《龙之纪元起源》部分Codex翻译之三（魔法与宗教篇）

Codex Entry 89: A discussion of the creatures of the Fade

It is challenging enough for the casual observer to tell the difference between the Fade and the creatures that live within it, let alone between one type of spirit and another. In truth, there is little that distinguishes them, even for the most astute mages. Since spirits are not physical entities and are therefore not restricted to recognizable forms (or even having a form at all), one can never tell for certain what is alive and what is merely part of the scenery. (It is therefore advisable for the inexperienced researcher to greet all objects he encounters.)

Typically, we misuse the term "spirit" to refer only to the benign, or at least less malevolent, creatures of the Fade, but in truth, all the denizens of the realm beyond the Veil are spirits. As the Chant of Light notes, everything within the Fade is a mimicry of our world. (A poor imitation, for the spirits do not remotely understand what they are copying. It is no surprise that much of the Fade appears like a manuscript translated from Tevinter into Orlesian and back again by drunken initiates.)

In general, spirits are not complex. Or, rather, they are not complex as we understand such things. Each one seizes upon a single facet of human experience: Rage, hunger, compassion, hope, etc. This one idea becomes their identity. We classify as demons those spirits who identify themselves with darker human emotions and ideas.

The most common and weakest form of demon one encounters in the Fade is the rage demon. They are much like perpetually boiling kettles, for they exist only to vent hatred, but rarely have an object to hate. Somewhat above these are the hunger demons, who do little but eat or attempt to eat everything they encounter, including other demons (this is rarely successful). Then there are the sloth demons. These are the first intelligent creatures one typically finds in the Fade. They are dangerous only on those rare occasions that they can be induced to get up and do harm. Desire demons are more clever, and far more powerful, using all forms of bribery to induce mortals into their realms: Wealth, love, vengeance, whatever lies closest to your heart. The most powerful demons yet encountered are the pride demons, perhaps because they, among all their kind, most resemble men.

--From Beyond the Veil: Spirits and Demons, by Enchanter Mirdromel.

第八十九卷：关于暗物质界的生物的讨论

通过通常的观察很难分清暗物质界与居住在其中的生物，更不用提区分那些灵魂的种类了。事实上，即使是最敏锐的法师，也只能通过一点点的分别来区分它们。因为灵魂是没有物理实体的，因此没有可以令人继续宁辨别的形状（甚至他们根本就没有形状），人们永远无法说清暗物质界中哪些是活着的生物，哪些仅仅是该界里的背景。（因此许多有经验的人建议对在暗物质界中碰到的任何物体都先打一下招呼）

典型地，我们错用了“灵魂”一词只来形容那些温和的，且没有攻击性的暗物质界生物，而事实上，所有在中间结界以上的生物都是灵魂。就像光明之歌里面所提到的，暗物质界中的所有事物都是我们世界中的一个倒影。（一些很残破的倒影，因为复制它们的灵魂们并不知道它们所复制的东西究竟是什么。这也就难怪那些暗物质界看起来这么像一篇由醉酒的学徒从Tevinter文翻译成Orlesian文，然后又被翻译回来的草稿那样糟糕了）

总体来说，灵魂其实并不复杂。或者说，并不像我们想象中的那么复杂。每一个都停留在某一种人类的情感上：愤怒，饥饿，同情等等。这个情感就变成了识别他们的标识。我们把那些占有了人类负面的情感与想法的灵魂统称为：恶魔。

在暗物质界中最常见也是最弱小的恶魔就是愤怒恶魔。他们就像永远沸腾的水壶那样，因为它们只是仇恨的代言，而却很少有什么实质的事物值得憎恨。在这之上的是饥饿恶魔，它们对遇到的一切除了吃还是吃，包括了其他恶魔（当然这很少成功）。然后就是懒惰恶魔。这些恶魔是在暗物质界中所找到的第一种拥有智慧的生物。他们只对那些值得他们费事起身进行攻击的人构成威胁。魅魔则更加的聪慧，并且更加的强大，利用一切能够讨好人的事物勾引凡人：财富，爱情，复仇的机会，一切深藏在你内心的事物。而至今为止遇到过的最强大的恶魔非骄傲恶魔莫属，这也许是因为它们与它们的同类相比较起来，更加地类似人类。

--源自“超越中间结界：灵魂与恶魔”，作者为附魔师Mirdromel

Entry Codex 90: An explanation of the Tranquil

The Tranquil are the least understood but most visible members of the Circle. Every city of respectable size boasts a Circle of Magi shop, and every one of these shops is run by a Tranquil proprietor.

The name is a misnomer, for they are not tranquil at all; rather, they are like inanimate objects that speak. If a table wished to sell you an enchanted penknife, it could pass as one of these people. Their eyes are expressionless, their voices monotone. Incomparable craftsmen they might be, but they are hardly the sort of mages to put ordinary folk at ease.


--From In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of A Chantry Scholar, by Brother Genitivi.

第九十卷：宁静者

宁静者们是魔法师议会中最令人不解但也是最常见的人。每一个大城市中，都会有法师议会所开设的商店，并且每个商店都是由一名宁静者来总管经营的。

这个名字实际上是不正确的，因为他们其实并不“宁静”；他们更像是说话毫无生气的物体。他们向你卖东西的时候，会让你感觉仿佛是在从一座桌子的手里买一把附魔小刀一样。他们的眼神涣散，声音无力。他们也许是无人可比的手工艺者，但他们却不是那种让人感到舒服的魔法师。

--源自“追寻知识：一名教会学者的旅行”，作者Genitivi教士。

Entry Codex 91: The legend of the Urn of Sacred Ashes

Only one person witnessed Maferaths betrayal: Havard the Aegis. A childhood friend of Maferath, he accompanied his chief to the meeting with the Tevinters, not realizing what was planned. When he understood that Maferath was giving Andraste over to be Executed, Havard, unwilling to draw swords against his friend and liege, placed himself between Andraste and the Tevinter soldiers. The Tevinters struck him down, and Maferath left him for dead.

