Chapter 79: Jeod's Letter

[pangolin20]

the_bishop8 wrote in antishurtugal, 2014-08-16 01:34:00

MOOD: accomplished

Chapter 79: Jeod's Letter

So, a long time ago, katnip_of_thrae and I agreed to spork the extra chapter from the deluxe edition of Inheritance. Something happened, and we never posted it. We forgot about it I guess. But, here it is now.

Green = Excerpts from the chapter itself
Red = katnip_of_thrae
Black = the_bishop8

Dear Ertharis,

I apologize for not writing sooner. No doubt you have received a thorough accounting of the events of the past year from your other Eyes and Voices. And no doubt you are still impatient for my own report, given my proximity to all that has transpired.

I don't recall an Ertharis, but it seems that he has some form of "informants" - his Eyes and Voices - and that he is anxious to hear back from Jeod as to what has happened. So I can only guess that Jeod's letter is to someone either in hiding or living far away (seeing as they have not heard about anything for a year except for what these Eyes and Voices have told them). Is this person important? I'm not sure. Is Paolini trying to make them sound or seem important?

We learned at the end of the book that Jeod is part of some religious group that covets knowledge. Ertharis is possibly the leader or a member of that group. Eyes and Voices might be titles of members in the group. I don't know what Eyes and Voices roles could be though. If they're searching for knowledge, maybe the Eyes are the ones that look for knowledge? I don't know. This is just assuming a lot, which is understandable, since it is a letter.

Even so, is this group even relevant anymore? I mean, unless they've got some major plan to thwart the new queen or raise their own batch of riders, what purpose do they serve other than to gain knowledge?

The reasons for my delay are simple. First, a great deal of import has elapsed since the capture of Feinster, and I have learned more besides, which has recast much of what occurred before, even going back to the fall of the Riders. As a result, it was no small task to set down this History (if I may be so bold as to give my feeble efforts such an elevated title). Indeed, it took me all of winter and a fair portion of the spring and summer.

And now we see that Jeod is writing down an Alagasian history textbook, which may not necessarily be a bad thing unless it elevates Eragon to the position of godliness above everyone else who tried to end Galby's reign.

It seems that they are just being used as a convenient way to give readers info about the characters a few months after the end of the book.

Fair enough. I'm wondering if we'll see them in Paolini's "fifth book" that he claims he might write.

Apparently, the history Jeod's writing is going to be added to that one book, Du Abr Wyrda or some such.

Ahh... Well then let's hope that Jeod has a good sense of moderating Eragon's "good deeds" throughout his extension to the Du Abr Wyrda then.

Well, he couldn't be as bad as Paolini is at it.

Second,I am somewhat ashamed to admit, I have fallen prey to the vice of greed---the greed for knowledge. It is, I hope, an understandable fault. Like all members of our order (and most especially, Eyes such as myself), I cannot help but want to know more about the happenings of our land. I have put off sending you this manuscript again and again out of a desperate desire to see how the lives of certain people might unfold and where certain threads and trends might lead. But then, nothing ever truly resolves, does it old friend? Things only change and transform, but they never end.

At least Jeod can admit to some fault in his character, more than I can say for the rest of the lot in this series. It can be an understandable fault: wanting to know and understand more about the world around you. Isn't that was a scientist does by experimenting and researching and forming conclusions based on fact and logic? It seems that, in this paragraph, Jeod may realize the mortality and immortality of things. However, I can't help but disagree with him on the last sentence. Some things do end. Life ends, time eras end, years end, people end (i.e.: death). Even Galby's reign ended and his life ended. So to say that things (which is a bit vague too) never end, but only transform, is taking a step back and saying that everything is somehow reincarnated or transformed into something new (which could be the case in this book, but has not been made known until now).

Yes, but how could greed for knowledge possibly be a fault for a member of a group that preserves knowledge? And putting off publishing a munuscript to see if more important things will happen...that's why book editions exist. You write the facts, and if you later find a new fact, you make a new edition of a the book and add the new fact, though I don't blame Jeod for not knowing about that.

Agreed. He seems to think that "greed" for knowledge is a bad thing when in fact it isn't a fault in itself.

Therefore, as I ought to have done 3 months ago, I have entrusted this History to the courier Reldan, whom, if all goes well, you will have already met. I hope the manuscript arrives unscathed, for it is the only copy, and I quail at the thought of having to compose it anew.

