奇迹时代3开发日志#旧作剧情#2

来源：http://www.ageofwonders.com/dev-journal-what-happened-after-shadow-magic-story-part-ii/

全文由HeavenK翻译。

• [Ham:] So let`s talk a bit about the setting for this story then… I think most fans are wondering if Julia and Merlin get together and make baby wizard elves?
• 茱莉亚和梅林在一起了么？有孩子了么？
• [Ray:] The story starts with Julia`s children, but they`re not Merlin`s. They never marry and they didn`t get their “Happily Ever After”. In fact, as you know, Merlin has become an outcast and a pariah.
• 故事从茱莉亚的孩子们开始，但是不是梅林的。他们没结婚，也没有所谓“从此以后就过上了幸福生活”这种结局。其实，如你所知，梅林成了一个弃子，一个贱民。
• [Ham:] Of course I knew all this, living on the Blessed Continent as I do. Imagine my surprise to see the trailers and see that Merlin`s back and with his head attached to his body, especially after Julia ordered his public execution.
• 当然，我知道这些，我也生活在福祉之地。你可以想象当我看到梅林的脑袋被砍下来的时候我有多惊讶，特别是茱莉亚主持着这场公开处刑。
• [Ray:] She did.
• 没错。
• [Ham:] Wouldn`t he be dead, then?
• 他会不会死呢？
• [Ray:] You`d think that, but Merlin and Julia are both clever and love doesn`t just die, but sometimes it takes a backseat to saving the world.
• 你可以猜测一下，不过梅林和茱莉亚都很聪明，并且爱情不会就那样消失，只是有时候为了拯救世界不得不放弃。
• [Ham:] So I assume there`s a reason behind all this. Things you refuse to divulge, so could you skip that—let`s talk instead about the change the Elves have undergone. Tell the players about the Mending.
• 所以我猜这之间有内情，不过你拒绝透露，所以让我们跳过这一段。让我们谈谈精灵们所经历的变化，和玩家讲讲大整合。
• [Ray:] Right. Well first, in order to understand it, Julia fell in love with a remarkably clever and caring Dark Elf King named Saridas.
• 好的，为了方便理解，我们先从茱莉亚爱上了一个非常聪明且善解人意的黑暗精灵国王萨瑞达斯说起。
• [Ham:] Which might come as a shock to some players, especially if they played through the first games.
• 这估计会让一些玩家震惊，特别是对那些从一代玩起的玩家来说。
• [Ray:] Yes, the Dark Elves and Wood Elves were mortal enemies. Meandor, Julia`s brother, sought to kill Julia. He formed the Cult of Storms and led the Dark Elves, but when the Shadow Demons appeared and started consuming the world, Julia and Meandor became close allies. Once the Shadow Demons were driven away, Meandor led the assault against any of the last remaining traces of the Shadows into the Shadow Realm.
• 使得，黑暗精灵和木精灵是世仇。敏多，茱莉亚的兄弟，试图杀死茱莉亚。他组建了风暴教派并带领黑暗精灵，但是当影魔出现并开始吞噬世界时，茱莉亚和敏多又成了亲密盟友。当影魔被赶走之后，敏多率领部队寻找任何暗影的踪迹，并突击了暗影国度。
• [Ham:] So Meandor set up Julia with one of his buddies?
• 所以敏多留下一个手下来对付茱莉亚？
• [Ray:] King Saridas was a trusted friend of Meandor, but not a Wizard. Therefore when Merlin sealed all the wizards behind the last Shadow Gate, he remained and became the King of the Dark Elves in Meandor`s absence.
• 萨瑞达斯王是敏多的挚友，但是却不是巫师。当梅林将所有巫师封印在最后一座暗影之门内以后，萨瑞达斯成为了敏多不在时的黑暗精灵国王。
• [Ham:] Which made me wonder how he managed to keep Julia in this world. She was a wizard too.