Gravely wounded, Havard made his way to the gates of Minrathous to stop the Execution. When he reached it, the terrible deed was already done, the armies on the plains long since dispersed. Havard, cursing his weakness, gathered the earthly remains of Andraste that had been left to the wind and rain, and wept. When his fingers touched the pile of ash, his ears filled with song, and he saw before him a vision of Andraste, dressed in cloth made of starlight. She knelt at his side, saying, "The Maker shall never forget you so long as I remember."


The song faded, and the vision with it. And Havard was alone. But his wounds were healed. With new strength, Havard took up the ashes of Our Lady, and bore them back to the lands of the Alamarri.

第九十一卷：神圣骨灰坛的传奇

只有一个人亲眼目睹了Maferath的背叛：庇护者Havard。一名Maferath儿时的玩伴，他陪伴着他的领袖参与了与Tevinters的谈判，并没有意识到正在策划的阴谋。但当他了解到Maerath出卖了Andraste并要将她处决的时候，Havvard无奈地拔剑并将剑尖对向了他曾经的朋友，同时也是他的君主，用他自己的身躯挡在了Andraste和Tiventer士兵中间。Tiventer的士兵最终将他击倒，Maferath则将他留在原地慢慢死去。


但“庇护者”不会那么轻易就被摧毁。Havvard最终挣扎着活了下来，并带着重伤一步一步地走到了Minrathous大门前想阻止他们的处决。但是太晚了。他只找到了这位先知的骨灰，被遗留在了风和雨之中。当他的手指触到骨灰的时候，他的耳中充满了歌声，并且他看到了一幅景象：Andraste穿着星光做成的衣服。她跪在了他的身边，说“站起来，信仰的庇护者，造物主和我将永远不会忘记你。”

歌声渐渐地随着影像淡去。Havard又变成了孤独一人。但他的伤口已经愈合。带着这个新的力量，Havard带走了我们女士的骨灰，并把它们带回来Alamarri。

Codex Entry 91: An account of the Veil

I detest this notion that the Veil is some manner of invisible "curtain" that separates the world of the living from the world of the spirits (whether it be called the Fade or the Beyond is a matter of racial politics I refuse to indulge in at the moment). There is no "this side" and "that side" when it comes to the Veil. One cannot think of it as a physical thing or a barrier or even a "shimmering wall of holy light" (thank you very much for that image, Your Perfection).

Think of the Veil, instead, as opening ones eyes.

Before you opened them, you saw our world as you see it now: static, solid, unchanging. Now that they are open, you see our world as the spirits see it: chaotic, ever-changing, a realm where the imagined and the remembered have as much substance as that which is real--more, in fact. A spirit sees everything as defined by will and memory, and this is why they are so very lost when they cross the Veil. In our world, imagination has no substance. Objects exist independently of how we remember them or what emotions we associate with them. Mages alone possess the power to change the world with their minds, and perhaps this forms the nature of a demons attraction to them--who can say?

Regardless, the act of passing through the Veil is much more about changing ones perceptions than a physical transition. The Veil is an idea, it is the act of transition itself, and it is only the fact that both living beings and spirits find the transition difficult that gives the Veil any credence as a physical barrier at all.

--From A Dissertation on the Fade as a Physical Manifestation, by Mareno, Senior Enchanter of the Minrathous Circle of Magi, 6:55 Steel.

第九十一卷：中间结界

我并不喜欢那种形容中间结界就像是一张将活人世界和灵魂世界隔开的无形地“帘子”的说法。（有人也称那个世界为“暗物质界”或者“超物质界”，但这都是出于某些地域政治原因，因此我不想提）对于中间结界来说并没有“这个世界”或“那个世界”之分。一个人不能将它想象为某种物理的东西，或是某种形态的障碍物，或是某种由神圣之光所构造的壁垒（非常感谢您为我提供这种说法，我完美的阁下）

请把中间结界想象成睁开一个人的双眼。

在睁开之前，你看我们的世界就像你现在所看到的那样：静止，实态，永恒不变的。而当你睁开之后，你就会像灵魂一样看到我们的世界：混沌，变化，一切想象中和记忆中的东西看起来和那些实实在在的东西一样真实---实际上让人感觉更加真实，因为灵魂们将所有的东西都看作是想象和记忆。这也就是为什么当他们穿越中间结界来到我们的世界时会感到一切都是如此地令人困惑。在我们的世界中，头脑中的想象是没有实体的。物体独立于我们的对它的想象和情感而存在。只有魔法师们才能够通过他们的意识来改变世界，也许这就促使了恶魔们对魔法师们更加感兴趣---谁知道呢？

无论如何，穿越中间结界很大程度上是一个人的想法地转变而不是物理的转变。中间结界本身是一个想法，它就是转变行为的本身，且事实上仅仅是因为它转变起来很困难，才会给活人以及灵魂们认为它就好像一堵不可逾越的墙一样的概念。

---源自“从物理的角度理解暗物质界的一片论文”，作者是Minrathous魔法议会的首席附魔师Marena，6：55钢铁纪元

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