伊凡大公介绍
来源:http://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/the-lord-of-griffin-duke-ivan
Well met, my fellow Shadow Councillors.
很高兴再见面,我的影子议会同僚们。
It is time for you to learn more about Duke Ivan and his inner circle. As they say in the Greyhound Duchy: “à tout seigneur, tout honneur.” So let’s begin with the one we want to see on the imperial throne, the Lord of Griffin himself.
是时候让你们对伊凡大公和他的核心幕僚们有更多了解了。正如灵缇公国的一句格言:荣誉归于应得之人。因此,让我们从狮鹫大公本人,那个我们打算将其扶上王位的人开始。
You shall know that Ivan was the second son of Duke Vassily of Griffin with his lady wife, Ilona, one of Duke Ekhard of Wolf’s daughters. Ivan’s older brother, Fedor, was destined to become the next Duke, while Ivan went to the seminar of Flammschrein, and then to Falcon’s Reach itself, to learn the ways of Elrath. But soon after Ivan’s thirteenth birthday, tragedy struck: both Vassily and Fedor were killed while hunting a bloodfrenzied Wyvern on the eastern borders. Devastated with grief, Ilona retired to an abbey to live the rest of her days shunned from the cruelty of the outside world.
你可能已经知道伊凡是狮鹫大公瓦西里和其夫人,恶狼大公艾卡德之女伊萝娜的次子。伊凡的哥哥,菲多原本注定成为下任大公;而伊凡则去了圣焰城的研习班,之后又去了法肯里奇,以学习艾尔拉思之道。但是,在伊凡十三岁生日后不久,悲剧发生了,瓦西里和菲多都在前往东部边境猎杀一支嗜血飞龙的时候死了。被悲痛所吞没的伊萝娜选择前往修道院渡过余生,以免受到外界残酷的干扰。
Deprived of this luxury, Ivan had to become the new ruler of the Griffin Duchy. But he always kept a nagging suspicion that foul play had been involved in his father and brother’s deaths, and he kept looking for the truth – which is how I was eventually made his personal Spy Master, after many years of dutiful service to the Griffin dynasty. But that’s another story.
伊凡则没有那种清闲的余地,他必须成为狮鹫公国的新统治者。但是他始终怀疑其父兄的死亡背后另有蹊跷,并一直在追寻着真相。这也是为什么我会在为狮鹫王朝潜心效力多年后,选择成为他的私人间谍大师的原因。不过那是另一个故事了。
Ivan’s new title meant he had to study the art of the sword and both political and military strategy in Falcon’s Reach. These courses proved more to his liking than theological studies. He became good friends with the soon-to-become-Empress Maeve Falcon, and knew the first sparks of romance with Duke Seamus of Stag’s teenage daughter, Nolwenn – although these innocent escapades were soon obscured by the heavy responsibilities that now befell him as Duke. It is only years later that Ivan met Nolwenn again and could resume his gallant courtship of the Stag lady, although as you already know, a much darker misfortune would once again “eclipse” their relationship, if you’d be so kind as to forgive this rather tasteless pun. Not that this wooing would have necessarily led to a deeper commitment: Ivan refused all plans to marry. In fact, the Lord of Griffin has gained quite the reputation as a ladies’ man, and if he has a weakness, his love for women is it.
伊凡的新头衔意味着他必须在法肯里奇学习剑术,以及政治军事策略。事实证明,比起神学研究,他倒是更喜欢这些课程。他和之后继位成为女皇的玫芙-法尔肯成了好朋友,并与雄鹿大公谢玛斯尚处豆蔻年华的女儿诺尔文擦出了第一丝浪漫的火花。尽管这一纯洁的恋慕之后便被埋没在其身为大公所带来的沉重责任之下。直到数年后,伊凡与诺尔文重逢,他勇敢的向雄鹿女士求婚,尽管你们现在已经知道,一个更为黑暗的不幸有可能使他们之间的关系再次被遮蔽,正如这月蚀一般,请原谅我用了这么一个索然无味的比喻。这一求婚必然带来了一个更深的承诺,伊凡拒绝了所有结婚的计划。事实上,狮鹫大公如今异常有桃花缘,如果说他有什么缺点的话,那他对女性的爱恐怕就是其一。
In any case, even back in the guiltless days of his youth Ivan had much on his plate: dealing with the family tragedy, walking the long and sinuous path of rule, and working hard to understand the true meaning of being a Duke. As it turned out, he was a natural born leader, and the peoples of Griffin, who had also loved the rather stern father Vassily, doubled their affection and hopes for the son. In Ivan’s first fifteen years of reign, he increased the influence of the Duchy of Griffin with bold and open commercial policies towards the neighbouring realms of the Elves, Orcs and Dwarves, as well as the Free Cities of Hammer Fall, Stormcliff and Listmoor. The Duchy of Griffin had grown wealthier and more powerful than at nearly any time in its history.
无论如何,即使是在他那纯洁的青春时光中,伊凡仍然承担着很多重担:处理家族悲剧,沿着孤单蜿蜒的统治之路走下去,并努力理解成为大公的真正含义。作为其结果,伊凡成为了一个天生的领袖,而狮鹫公国的人民们,那些深爱着其严父瓦西里的人们,更是对其子抱有加倍的期冀和希望。在伊凡的头十五年的统治中,他通过其大胆开放的商业政策,增加了狮鹫公国对周边精灵、兽人、矮人国度,以及自由城邦落锤镇、风暴崖和里斯莫尔的影响力。狮鹫公国日渐富有强盛,超越历史上任何时期。
When the civil wars of Falcon succession broke out, many saw Ivan as the most intelligent solution to succeed Maeve of Falcon. He was amiable, a proven administrator of state, and possessed a piercing charisma. Though every Duchy could lay a blood claim, and the line of Stag had historically been considered the heir apparent, the choice of Ivan as the successor started gaining momentum, until war broke out. It quickly became ostensible that there would be no peaceful solution and that only the most powerful military leader would rule the bitter remnants of the Holy Falcon Empire. We are gathered in this Shadow Council to ensure this leader is Ivan.
当猎鹰继承权之战爆发后,许多人将伊凡看做是继承玫芙-法尔肯之位的明智之选。他和蔼可亲,对公国的统治力非凡,并且十分富有魅力。尽管每个公国都能找出自己的血缘证据,并且雄鹿家族的血脉历史上一直都被看作是王位的正统继承人。但是选择伊凡成为继承人这一选项正日渐变得颇具影响力,直到内战爆发。很快,事实证明任何和平解决方案都已不再有效,只有最强大的军事领袖能够执掌神圣猎鹰帝国那经受内战洗礼的痛苦残余了。我们聚集在这里,这个影子议会,就是为了确保这一领袖将是伊凡本人。