英雄无敌7#探秘地狱一族
来源：http://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/discover-inferno，以下由HeavenK翻译。
话说今天，正好也月蚀啊，我开了提醒结果提醒早了，天还没黑，结果天黑了反而忘了……今天更新地狱不知道是老天配合还是某些人配合老天……
另外关于地狱战役，需要注明的是如果地狱胜出（我双精灵党表示呵呵呵呵），战役内容不会是关于血月蚀入侵的剧情，当然，也不会局限于谢尔戈。（消息来源见以上链接的评论，蓝字找Marzhin）
另另外H7去IgroMir打了个酱油，ELB接受了个采访，当然这种时候肯定基本10分钟里有9分钟都是废话，听力渣表示没听出啥，有域外人士归结说：主动性的作用还没最终决定是倾向H5还是H3；会在12月或者明年1月开始BETA（喂喂喂，是Early Access这套吧）。求听力达人验证补充。
Hello, friends. As promised, today I will tell you what I know about the infernal realm of Sheogh and its chaotic denizens. I won’t be able to read you quotes from one of my old travelogues this time around, as I never visited Sheogh, obviously. But I’ve survived a few Bloodmoon Eclipses, so I have had a few opportunities to observe the Demons, sometimes from, well, a bit too close for my taste.
朋友们，你们好。今晚，我将如约为你们讲述我对于炼狱世界谢尔戈及其混沌住民的所知。这次我没办法再引用我过去的游记中的段落了，因为显然，我从没去过谢尔戈。不过我熬过了几次血月之蚀，所以我还是有机会观察恶魔，甚至是从，嗯，对我来说也稍微近了点的距离。
So let’s get started, what say you?
所以，让我们开始吧，怎么样？
…What? Why are you looking at me so intensely? Is there something on my face?
...什么？为什么你们这么紧张地看着我？我的脸上有什么么？
Oh, I see, you want to know about last night’s experiment first? Well I’m sad to say it got a bit out of control, and my whole laboratory blew up as a result. It’s a good thing I’m already Undead, don’t you think? Still, I made interesting discoveries I’ll need to investigate further. Anyway, back to the topic at hand…
哦，我知道了，你们一定是想第一个知道我昨夜的实验的结果吧？嗯，不幸的是实验稍稍超出了我的控制，于是我的整个实验室上天了。幸好我已经是个亡灵了，是吧？不过，我还是有很多有趣的发现，需要进一步的研究。无论如何，让我们回到目前的议题
关于恶魔 - On the Demons
谢尔戈，恶魔监狱 - Sheogh, the Demon Prison
Not much is known about Sheogh. Once upon a time, it was an actual, physical place, located within Ashan’s fiery core. According to the oldest myths we inherited from the Shantiris, this is where Asha imprisoned her brother Urgash during the Wars of Creation. Despite Order’s victory over Chaos, the confusion that reigned during the following Ancient Age allowed the Demons to establish a foothold on the world’s surface. Lurking in uninhabited places, they slowly gathered their strength, until they were able to launch a full-scale assault on the Elder Races. As you all know already, this ended when Sar-Elam, the Seventh Dragon, sacrificed his life to banish the Demons together with their Dragon progenitor and seal off Sheogh in a separate plane altogether.