• 这让我好奇他怎么让茱莉亚留在这个世界的，她也是个巫师啊。
• [Ray:] In order to seal off this world from the Shadow World, Merlin had to destroy the Wizard`s Circle in Evermore. In that moment, all wizards in this world lost their powers. It was quite tragic, and an affront to the elves and archons; the reason Merlin became so hated.
• 为了将暗影世界和这个世界隔离开，梅林摧毁了永世的巫师之环。那一刻，所有这个世界的巫师都失去了自己的力量。这是个悲剧，对于精灵们和神人们是个侮辱，这也是为什么梅林如此被人仇视。
• [Ham:] Fickle people. They hated the wizards when they ruled, and they the hated losing them.
• 善变的人们。当年他们不满巫师的统治，现在他们又不满巫师的离开。
• [Ray:] With no wizards in the world, every realm withered. Think about it this way. When you control the weather to make your domains more productive, the population depends on it. The whole world had become dependent on this power. So when it was gone, the consequences were terrible. Whole populations starved. Fruitful lands turned back to deserts.
• 由于石阶上已经没有巫师了，所有的国度都开始枯萎。想一下，当你可以控制领地的气候，让领地更富饶，人们肯定依赖你。整个世界都取决于他们的力量。所以当力量消失，结果是恐怖的。人们开始挨饿，原先富饶的土地变成了沙漠。
• [Ham:] Yeah that was a rough time. I remember I ate a couple meals a day during that decade. Tough times, indeed.
• 是啊，这是段艰苦的日子。我记得我那会每天只有一顿饭，真是苦日子。
• [Ray:] Saridas had been smitten with Julia for a long time before she lost her powers.
• 萨瑞达斯在茱莉亚失去力量以前就已经迷恋上她了。
• [Ham:] Who wasn`t?
• 谁不是呢？
• [Ray:] It was a dark time for Julia. She had lost more than power. She was so alone. So it was Saridas, who never left her side. He gave her something to learn. He showed her that there were ways to embrace magic without being a full-fledged Wizard. He rekindled her love of the natural world, which would lead to the type of power she would embrace.
• 那段日子对茱莉亚来说十分黑暗。她失去了自己的力量，又十分孤单。是萨瑞达斯从未离开她的身边。他教给她许多知识，他给她展示如何不用成为一个正式的巫师而使用魔法的方式。他唤醒了她对自然世界的爱，从而让她有了新的力量可以拥抱。
• [Ham:] I remember. That`s when Julia started to dream and smile again.
• 我记得，从那时起茱莉亚开始重新做梦并露出笑容。
• [Ray:] It`s quite the story. In the quiet moments they spent together, Julia expressed her greatest desire to Saridas, and Saridas found a way to make it come a reality. He searched the world for the magic necessary to bring about the Ceremony known as the Mending—his search nearly killed him—and yet all that is backstory.
• 这就是这个故事，在哪个时候他们走到了一起，茱莉亚感受到了对萨瑞达斯的爱，萨瑞达斯则让其变为现实。他走寻世界，寻找能带来一个被成为大整合的仪式的魔法。这一过程几乎害死了他，这就是整个背景故事。
• [Ham:] He explored places I was more than happy to avoid.
• 他探索过的地方我看还是略过吧。
• [Ray:] When he was certain, he presented Julia with her wish: A ceremony that would unite the Dark Elves and the Wood Elves into a single race once again. For the spell to work, the two would have to give themselves wholly one to another.
• 当他确信找到以后，他实现了茱莉亚的愿望：一个仪式，将黑暗精灵和木精灵再度统一为一个种族。为了让这个魔法成功，他们两人必须完全将自己献给对方。
• [Ham:] So they married and lived happily ever after… right?
• 于是他们结婚了，并幸福的生活在一起，对吗？
• [Ray:] Using magic they gathered the Dark Elves and Wood Elves, and by the power of their magical union had a transformative effect upon all the elves, calming the hatred, healing old wounds. That`s how the High Elves were formed.
