《龙之纪元起源》部分Codex翻译之一（生物篇）

Codex Entry 9: Deepstalker

"A fool trusts his eyes. A wise man fears every rock is a deepstalker"
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Possibly the strangest of all the creatures found in the Deep Roads is the deepstalker. Tezpadam, as the dwarves call them, hunt in packs, generally by burrowing underground and then striking when their prey is in their midst.
Stalkers come in several types. Spitters have venom glands and can spit secretions that slow or injure their prey. Jumpers hurl themselves at their targets, knocking them down and making the kill easier. The most common variety scares its prey, leaving the unfortunate victim helpless against the rest of the pack.

第九卷：地底潜行者

“一个愚蠢的人相信他自己的眼睛。一个聪慧的人则恐惧每块石头都可能是一个地底潜行者所伪装成的。”
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地底潜行者可能是所有在无底之路生活的生物中最奇怪的一种。矮人们是称呼它们为Tezpadam，它们通常一群一群地出现，通常藏在自己所挖的洞中，当猎物走进它们中间的时候突然出现进行攻击。

潜行者有几个种类。喷吐者拥有有毒的唾液，并可以拖慢并伤害它们的猎物。跳跃者跳向它们的目标并将他们撞倒在地，从而使得猎杀更加方便一些。最常见的种类则通过惊吓它们的猎物，使那些不幸的受害者无助地对抗其他的族群。

Codex Entry 10: Desire Demon

"In all my studies, I must say that the most intriguing was my interview with the desire demon. That the creature was willing to speak with me was a sign that this was no mere monster, mindlessly driven by its nature, but rather a rational being as interested in me as I was in it. It took a form that I would call female, though I had no doubt that it could appear otherwise. I wondered if it appeared as it did because I wanted it to or because I expected it to. She... and, indeed, I could only think of her as such now... smiled warmly at me and laughed a musical sound that seemed to thrill my old heart.
So frightened was I of this creatures legendary abilities to twist the hearts of men, and so relieved was I when I looked across the table into her dark eyes. This was a fearsome creature of the Fade, but as I spoke with her I slowly came to realize that this demon was merely as misunderstood as we mages are, ourselves."
--From the journal of former Senior Enchanter Maleus, once of the Circle of Rivain, Declared apostate in 9:20 Dragon.
Of all the threats from beyond the Veil, few are more insidious and deceptively deadly than the desire demon, In folklore, such demons are characterized as peddlers of lust, luring their prey into a sexual encounter only to be slain at the culmination. While a desire demon can indeed deal in pleasure, in truth they deal with any manner of desire that humans can possess: wealth, power, and beauty, to name a few.
Far more intelligent than the bestial hunger and rage demons, and more ambitious than the demons of sloth, these dark spirits are among the most skilled at tempting mages into possession. Many who serve the whims of a desire demon never realize it. They are manipulated by illusions and deceit if not outright mind control, although these demons are reluctant to resort to such crude measures. Instead, they seem to take great pleasure in corruption. The greater the deceit, the greater their victory.
Only demos of pride prove more fearsome opponents when roused. Their abilities to affect the mind allow them to assume disguises and even alter the environment to their purposes, not to mention the great strength and speed they possess if they should have to resort to more physical means. Most often a desire demon will attempt to bargain its way to freedom if overpowered--many stories exist that depict mages defeating desire demons to the point where a wish can be wrested from them. It should be noted that in such stories the demon almost always gets the upper hand even when the mage thinks his wish has been granted.

第十卷：魅魔

“在我所有的学习研究中，我必须要说最有趣的当属我对魅魔进行的采访。这个生物主动地跟我进行沟通，说明它并不是那些无知的，单单依靠本能行事的一般怪物，而是一个非常理性的，对我感兴趣的生物，就像我也对它感兴趣一样。它以一种我所认为的女性的形态出现，虽然我相信它肯定有许多其它的形态。我怀疑它之所以是这种外表，是由于我希望它是这样，又或我本来认为它就是这样。她…确实，我只能想到她的这些…对我那温柔的微笑，她那轻柔的话音仿佛能够安慰我这颗年迈而沧桑的心。

起初，我是如此地害怕她那传说中可怕的，能够扭曲男人内心的能力。而当我透过书桌对面，凝视她那双黑色而深邃的双眼时，我又是如此地兴奋与开心。她本是暗物质界中一种非常可怕的生物，但通过我与她的对话，我却渐渐了解到，原来我们对这个恶魔的误解，就像我们魔法师对我们自己的误解一样之多。”

--摘自前资深附魔师Maleus，曾经是Rivain议会的一员，后被认定为异教徒，龙之纪年9：20.

