《龙之纪元起源》部分Codex翻译之三（魔法与宗教篇）

Codex Entry 64: On the history of Apostate mages

It is not uncommon for the neophyte to mistake apostates and maleficarum as one and the same. Indeed, the Chantry has gone to great lengths over the centuries to establish that this is so. The truth, however, is that while an apostate is often a maleficar, he need not be so. A maleficar is a mage who employs forbidden knowledge such as blood magic and the summoning of demons, whereas an apostate is merely any mage who does not fall under the auspices of the Circle of Magi (and therefore the Chantry). They are hunted by the templars, and quite often they will turn to forbidden knowledge in order to survive, but it would be a lie to say that all apostates begin that way.
Historically, apostates become such in one of two ways: They are either mages who have escaped from the Circle or mages who were never part of it to begin with. This latter category includes what we tend to refer to as "hedge mages"--those with magical ability out in the hinterlands who follow a different magical tradition than our own. Some of these hedge mages are not even aware of their nature. Undeveloped, their abilities can express themselves in a variety of ways, which the hedge mage might attribute to faith, or will, or to another being entirely (depending on his nature). Some of these traditions are passed down from generation to generation, as with the so-called "witches" of the Chasind wilders or the "shamans" of the Avvar barbarians.
No matter how a mage has become apostate, the Chantry treats them alike: Templars begin a systematic hunt to bring the apostate to justice. In almost all cases, "justice" is Execution. If there is some overriding reason the mage should live, the Rite of Tranquility is employed instead. Whether we of the Circle of Magi believe this system fair is irrelevant: It is what it is.
--From Patterns Within Form, by Halden, First Enchanter of Starkhaven, 8:80 Blessed.

第六十四卷：异教徒的历史

对于初学者来说，常犯的错误就是误将异教徒和放逐法师混为一谈。确实，教会在过去的数个世纪内都竭尽全力地推崇这一理论。但事实却是，一位异教徒通常是一位放逐法师，但他实际上却不需要这么做。一个放逐法师是一个使用禁忌知识的法师，比如使用血魔法，或召唤恶魔等，而一位异教徒却是那些不听从法师议会（其实就是教会）的命令的人。他们都会遭到圣殿武士的追杀，因此他们通常不得不转而使用禁忌的知识来寻求活命，但认为所有的异教徒都是一样的说法却是个谎言。

从历史的角度说，被判定为异教徒通常有两种情况：他们要么是从法师议会逃脱的法师，要么就是一开始他们就不从属法师议会的法师。后者包括了我们通常所说的“隐居法师”—那些在荒郊野外的拥有魔法能力，却遵循着和我们不一样的魔法传统的法师。这些隐居法师甚至不知道自己拥有魔法能力。它们的魔法能力未经训练，但通常会在用不同的方式表现出来。

这些法师可能会把造成这些能力的原因归结于自己的信仰，或者意志，又或者是由于其他的什么东西（根据他自己的本质不同）。有些这种传统被一代一代地继承了下来，比如Chasind荒野的“女巫”，或者Avvar野蛮人的“萨满”。

无论一个魔法师怎样变成异教徒，教会对待他们的态度都是一样的：圣殿武士会有组织地对他们进行追捕并执行正义。大多时候“正义”就代表着处决。如果有一些更重要的原因使得不得不饶过他的性命，则会替而代之对他采取“宁静仪式”。无论我们法师议会认为这种系统是否公平并不重要：它就是如此。

----源自“形式主义”，作者是Starkhaven的首席附魔师Halden，祝福纪年8：80.

Codex Entry 65: An explanation of the Black City.