关于谢尔戈，外人所知无多。曾几何时，那里还是个实际存在的物理世界，位于亚山炽热的核心地带。依照我们从杉提瑞时代继承下来的最古老神话所述，那里是创世战争期间，亚莎关押自己的兄弟鄂加斯的地方。尽管秩序胜过了混乱，但其后的远古时代中充斥着的骚乱，让恶魔们得以在地表得以立足。潜伏在杳无人烟的角落，它们慢慢地积蓄力量，直到能够发动对长老种族的全面进攻。正如你已经知道的，第七之龙萨-艾郎终结了这一切，牺牲自己的生命将恶魔们驱逐到其龙父所在的世界，并将整个谢尔戈封印到另一个分离的位面里去。
Of course, the spiritual prison proved less absolute than he had probably hoped. Every time Ashan’s shadow eclipses the Moon – what we call a Bloodmoon Eclipse – the barriers of Sheogh weaken and the Demons find themselves able to re-enter the physical world. Although Demons are inexorably dragged back to their prison dimension once these Eclipses are over, some of them sometimes find ways to maintain themselves on our plane. It usually involves consumption of magical artefacts or Dragonblood crystals in such quantities that it always attracts attention – and once he is discovered, the crafty Demon stowaway usually doesn’t last long. Through complex, bloodcurdling rituals involving the Demon’s true name, a Wizard can temporarily summon a Demon to Ashan, However, whatever benefit – power of forbidden knowledge – the Wizard desires is obtained at the cost of his very soul. But we’ll get back to that particular point.
自然，这个灵魂监牢的效果被证实并没有他曾期望的那样绝对。每次亚山的阴影遮蔽了月亮，也就是我们称之为血月之蚀时，谢尔戈的屏障就会被弱化，恶魔们会发现它们能够再次进入物理世界。尽管月蚀一结束，它们立刻会被无情地拽回其监狱维度，但是仍有一些恶魔发现了能够维持在我们世界的方法。通常这样需要消耗大量的魔法制品或是龙血水晶，而这又很容易被人发觉，一旦被发现，这些狡猾恶魔的藏身处一般坚持不了多久。通过复杂的、令人毛骨悚然的仪式，加上一个恶魔的真名，法师们便可以暂时将恶魔召唤到亚山。不过，无论这样做的好处是什么，禁忌知识的力量之类，法师们获取所需的代价将是自身的灵魂。我们之后会再提到这点。
It has been speculated that some very powerful Demons have mastered the ability to project their spirit beyond the boundaries of Sheogh. If true, this would allow them to haunt the dreams and influence the minds of weak-willed members of the Elder Races.
据推断，有些十分强大的恶魔掌握了能将自身的灵体投射到谢尔戈的屏障之外的方法。如果这是真实的，将会使这项恶魔能够出没于梦境中，并借此影响那些意志薄弱的长老种族的心灵。
An ancient tome known as the Gorada Rael gives some details about the looks and climate of Sheogh. Yes, I know the original grimoire is a cursed and dangerous item, but the libraries of the Silver Cities’ academies have abridged copies that only contain the most harmless chapters, annotated by renowned Demonologists. Here’s what one such copies has to say about the Demon Prison-realm:
一部名为戈拉达-瑞尔（精灵语，意为恶魔之地的知识）的远古典籍提供了一些关于谢尔戈环境的细节。是的，我知道这部魔导书的原版是危险的诅咒品，但是七城联盟的学院图书馆里有只包含无害章节的删节版，并带有知名恶魔学者的注释。这里有一段该删节版中关于恶魔监狱国度的描述：
The Demon Realm is, to put it mildly, hot. It rains fire and ash on a regular basis, the skies are filled with noxious smoke, and the temperature ranges from uncomfortable to intolerable. On occasion volcanoes release thick plumes of steam, which sometimes coalesce into warm rains, but this happens infrequently at best. There are no seasons in the Demon Realm, nor is there any sun to mark the passing of the days – there is only infernal light and heat.
恶魔国度是十分的，往轻了说，酷热。那里定期会降下火雨或灰尘，天空充满了有毒的烟雾，气温范围从令人不适到无法忍受。偶尔火山会爆发出厚重的羽状蒸汽，随后汇聚成温雨，不过好在这很少发生。在恶魔国度没有季节之分，也没有日升日落标志着日期的更替，只有炼狱之光与热。
Within that realm of rivers of molten rock and volcanoes in eternal eruption, the Demons have established great cities of red-hot iron, stone and flesh. Demon cities are comparable to living, growing tumours.
