十年战争的故事#3
来源:http://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/tales-of-the-ten-years-war-part-3,以下由Ravenpaw翻译。
Three days later, the bells of Flammschrein started ringing, but their song was dreary and doleful. It was a death-knell. Sandalphon was dead; a dark blade had been plunged into his heart. Murazel was nowhere to be found.
三天之后,圣焰城丧钟鸣响,其钟声苦闷阴沉。圣多芬被杀,其胸口插着一把暗色匕首,而缪拉泽尔则消失的无影无踪。
845 YSD – 恶战的征兆 – Omens of War
The Conclave of the New Dawn had imploded in the wake of Sandalphon’s assassination and Murazel’s disappearance. The sanctity of Flammschrein had been compromised, prejudices and suspicions resurfaced, and the voices of reason were soon drowned in the clamour of old enmities and petty squabbles. Hopes of finding a suitable consensus were rapidly fading away.
随着圣多芬遇刺,缪拉泽尔失踪,新晓议会的内部分崩离析。圣焰城的圣洁也受到玷污,偏见和猜忌迅速蔓延开来,陈年旧账被翻了出来,理性的声音淹没在争吵声中。人们达成共识的希望十分渺茫。
The month of the Sun Blossom arrived, dedicated to the worship of Elrath, and there was no Emperor.
日轮之月(三月)到来,这是供奉艾尔拉思的月份,但是帝国却没有一个帝王。
The 20 th day of the Sun Blossom – the first Equinox, one of the Empire’s most sacred celebrations – came and passed, and it was now clear the Conclave had failed in its mission. However, the imperial crown still needed a head to rest upon. Many prayed that Elrath himself would descend from the skies and pick a new ruler, but the Dragon-God of Light didn’t intervene. This was something men had to sort out by themselves.
日轮之月的第20天——也就是春分时节,帝国最神圣的庆典之一——悄然逝去。显然,密会已无力举办这场庆典。但帝国的王座可不能空着。众人祈祷艾尔拉思从天而降,钦点一个新的统治者,但光明之龙却并无回应。这种事儿得靠凡人自己去解决。
Like the distant rumblings of thunder announce the gathering storm, it was becoming increasingly clear that it would soon come to war. It was unavoidable. The only thing left to determine was where and when the lightning would strike first.
如同遥远的雷声预示着急骤的风暴,战争的风暴也在咄咄逼近。战事已不可避免,唯一的问题就是刀剑会在何时何地擦出第一道火花。
It struck on the 11 th day of the Dancing Flames.
火花在舞焰之月(六月)的第11天绽放。
宣战说辞 - Casus Belli
In the first days of the Dancing Flames, militias loyal to either Duchy started to gather in and around the small town of Maiden Way, on the Greyhound-Unicorn border. Unrest had been growing steadily at since Maeve’s funeral, fuelled by centuries of atavistic mutual contempt.
舞焰之月初,效忠于双方公国的军队在小镇少女之路周围云集。自玫芙的葬礼后,灵缇公国与独角公国边境的骚动愈演愈烈。数个世纪来,这两公国都互相轻贱,此时无异于火上浇油。
During the 10 th night of the Dancing Flames, an alderman serving the Greyhounds was mugged and left to bleed out in the streets; a house belonging to a Unicorn magistrate was put to the torch with the family still inside. Either side was quick to accuse the other of these heinous acts. Truly, they were all waiting for this to happen, it didn’t really matter who actually drew the first blood. A cause for war.
舞焰之月的第10天夜里,一位灵缇公国的政要在街上遭到袭击,流血过多而死;独角公国的一位治安官的房屋被付之一炬,一家人被活活烧死。双方立马开始互相指控。事实上,大家都在等着这种事情发生。谁先下手并不重要,重要的是一个开战的理由。
By noon the next day, all that was left of Maiden Way and its inhabitants were smoking ruins and mutilated bodies. The Greyhound militia stood victorious – if one would call that slaughter a victory.
