This Respect Thread is for the villainous duo, The Twins, who were in service to the Varden for a very long time before showing their true colors by kidnapping Murtagh Morzansson, setting up a trap to kill the leader of the Varden Ajihad, and leaving to return to Galbatrix's employ. They are tall, bald, and usually wear robes.

Telepathy

One of the Twins, called Egraz Carn by Orik, enters Eragon's mind when he first enters Tronjheim to discern whether or not he was a threat:

Eragon watched them go, wishing that he could accompany her. His attention snapped back to the bald man as he said, "Enough of this, we have wasted too much time already. Prepare to be examined."

Eragon did not want this hairless threatening man inside his mind, laying bare his every thought and feeling, but he knew that resistance would be useless. The air was strained. Murtagh's gaze burned into his forehead. Finally he bowed his head. "I am ready."

"Good, then----"

He was interrupted as Orik said abruptly, "You'd better not harm him, Egraz Carn, else the king will have words for you."

The bald man looked at him irritably, then faced Eragon with a small smile. "Only if he resists." He bowed his head and chanted several inaudible words.

Eragon gasped with pain and shock as a mental probe clawed its way into his mind. His eyes rolled up into his head, and he automatically began throwing up barriers around his consciousness. The attack was incredibly powerful.

Don't do that! cried Saphira. Her thoughts joined his, filling him with strength. You're putting Murtagh at risk! Eragon faltered, gritted his teeth, then forced himself to remove his shielding, exposing himself to the ravening probe. Disappointment emanated from the bald man. His battering intensified. The force coming from his mind felt decayed and unwholesome; there was something profoundly wrong about it.

He wants me to fight him! cried Eragon as a fresh wave of pain racked him. A second later it subsided, only to be replaced by another. Saphira did her best to suppress it, but even she could not block it entirely.

Give him what he wants, she said quickly, but protect everything else. I'll help you. His strength is no match for mine; I'm already shielding our words from him.

Then why does it still hurt?

The pain comes from you.

Eragon winced as the probe dug in further, hunting for information, like a nail being driven through his skull. The bald man roughly seized his childhood memories and began sifting through them. He doesn't need those----get him out of there! growled Eragon angrily.

I can't, not without endangering you, said Saphira. I can conceal things from his view, but it must be done before he reaches them. Think quickly, and tell me what you want hidden!

Eragon tried to concentrate through the pain. He raced through his memories, starting from when he had found Saphira's egg. He hid sections of his discussions with Brom, including all the ancient words he had been taught. Their travels through Palancar Valley, Yazuac, Daret, and Teirm he left mostly untouched. But he had Saphira conceal everything he remembered of Angela's fortune telling and Solembum. He skipped from their burglary at Teirm, to Brom's death, to his imprisonment in Gil'ead, and lastly to Murtagh's revelation of his true identity.

Eragon wanted to hide that as well, but Saphira balked. The Varden have a right to know who they shelter under their roof, especially if it's a son of the Forsworn!

Just do it, he said tightly, fighting another wave of agony. I won't be the one to unmask him, at least not to this man.

It'll be discovered as soon as Murtagh is scanned, warned Saphira sharply.

Just do it.

With the most important information hidden, there was nothing else for Eragon to do but wait for the bald man to finish his inspection. It was like sitting still while his fingernails were extracted with rusty tongs. His entire body was rigid, jaw locked tightly. Heat radiated from his skin, and a line of sweat rolled down his neck. He was acutely aware of each second as the long minutes crept by.

The bald man wound through his experiences sluggishly, like a thorny vine pushing its way toward the sunlight. He paid keen attention to many things Eragon considered irrelevant, such as his mother, Selena, and seemed to linger on purpose so as to prolong the suffering. He spent a long time examining Eragon's recollections of the Ra'zac, and then later the Shade. It was not until his adventures had been exhaustively analyzed that the bald man began to withdraw from Eragon's mind.

The probe was extracted like a splinter being removed. Eragon shuddered, swayed, then fell toward the floor.

Source: Eragon

Ajihad tells Murtagh that the Twins have the power to wipe memories from his mind:

"Will you hold me prisoner forever?" demanded Murtagh, straightening.