A little strange that he would not at least make back ups for parts of his writings, or deliver them himself later on, but hey, if he wants to rewrite an entire year's findings, he's welcome to. It almost seems like the people he's writing to are very impatient, and want their answers now.

A few items of note that lie outside the scope of this chronicle:

Of Eragon and Saphira, little is known. Nasuada had word from them just last week; apparently, work upon the Riders' stronghold will soon be done. Where that might be, though, remains as a much a mystery as before. The only conclusion I think we can draw with certainty is that it lies within sight of the Edda river, somewhere far to the east.

Paolini made this gigantic deal about Eragon leaving and never returning, but it seems that he's going to be able to keep up a fairly constant contact. Most of the drama must have come from Eragon not being able to convince Arya to get with him before he left. Also, I thought that the Riders' new base was supposed to be relatively secret? Why would Nasuada let Jeod tell some guy in a letter (carried by a single courier) about the possible wearabouts of the hold? Everyone was so paranoid about the eggs and the Eldunari being taken by Galby-fanatics even after he exploded.

I agree. Though, how many people know what direction Eragon went? How secret was it that he was taking a boat along the Edda river? I don't remember them telling the common people what Eragon was going to do. Though I think it would be stupid to make the rider stronghold right next to the river they took to get to that point. All a person would have to know is that they traveled by the Edda river, and a dedicated person could find the stronghold. Putting it a few miles inland would make it harder at least.

Exactly, and consider a dedicated person with magical abilities, who has somehow hidden from Nasuada's notorious grasp on all magic users. That could be a very dangerous person because no one would suspect that such a person could possibly exist what with all the restrictions on magic and whatnot. I don't think many people actually knew the direction he went, but I'm sure it was mentioned in a conversation or two by someone who did witness it, and obviously Nasuada blurbs about any news she receives from Eragon.

Of Murtagh and Thorn, even less can be said. A merchant from the north told me that a band of troubadours saw a great red creature flying along the edge of Du Weldenvarden, close to the city of Ceunon. Players are notoriously unreliable,and I am reluctant to give much credence to their stories, but I mention it here on the off chance that it may confirm the accounts of other.

I didn't expect much about Murtagh and Thorn. Paolini got rid of him, and as far as he's concerned, Paolini has a "good reason" for the duo to never return (except for Nasuada who is faring quite fine without Murtagh now).

Neither the egg given to the dwarves nor the egg given to the Urgals has hatched.It has only been a few months, however, so hope is yet high that the dragons will find suitable matches within the chosen races. I confess the thought of a Kull becoming a Rider gives me pause.

Oh, I'm sorry, but how many years did it take for Saphira to hatch? And Eragon has already traveled to the east and nearly built the stronghold...oh, well, I guess he can wait. He could start raising the wild dragons or something.

Ugh... Honestly, I don't ever see either of the two races ever producing riders unfortunately. If the dragons were bound by a magical "contract" to be destined with their rider (which the contract sort of restricted to elves or humans) then how could a dragon ever be fated to be bonded with a dwarf or urgal? Because Eragon "fixed" it? It's ridiculous is what it is. You can't just go changing the rules of fate and destiny and such. And of course the eggs didn't hatch yet... Saphira was in her egg forever as was Thorn; as was Firnen. Were they expecting an overnight resurrection of the riders?

Arya and Firnen have kept to Du Weldenvarden for the main, but they have flown out upon two occasions to help Nasuada. The first was to forestall an armed conflict between two of her more obstreperous earls. The second is explained below.

Nasuada's plan to organize and keep watch over every magician within her purview proceeds apace. It has gone about as smoothly as one might expect, which is to say, not at all. Except for the magicians who were predisposed to serve their queen and country in the first place, they have, as a rule, objected strenuously to the restrictions Nasuada has imposed upon them. Several altercations have broken out between members of Du Vrangr Gata and those they were attempting to put under observation. The most serious altercation occurred when Nasuada sent four of her pet spellcasters to find a magician-a hermit by the name of Tenga----whom Eragon discovered while traveling alone in the wastes between Helgrind and the Burning Plains (as described in one of my earlier reports). However, the spellcasters never returned. At Nasuada's request, Arya and Firnen went to investigate. Thy found the four lying dead outside the elven watchtower where Tenga had been living and Tenga fled to parts unknown. As of yet, naught else has been heard of him, which is worrisome. The situation bears close attention. Still, Nasuada remains undaunted, and she continues to seek out and establish hold over the spellcasters of Surda and her kingdom.

