"Two hundred and fifty years had passed since the fall of the rider king Galbatorix. Two hundred and fifty years since the return of the dragon riders. Two hundred and fifty years that had allowed the kingdom of Alageasia to grow and prosper into a behemoth of trade, knowledge and wealth. Two hundred and fifty years that had allowed the dragon riders to rise into the most powerful and driving force in the known world.

Horizons had been broadened far into the North, South, East and West, as new lands were discovered in places that seemed impossible. New species of creatures were named. New languages, both magical and not, arose. New tools and ways of travel spread across the globe. Races began to mix and mingle in more ways than one.

As the country of Alageasia grew, so did the city at its centre. Illirea soon became one of the most well-known and popular cities in the growing world. Races from every continent came flooding in, desperate to become a part of what it was becoming. Queen Nasuada was only the beginning of a line of popular and successful kings and queens, each helping their country forwards in their own way.

Through this time more great legends arose. Riders, humans, elves, dwarves, urgals and others that were able to put their names up beside Eragon Kingslayer. Names such as Logan Shadebane, and his dragon Sashi, a human rider and his dragon who single handedly defeated an entire army of shades with an enchanted sword of unimaginable power. Leanne Freeseeker, a woman knight who led Alageasia to victory against a superpower from the west, over the sea. Targarla, a female urgal diplomat who managed to convince some of the most wild and violent tribes of the Serpentine, a race of humanoids who have reptilian skin and snake like eyes, to resolve a conflict tearing their race apart, all without bloodshed. And others.

But most recently another name arose. An elvish rider called Theaden and his dragon Jeidan, who tore down the largest criminal mind to ever exist in the years since Galbatorix. This organisation called themselves The Black Hand, named after the dark king's order of assassins that used to roam the land during his reign. It was a name they lived up to. For an entire fifty years they ruled the underground of Alageasia, and more specifically Illirea, existing in every nook and cranny, and having spies and assassins all the way up the hierarchy into the inner council of the king himself. They knew everything, and controlled everything. If someone needed to die, they died. If there was a secret that needed to get out, it got out. An item that needed to be stolen? It was stolen. Nothing was safe. There were those that even said they had infiltrated the riders themselves.

So, the Dragon Riders decided it was time to bring them down. But something as large as the Black Hand could not be destroyed overnight. Lives were traded, secrets exchanged, trust broken, infiltrators revealed and truths discovered, all during a cold war that lasted nearly twenty whole years. It caused an era of doubt in the kingdom of Alageasia, but a single mistake by the order of assassins caused their downfall. Led by Theaden, the riders took advantage of this mistake, and used it to wipe out the Black Hand.

It's been five years since then, and Alageasia has been living mostly at peace during that time. But the void left by The Black Hand yearned to be filled, and every minor criminal organisation and rogue rushed toward it. The underground was a bloodbath unseen by the populace of Alageasia and the rest of the world.

But five years is a long time, and as the underground moved powerful figures started to emerge. Each of them wanted something new and different. Some wanted riches and power, others wanted freedom to do as they pleased. Some wanted revenge against the upper classes and the dragon riders. But there was one man, possibly the most frightening of them all, who simply wanted to see the world burn.

He began to make his preparations, spreading influence and false promises across the underground. Promises of a 'free world', where anything was possible for the scum of the underground. He promised the end of the dragon riders and the hierarchy. People flocked to him like sheep to a river after a long trip through the desert. Usually, if The Black Hand was still around, they would have seen an end to him, but they were gone, and he thrived in his new environment. And as his plan began to slowly fall into place he came across a stumbling block, one that may ruin the entire operation, but he wasn't yet ready to give in.

He just needed find someone desperate enough, stupid enough, or crazy enough to steal a dragon egg.