No traveler to the Fade can fail to spot the Black City. It is one of the few constants of that ever-changing place. No matter where one might be, the city is visible. (Always far off, for it seems that the only rule of geography in the Fade is that all points are equidistant from the Black City.)
The Chant teaches that the Black City was once the seat of the Maker, from whence He ruled the Fade, left empty when men turned away from Him. Dreamers do not go there, nor do spirits. Even the most powerful demons seem to avoid the place.
It was golden and beautiful once, so the story goes, until a group of powerful magister-lords from the Tevinter Imperium devised a means of breaking in. When they did so, their presence defiled the city, turning it black. (Which was, perhaps, the least of their worries.)
--From Beyond the Veil: Spirits and Demons, by Enchanter Mirdromel

第六十五卷：黑暗之城之的一种解释

每个到过暗物质界的旅行者都见过黑暗之城。那是在变化不息的暗物质界中少有的不变事物之一。无论一个人走到哪里，都可以远远地望见黑暗之城（通常是离的很远，看起来根据暗物质界的物理规则：所有地方距离黑暗之城的距离都是一样的）

教会的歌谣传说黑暗之城曾经一度是造物者的宝座，那时他统治着整个暗物质界，而当人们背叛他的时候，他便离开了那座城市，只留下了一具空壳。梦游者们无法到达那里，而灵魂也是一样。即使是最强大的恶魔也似乎在躲避着那个地方。

它曾经一度是金色和美丽的，起码故事中是这样说的，直到一组来自Tevinter的强大法师领主尝试强行进入它。当他们成功的时候，由于他们的出现污染了城市，结果将它变成了一片黑暗（也许，反正至少是变成他们最不想看到的那种样子）。

--来自“超越中间结界：灵魂和恶魔”，由附魔师Mirdromel撰写。

Codex Entry 66: The Chant of Light on the first darkspawn

No matter their power, their triumphs,
The mage-lords of Tevinter were men
And doomed to die.
Then a voice whispered within their hearts,
Shall you surrender your power
To time like the beasts of the fields?
You are the Lords of the earth!
Go forth to claim the empty throne
Of Heaven and be gods.

In secret they worked
Magic upon magic
All their power and all their vanity
They turned against the Veil
Until at last, it gave way.

Above them, a river of Light,
Before them the throne of Heaven, waiting,
Beneath their feet
The footprints of the Maker,
And all around them echoed a vast
Silence.

But when they took a single step
Toward the empty throne
A great voice cried out
Shaking the very foundations
Of Heaven and earth:

And So is the Golden City blackened
With each step you take in my Hall.
Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting.
You have brought Sin to Heaven
And doom upon all the world.

Violently were they cast down,
For no mortal may walk bodily
In the realm of dreams,
Bearing the mark of their Crime:
Bodies so maimed
And distorted that none should see them
And know them for men.

Deep into the earth they fled,
Away from the Light.
In Darkness eternal they searched
For those who had goaded them on,
Until at last they found their prize,
Their god, their betrayer:
The sleeping dragon Dumat. Their taint
Twisted even the false-god, and the whisperer
Awoke at last, in pain and horror, and led
Them to wreak havoc upon all the nations of the world:
The first Blight.
--From Threnodies 8.

第六十六卷：光明之歌：第一只黑暗生物

无论拥有几多力量，几多胜利，
Tevinter的魔法领主仍然是人
人终将灭亡。
在它们的内心响起了一丝低吟，
难道你想放弃你的力量吗？
就像地里野兽的一生。
你是地表的主人！
前进吧 占领天堂空荡的王座
成为神。

他们秘密的筹划
用了无数的魔法
用尽了他们的权力，财富
他们和结界斗争
最终 结界放弃了

他们之上，是一条光芒的河流
他们面前，是静静等候他们的王座
他们脚下，是造物主的脚印
他们四周，是一片广阔
却回荡着死寂
但当他们仅仅迈出一小步
尝试登上空空的王座
一声巨响的话语爆发出来
震动了所有的根基
天堂与大地

于是金色城市变黑了
你每在我的大厅里迈出一步
好好见识一下完美的样子, 因为它即将不在
你给天堂带来了原罪
你给世界带来了毁灭

他们被残忍地放逐
从此再不能作为凡人行走在世界上
在梦境的世界里，
他们带着罪孽的痕迹：
残破的身躯
扭曲得没有人见到他们后
还会称之为人类。

他们逃到了地底的深处，
远离了光明
他们在黑暗中永恒寻找，
为了那些唆使它们的人，
直到最终它们找到了奖赏，
它们的神，它们的叛徒：
沉睡之龙：Dumat。
它们的污点甚至扭曲了远古之神，
私语者也被痛苦和恐惧所唤醒，
从而带领着它们去摧毁世界上的一切：第一次天灾。”

--哀歌纪元8