《龙之纪元起源》部分Codex翻译之一（生物篇）

Codex Entry 21: Rage Demon

Encountered in the Fade, the true form of a rage demon is a frightening sight: a thing of pure fire, its body seemingly made of amorphous lava and its eyes two pinpricks of baleful light radiating from its core. The abilities of such a demon center on the fire it generates. It burns those who come near, and the most powerful of its kind are able to lash out with bolts of fire and even firestorms that can affect entire areas.
Fortunately, even powerful rage demons are less intelligent then most other varieties. Their tactics are simple: attack an enemy on sight with as much force as possible until it perishes. some rage demons carry over their heat-based abilities into possessed hosts, but otherwise the true form is mostly seen outside of the Fade when its specifically summoned by a mage to do his bidding.

第二十一卷：狂怒恶魔

在暗物质界遭遇到狂怒恶魔的真实形态，确实是可怕的一幕：一个由纯火焰构成的物体，它的身体看起来是由不定型的岩浆组成的，它嗜血的双眼从内心深处闪烁出可怕的光芒。这样一个恶魔的能力大多来自它所诞生的火焰。它灼烧任何靠近它的人，并且它们中的强大者更会发射出火焰飞弹，甚至会用火焰风暴席卷整个区域。

幸运的是，即使是强大的狂怒恶魔也比它的同类要愚笨一些。它们的战术很简单：倾尽全力攻击离它们最近的敌人直到消失。一些狂怒恶魔会将它们的火焰能力带入它所侵占的宿主当中，但大多数的时候它们都是以真实的形态出现，被魔法师召唤出来并按法师的意愿行事。

Codex Entry 22: Rat

"What are you, mad? Even the most giant of rats isnt going to present that much of a problem to anyone larger than a cat. Even the stories in the archives that tell of Blight-touched rats still only attributed them with the ability to spread the plague. The rats themselves got no larger than perhaps three feet in length, covered in sharp bony spikes and boils. Disturbing, certainly, but dangerous? This is no fantasy conjured by madmen, young man! You have much more important creatures to concern yourself with!"
--Transcript of a lecture given by Nalia, Senior Enchanter of Hossberg, 8:44 Blessed (Note: she was later eaten by a Blight Rat in 8:46 Blessed)

第二十二卷：老鼠

“你怎么了，疯了吗？即使最大的老鼠也不会对任何比猫体型大的人造成麻烦。即使故事中所说的那些被天灾所影响的老鼠，也不过仅仅是通过携带瘟疫而对人类造成威胁。老鼠本身最多不会超过三个脚丫子那么大，周身被骨刺和脓疮所包围。当然，它们看起来很恶心，但它们有那么危险吗？这可不是什么疯子的幻想，年轻人！有许多比这更重要的生物值得你去关心！”

--摘录自Hossberg的资深附魔师Nalia的一段演讲，8：44祝福纪年（注意：她后来在8：46祝福纪年的时候被一只天灾老鼠吃掉了）

Codex Entry 23: Revenant

"An entire unit of man, all slain by one creature. I didnt believe it at first, your Perfection, but it appears that this is so. We have a survivor, and while at first I thought his rantings pure exaggeration... it appears to be no simple skeleton. The descriptions of the creatures abilities were eerily similar to those our brothers at Marnas Pell encountered almost a century ago: men pulled through the air to skewer themselves on the creatures blade, and attacks so quick that it was able to assault multiple opponents at once. No, your Perfection, what we have here is indeed a revenant and nothing less."
--From a letter to Divine Amara III, 5:71 Exalted.
A revenant is a corpse possessed by a demon of pride or of desire... making it amongst the most powerful possessed opponents that one can face. Many possess spells, but most are armed and armored and prefer the use of their martial talents. They are weak against physical attacks but regenerate quickly, and commonly use telekinesis to pull opponents into melee range should they try to flee. Revenants also have the ability to strike multiple opponents surrounding them. Stay at range if possible and strike quickly--that is the only way to take such a creature down.

