《龙之纪元起源》部分Codex翻译之一（生物篇）

Codex Entry 25: Shriek

Scholars call these tall, lean darkspawn the sharlock, though they are more popularly known as shrieks because of the ear-splitting cries they emit in battle. Many tales exist of soldiers being unnerved by the sounds of approaching shrieks, cloaked in darkness and never seen until the moment they strike.
As horroes of the night, shrieks are renowned for their incredible speed and agility as well as their stealth. They are the assassins of the darkspawn, penetrating the enemy lines and striking their targets using long, jagged blades attatched to their forearms to rip their opponent to shreds in seconds. They have been known to employ poison, often drawn from their own blood, and have demonstrated cunning group tactics when attacking in numbers.

第二十五卷：尖啸者

学者将这些高大，倾斜的黑暗生物叫做煞兽人，但它们最令人熟知的名字则是尖啸者，这是由于它们在战斗中发出的那刺耳的尖叫声。许多传说中都提到，士兵们因为这些尖啸者的刺耳声音而丧失勇气，它们潜伏在黑暗中不被人发现，直到他们发出攻击的那一瞬间。

就像黑夜中的恐惧，尖啸者被人所熟知的是它那不可思议的速度和敏捷，以及它们的力量。它们是黑暗生物中的刺客，穿透敌人的防线，并用它们前臂上附生的参差不齐的长剑刺入敌人的身体，并在瞬间将敌人扯得粉碎。它们通常会用毒，大多数毒液是直接来自于它们的血液，并且在人多的时候采取狡猾的小组战术攻击敌人。

Codex Entry 26: Skeleton

The demons of the Fade are jealous of the living beings they sense from across the Veil. They constantly push against the boundaries of the Fade, and when finally cross over, they attempt to possess the first living creature they see. They are unable, however, to distinguish that which was once living from that which is... in fact, a corpse provides an even more tempting target to a weaker demon as it has no will with which to resist the possession. The demon cannot rationalize why this is so; it only sees a target and grasps at the opportunity.
A skeleton is exactly that: a corpse animated by a possessing demon. Upon finding itself trapped within a body that cannot sustain it, the demon is driven insane... it seeks to destroy any life that it encounters, attacking without thought to its own welfare.
The exact names given to skeletons of this type vary according to the nature of the demon that possesses it. A "fanged skeleton" is a skeleton possessed by a hunger demon. These skeletons devour whatever life they encounter and often possess the ability to drain life energy and mana from their victims. A "shambling skeleton" is a slower-moving skeleton possessed by a sloth demon, able to bring entropic powers against its opponents, slowing them and even putting them to sleep. More powerful demons have been known to command skeletons, but at that level they are known by other names: revenants and arcane horrors, to name two.

第二十六卷：骷髅

暗物质界的恶魔嫉妒那些中间结界对面活着的生物。它们不断地试图突破暗物质界的边缘，并且当最终成功穿过的时候，它们会立刻尝试去侵占所看到的第一个活生物。然而，它们却不能区分什么是“曾经活着的”生物…事实上，一个尸体往往更让一些较为弱小的恶魔所偏爱，因为这些尸体从不用精神抵抗恶魔的侵占企图。而这些恶魔却并不能理性地思考这是为什么，它们只知道立刻抓住这个机会并侵占目标。

一个骷髅实际上是：一个被恶魔侵占的尸体。一旦它发现它被困在了一个不能够支持它的躯体中，恶魔会迫使地陷入疯狂…它会寻求去摧毁任何它所遇到的生物，而并不考虑它自己的利益。

每一个给予骷髅的明确的名字通常是根据侵占它的恶魔的种类所命名的。“毒牙骷髅”是一个被饥饿恶魔所侵占的骷髅。这些骷髅吞噬任何它所遇到的生命，并且通常拥有从受害者身上吸取生命及魔法的能力。“蹒跚骷髅”是一个移动缓慢的骷髅，被一个懒惰恶魔所占领，能够用暗物质能量来对付对手，缓慢它们甚至让他们陷入睡眠。更加强大的恶魔也会操作骷髅，但在那个级别它们通常就被称呼为：归来者或秘法幽魂了。