Ahh... Our little Nasuadatorix is growing up into a fine tyrant. And Arya and Firnen make a fine Murtagh and Thorn. Honestly, I don't know where Nasuada thinks she gets the authority to be queen, let alone control every magician in Alagaesia. it's absurd and it shows her incompetency.

I wonder where Paolini is trying to take this. If he knows how the average magician would react, then maybe he intended for Nasuada to do this? Though, why does Jeod call her spellcasters her "pets"?

I'm not sure exactly why Paolini is doing this. Maybe he's trying to replicate the control and the destruction of the riders with the control of the spellcasters. But this time, either Nasauda will gain control, or her countrywide genocide will be "justified". Obviously Jeod has a lot of dislike towards the spellcasters who kiss Nasuada's butt, so that's why he calls them her pets. They do go around doing her bidding a lot.

On a related note: Angela the herbalist. She too seems to have disappeared as a result of Nasuada's initiative. But, given the herbalist's affinity for turning up wherever things of import are about to occur, I guess she has not gone far. As you asked, I attempted to track her. The spell you sent me, however, did not work when I read it from the scroll. Either it was miscast or she possesses wards sufficient to protect her from even such magic as that of the nameless one.
I agree that the herbalist deserves further scrutiny. Her very existence poses a number of seemingly impossible conundrums, and the more I consider them, the more concerned I become. The answers I've arrived at---however tenuous---are unsettling at best and terrifying at worst. When I decided to make my home in Teirm, after my misadventures with Brom, Angela was already living there. I only saw her in passing---more in later years, when she moved her shop close to my house---and it took at least a decade before I began to notice how little she aged. And it was not until I encountered her among the Varden, soon after the Battle of the Burning Plains, that I realized that she did not seem to be aging at all. That, along with her strange and varied powers---of which you will learn more in my History---leads me to speculate that perhaps she is not entirely human. If not (if perhaps she is a half-elf, for example), then she has described herself most effectively, for on the surface, she appears human in full. She is very short, though, so I would not discount the possibility that she is part dwarf. I saw her bathing her feet one time, and she has the normal number of toes, but that, in and of it self, proves nothing.
Another possibility, and one I shudder to contemplate, is that she is neither human nor elf nor dwarf now some combination thereof. It is an outlandish idea, I know, but I cannot help but consider it. Could she be one of the Grey Folk? Could she be part werecat (for they do seem unusually partial to her)? Or is she something else entirely? Is she perhaps more akin to the "Inare," assuming that what Eragon saw was real and they actually exist? That is the most frightening thought of all. It does not explain everything about her, but it would explain more than any other theory.
Whatever the truth may be, I would advise every Voice and Eye to keep watch for her in the future. She does not know who we are, I think (I hope), and I believe it important to learn as much as we can about her. Where is she from? Does she have estates elsewhere? And most important, what is she capable of?

Boosing the ever so mysteriousness of Angela. I don't see how this is important anymore unless, again, Paolini plans on making a sequel or prequel. He likes to throw a lot of something new on top of a lot of nothing.

He does have other books planned you know, this is just throwing the fans a bone in the mean time. On another note, since when can Jeod use magic?

I have no clue. I thought Jeod couldn't use magic until now.

Of Roran Stronghammer, I have nothing new to add. I would guess you know more of his activities in Palancar Valley than I do here in Ilrea.

Hmm. So are these guys spying on Roran now? That is a bit odd that they'd keep an eye on some earl rather than the queen of Alagaesia. Maybe he's more convenient to spy on. And I'm surprised that Palancar Valley's economy hadn't utterly collapsed yet under brutish Roran and his meager farmer's knowledge.

And that, I believe, is all. Any other questions you have should be answered within this History. If not, I of course will be happy to revise or clarify.

I would note that the name of Nasuada's kingdom was by far the most aggravating aspect of writing the latter part of the manuscript. By all rights, her realm ought to be known as the Varden Kingdom, even after the Broddring Kingdom was named after the Broddrings. I put the idea to Nasuada myself, but she refused. She said that the Varden Kingdom was too similar in sound and meaning to Du Weldenvarden, and that she did not want it to seem as if we are the vassals of the elves. Well, in that I suppose she is right. The next logical step would be to name the kingdom (or rather queendom, if one is being precise) after Nasuada or her family. However, she also refused to give her name to the kingdom, as she said that would be presumptuous, and as of yet, she has no family name. If she were to marry one who did, that would of course solve the problem.
Ultimately, the people themselves may decide this question for us, but in the meantime, it provided me with no end of irritation. My solution, as you will see, was simply to refer the country as "her land" or "her kingdom," which---while inelegant---at least has the virtue of simplicity.

