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Ruins of Orthiad
urtagh cursed, clenching the
pommel of his sword. ‘That
explains it! Saphira, if you’re
right, then those are Kull, elite of the Urgals.
I should have guessed the chieftains had
been put in charge of them. They don’t ride
because horses can’t carry their weight—not
one of them is under eight feet tall—and they
can run for days without sleep and still be
ready to battle.’
—Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Prima Offi cial Game Guide
76
Ruins of Orthiad
Walkthrough
Having
weathered an
intense fl ight
from Gil’ead,
Murtagh and
Eragon fi nd
themselves
in the Ruins
of Orthiad, a
dead, haunted
place. Sadly, the “ghosts” take the form of large, hulking,
humanoid creatures known as Kulls.
Kull Wrangling
The Kull is an
imposing beast
but, sadly for
it, an almost
ineffectual one.
Although Kulls
are brutally
strong, what
you can do with
them more than
makes up for
their ability to
extinguish life.
Essentially,
dealing with a
Kull is a simple
process:
1. Charge up a one-hit kill arrow to stun the beast.
You can also use magic to garner a similar effect,
but that won’t do any damage, so this is the
preferred method.
Kull Wrangling (cont’d)
2. As the
monstrosity
attempts to
remove the
shaft from his
lacerated eye,
run in behind
it and hack
away till it
drops to one knee.
3. At this point, by pressing strong attack, you can
mount the beast.
4. From here,
you have a
few options
(more details
follow for
specifi c
encounters)
but we
primarily
focus on then switching to attack and stabbing it in
the back of the neck.
5. After a
number of
blows, the
Kull goes
on a mad
rampage. You
can steer it
into a nearby,
unyielding
wall; into hapless foes; or over a cliff.
From there, repeat that process until the beast is
destroyed. If there’s more than one (and more than one
player) you can double up on this strategy. If there’s
not more than yourself but more than one Kull, you
can still use the same strategy, though you might want
to substitute pull magic to mount faster (although this
doesn’t harm the beast).
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Take on the fi rst
batch of Kulls
following the
strategy outline
in the previous
sidebar. They
should be an
easy bunch to
dispatch—just
remember that
if you try to ride for too long, you will be thrown off, painfully.
Once the Kulls
cease arriving,
proceed through
the gap that opened
ahead (snag the
chests fl anking
either side fi rst)
and a short cinema
triggers before
you’re cast into
the catacombs
themselves.
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Two foes,
supported by
a few archers,
immediately
rush forward.
You should
have time to
drop one with
an arrow and
then burn and
hack up the second. From there, take aim and kill the archers
as well.
The bas-reliefs
that line this
tunnel, in
most cases,
have a crystal
embedded
in them. Use
magic to tag
the fi rst one on
the left before
proceeding.
As the path
ahead leads
off to the left,
note the statue
standing guard
solemnly to
the right. Just
behind it lies
the hidden egg.
Grab it before
moving on.
Ere long a chest
lurks just to your
right, as well as a
second crystal upon
the wall to the left.
Crack open the
chest with a sharp
blow, then activate
the nearby (and
second) crystal.
Prima Offi cial Game Guide
78
Ruins of Orthiad
After the crystal
springs to life,
more enemies
come storming
from deeper
within the
ruins (a pair for
starters). Burn
one up and then
hack the second
to pieces.
As soon as the
next length of
tunnel comes
into view
(revealing
the third
crystal on the
left), another
cadre of foes
erupts. As they
are far enough down the tunnel, quickly kill as many as
possible with arrows. If you’re fast, this leaves you with two
immediate problems and a third, farther back. Light one foe
on fi re, cut down the second, and meet the third as it arrives.
As soon as your magic recharges, burn one of the remaining
foes and fi nish off the other. Alternately, if Murtagh ends up
wedging, use one-hit arrows to take out foes while he absorbs
errant blows.
With that gang
destroyed, activate
the next crystal,
then jog down
the tunnel ahead
to take out the
archers who,
unluckily for their
compatriots, were
out of range for
the previous fi ght.
Walk forward,
strike them down
with arrows, and
then activate the
next crystal on the
right (there is also a
chest).
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As the tunnel bends
80
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Prima Offi cial Game Guide
Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited.
once more to the
right, you fi nd
another chest and
another crystal.
You can activate
it fi rst or deal
with the enemies
approaching. As
there are only one
or two, take them
out, then tag the
crystal.
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Now you fi nd yourself inside a large chamber. Race across
and crack open the chests, and then tag the last crystal in the
back right corner. That grants you access to the large, central
doorway that stands watch over the hall.
Once through,
another fi ght
awaits. A Kull
lurks at the far
end of the room
and, if you are
quick, you can
stun him with
an arrow, run
to him, and
then ride him
into his friends.
Barring that,
focus on the
smaller enemies
with fi re magic
to send one
running, then
deal with the
other two until
you can seize
the Kull.
Prima Offi cial Game Guide
Prima Offi cial Game Guide
80
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Once your foes
are vanquished,
you must make
a long, steady
climb around
the chamber’s
perimeter. As
you continue
ever upward,
watch for foes
coming from above and below. The best bet here is to use
your bow to rack up one-hit kills before your foes can even
reach you. If they do, use fi re and jump attacks to send them
careening over the edge.
Once you reach
the top, you’re
on a large chunk
of amber—very
fragile amber (at
least when Kulls
keep jumping on
it). This is pretty
simple: just stun
the Kull as usual,
hack its neck,
ride it into a wall,
and repeat until
it’s dead. You
have to repeat
this process
a few times,
but it’s very
straightforward.
Ruins of Orthiad
The next
chamber
contains a
puzzle. Use
Eragon’s magic
to manipulate
the crystals
just beyond the
rotating device
in the fl oor. The
proper combination is: red, red, green. This grants you an
exit from the chamber.