在国度内，熔岩河流和火山总是在不停得爆发。恶魔们用炽红的铁、石头和肉体建筑巨大的城市。恶魔城市更像是鲜活增长的肿瘤一般。
During Eclipses, passages between the planes open in ancient volcanoes, most of them located in the Dwarven realm of Grimheim.
在月蚀期间，跨越位面的通道将在远古的火山处打开，其中大部分都位于格林汉姆的矮人国度以内。
Yes, that’s something that is too rarely said: as terrible as Demon invasions during Bloodmoon Eclipses can be, and have been, they could be much worse. The Dwarves of Grimheim have long identified the volcanic chimneys where the main “gates” of Sheogh open, and they have erected gigantic fortifications to prevent the Demons from escaping. Obviously, the Dwarves can’t seal every single volcano of Ashan, but thanks to their efforts, instead of an inexorable wave descending from the northern mountains and burning everything on their path, Demons can only enter Ashan in scattered groups, ultimately “easier” to defeat.
另外，还有一点很少被提到：无论古往今来的血月之蚀中的恶魔入侵有多么恐怖，它们都有可能变得更糟。长期以来，格林汉姆的矮人们都能够通过火山烟雾鉴别出通往谢尔戈的主要大门开启的位置，并建立巨大的防御工事阻止恶魔逃脱。当然，矮人们不可能封印所有亚山的火山，不过仍然要感谢他们的努力，才使得我们不会见到从北方山脉涌出的无情恶魔大军烧光路上的一切。相反，我们所遭遇到的进入亚山的恶魔都被分散成了小股，从而更加“轻易”地就能击败。
恶魔阶层 - The Demon Hierarchy
Conquer, plunder and rape the weak, laugh when you’re wounded or tortured, indulge yourself in selfish pleasures, spread panic and chaos, corrupt the righteous: this is how a Demon would describe a fine day.
征服、掠夺、强暴弱者，以别人的受伤或是折磨为乐，沉溺于自我愉悦，散播疯狂与混乱，腐蚀正义，这就是一个恶魔最完美的一天。
Each Demon lives only to raven and destroy, and is quite capable of wreaking tremendous havoc on his own. Forged together into a disciplined army, they would be nearly unstoppable. Fortunately for their enemies, Demons are creatures of Chaos, and are therefore partial to anarchy.
每个恶魔的生活中都只有掠夺和毁灭，仅仅一个个体就能制造巨大的破坏。如果组成一支训练有素的大军，它们将是不可阻挡的。不过对它们的敌人来说十分幸运的是，恶魔们是混沌的生物，个个都是无政府主义者。
There’s only one form of hierarchy and obedience among Demons. Following the principle of “Might makes right”, the strong command the weak, who in turn command those weaker than themselves.
恶魔们之间只有一种形式的阶层和顺从。遵循“力量造就权力”，强者统治弱者，而弱者统治比它们更弱的。
However, under the absolute leadership of the one they call the Sovereign, and who calls himself Kha-Beleth, the Demons are becoming more disciplined, and that’s a worrying thought.
不过，在一个自称卡-贝勒斯，同时被恶魔们称为元首的存在的绝对领导下，恶魔们正变得更加有纪律，这实在令人担忧。
I still remember the Second Eclipse, three centuries ago. Back then, Demons were led by generals – for lack of a better word – that called themselves the Princes. Each Prince was the personal champion of one of the Demon Overlords, the “Demon-Gods” Urgash created in mockery of the Dragon-Gods. Ahribban, the Prince of Hate, is especially famous in the Empire, as the engineer of Emperor Liam Falcon’s death. Between Eclipses, it is believed the Princes were busy fighting each other in the name of their respective Overlords, without one managing to become significantly stronger than his rivals.
