Alagaësia Lore And Headcanons Series, Part 1: The Ra'zac and Lethrblaka
Not sure how exactly this series would be structured just yet, but in this post I will try to compile all the information we have on the Ra'zac and my personal headcanons about the species
The species has three known forms - eggs, which are blue-black and "pitted like sandstone", the "pupae" - the Ra'zac, and the adults, the Lethrblaka. The existence of a fourth form is strongly implied (more on that later).
The Ra'zac have a vaguely humanoid bipedal posture with hunched backs. Though distinctly strange, they seem to be able to fool humans for quite long - the imperial soldiers under their authority in Eldest must have worked with them for at least weeks and did not seem to recognize them as non-humans.
Their appearance is probably best described in Eldest, p. 185:
"A hideous, tortured face screamed at him. The skin was shiny black, like a beetle carapace. The head was bald. Each lidless eye was the size of his fist and gleamed like an orb of polished hematite; no iris or pupil existed. In place of a nose, mouth, and chin, a thick beak hooked to a sharp point that clacked over a barbed purple tongue."
Another description comes from Inheritance (p. 196), of a newborn Ra'zac:
"The Ra’zac had a deep, ridged chest that made it look as if its ribs were on the outside of its body, not the inside. The creature’s limbs were thin and knobby, like sticks, and its waist was narrower than any human’s. Each leg had an extra backward-bending joint, something that Eragon had never seen before, but which accounted for the Ra’zac’s unsettling gait. Its carapace appeared soft and malleable, unlike those of the more mature Ra’zac Eragon had encountered. No doubt it would harden in time."
The lethrblaka are much larger and winged, also described in detail in Eldest, p. 188:
"Their bodies were naked and hairless—like newborn mice—with
leathery gray skin pulled tight across their corded chests and bellies. In form they resembled starved dogs, except that their hind legs bulged with enough muscle to crush a boulder. A narrow crest extended from the back of each of their attenuated heads, opposite a long, straight, ebony beak made for spearing prey, and cold, bulbous eyes identical to the Ra’zac’s. From their shoulders and backs sprang huge wings that made the air moan under their weight."
This description, at least to me, strongly brings to mind old outdated art of pterosaurs that are often depicted as grey, emaciated bat-like monsters:
Rhamphorhynchus, W Francis Phillips
Quetzalcoatlus, William Stout
Pteranodon, Zdeněk Burian
According to Oromis, a Ra'zac will shed its exoskeleton on the first full moon of the twentieth year since its hatching (Eldest, p. 357). This would mean the Ra'zac also have a whole endoskeleton underneath their exoskeleton, or that the endoskeleton forms later and is possibly not made of bone.
The Ra'zac and Lethrblaka both feed on humans. While the Lethrblaka can feast on anything, the Ra'zac prefer human flesh. Based on the frequency of offerings by the priests of Helgrind, a Ra'zac needs to feed at least thrice a month (Brisingr, p. 5)
The Lethrblaka (and presumably the Ra'zac as well) have metallic blue-green blood. This sounds a lot like their blood is based on hemocyanin similar to insects, or some other similar substance (since hemocyanin is more transparent blue).
In Eragon (p. 64), Brom expresses bewilderment at the Ra'zacs' ability to replicate human speech. Since they have beaks, it is likely that they mimic speech the same way corvids and parrots do using their syrinx, which erases the issue of lacking lips. Though the Ra'zacs' voices are notably hissy (the way they are shown in dialogues), they likely struggle with sibilants or possibly replace these sounds with hisses as the nearest equivalent. Lethrblaka seem to lose the ability to mimic human language.
Their own langauge, which they share with lethrblaka, is a series of clicks, hisses, whistles, warbles and other sounds that are described as similar to either birds or insects.
In Brisingr, while debating making a pact with Eragon, the last Ra'zac makes a series of noises to himself. This may be either simply him talking to himself or alternatively, a way to express his emotional state. In other passages of the books, the Ra'zac react with hisses and screeches when angry or frustrated. It is possible that due to their hard exoskeleton, lidless eyes and stiff beaks, they make up for their ability to show their mood via facial expressions by expressing their feelings with different noises.
The Ra'zac and Lethrblaka seem to form close bonds among themselves - the Ra'zac show great respect to their parents, and the last Ra'zac seems to mourn his "hatchmate" enough to wish to disobey Galbatorix and avenge her death by killing Eragon.
