Inheritance Cycle/Culture

has a rich and diverse history pertaining to several species of intelligent life and reaching back, in the case of the dwarves, over eight millennia.
By the beginning of the , only two of those species were known to be native, the and the , though another supposedly extinct race, the "" are said to have called the land home before they destroyed themselves. No record of them appears within any written history, only legend and hearsay.
All other species came from over the sea. The first to arrive were the (though a much younger culture), followed much later by the . Like ticks, the and came in the wake of the humans though the urgals remained largely persecuted and the Ra'zac presence has always been small.
Races.
Dwarves.
 have inhabited Alagaësia since its creation in 0 A.C. (after creation) by their god, . They initially inhabited the , but after a generation were driven out due to desertification. They headed south to the and discovered during the reign of their first king, . Until 5217 A.C., dwarves proliferated through the mountains, building cities, warring between , mining, tunneling, as well as "amassing an impressive body of mathematics, astronomy, astrology, metallurgy, chemistry, botany, and other branches of natural philosophy [...]." At that time, the elves arrived, tipping the balance of power in Alagaësia. The dwarves were antagonized by the dragons, who preyed on their livestock and plundered their cities.
Elves.
 arrived in Alagaësia from a land known as by ship thousands of years before., "to escape the consequences of some terrible mistake." They spread across Alagaësia, inhabiting the great forest and other plains and forests. Thinking a dragon as a nonsentient beast, an elf slew a dragon. This sparked a , leaving immense casualties on both sides. A few years into the war, , a young elf, found an abandoned dragon egg, and raised the subsequent and became the first . A magical pact bound the two races, giving dragons language and elves access to magic and immortality. After humans were accepted into the pact, the Riders seceded from the elven government and established a government on . After , the elves all retreated into Du Weldenvarden and sealed their borders.
Humans.
 first "arrived" in Alagaësia as a contingent of twenty warriors from a land to the southwest of the Beor Mountains. They landed at in 5596 AC, traded with the dwarves and left. In 7203 A.C., King arrived near with a fleet of ships carrying his entire nation. They sailed northeast from an unknown land and settled . Having made contact with the elves, he found passage through and settled . A single ship carrying the ancestors of the black nomads arrived years before and the pursued humans to Alagaësia. The demonstrated their power to Palancar, who signed treaties with them, the elves, as well as the dwarves. He declared war to expand his borders on the elves thrice and was forced to surrender every time. Finally, aristocrats managed to end to hostilities by secretly arranging for peace and locking him and his family up. The elves also allowed settlement of , abandoned during their war with the dragons.
Dragons.
The Dragons originally dominated Alagaësia. Thought to be mere animals by mostly elves and dwarves initially, but smarter than most mortals, even when first hatched. Dragons wield semi-passive magic, meaning they cannot control it like magic-users, but as once said, "if the need is great enough," they can use magic that are beyond the abilities of mortals. Breathing fire is an exception. It can be called upon (without the ) at will after reaching maturity (around six months old) as said by Brom. Most dwarves still share their disrespect towards dragons, striving to refer to dragons (Saphira) in the third-person, with the exception being , who seems to be the first dwarf who truly loves Saphira as Eragon does.
Urgals.
The came from overseas and inhabited the land on the west coast of Alagaësia and made their homes in . The Urgals' culture was based on warfare and Urgal males rose in ranks by proving themselves worthy in battles against each other or dangerous wild animals, such as cave bears and against Humans.
 are enormous (8 feet tall or more) Urgals that are considered elite warriors in battle.
Ra'zac.
The are extremely mysterious creatures. They are the offspring of and live in the mysterious . Not much is known about them except their extreme ability to kill. In ', managed to kill all of the Ra'zac in Helgrind. In ', it is revealed that there are more Ra'zac eggs possibly throughout the land, as spoken by Galbatorix, so they may or may not be an extinct species.