《龙之纪元起源》部分Codex翻译之四（文化与历史篇）

Codex Entry 144: On early dwarven history

The Memories tell us that our kingdom once reached far beneath the mountains, and that the thaigs were almost beyond counting. Kal Sharok was the capital then, home to all the noble houses, and Orzammar was simply the home of the Miner and Smith castes.

It was with the Tevinter Imperium that things changed. Paragon Garal moved the seat of power to Orzammar to more closely oversee the trade that began with the surface. It seemed that our people were entering a new age of prosperity.

The Memories hold no explanations for the coming of the darkspawn, only questions. At first, they were rumors, noises in the Deep Roads, a lost traveler here and there. The Warrior Caste sent men to patrol the road, and thought the matter settled. We did not know that while we searched for them, they were engaged in a search of their own.

Sleeping deep in the Stone itself was the archdemon. They found him, and awakened him, and the Blight began.

The darkspawn poured out of the Deep Roads like smoke, then, and the Warrior Caste struggled to hold them back. Countless thaigs were lost in that first Blight. But, as ever, in the worst moments of our need, a Paragon arose. Paragon Aeducan led the defenses of Orzammar, and the dark horde was beaten back.

The cost of victory, however, was great. Much of the Deep Roads were sealed to hold back the darkspawn, cutting off thaigs and even whole cities forever.

--"Orzammar as a Kingdom," as told by Shaper Czibor

第一百四十四卷：矮人们早期的历史

记录者们告诉我们，我们的王国曾经一度扩张至山岭地下极远的地方，并且拥有着数不胜数的殖民地。Kal Sharok是那时候的首都，是所有贵族家族的家园，而Orzammar仅仅是矿工阶级和铁匠阶级的家园而已。

一切事情都因为Tevinter帝国而改变。矮人贤者Garal将权力的宝座移至了Orzammar从而能够能贴近地观察和地表人群的贸易活动。看起来我们的人民正在进入了一个全新的兴旺时期。

记录者却不能对之后到来的黑暗大军做出任何的解释，只有疑问。最初，他们只是一些传言，无底之路中传来的噪音，偶尔在那里发生的一些旅行者失踪事件。战士阶级的人派出了一些人去道路上巡逻，并且认为事情已经得到解决。我们却不知道当我们寻找他们的时候，他们却已经找到了他们所寻找的东西。

在石头下深深沉睡着的大恶魔。他们找到了他，并唤醒了他，于是天灾便降临了。

黑暗生物从无底之路中像烟雾一样的弥漫出来，而后战士阶级的人尝试着击退他们。在第一次天灾中无数的殖民地被遗弃。但是，就像在任何时代一样，在最危险的时刻中一位矮人贤者崛起了。Aeducan贤者领导了Orzammar的防御战，黑暗生物终于被击退。

然而胜利的代价却是昂贵的。无底之路的大部分都为了防止黑暗生物的入侵而被封死，切断了许多与殖民地甚至整座城市的联系。

---源自“作为一个王国的Orzammar”，由雕塑师Czibor所讲述。

Codex Entry 145: On golems

We were losing the war against the darkspawn. Slowly. A few men at a time, but losing all the same. The Warrior Caste was dwindling with each generation as more able-bodied men perished in their prime without fathering sons. With each generation, more of the Deep Road had to be sealed, more thaigs lost forever. The kings of Orzammar watched, and wondered how long it would be until nothing remained of our people but the Memories.

And then Paragon Caridin arose from the Smith Caste with a new weapon: Golems. Giant soldiers of living stone and metal, each one was an army. With the Paragons golems, we began to retake the lands we had lost. For a while, there was hope that victory, final victory, was coming.

But at the height of the war, Paragon Caridin disappeared, and with him, the means to make golems. Several forays were made into the Deep Roads to search for the Paragon, but nothing was ever found. Over time, the golems we had were damaged beyond repair, and we began our slide, once again, toward extinction.

--"Orzammar as a Kingdom," as told by Shaper Czibor

第一百四十五卷：傀儡石像

我们正在渐渐输掉与黑暗生物的战斗。慢慢地，每次只失去一点人，但总体上仍然走向失败。战士阶级的人数每代都在逐渐变小，因为越来越多有能力的人在他们正当壮年之时死去，还来不及延续后裔。随着一代代人的繁衍，无底之路更多的部分必须被封闭，更多的殖民地永远地逝去。Orzammar的国王一直关注着，并思考着大概多久之后我们的人们便会完全消失而只留下回忆。

后来，矮人贤者Caridin从铁匠阶级中崛起，并发明了他的新武器：傀儡石像。它们是巨大的活着的石头和钢铁组成的士兵，每一个都能抵挡一只军队。借助矮人贤者的傀儡石像，我们开始重新占领我们所失去的土地。并且在一段时间内，我们甚至看到了胜利的希望，最后的胜利，正在来临。

但是在战争的高潮时期，矮人贤者Caridin突然消失了，并且他还带走了制造傀儡石像的方法。仅管几只突击队被派遣到了无底之路中去寻找矮人贤者，但却什么也没有发现。随着时间的过去，我们所拥有的傀儡石像渐渐破损到了无法修复的程度，于是我们又走上了下坡路，慢慢地走向了灭绝的边缘。

---“作为一个王国的Orzammar”，由雕塑师Czibor所讲述。

Codex Entry 146: On the ruined fortress of Ostagar

Representing the furthest point of encroachment by the ancient Tevinter Imperium into the barbarian lands of the southeast, the fortress of Ostagar was once one of the most important defensive holdings south of the Waking Sea. It stood at the edge of the Korcari Wilds watching for any signs of invasion by the barbarians known today as the Chasind wilders. Straddling a narrow pass in the hills, the fortress needed to be by-passed to reach the fertile lowlands to the north and proved to be exceedingly difficult for the wilders to attack because of its naturally defensible position.