• 通过魔法，他们将黑暗精灵和木精灵集中起来，他们的魔法力量的转化效果影响到所有的精灵，抚平仇恨和伤痛。这就是高等精灵出现的过程。
• [Ham:] Restored to what they were before the arrival of Humanity, before the great Schism that drove them apart. So I take it now that they`re better they`ve forgiven the humans and this whole Elven Court is their own way of fostering life in peace.
• 重新恢复成人类到来之前，大分裂将他们分开前的样子了。于是最好他们再原谅人类，这样整个精灵议会就可以回到森林里的宁静生活了。
• [Ray:] That was Julia`s dream. Sadly, the Elves didn`t forgive once they were healed. Like all fresh new powers in the world, they are intent on ruling. Many in the Elven Court believe that they should rule in the same way that the ancient king Inioch ruled.
• 这是茱莉亚的梦想。但是不幸的是，精灵们并没有原谅。就像所有这个世界里获得新力量的人一样，他们打算统治世界。许多精灵议会的人相信他们应该像远古之王伊诺奇一样统治世界。
• [Ham:] Him again? So wait. Are you saying the conflict in this game is between humans and the Elven Court all over again?
• 又是他？等等，你是说这回的冲突仍然是人类和精灵议会之间。
• [Ray:] I`m a fan of the symmetry. We`ve come full circle, this time the humans have established a “way of life” and the Elves are new.
• 我是对称美学的爱好者。于是我们绕了个圈，这回人类建立了自己的生活方式，而精灵们则有全新的方式。
• [Ham:] Symmetry? You realize only writers care about that stuff… Sigh. Fine. So the Elves are aggressively taking the country back, and so next let`s talk about the Commonwealth.
• 对称？你是我所知唯一关心这个的。叹气，好吧。于是精灵们激进地想要夺回自己的领地。所以接下来让我们谈谈联邦。
• [Ray:] Right. So the Commonwealth was formed when many of the wizards and heroes were either eliminated or passed into the Shadow Realm to hunt the evils that lurked therein. You remember from Shadow Magic, that the Syron were the slave race of the Shadow Demons and their world was one of many that had been consumed by these demons. Well, the prospect of discovering whole worlds was a huge draw to many of the most powerful wizards. To eliminate war, the Wizards entrusted the ruling of Athla back to the people. When it was founded, it was a nation founded upon principles of law, freedom, and opportunities to all who would abandon the sword for the sake of prosperity. All races shared power equally in the beginning.
• 好的，联邦是在许多巫师和英雄消失或是进入暗影国度追缉潜伏在那里的邪恶之后成立的。你还记得暗影魔法里，闪灵族是影魔手下的奴隶种族，他们的世界也是之前诸多被恶魔所毁灭的世界之一。对于许多强大的巫师来说，探索整个世界也是个远大的计划。为了终结战争，巫师们将Athla的统治还给人民。于是，一个建立在法律、自由的信条之上的国家成立了，所有愿意放下武器的人都可以加入到这个国家，所有种族相互平等。
• [Ham:] Ah. The idyllic days of the Commonwealth were wonderful. And they lasted about as long as a dream.
• 啊，联邦的这种田园版的生活不错啊。不过又能持续多久呢。
• [Ray:] The Commonwealth brought great benefits to the people that joined. Originally, the innovations and shared technology benefited the people, and few territories didn`t willingly join. Knowledge was shared between all who sought it, and great libraries were established. Of course, as is the case with most empires, this lasted about as long as the Empire continued to grow. Once shortages appeared, however, and the prosperous started losing their affluence, things changed.
• 联邦给加入其中的人们带来了很大的福利。起初，各种发明和技术给人们带来便利，只有少数领地不愿意加入其中。知识在需要的人之间共享，许多巨大的图书馆被建立起来。当然，和其它许多帝国一样，只有当国家不断成长的时候好日子才能继续。一旦短缺来临，繁荣的日子远去，一切就都改变了。
• [Ham:] Let me guess, the Halflings rose in power and destroyed life`s balance?