"No," said Ajihad, "only until you let yourself be examined. If you are found trustworthy, the Twins will remove all knowledge of Farthen Dur's location from your mind before you leave."

Source: Eragon

During the Battle of Tronjheim, one of the Twins stayed back in the city to relay information to the other through their minds:

"One of the Twins is staying in Tronjheim. He's going to watch the battle from the dragonhold and relay information through his brother to me."

Source: Eragon

The Twins relay information to Eragon during he battle as well:

Remembering Ajihad's orders, he began relaying information to the Twins. They were interested by what he had to say about the Urgals' apparent lack of a leader and questioned him closely. The exchange was smooth, if brief. The Twins told him, You're ordered to assist Hrothgar; the fight goes badly for him.

[...]

As he parried a blow, the Twins contacted him urgently. There are loud noises under Tronjheim. It sounds like Urgals are trying to dig into the city! We need you and Arya to collapse any tunnels they're excavating.

Source: Eragon

Murtagh tells Eragon that the Twins arranged the attack that killed Ajihad by taking over a group of Urgals, presumably through TP:

A shadow darkened Murtagh's face. "No, I did not die. It was the Twins' doing, Eragon. They took control of a group of Urgals and arranged the ambush in order to kill Ajihad and capture me."

Source: Eldest

The Twins are considered more powerful than members of Du Vrangr Gata, the Varden's spellcasters and magicians, and when they join the Battle of the Burning Plains, they easily overpower one of the magicians before working their way onto a second, and Trianna, the leader of the group, was afraid that they'd kill the whole of the Varden:

While the dragons dueled with increasingly complex acrobatics, Eragon became aware of a disturbance on the Burning Plains: the spellcasters of Du Vrangr Gata were beset by two new magicians from the Empire. These magicians were far more powerful than those who had preceded them. They had already killed one of Du Vrangr Gata and were battering past the barriers of a second. Eragon heard Trianna scream with her mind, Shadeslayer! You have to help us! We can't stop them. They'll kill all the Varden. Help us, it's the----

Her voice was lost to him as the Rider stabbed at his consciousness.

Source: Eldest

Magic

Description of how magic works in the Eragon universe:

Ajihad seems confident that if Saphira were to try to attack the people of Tronjheim, she couldn't get past the Twins. Although this is only his opinion, it still speaks highly of the Twins' magical ability:

He'll do, said Saphira respectfully. She swung her head to face Eragon. Tell him that I am impressed both with Tronjheim and with him. The Empire is right to fear him. Let him know, however, that if he had decided to kill you, I would have destroyed Tronjheim and torn him apart with my teeth.

Eragon hesitated, surprised by the venom in her voice, then relayed the message. Ajihad looked at her seriously. "I would expect nothing less from one so noble----but I doubt you could have gotten past the Twins."

Source: Eragon

Orik says the Twins can hold their own in a fight and that Ajihad's predecessor allowed them to join the Varden because they needed strong spellcasters:

"Except for the Twins."

"Oei," grumbled Orik. "She wouldn't want their help anyway; their arts are not for healing. Their talents lie in scheming and plotting for power----to everyone else's detriment. Deynor, Ajihad's predecessor, allowed them to join the Varden because he needed their support . . . you can't oppose the Empire without spellcasters who can hold their own on the field of battle. They're a nasty pair, but they do have their uses."

Source: Eragon

The Twins have garnered much magical experience:

"And I suspect that we might be able to assist you as well."

"How?"

The other Twin said, "The two of us have garnered much experience in magical matters."

Source: Eragon

While testing Eragon for his proficiency in magic, the Twins make attempts to prevent him from passing, telling him to lift a stone to a certain height but, without using any words, make it more difficult for him to do so. They continue to do this, without saying any words, and then test him in manipulating water, casting fire, hardening leather, juggling rocks, freezing items, and manipulating the flight of an arrow, implying that they themselves are already well versed in those techniques and spells:

Sharp lines appeared at the corners of the Twins' mouths. They turned so they faced Eragon obliquely and, bending at the waists, drew a large pentagram on the ground. They stepped in the middle of it, then said harshly, "We begin now. You will attempt to complete the tasks we assign you . . . that is all."

One of the Twins reached into his robe, produced a polished rock the size of Eragon's fist, and set it on the ground. "Lift it to eye level."