Like most imperial holdings in the south, Ostagar was abandoned after Tevinters collapse during the first Blight. It was successfully sacked by the Chasind wilders and then, as the Chasind threat dwindled following the creation of the modern Ferelden nation, fell to ruin completely.

It has remained unmanned for four centuries, though most of the walls still stand--as does the tall Tower of Ishal, named after the great archon that ordered its construction. Ostagar remains a testament to the magical power of the Imperium that created it.

--From Ferelden: Folklore and History, by Sister Petrine, Chantry scholar

第一百四十六卷：Ostagar堡垒的遗迹

代表着古老Tevinter帝国对于东南部野蛮人土地入侵的最远点，Ostagar的堡垒曾经一度是防御觉醒之海南部的重要阵地。它屹立在Dorcar荒野的边缘，注视着任何野蛮人---如今他们被叫做Chasind野人---入侵的迹象。

就像大多数在南方的帝国一样，Ostagar在第一次天灾后Tevinter帝国崩溃时便被遗弃了。而后它被Chasind野人们成功地掠夺，而后在当代的Ferelden国家建立后，Chasind的威胁逐渐减少，它便被完全地遗弃了。

它在四个世纪中都没有人对其加以修复，仅管大多数的墙壁仍然屹立着---高耸的Ishal塔也仍然健在，这座塔以下达建筑它命令的执政官的名字而命名。Ostagar仍然保留着一些帝国当初建立它时所留下的魔法力量。

--源自“Ferelden：乡间传奇和历史”，作者教会学者，Petrine修女。

Codex Entry 147: n account of the qunari conquest of Par Vollen

In the 30th year of the Steel Age, the first qunari ships were sighted off the coast of Par Vollen in the far north, marking the beginning of a new age of warfare.

History calls this the First Qunari War, but it was mostly a one-sided bloodbath, with the qunari advancing far into the mainland. Qunari warriors in glittering steel armor carved through armies with ease. Their cannons, the likes of which our ancestors had never seen, reduced city walls to rubble in a matter of seconds.

Stories of qunari occupation vary greatly. It is said they dismantled families and sent captives to "learning camps" for indoctrination into their religion. Those who refused to cooperate disappeared to mines or construction camps.

For every tale of suffering, however, there is another of enlightenment deriving from something called the "Qun." This is either a philosophical code or a written text that governs all aspects of qunari life, perhaps both. One converted Seheran reported pity for those who refused to embrace the Qun, as if the conquerors had led him to a sort of self-discovery. "For all my life, I followed the Maker wherever his path led me," he wrote, "but in the Qun I have found the means to travel my own path."

It has been said that the most complete way to wipe out a people is not with blades but with books. Thankfully, a world that had repelled four Blights would not easily bow to a foreign aggressor. And so the Exalted Marches began.

The greatest advantage of the Chantry-led forces was the Circle of Magi. For all their technology, the qunari appeared to harbor great hatred for magic. Faced with cannons, the Chantry responded with lightning and balls of fire.

The qunari armies lacked the sheer numbers of humanity. So many were slain at Marnas Pell, on both sides, that the Veil is said to be permanently sundered, the ruins still plagued by restless corpses. But each year, the Chantry pushed further and further into the qunari lines, although local converts to the Qun proved difficult to return to Andrastes teachings.

By the end of the Storm Age, the qunari were truly pushed back. Rivain was the only human land that retained the qunari religion after being freed, and its rulers attempted to barter a peace. Most human lands signed the Llomerryn Accord, excepting the Tevinter Imperium. It is a shaky peace that has lasted to this day.

--From The Exalted Marches: An Examination of Chantry Warfare, by Sister Petrine, Chantry scholar

第一百四十七卷：Qunari对Par Vollen的征服

在钢铁纪元的第三十年，第一支Qunari的船队在Par Vollen的遥远北方被发现，标志着一个新时代战事的开始。

历史称呼这件事为第一次Qunari战争，但是它更像是一面倒的大屠杀，当Qunari进入了更深的主大陆地区时。Qunari战士们穿着他们闪闪发光的钢铁盔甲，在敌军中轻易地杀出一条血路。他们的加农炮，那种我们祖先们从未见过的东西，在几秒中之内就将我们城市的城墙粉碎成碎片。

关于Qunari占领的故事流传的很广。据说他们拆散了许多家庭并将俘虏们送去“再造营”接受他们宗教的熏陶。那些拒绝合作的人很快便消失在了矿井与建筑工地中。

而由教会领导的部队的优势则是魔法师议会的力量。仅管拥有他们的科技，Qunari似乎对魔法表现出了极端的憎恨。面对加农炮，教会用闪电和火球进行了应对。

Qunari军队缺少对付人类的数量优势。许多人在Marnas Pell被杀死，双方的人都损失惨重，据说因此那里的中间结界变得十分脆弱，那的废墟里仍然被许多不眠的尸体所侵扰。但是随着每过一年，教会都将Qunari的防线不断地逼退，仅管那些被Qun驯化了的当地人十分难以重新回到关于Andraste的教导中来。

在风暴纪元的最后，quanri完全地被击退了。Rivain是唯一在被解放后还保留着qunari信仰的人类领地，而它的统治者倾向于达成某种妥协。除了Tevinter帝国，大多数的人类领地都签署了Llomerryn协议。那摇摇欲坠的和平一致维持直至今。

--源自“圣战：对教会战力的检验”，作者教会学者，Petrine修女。