• 让我猜猜，半身人获得了权力并开始破坏生活的平衡。
• [Ray:] Actually it was the Humans.
• 事实上是人类。
• [Ham:] Surprise, surprise.
• 令人惊讶。
• [Ray:] Short-lived, they reasoned that they needed to look out for themselves above all others. Of course there are other races that are short-lived, but I doubt they ever fully thought they needed justification. The Human noblemen used a hundred different schemes, but the end result was that as the Empire expanded, more Human noblemen were appointed than any others. Some races were relegated to roles in society—like Goblins are garbage collectors. While other races became despised– like the Draconians that are despised because they believe they are dragonkin. Other races simply disappeared altogether, under mysterious circumstances—like the Tigrans who just abandoned all their cities leaving little trace behind. In their absence, the Humans continued to favor humanity above all the other races, and soon the Commonwealth became a mostly human endeavor.
• And that`s why the Elves are in conflict with the Commonwealth. They see their world being overrun, they remember the ancient age when they ruled, and they cannot abide the injustices.
• 短命的人类总认为自己要比其它种族更为重要。当然其它种族也并不长寿，但是我怀疑他们是否理解什么是正义。人类贵族实施了上百个不同计划，结果就是随着帝国的扩张，越来越多的人类被任命各种职位。其它种族降级成社会不同的地位，像地精就成了垃圾收集者。其它一些种族则受到鄙视，像龙人则因为被看做是龙类而受到歧视。剩下一些种族则消失了，像虎人，他们放弃了自己所有的城市，没有下什么痕迹的消失了。这也是为什么精灵会和联邦发生冲突，因为他们认为人类太过于泛滥了，他们怀念远古时代自己的种族统治的时候，而且他们无法忍受人类的不公正。
• [Ham:] And the Halflings? I assume that in AoWIII the Halflings are a force to be reckoned with.
• 于是半身人呢？我猜AOW3里半身人是一股不可忽视的力量。
• [Ray:] You do realize you`re not a typical Halfling, right? Most Halflings really don`t go to war.
• 你没注意到自己并不是一个标准的半身人，不是么？大多数半身人不关心战争。
• [Ham:] We just need a really good cause, like um… a massive feast, or warriors made out of cookie dough. Then we`d fight…Okay fine, as long as I get a little private time with Queen Julia, and my Halflings aren`t massacred needlessly for a plot-point, I suppose I`ll be content.
• 我们只是需要一个好理由，像是，呃......巨型盛宴，或是曲奇饼做得战士，然后我们...好吧。只要我能和茱莉亚女王在一起渡过一段私人时间，我的半身人同胞并不需要出场，我猜有我的戏吧。
• [Ray:] Um… yeah, about that…
• 呃，关于这个...
• [Ham:] I DO get a little private time with the immortal Queen Julia, right?
• 我和永恒女王茱莉亚之间确实渡过了一段私人时光，对吧！？
• [Ray:] Well. Not really?
• 好吧，大概没有？
• [Ham:] Wait a sec. What aren`t you telling me?
• 等一下，你在说什么？
• [Ray:] Well, first… You should know the Halflings are my very favorite.
• 呃，首先，你要知道半身人是我的最爱。
• [Ham:] The Halflings do have a major role, right?
• 半身人有重要角色，对吧？
• [Ray:] More like NO role.
• 其实没有。
• [Ham:] No role? Wait? How will players know of all the heroically silly things we Halflings do if they aren`t in a starring role?
• 没？等下，如果我们不是起始种族，玩家又怎么能知道我们半身人的传奇故事？
• [Ray:] At least I vetoed the idea of having the Halflings massacred. But yeah, there`s currently no playable Halfling race anymore. I`ve been reassured this won`t be a permanent solution… but um… no, as much as I would love to, I really can`t make the story about the Halflings.