They are shown to be much stronger, faster and able to jump higher than humans. It's a question whether they are weaker, equal to or stronger than elves.
Their physical strength also makes them formidable swordfighters. It is possible they forge their own weapons, since their swords are described as unique in Alagaësia.
They have highly acute senses, most notably their eyesight, which lets them see perfectly under low-light conditions including near total darkness, and their sense of smell. Smell seems to be their primary sense, they are said to be able to track prey like a bloodhound and to never forget a smell.
They possess an "evil breath" that presumably contains toxic fumes that reduce the ability to think clearly, to the point of paralysis. This is the most effective on humans, barely affects dwarves and does not affect elves at all (Eldest, p. 357).
In multiple scenes they are also shown to have some kind of power over humans merely by looking at them. It is not certain whether this is strictly the effect of their poison breath or if they can use some sort of hypnosis.
The Ra'zac are described as "cunning and full of guile" (Eragon, p. 64) but "narrow-minded" (Eldest, p. 359). The Lethrblaka on the other hand "have all the intelligence of a dragon. A cruel, vicious, and twisted dragon" (same page).
They use Seithr oil, but it is unlikely that they produce it, since its creation requires magic (Eragon, p. 100).
Weaknesses - according to Oromis they are terrified of water since they cannot swim. Their highly developed eyesight also makes them vulnerable to sunlight and any other sharp light, which seems to be strong enough to cause physical pain.
The Ra'zac and Lethrblaka cannot use magic and their minds cannot be detected by magic users, as can be seen when they take Eragon and Saphira by surprise at Helgrind
There is also the reasons why they serve Galbatorix. According to the priest at Helgrind, he "stole their eggs and killed their young, and he forced them to swear fealty to him lest he eradicate their line entirely" (Inheritance, p. 192). Galbatorix prefers to control his servants through their True Names (such as Murtagh or the burrowing grubs from Vroengard he used to torture Nasuada), however, it seems that this was not the case since the last Ra'zac was able to disobey Galbatorix when attempting to kill Eragon in Brisingr.
All in all, some of the anomalous characteristics in terms of magic the Ra'zac possess are similar to the mutated species from Vroengard, such as the snalglí which seem to be immune to magical wards (Inheritance, p. 332)
This leads me to believe that the Ra'zac as a species somehow exist outside the framework of the Ancient Language and therefore lack True Names
We know that it is possible to give creatures a True Name (the sundavrblaka and íllgrathr, Inheritance, p. 532), but such thing is only possible using the Name of Names. Galbatorix is only shown controlling the grubs in Inheritance, after he has already learned the Name, which he had not known yet at the time of the death of the last Ra'zac in Brisingr.
Therefore, since they lack a True Name, are invisible to magic and cannot use it at all, it can be assumed they are not bound by the effects of the Ancient Language. This is somewhat supported by the fact that the name of their parents, Lethrblaka, is very clearly in the Ancient Language but does not seem to change anything about their ability (or inability) to be controlled. Ra'zac might also be "in the Ancient Language", but we will probably never know. In Eragon, p. 64, Brom says this about them:
"They are called the Ra’zac. No one knows if that’s the name of their race or what they have chosen to call themselves."
There is a chance that if they have indeed named themselves in the Ancient Language, the name would have no effect anyway.
Their existence outside the magic system of Alagaësia is also supported by what Saphira says first time Eragon mentions the Ra'zac:
"Oaths betrayed, souls killed, eggs shattered! Blood everywhere. Murderers!" (Eragon, p. 44)
As we know, for most races, even non-magic users, it is impossible to break an oath made in the Ancient Language. This might effectively make them the only sapient race capable of lying in the Ancient Language.
The cultists near Dras-Leona worship the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka, calling them the Old Ones and revering them by sacrificing their own flesh to them to "satisfy their desires". They also keep and protect the last (known) remaining Ra'zac eggs.
The high priest describes them as "the three-faced god—the hunters of men, the eaters of flesh, and the drinkers of blood". The three "faces" of the Ra'zac may be these listed three aspects of their species, or it may refer to their three distinct life forms.
According to Brom, the priests "spend much of their time arguing about which of Helgrind's three peaks is the highest and most important and whether the fourth - and lowest - should be included in their worship" (Eragon, p. 150).
