk had to flee for his life.

Nonetheless, he had eventually met a woman who was able to direct him to a vague area in which she swore the gem resided. Dirk had been wandering for nearly a fortnight, and he knew that if he did not find it by sundown today, he'd likely never find anything again. He trudged over hill after hill, cursing the woman who'd sent him to this forsaken place all the while. His spirit broken by the descent of the sun, he was starting to consider any viable options for eluding The Boss and his scores of henchmen all over the lands of Alagaesia when a twinkling caught his eye. He squinted into the distant west, trying to catch a glimpse of what he had saw, but there was nothing more.

It's probably my mind playing tricks on me, but I have no other options at this point. He headed west, through a valley towards a hill that stood somewhat taller than the rest. As he neared the base, he saw the glimmer again, from the top of the hill. He looked up at it, and as the sun caught the rock, he saw the diamond. From where he stood, he could tell that this gemstone was beyond what he'd expected. longer than a fully grown man and at least tall enough to make a decent table. He felt a rush of excitement, and allowed it to carry him quickly up the side of the hill.

Upon cresting the top, his mouth dropped open. This thing was HUGE. There was no way he'd be able to bring it back with him, although The Boss had expected that. He had told Dirk, "If the rumors are to be trusted, it would take two teams of horses to pull this giant gem. I don't put trust in rumors though, which is why I need you to find it for me."

Well found it he had. Dirk removed the pack from his back, opening it to reveal several tools. Long, flat pieces of metal used for prying things open, thinner pieces for picking locks, hammers for crushing and breaking, blades for cutting. He retrieved a chisel and a hammer, and strode up to the diamond.

When he got close enough, he recoiled in shock at what he saw. There, inside the gem, was a body. An old man in a long robe, his hair growing white, and his face in peace, rested in the middle of this priceless tomb. Dirk couldn't believe what he was seeing. He circled the tomb, trying to see if it was some sort of illusion, but he had to conclude that this was indeed a real person inside of an enormous gemstone. Then something on the surface caught his eye. And inscription, laid into the clear diamond.

Here lies Brom,

Who was a Rider bonded to the dragon Saphira

Son of Holcomb and Nelda

Father of Eragon Shadeslayer

Founder of the Varden

And Bane of the Forsworn.

May his name live on in glory.

Under this were runes that Dirk didn't recognize. Eragon Shadeslayer... could it be the same Eragon of legend? Dirk didn't know of any other Eragons, but he also didn't know of anyone that had ever slew a shade. He backed away from the tomb, suddenly afraid of attempting to harvest even the tiniest flake of diamond to bring back. If this was the father of the Eragon, he had no wish to defile his memory to appease The Boss.

He paced back and forth, trying to determine the best course of action. Eventually, fear of the same punishments he'd seen before being inflicted upon himself won out, and the notion of self-preservation drove him forward to place the chisel against the diamond, and raise the hammer above his head. He brought the hammer down as hard as he could, and the instant the force transferred from the hammer into the chisel, and reverberated down into the diamond tomb, he felt a splitting pain in his head, and dropped to the ground in agony. Lying there, he noticed something he hadn't seen before. A small, white bone protruding from the ground. Others have tried before me. Unfortunately for Dirk, he realized this too late.

And so, Dirk passed into the void, crumpled next to the object he had considered his saving grace merely an hour before. The sands of time would cover him as well, and the tomb would stand once more, a beacon of the prosperity that could be had if one is fortunate enough to know a Rider.

And there you have it, folks! I know, it's a little depressing, but you ought to know better than to mess with something that bears the name of Shadeslayer upon it. I imagine there will be quite a few new characters that I'll add to this world, although I will keep Alagaesia itself as true to the original books as I possibly can.

And yes, there will be some Eragon/Arya work later down the line. I love the pairing, and can't wait to show you all how I would have liked to see Paolini play their love out.

For now, that is all.

Un atra mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr.

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