Outside once more,
you step into a
picture out of hell:
a Kull charges from
the left very soon
after your arrival,
while archers let fl y
with fl aming arrows
from a ridge in the
distance. Ignore
the archers for now
and get out of the
doorway as quickly
as possible, though
you’ll now have two
Kulls to deal with,
as well as few more
enemies. Your fi rst
priority is to get rid
of the Kulls, so use the standard strategy and run them over
the cliff. From there, engage the other interlopers with sword
and fi re—if you’re near the edge, the fl aming foes will careen
right over it.
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With that business
sorted, head left
and clamber up
the ledge, but be
prepared! Though
there are only
three enemies,
the confi nes are
very
tight, and you
can easily become
disoriented or
juggled to death.
This is a good time
to use your Team
Power meter to
cut them down as
fast as possible.
Trying to gain the
advantage by outmaneuvering them is very diffi cult. A
few chests are right there in case your Team Power needs
topping off.
Now press
gradually to the
right, wiping
out archers on
the ridge above
as you go (magic
actually reaches
here, but it
doesn’t work
very well). Two
foes arrive from the right, but fi re and jump attacks should
vanquish them in short order.
Prima Offi cial Game Guide
That melee dealt
with, climb up the
next rise and take
out the nearest foe
with an arrow and
retreat downward
if you’re about to
be overwhelmed.
Shortly thereafter
you can summon
Saphira to lighten
the enemy load.
Upon the next ridge are a few more chests for you to explore,
then you should head away from the camera and up the
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hill until the path bends left. Drop down and move forward
slowly
until a band of foes begins to run in. Use quick kill
shots to take down as many as possible, then burn and
bludgeon those who get in close—use the nearby wall on the
right to pin them in and hack away.
As the ridge levels
out, you spot two
more chests to
the right. Shortly
thereafter, two
more Kulls lurch
into view, but this
should be fairly
simple. With
Murtagh tying
them up, stun one
and run it over
the ledge. Repeat
the process on the
second (in 2P this
is fantastically
easy).
Ruins of Orthiad
Moving onward, as you
approach a low ridge,
another band of foes
advances. Again, pick
them off as they come
with arrows, then use
fi re and the blade to
tackle one at a time until
victory is yours.
Finally, tag two
archers waiting
on the road just
ahead. After
they fall in
bloody heaps,
race up the path
to complete the
level.
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Eragon: The Making of the Motion Picture
Eragon: The Making of
the Motion Picture
As an added bonus, we have a special sneak peek at the upcoming
Eragon
a chapter from
House’s inside look at the making of the movie. The chapter, “The
Dragon’s Realm,” examines the process of transforming Saphira,
Christopher Paolini’s dragon creation from his Inheritance trilogy,
into a presence on the movie screen. Through Industrial Light &
Magic’s wizardry, Saphira has come to life as a winged, fi re-breathing
dragon. Check out the following pages to get an in depth perspective
of Saphira’s evolution.
motion picture event! In the following section, we have
Mythic Vision: The Making of Eragon
, Random
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At the thumb tip of San Francisco juts the Presidio,
a green and hilly expanse of land whose vantage point
once made it the prize for strategic control of the western
coastline of the New World. The longtime army base,
which became part of the National Park Service in the
1990s, gained a high-profile tenant in 2005—filmmaker
George Lucas. The $350 million Letterman Digital Arts
Center, which includes ILM, is Lucas’s state-of-the-art
effort to shape the future of film into a purely digital
medium.
Testament to the sweeping changes that had trans-
formed Lucasfilm and filmmaking itself was the fountain
outside the Digital Arts Center’s main building, an Art
Deco–ish base topped with the painted statue of a famil-
iar wizened green figure in a robe gripping a gnarled staff—
Star Wars
Jedi master Yoda. In 1980, when Yoda first
appeared in the
Empire Strikes Back,
Yoda was a physically
animated puppet, but by
Attack of the Clones
in 2002, the
Jedi knight was a completely computer-generated and ani-
mated character.
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C H A P T E R S I X
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116
Eragon: The Making of the Motion Picture
Early conceptual artwork for Saphira.
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ILM had come a long way to its hightech home in the Presidio. Lucas had
formed the unit in the mid-1970s to create
all the marvels he envisioned for
Star Wars
.
They operated out of an industrial warehouse in Van Nuys, near Los Angeles, and
those first young ILMers were as insurgent
a group in Hollywood as the rebel forces
who battled the Empire in the movie. They
broke all the rules and made up a few new
ones. They resurrected filmmaking tools
abando ned by the ind ustry (such a s
VistaVision film and cameras, a widescreen process introduced in the 1950s),
took cameras built before most of them had
even been born and bolted together new
hybrid cameras, and developed the ability
to program repeatable moves for cameras
and models.
Today they are using advanced computer systems to push traditional
effects to the limits—and they are still the gold standard in visual ef
fects.
THE D RAGO N MYTH
Coming into
Eragon,
there was plenty of precedent for creating a dragon.
The dragon myth itself has fired the human imagination throughout time
and in many cultures. The classic winged, fire-breathing creature was
described in the epic poem
Beowulf,
one of Paolini’s sources when he was
researching his novel. Beowulf, great hero of the Danes, slew a dragon
that had been ravaging the countryside, but he was mortally wounded in
the battle. So great was this feat, Beowulf’s funeral pyre was built high and
laden with helmets, war shields, and armor. The poem describes the creature’s awesome power: “The dragon began to belch out flames and burn
Arya and Eragon saddle up Saphira.The mock-up of
the dragon’s torso would be replaced in the postproduction period by Industrial Light & Magic’s
computer-generated creation.
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