• 至少我还是支持有半身人种族存在的，虽然他们目前并不是可玩种族。我保证这并不是最终的办法，但是，呃，虽然我很想，但我实在没法给半身人加段故事。
• [Ham:] … You are dead to me …
• 你死定了！
• [Ray:] At this point in history, your people were well assimilated into the Commonwealth and Elven Court, and you really have no beef with anybody, so you didn`t go to war like some of the other races. See? Isn`t that nice? You`re not a racist race! SO be grateful.
• 目前的故事里，你的人民大多加入了联邦和精灵议会，所以你们和谁都没有矛盾，于是你们没有和其它种族一样加入战争。怎样？这不错吧？你们不是种族主义者，这不是很棒么。
• [Ham:] Where`s my Mace of Holy Smiting?
• 我的神圣惩戒之锤在哪里？
• [Ray:] Hey now, remember, Halflings are peace-loving.
• 嘿，记住，半身人热爱和平。
• The new campaign and story descriptions
• [Ham:] So who`s going to be the hero? Sounds like the world`s full of troubles, but what about the heroes?
• 于是英雄们怎么样了？听起来世界充满了麻烦，但是英雄们呢？
• [Ray:] Well Julia had two children. A son and a daughter. The son is a great Prince, who is everything you`d think a son of Julia might be, while the daughter is clever and tired of the political games of the Court. You can probably guess which one ends up taking the starring role in the Campaign. These two siblings start the initial campaign for the Elven Court side of things. On the other side, you play an idyllic young officer from the Commonwealth. He grew up believing in the way the Commonwealth should be, rather than seeing how it really is. The two sides come into conflict and there are points where the player gets to decide how to solve that conflict. There`s a whole host of great supporting characters as well.
• 茱莉亚有两个孩子，一个儿子一个女儿。男孩是一个伟大的王子，充满了你认为茱莉亚之子会具备的一切特质。而女孩则十分聪明，并且受够了议会的政治游戏。你可能会猜这两个孩子里哪个会是战役的主角。其实他们都是精灵议会战役的起始角色。另一边，你可以选择联邦的一个理想主义年轻官员。他始终坚信那些联邦成立之初的信条，却没有注意到事实如何。这两边会发生冲突，玩家需要决定如何解决冲突。当然，还会有许多配角。
• [Ham:] None of whom are Halflings.
• 却没有一个半身人。
• [Ray:] No worries, Ham. You`re still featured in the game—or at least your writings are.
• 不要担心，Ham，你仍会出现在游戏里，至少你的著作。
• [Ham:] My writings? You mean all those books I wrote while exploring the world?
• 我的著作？你是说我探索世界期间写得书？
• [Ray:] Right. It`s actually quite cool. Instead of how we`ve done it in the past, the Heroes and Units in AoWIII don`t have typical descriptions. Instead, I searched through the libraries on Athla. For the Unicorn, for example, I found a song written by that master Bard, Willa Loveday. I found a snippet of writing from a Wyvern breeder, Katie Handler, who wrote about her Wyvern that forms its description. And who can forget your expedition to the deserts of Kesh written in the book “Where`s Symba?”, in which we discover that the Tigrans left behind empty ruins and only the Beholders remained behind.
• 是的，这很酷。和我们过去做得不一样，AOW3里的英雄和单位没有通常的描述，取而代之，我在阿萨拉的图书馆里找到了一些相关内容。像是独角兽，我就找到了吟游诗人大师薇拉·拉夫德的歌来做介绍。我还找了双足飞龙繁育者凯提·汉德勒所写的关于双足飞龙的介绍。还有，谁又能忘记你在凯诗沙漠的冒险中写下的著作辛巴在哪里？在那里我们发现虎人已经离开了空荡荡的废墟，只有眼魔还在那里。
• [Ham:] So you copied an assortment of ancient tomes instead of writing it from scratch? Wow. Life`s rough for you as a writer. Where`s my royalty check?