我仍然记得在第二次月蚀，也就是三百年前。那会，恶魔们被将军（实在是缺少一个更适合的词汇了）所率领，这些家伙自称亲王。每个亲王都是一个恶魔大君的私人斗士，而恶魔大君又是恶魔之神鄂加斯为了嘲弄元素龙神创造出来的。憎恶亲王阿瑞班，在帝国家喻户晓，正是利安姆-法尔肯皇帝之死的策划者。月蚀之外，据信亲王们都在忙着以各自所代表的大君之名互相争斗，导致没人能够明显地强于它的对手们。
Yet things seem to have changed. During the Third and Fourth Eclipses, the Demons were all fighting in the name of Kha-Beleth, one single ruler to whom they showed an almost zealous loyalty. To unite all Demons under one banner is nothing short of an extraordinary feat. We have to assume Kha-Beleth is no ordinary Demon, and accept the fact that he has somehow managed to bring some form of Order to Chaos.
不过事情似乎发生了变故。在第三次和第四次月蚀之时，恶魔们都以卡-贝勒斯之名而战，一个唯一的统治者并受到恶魔们近乎狂热的忠诚。将所有恶魔统一到一面旗帜之下并非简单一句伟大功绩可以形容的。我们必须假设这个卡-贝勒斯绝非凡物，并且接受它设法给混乱带来某种形式的秩序这一事实。
Scholars and Wizards have many theories, more or less far-fetched, about who or what this Demon Sovereign could be. Kha-Beleth is never seen without his armour, so we don’t even know what he truly looks like. Three things are known for sure: his power is considerable, he’s incredibly cunning, and it’s without a doubt not the last we see of him.
学者们和法师们有各种各样关于这个恶魔元首身份的理论，或多或少都有些牵强附会。卡-贝勒斯盔甲之下的样子没有人见过，所以我们甚至根本不知道它真实的样子。只有三件事能够肯定：其权力毋庸置疑，其狡猾无与伦比，其真身无人所知。
Now let’s head into more… “esoteric” domains. But don’t worry, I’ll try to keep things simple.
接下来让我们深入更加...晦涩的领域。不过别担心，我会尽可能讲的简单。
Essentially, Laws of death and reincarnation are different in Sheogh. When one of Asha’s creations dies, it is believed that its soul ascends to the Moon – Asha’s cocoon – where it is renewed, purged of its memories and suffering, and sent back to be born anew. Demon souls, on the other hand, are entirely ruled by Urgash.
本质上来说，在谢尔戈，死亡与复生的法则与现实世界截然不同。当一个亚莎的造物死亡时，现有理论认为其灵魂升腾到月亮，也就是亚莎之茧，并在那里重获新生，洗去记忆与痛苦，然后被赋予新生。而另一方面，恶魔的灵魂则完全属于鄂加斯。
When a Demon dies, its essence is sent back to Sheogh where it is simply “re-spawned” as an Imp, with its memory intact. It must then work (and fight!) to regain its lost power and strength. Even more interesting: a member of the Elder Races who chooses to make a deal with Urgash will also be reborn in Sheogh after his death, either as an Incubus or Succubus. It remains to be determined whether this happens because that person has sold her soul to Urgash, like in the old folktales, or if because Asha rejected her for dealing with the powers of Chaos.
当一个恶魔死亡时，其灵质被打回谢尔戈并“重生”成一个魔婴，其记忆则保留。它必须努力工作（并战斗！）才能恢复失去的权力和力量。更有趣的是，一个长老种族的成员如果选择与鄂加斯达成交易，其也会在死后于谢尔戈重生为魅魔或夜魔。尚不清楚是因为正如古老的民间传说那样，这些人将灵魂卖给了鄂加斯才导致这一结果；还是因为他们与混乱之力做交易从而使亚莎拒绝了这些灵魂的原因。
炼狱军团 - Infernal Armies
As vicious and savage as they are, Demons are also very fond of self-preservation, maybe because they fear the punishment they will receive once back in Sheogh, or because they are wary of having to begin again from scratch. If the mere intimidating presence of their army isn’t enough, they’ll use every trick at their disposal – mind control, shape-shifting, fear spells, and so on. Ranged attacks and attacks from above come next. Only then, once the enemy has been sufficiently softened up, will the demonic forces charge. If the demonic ranks hold their discipline, they generally power straight through anything opposing them. If not, they turn into a ravening mob.