第二十三卷：归来者

“整个编队的人，都被一只生物杀死了。起初我也不相信，大人，但看起来确实是这么回事。我们有一个生存者，起初我认为他的咆哮只是夸张的说法…它不过是一具骷髅罢了。对这个生物能力的形容，好像和当年我们在Marnas的兄弟在差不多一个世纪前所碰到的怪物一样：人被凭空拉到那个生物的面前并被剑刺穿，并且它的攻击是如此之快，以至于可以同时攻击多个对手。不，大人，我们碰到的确实是一个归来者，确实是的。”
--摘自一封寄给圣者Amara三世的信，5：71崇高纪年。

一个归来者是一个被骄傲恶魔或魅魔所占据的尸体…使其成为了一个人所能面对的最强大的宿主之一。许多可以施放魔法，但是大多数持有武器和盔甲，并且更喜欢使用它们的战斗技能来对付敌人。它应对物理攻击相对较弱，但它的恢复能力很强，并且大多时候会使用心灵传动将想要逃跑的对手拉到近前。归来者还拥有同时攻击多个包围它的目标的能力。尽量和它保持距离，并快速地进行攻击—这是唯一能够击败这种生物的方法。

Codex Entry 24: Shade

"It has often been suggested that the only way for a demon to affect the world of the living is by possessing a living (or once living) body, but this is not always true. Indeed, a shade is one such creature: a demon in its true form that has adapted to affect the world around it.
My hypothesis is this: We already know that many demons become confused when they pass through the Veil into our world. They are unable to tell the living from the dead, the very static nature of our universe being confusing to a creature that is accustomed to a physicality defined entirely by emotion and memory. Most demons seek to immediately seize upon anything they perceive as life, jealously attempting to possess it--but what of those that do not? What of those that encounter no life, or fail to possess a body? What of those that are more cautious by their nature?
These demons watch. They lurk. They envy.
In time, such a demon will learn to drain energy from the psyche of those it encounters, just as it did in the Fade. Once it has drained enough, it has the power to manifest and will forever after be known as a shade. Such a creature spurns possession. It instead floats as a shadow across its piece of land, preying upon the psyche of any who cross its path. Perhaps it believes itself still in the Fade? There is evidence to believe that is so.
A shade will weaken the living by its very proximity. If it focuses its will, it can drain a single target very quickly. Some have even been known to assault the minds of a living victim, causing confusion or horror and making the target ripe for the kill. The tragedy of a shade is perhaps that, once it has drained a target whole, its appetite is only heightened rather than slaked."
--From the journal of former Senior Enchanter Maleus, once of the Circle of Rivain, Declared apostate in 9:20 Dragon Age.


第二十四卷：阴影

“通常人们认为一个恶魔能够影响活人世界的方法是占据一个活着的（或曾经活着的）躯体，但这并不总是真的。确实，一个阴影就是一个反例：一个使用真实形态的恶魔能够适应并影响它周围的世界。

我的猜测是这样的：我们已经知道了很多恶魔在穿过了中间界进入我们的世界后会陷入混乱和迷惑。它们不能够区分死人和活人，我们世界的静态本质让这些习惯了身处纯由情感和记忆所构成的世界的生物感到困惑。绝大多数恶魔立刻寻求占据任何它们看来是生命的东西，嫉妒并想占有它—但那些不这么想的恶魔呢？那些没有遇到生命的，或者无法占据躯体的，以及那些天性谨慎的恶魔呢？
这些恶魔们静静地观察，等待。它们嫉妒其他人。

随着时间的变化，这样的恶魔学会了从它所接触到的灵魂吸取能量的方法，就像它在暗物质界中作的那样。一旦它吸取了足够的能量，它就能够显现它自己，并被人悉知为一个阴影。这样的生物摒弃了占有。它作为一个阴影漂浮在它的土地上，猎食那些穿过它的土地的灵魂。或许它相信它自己仍在暗物质界？有证据说明确实是这样。

一个阴影会削弱它所接近的生物。如果它集中它的意志，它可以很快地吸干一个目标。有些阴影甚至突袭一个受害者，使其产生迷惑和恐惧，从而让其更加容易进行猎杀。而阴影的悲剧则是：一旦它吸干了一名受害者，它的食欲不但没有减弱，反而会变的更强。”
--摘自前资深附魔师Maleus，曾经是Rivain议会的一员，在9：20龙之纪元的时候被定罪为异教徒。