• 所以你把各种古代著作就这样复制下来，而不是自己写？哇，你的写作方式还真粗鲁。那我的支票在哪里？
• [Ray:] Just think, a whole world of people gets to read of your adventures. They`re great fun. Just one more way that AoWIII is one massive story. And I think that`s pretty cool.
• 想一下，全世界的人们都会阅读你的冒险故事，他们会高兴的。这只是其中一个方式，AOW3是一个庞大的故事。我觉得这很酷。
• [Ham:] I guess that`s cool. Most of my writing was intended as a last will and testament to my posterity, in case they ever find my body, hopefully they`ll know how I meet my final doom. I`m quite surprised it hasn`t happened yet.
• 我猜是挺酷的。我的大部分著作其实都是我的遗书，以方便以后有人找到我的尸体，希望他们会知道我的生命是怎么结束的。我很惊讶我居然还没死。
• [Ray:] About that…
• 关于这个...
• [Ham:] So I think we`ve covered more than enough topics. This interview is way long. I guess I`ll conclude the interview by asking if there`s anything else you want to add?
• 所以我想我们已经谈了很多内容了，这个访谈已经够长了。作为总结，我最后再问一下，你还有什么其它需要补充的？
• [Ray:] Well just that like most things in AoWIII we`re under development. Things change, but as you can tell, we`re doing our best to provide a very immersive storyline to go along with all the fun new tactics and strategies that players will be required to master. There`s still a lot I haven`t even mentioned here. And there are a lot of questions still to be answered—even after AoWIII is up… questions for more sequels. We`re in great shape to keep the story going for another Age of Wonders!
• 就像AOW3里我们设计的其它许多东西一样，他们都改变了，但是你可以看出来，我们在尽我们的可能去提供一个令人身临其境的故事背景，以及有趣的新战术和策略。还有许多我没有提到的，还有许多问题需要解答，甚至要等到AOW3发售之后。简而言之，我们在尽可能是AOW3的故事和其它AOW的不一样。
• [Ham:] Well I`d better head back through the transdimensional warpgate disguised as a garbage can in your world. (Those of you at home, do be careful when you step into a garbage can, it may transport you to a different world.)
• 好吧，我最好通过你这里的垃圾箱里的传送门回去。（那些在家里的人注意了，小心你们的垃圾箱，它有可能把你送到另一个世界。）
• [Ray:] Before you go, I have one question for you…
• 在你走之前，我还有件事想问你...
• [Ham:] Sure, what?
• 当然，啥事？
• [Ray:] Well, you first appeared in AoW, the original game. Many hundred years after the current game and the typical lifespan of a Halfling is about the same as a human, so how is it that you`re still alive?
• 嗯，你第一次出现在AOW是在原版的故事里。数百年已经过去了，而一个标准半身人的生命和人类差不多长，所以你是怎样活到现在的？
• [Ham:] The world of Athla is a mysterious place, full of all sorts of mysteries.
• 阿萨拉世界是一个神秘的地方，那里有很多秘密。
• [Ray:] That`s no answer.
• 这不算回答。
• [Ham:] You can`t handle the truth.
• 你没办法接受事实真相。
• [Ray:] C`mon, just tell me the secret to your longevity. Please?
• 别这样，快告诉我你长寿的秘诀吧，求你了。
• [Ham:] Ponder the meaning of… Mmm, Bacon.
• 思考....嗯，熏肉的意义。
• [Ray:] Where`d that piece of bacon come from!? Come back! Wait! That`s no answer!
• 熏肉又是哪里冒出来的！？回来，这不是答案！
• [Ham:] Gotta run. It`s been real. Just remember this the next time you decide it`s a good idea to ignore the Halflings.
• 我该溜了。这是真的，记住下会最好不要忽视半身人。
• [Sound of transdimensional portal opening in a garbage can …]
• 垃圾箱里传送门打开的声音。
• [Ray:] Bye?
• 再见？