尽管十分恶毒和野蛮，恶魔也非常擅长保存自己，也许是因为害怕回到谢尔戈后受到惩罚，又或者是担心一切都要从头开始。如果令人胆寒的军容还不足够，他们还会采用各种诡计，如心灵控制，变形，恐惧魔法等等。接下来是从远程及空中发起的打击。只有等敌人被充分削弱后，恶魔们才会进行冲锋。如果恶魔军团的能维持严明的军纪，他们通常都能粉碎所有阻挡的敌人。如果不能，他们就是一堆四处掠夺的乌合之众。
Demonic weaponry is serrated, barbed, and spiked so as to cause maximum pain and damage, and to make physicking any wound they inflict that much more difficult. Their arrows are designed to be impossible to pull out, and their swords do more damage coming out than going in. But most Demons don’t even need weapons to begin with: their very bodies are a nightmare of spikes, flames, claws and teeth. Once in Ashan, the most powerful Demons are able to open “gates” of their own, accelerating the arrival of their brethren.
恶魔的兵器带有锯齿，倒钩和尖刺，会造成巨大的疼痛和伤害，以致于治疗伤口非常困难。他们的箭头被设计成几乎无法拔出，他们的剑在拔出时能造成比刺入时更大的伤害。不过大部分的恶魔都不需要武器，他们的身体已经是充满尖刺、火焰、利爪和牙齿的梦魇。一到抵达亚山，最强大的恶魔就能打开异界门，加快同类的入侵。
Being creatures of Chaos, Demons come in all sizes and shapes, but it’s usually easy to determine which Overlord has spawned them originally. It allowed the demonologists to put together a tentative classification of Demonkind. The ravenous Hellhounds, for instance, are Demons of Voracity. The terrifying Pit Fiends are Demons of Hate. The sickening Breeders are Demons of Proliferation. And so on. The most powerful warriors of the infernal armies are known as Arch-Demons. Once the Princes’ honour guard, they are now Kha-Beleth’s lieutenants, ready to commit any atrocity to gain his favour. This change of allegiance shows that Demons are first and foremost a pragmatic lot.
作为混沌生物，恶魔具有各种体型和形态，但还是很容易分辨出是哪位恶魔主君的子嗣，所以恶魔学家可以对恶魔进行试验性的分类。比如，贪食的地狱犬是贪婪魔王的造物。恐怖的深渊恶魔是憎恨魔王的后裔，恶心的巢魔从属于祸滥魔王等等。地狱军队最强大的战士是大恶魔，这些曾经的亲王仪仗队，现在是卡-贝勒斯的副官，已准备好被随时指派到亚山肆虐，以获得新任恶魔大君的恩宠。效忠对象的改变反应出恶魔永远是以实用主义为第一及最重要的准则。
This feels like a fitting conclusion to today’s lecture. I hope that, despite Demonology not being my area of expertise, you still found this little exposé informative, maybe even entertaining.
对于今天的演讲，这看起来似乎是个不错的结论。尽管恶魔学不是我的专业领域，但我还是希望你们能觉得这些东西是有用的，甚至是有趣的。
Now it’s my turn to ask you something. I’d like you to tell me why you are staring at me with these aghast eyes. I understand that I probably have some burn marks on my face after yesterday’s explosion, but I can’t believe it warrants such bewildered glares. Anyone can pass me a mirror? Thank you…
现在，轮到我来问你们一些事情了。我很想让你们告诉我为什么你们都用那么惊骇的眼神看着我。我知道昨天的爆炸大概是给我的脸上带来了点烧伤的痕迹，但是也不至于这么盯着我吧。谁能递给我面镜子？哦，谢谢你。
…
…
…
Oh dear.
哦，天啊。