所有在中间界之上的的威胁之中，很少有能够比魅魔更危险，并更能够迷惑人心并致命的恶魔了。在民间传说中，魅魔常常被描写为淫欲的使者，通过性诱惑骗来它们的猎物，并在高潮的时候使之毙命。它们确实能给人类带来欢乐，确切地说，它们能够提供人类所渴望的一切欢乐：财富，权利，美人，数不胜数。

它们远远比那些狂怒与饥饿的恶魔聪明，比懒惰恶魔更加有野心，这些黑暗的灵魂最容易诱使魔法师们着迷。许多被迷惑的人并不知道自己已经被迷惑，它们已被幻觉所蒙蔽。并且他们如果无法摆脱精神控制的话，还会按照魅魔的意愿进行举动，尽管魅魔们很不情愿采取这种行为来控制对方，她们更喜欢通过欺骗和腐化来控制对方，越是欺骗的巧妙和高深，她们也就越成功。

只有骄傲恶魔在被逼急了的时候能比魅魔被逼急的时候更加可怕。它们的能力使得她们能够进行伪装，甚至通过意志改变周围的环境，更不用提它们的力量和速度----如果它们只能诉诸武力的话。大多数魅魔在被制服后会乞求释放她们自由—传说的故事中，如果魔法师击败了一个魅魔，则可以借放它们自由机会向它们索取一个愿望。但值得注意的是，在这种情况下，魅魔几乎会立即占据上风，即使魔法师的愿望最终能够得以实现。

Codex Entry 11: Dragon

Dragonlings
Newly-hatched dragons are roughly the size of a deer and voraciously hungry. They live for a short time in their mothers lair before venturing out on their own. The slender, wingless creatures are born in vast numbers, as only a few ever make it to adulthood.
Drakes
Male dragons never develop into the winged monsters of myth. At most, their forelegs grow vestigial spurs where wing membrane might have been.
Once they have fully matured, males immediately seek out the lairs of adult females. When they find one, they move into her lair and spend the rest of their lives there, hunting for her and defending her young. They will aggressively defend her nest, and many would-be dragon hunters have been lost to their fiery breath and crushing blows from their tails.
Dragons
High Dragons
A fully mature adult female dragon is the high dragon: the great monster of legend, the rarest of all dragonkind. These dragons hollow out massive lairs for themselves, for they need the space to house their harem of drakes as well as their eggs and the dragonlings.
High dragons are seldom seen. They spend most of their time sleeping and mating, living off the prey their drakes bring back. But once every hundred tears or so, the high dragon prepares for clutching my emerging from her lair and taking wing. She will fly far and wide, eating hundreds of animals, most often livestock, over a course of a few weeks and leaving smoldering devastation in her wake. She then returns to her lair to lay her eggs and will not appear in the skies again for another century.

第十一卷：龙

幼龙：

新孵化的龙只有差不多一只鹿的大小并且拥有贪得无厌的食欲。它们在母亲的巢穴里呆一段时间，而后就单独出去闯荡。这些苗条的，没有翅膀的生物会一次出生一大批，但仅仅只有很少数能够活到成年。

鸭嘴兽龙：

雄性龙永远不会成为传说中那种带翅膀的可怕怪物。最终，它们本应长为翅膀的前肢会退化为薄膜。
一旦它们完全成熟，雄性会立刻出发去寻找成熟雌性的巢穴。当他们找到一个后，他们就会移居到该巢穴，并将余生都在那里度过，为雌性龙猎取食物并保护它们的幼仔。他们会非常积极地保护她的巢穴，很多年轻的猎龙人就丧生在了它们那燃烧的吐息和尾巴的粉碎打击上。

高等龙：

一个完全成熟的雌性龙就变成了高等龙：它们是传说中的怪物，通过鸭嘴兽龙所带回的食物所生存。但是每一百年左右，高等龙准备妊娩的时候，她会远远飞离她的巢穴，吃掉数以百计的动物，通常是家畜，持续差不多一周后，她会飞回巢穴并留下一片燃尽的废墟。她继而则会回到巢穴生下龙蛋并起码在一个世纪内不会再次出现。

Codex Entry 12: Genlock
These are the most common darkspawn in the underground. Stocky and tough, genlocks are notoriously difficult to kill, even by magic.
Alphas
In any group of genlocks, there is usually one who is dominant. As the tallest, strongest, and smartest of their kind, alphas serve as a sort of commander, directing or bullying the others in combat.
Emissaries
The most intelligent of the alphas become gifted sorcerers, with many abilities akin to blood magics. These are the emissaries and they usually only appear during a Blights.

第十二卷：半兽人

这些是在地下世界里最常见的黑暗生物。矮而粗壮，半兽人众所周知很难被杀死，即使是通过魔法也是一样。

阿尔法半兽人：

在任何的半兽人群落中，通常至少有一个人是首领。一般会由它们之中最高，最强壮，以及最聪明的来担当，阿尔法通常扮演一个指挥官的角色，指挥或强迫其他的人在战斗中服从于它。

半兽人使者：

最聪面的阿尔法半兽人会成为术士，掌握很多与血魔法相关的技能。这些怪物就被称为半兽人使者，并且通常会在一次天灾中出现。