If you have any thoughts upon the matter, I would be most interested to hear them.

Alright. A few weeks ago (more than a year now) I posted a topic about surnames. It was this page that grabbed my attention into the matter. How some people have surnames and some don't. I don't think Jeod's last solution would work. It seems to have a flaw at least. Giving the name of the kingdom to some random person that Nasuada ends up marrying would seem to give credit of "freeing" the land from Galbatorix to the family name of someone who didn't have anything to do with it, or to someone who had a small part. That's my impression anyway.

I thought they freed the land by renaming it Iliera instead of Uru'baen? Or maybe not. I'm not certain what the point of the name changing was if it's intended that Nasuada's "surname" becomes the new name of the land. Frankly, that seems a bit odd too. Galbatorix never did that; he only changed the name to disgrace the elves.

If you have any thoughts upon the matter, I would be most interested to hear them.
As for myseld, I am doing well, as is Helen, better than ever before. Our business prospers, and I feel as if we might actually have a chance of living our our old age in peace and comfort, a fate that hardly seemed possible last year. I would still like to visit Ellesmera or Tronjheim, and it may be that our trading will take us there. But for the present, I have has enough of traveling. My days of adventure are over, I hope, and now it is time to devote myself to learning and contemplation, ever my favorite pursuits.
And what of you, old friend? All fares well at the Reliquary? Have your roses given you a good harvest of blossoms this year? And what of Brother Hern's illumination? Has he finished the fourth part of the book yet, or is he still struggling with the capitals at the beginnings of all those chapters?
I am most eager to know what you think of this History. I confess to feeling equal parts pride and trepidation upon sending it off: pride on account of the size and scope of the manuscript, and trepidation, because I know that it, like all large works, is of necessity imperfect. A poem may be without flaws, but an epic never. Yet I stand by what I have written, and I look froward to your reply with great anticipation, for I hold your judgement in the highest esteem.

In darkness and in light,
Jeod Longshanks

A poem may be without flaws, but an epic never.

Yeah, kind of reminds me of Paolini's poems in Eldest.

Also, I notoiced this in the beginning of the letter, and again at the end. Jeod keeps putting pressure on the guy critiquing the History, by saying things like "if I may be so bold as to give my feeble efforts such an elevated title" and "I hold your judgement in the highest esteem."

I think Jeod is just sucking up to this guy.

I almost think he's referencing his own books in this: "on account of the size and scope of the manuscript, and trepidation, because I know that it, like all large works, is of necessity imperfect"

But surely he thinks his books are flawless?

Alright, this is as far as katnip_of_thrae got before we stopped, but that isn't actually the end of the letter, their is a P.S. and a P.P.S.

P.S. I forgot; nothing else of the Ra'zac or the Lethrblaka has been seen anywhere within Surda or Nasuada's realm. Hopefully, this will remain so for years to come.

I do hope some eggs survived.

P.P.S. No, Galbatorix's body was never found. It seems inconceivable to me, though, that he could still be alive.

I guess Eragon and Co. wouldn't let the details of his confrontation with Galbatorix become common knowledge, because it's all confidential and stuff. So Jeod wouldn't know that Galby exploded.

If he did survive, he seems to have no interest in retaking his thrown.

Really, Jeod? Really? Well, I guess your right. He couldn't possibly be operating in the shadows, biding his time, being smart.

In either event, I do not think we have to worry about him again.

Unfortunately.


katnip_of_thrae, if you have any comment about the P.S. or the P.P.S. (or really anything in general), just let me know and I'll add it in.

3 comments

[1]

darth_gojira
August 19 2014, 12:49:15 UTC
All I have to say is JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOD

[2]

katnip_of_thrae
August 21 2014, 15:20:17 UTC
Hey cool! I was wondering what had happened to this! Haha. :3 I snicker at a few of my comments, but for the most part, I still agree with past katnip.

[3]

with_rainfall
September 13 2014, 04:30:37 UTC
Yay, new Paolini sporks!