Codex Entry 27: Sloth Demon

"And I looked at the creature and it had become me. A veritable copy of my form, of my very mind, stared back at me as if from within a mirror. I thought surely that this was a trick, an illusion meant to put me off guard... but as I engaged the thing with my sword it fought me with maneuvers that I recognized. It parried as I parried; it swung as I swung. It spoke to me and said things that only I could know. I... I think this demon of sloth has no form or identity of its own. It is envy as much as sloth, I believe, and mine was not the first shape it stole that day."
--An excerpt from a transcribed deposition of Tyrenus, templar-commander of Cumberland, 3:90 Towers.
The most difficult assumption for some who study demons to overcome is the notion that a sloth demon is, in and of itself, slothful. If that were so, it seems highly unlikely that any such demons would cross the Veil into our own world, or once here would fight to possess any creature with a will of its own--and we know both these things to not be the case. Certainly, some demons are lazy and complacent, but who knows? Perhaps these creatures even cultivate such a reputation.
The truth is that demons of sloth are named so because this is the portion of the human psyche that they feed upon. Doubt. Apathy. Entropy. They seek to spread these things. The sloth demon hides in its forms, a master of shapes and disguises, always in the last place you look... and from its hiding place it spreads its influence. A community afflicted by a demon of sloth could soon become a dilapidated pit where injustices are allowed to pass without comment, and none of the residents could be aware that such a change has even taken place. The sloth demon weakens, tires, tears at the edges of consciousness and would much rather render its victim helpless than engage in a true conflict. Such creatures are best faced only with a great deal of will, and only with an eye to piercing their many disguises.

第二十七卷：懒惰恶魔

“当我看着这个生物，它已经完全变成了我的样子。一个完整的复制品，我的心灵，我的身体，它看着我就好象是在镜子中的那样。我立刻想到这是一个诡计，一个让我疏于防范的幻觉…但当我用剑刺像这个生物的时候，它竟然做出和我一模一样的动作；我格挡它也格挡；我劈砍它也劈砍。它对我说了一些只有我自己才知道的事情。我…我想这个懒惰恶魔并没有它自己的形态。它不只懒惰，而且善于嫉妒，我相信这点，而我并不是那天它所偷走形态的唯一的人。”

--摘录自Cumberland的骑士指挥官Tyrenus的一段供词，高塔纪元3：90

对于那些学习恶魔的人来说，最难以逾越的一个难题就是判断懒惰恶魔的是否真的懒惰。如果它们确实懒惰的话，那么它们不太可能愿意像其他恶魔那样穿越中间结界来到我们的世界，或是愿意在来到我们的世界后通过战斗来侵占一个拥有自我意志的生物—但我们都知道事实不是这样。当然，有些恶魔是很懒并且很自满，但谁知道呢？也许这些生物是培养了这样的声誉而故作的。事实上，人们之所以将其命名为懒惰恶魔，是因为它们以人类的懒惰精神作为食粮，同样的还有人类的怀疑，冷淡，以及其他的消极情感。它们尝试扩大这些情感。懒惰恶魔藏在它的外形之下，它是一位真正的伪装与变形大师，总是藏在你看不到的地方…并且从它藏身的地方扩散它的影响。一个被懒惰恶魔所影响的社区很快就会变成一个肮脏的，破烂的，且对于任何不公正都无动于衷的社会，而其中甚至没有人会发现这些变化。懒惰恶魔通常喜欢通过削弱，疲倦，破坏良知，借此来使它的对手陷入无助的境地，从而代替真正地与对手进行战斗。对付这样的生物一定要拥有强大且坚定的意志，并且要拥有一双能够看穿它的各种伪装的眼睛。

Codex Entry 28: Giant Spider

Giant spiders tend to appear in old ruins and other places where the Veil has become thin because of magical disturbances or a great number of deaths. In such places, spirits and demons pass into the world of the living and attempt to take control over living beings, spiders among them. Not all scholars accept this explanation for the presence of these beasts, however. Some claim that the thinning Veil allows magic to "leak" from the Fade, tainting such creatures as these spiders to transform into larger and more potent creatures then they ever would become naturally. While such spiders are known to possess powerful poisons and the ability to fling their webs at opponents in combat, studies of them have been few and the full range of their abilities are unknown.

第二十八卷：巨型蜘蛛

巨型蜘蛛通常出现在古老的遗迹，以及其他一些由于魔法异动或者许多死亡而导致中间结界变弱的地方。在这些地方，灵魂和恶魔穿入这个活人的世界并试图控制活生物，蜘蛛也是其中之一。然而，不是所有的学者都认同这一关于这种野兽出处的说法。一些人声称削弱的中间结界使得魔法从暗物质界“泄漏”出来，从而扭曲了这些生物，致使这些生物变成了比它们原有形态更加巨大且拥有更强威力的生物。这些蜘蛛通常都带有剧毒，以及拥有能在战斗中通过织网将对手困住的能力，对它们的研究只是很少的一部分，因此他们大多数的能力尚不为人知。