第二天中午,少女之路就变成了一片烧焦的废墟,残肢遍地。灵缇公国的军队是胜利的一方——如果这种屠杀也配称之为胜利的话。
Two days later, Rowena of Unicorn, the Redhead of Yorwick, sent a missive to Enguerrand of Greyhound, demanding explanations. But he only had accusations of his own to offer. Neither ruler could let the horrors of Maiden Way go unpunished. The rising tension had reached its apex. The word no one had dared speak was finally pronounced.
两天后,独角兽公国的罗温娜,约维克(MM9地名)的红发女,给灵缇公国的昂格朗捎去了个消息,要讨个说法。但昂格朗在回复中却只是一味指控对方。两位统治者都不会对少女之路的惨状坐视不理。双方已然是剑拔弩张。人们终于听到了那个一直没敢被说出口的词。
昔日盟友 - Old Alliances
If the conflict had remained confined to the Duchies of Greyhound and Unicorn, maybe things would have been different. But there were old alliances, signed in blood, ink and matrimony that demanded to be honoured. Amílcar of Bull sent his troops to reinforce Enguerrand’s armies as they started to march on Rowena’s lands. Paying heed to the old friendship between the Unicorn and Griffin Duchies, Ivan assembled his armies to fight at the Rowena’s side.
如果冲突仅限于灵缇与独角兽公国的话,事情可能会有所不同。但双方都有各自的盟友。鲜血,字迹,联姻织成的盟约不容践踏。当昂格朗的军队前去征讨罗温娜时,公牛公国的阿米卡派出了自己部队去增援他。为了独角兽公国与狮鹫公国长久的交情,伊凡则集结军队为罗温娜而战。
Fearing Ivan’s might, Enguerrand and Amílcar decided to act against his advance. Thousands men, women and beasts, led by Amílcar in person, marched north to intercept the Griffin army as it passed south of the Rose mountains. The Duke of Bull had a score to settle after his earlier humiliation at Ivan’s hands.
畏惧于伊凡的势力,昂格朗和阿米卡决定前去拦截伊凡进军。阿米卡亲自率领数以千计的男女,野兽,向北进发,企图在狮鹫军队到达玫瑰山脉南麓时阻截他们。公牛大公则因此前受伊凡之辱,欲借此和伊凡清算这笔账。
Stefan of Wolf and Seamus of Stag didn’t take sides. They watched from afar, bidding their time and waiting for the events to follow their course. But my spies reported that Seamus, unbeknownst to all, was secretly sending men-at-arms to the south. It soon became clear that his goal was to reclaim the old Falcon province for himself, including the ruins of Falcon’s Reach…
恶狼公国的斯蒂芬和雄鹿公国的谢玛斯则未表明立场。他们只是隔岸观火,静观其变,等候有利于自己的转机出现。但我的探子指出,谢玛斯瞒着众人,偷偷地向南方派出了重装士兵。不久他的动机就昭然若揭,是为了夺回猎鹰行省,包括法肯里奇那片废土。
The storm had begun, howling, torrential. And nobody could stop it anymore.
风暴已经开始,呼啸着,翻涌着。没人能让它停下。
伊凡的宝剑的简要说明 - A quick side-note about Ivan’s sword:
It shall be noted that at that time, Ivan was not brandishing the Blade of Revelation anymore, but the Iron Feather, an old family heirloom that had belonged to his ancestor Ishtvan, the last King and first Duke of Griffin. After what had happened during his duel with Amílcar a few months before, Ivan had sworn to not unsheathe the holy Griffin sword until the Empire was made whole again.
值得提到的是,在这时,伊凡不会再亮出启示之剑了。他的剑是精铁之羽,是他的祖先伊斯特凡,也就是最后一位国王,第一位狮鹫大公,留下来的传家宝。几个月前,在经历了和阿米卡的决斗后,伊凡发誓除非帝国再次统一,否则不再拿起那把神圣的狮鹫之剑。