They follow a certain Book of Tosk, presumably a human from the early history of human settlers in Alagaësia, a long enough time ago that the language of the Broddring Kingdom has evolved enough to make it incomprehensible to Eragon (Inheritance, p. 184)
Their goal seems to be to liberate the Ra'zac from Galbatorix and the Riders who have brought the species to near extinction shortly after their arrival to Alagaësia.
"They are the monsters in the dark, the dripping nightmares that haunt your race."
“What manner of creatures are they?”
“Neither elf; man; dwarf; dragon; furred, finned, or feathered beast; reptile; insect; nor any other category of animal.”
The most hints we get are from Oromis in Eldest (p. 357). He expresses the belief that they were the reason humans originally emigrated to Alagaësia from wherever their old homeland was.
From the way he describes them, the Ra'zac come off as almost otherworldly. Every species has relatives connected by a common ancestor. In Alagaësia even the dragons have distant cousins in the fanghur. The one-of-a-kind creatures of Vroengard seem to be easy to classify into categories of insects and birds. The Ra'zac seem to be the sole exception.
Oromis says "all areas where humans are weak, the Ra’zac are strong", and that they are the "nightmares that haunt your race". This is oddly specific. The Lethrblaka are said to hunt everything, but this might be simply a matter of finding enough prey to fuel their much larger bodies, or the Lethrblaka under Galbatorix's rule may have simply been instructed to seek other prey as not to draw attention to themselves.
These descriptions, the Ra'zacs' unusual abilities and complete separation from magic make it sound almost as if the Ra'zac were not a naturally evolved species, but rather created intentionally to hunt humans.
The Grey Folk - we have extremely little information on them except that they merged their language (the Ancient Language) with magic itself. They would certainly be capable of creating a brand new species. Problem is, the Grey Folk are said to have resided in Alagaësia (and were presumably native there) and after their magic ritual they faded away living among the "younger races" (it is not specified which ones, presumably elves and possibly humans after they settled Alagaësia). The Ra'zac arrived with the humans, so unless there were other Grey Folk living outside of Alagaësia this would make little sense.
The elves - they are said to have arrived to Alagaësia across the sea after a "terrible mistake" (this is a generally accepted fandom opinion, but I could not find any mention in the books). The problem with this theory is that elves and humans most likely do not come from the same place (elves are said to have arrived across the sea (Eragon p. 34), while humans came from "far to the south, beyond the Beor mountains" (p. 437))
Humans themselves - possibly an ancient civilization that intended to use them as population control/a force to keep citizens in line (this would make sense considering the juvenile Ra'zac are obedient to Galbatorix and "narrow-minded", meaning they would likely be easily trained), but the project went terribly wrong
They are the result of random mutation similar to the creatures at Vroengard
What is their natural behavior?
The Ra'zac and Lethrblaka in the books are the last of their kind, their behavior and lifestyle cannot be considered a representation of their species.
There are four peaks at Helgrind and the cult of Ra'zac worshippers only worship three of them which are named, as well as describing the Ra'zac species as a "three-faced god". It is possible that there is a fourth form that is never shown, a rare one that was lost and forgotten in the times when the Ra'zac were decimated by Riders shortly after their arrival. Since the Ra'zac are very insect-like, there is a possibility this form may have been something like a matriarch, with the Lethrblaka being drones and the Ra'zac juveniles with different roles based on their size and maturity. This could be supported by the canon Ra'zacs' apparent sense of hierarchy. As for the last pair of Ra'zac being born from the Lethrblaka, to borrow from Dragonriders of Pern lore, it is possible that the Lethrblaka do not normally reproduce but may do so in the absence of a matriarch as a matter of preserving the species until the conditions for the birth of a new matriarch are met.
To go off of the previous theories, if the Ra'zac were indeed artificially created, the existence of a matriarch may have been sort of a failsafe to quickly reduce their reproductive rates in case the Ra'zac became too numerous. Unfortunately this failsafe did not work and humans were forced to migrate to Alagaësia. The Ra'zac that followed them had their own matriarch(s) among their ranks, but the Riders were able to kill them and therefore easily bring the entire race to the brink of extinction.
It is possible that the Ra'zac do not normally form the same close emotional attachments as they do in canon, and only do so due to the lack of companionship of an originally numerous species.
That would be it for now, I might add/change things later if I come up with anything that makes more sense