That's easy enough, commented Eragon to Saphira. "Stenr reisa!" The rock wobbled, then smoothly rose from the ground. Before it went more than a foot, an unexpected resistance halted it in midair. A smile touched the Twins' lips. Eragon stared at them, enraged----they were trying to make him fail! If he became exhausted now, it would be impossible to complete the harder tasks. Obviously they were confident that their combined strength could easily wear him down.

But I'm not alone either, snarled Eragon to himself. Saphira, now! Her mind melded with his, and the rock jerked through the air to stop, quivering, at eye level. The Twins' eyes narrowed cruelly.

"Very . . . good," they hissed. Frederic looked unnerved by the display of magic. "Now move the stone in a circle." Again Eragon struggled against their efforts to stop him, and again----to their obvious anger----he prevailed. The exercises quickly increased in complexity and difficulty until Eragon was forced to think carefully about which words to use. And each time, the Twins fought him bitterly, though the strain never showed on their faces.

It was only with Saphira's support that Eragon was able to hold his ground. In a break between two of the tasks, he asked her, Why do they continue this testing? Our abilities were clear enough from what they saw in my mind. She cocked her head thoughtfully. You know what? he said grimly as comprehension came to him. They're using this as an opportunity to figure out what ancient words I know and perhaps learn new ones themselves.

Speak softly then, so that they cannot hear you, and use the simplest words possible.

From then on, Eragon used only a handful of basic words to complete the tasks. But finding ways to make them perform in the same manner as a long sentence or phrase stretched his ingenuity to the limit. He was rewarded by the frustration that contorted the Twins' faces as he foiled them again and again. No matter what they tried, they could not get him to use any more words in the ancient language.

More than an hour passed, but the Twins showed no sign of stopping. Eragon was hot and thirsty, but refrained from asking for a reprieve----he would continue as long as they did. There were many tests: manipulating water, casting fire, scrying, juggling rocks, hardening leather, freezing items, controlling the flight of an arrow, and healing scratches.

Source: Eragon

After the tests above, the Twins asked Eragon to summon the essence of silver from a ring. Arya, who appears right before Eragon attempts to try this, gets angry at the Twins because only a true master of magic could perform the task, but the fact that they asked him to could mean that they themselves know how to summon the essence of another object:

Finally the Twins raised their hands and said, "There is only one thing left to do. It is simple enough----any competent user of magic should find this easy." One of them removed a silver ring from his finger and smugly handed it to Eragon. "Summon the essence of silver."

Eragon stared at the ring in confusion. What was he supposed to do? The essence of silver, what was that? And how was it to be summoned? Saphira had no idea, and the Twins were not going to help. He had never learned silver's name in the ancient language, though he knew it had to be part of argetlam. In desperation he combined the only word that might work, ethgri, or "invoke," with arget.

Drawing himself upright, he gathered together what power he had left and parted his lips to deliver the invocation. Suddenly a clear, vibrant voice split the air.

"Stop!"

The word rushed over Eragon like cool water----the voice was strangely familiar, like a half-remembered melody. The back of his neck tingled. He slowly turned toward its source.

[...]

Arya's blazing emerald eyes were fixed on the Twins, who had turned pale with fright. She approached on silent footsteps and said in soft, menacing tones, "Shame! Shame to ask of him what only a master can do. Shame that you should use such methods. Shame that you told Ajihad you didn't know Eragon's abilities. He is competent. Now leave!"

Source: Eragon

The Twins used a spell on Murtagh to prevent him from escaping when they captured him after the Battle of Farthen Dur:

A shadow darkened Murtagh's face. "No, I did not die. It was the Twins' doing, Eragon. They took control of a group of Urgals and arranged the ambush in order to kill Ajihad and capture me. Then they ensorcelled me so I could not escape and spirited me off to Uru'baen."

Source: Eldest

They eventually started attacking the soldiers of the Varden themselves, firing balls of destructive energy and killing them by the dozens:

Following his gaze, Eragon saw the Twins standing at the front of the Empire, casting balls of energy into the midst of the Varden and the dwarves. The curtains of smoke made it difficult to tell, but Eragon was sure the hairless magicians were grinning and laughing as they slaughtered the men with whom they once pledged solemn friendship.

Source: Eldest

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