###
冥界 The Underworld<p>死者的地界被称为冥界,虽然只有一息之隔,但对人类的理解而言已经相去甚远。大多数死灵在冥渊(Stygia)、大风暴(The Tempest)、幽土(Shadowlands)度过自己的残生。而彼岸(the Far Shores)、迷宫(Labyrinth)以及虚空(the Void)也属于常说的死者地界的一部分。
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
A breath away but vast beyond human comprehension, the lands of the dead are collectively called The Underworld. Stygia, the Tempest, and the Shadowlands are where most wraiths spend the bulk of their existences, but the Far Shores, the Labyrinth, and the Void are also part of the so-called Deadlands.
<p>彼岸位于冥渊对岸,由不计其数的群岛组成,被无光之海(Sunless Sea)环绕。一些死灵坚信在此可以寻得天堂或地狱。敢于深入的探险者觅得了类似的地点,那里被潜在诸神或者恶魔们统治着。事实上,还没人能道清彼岸的全貌,而帝国也明令禁止造访彼岸。
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Sitting across the Underworld from Stygia, the Far Shores are an endless archipelago of islands in the Sunless Sea. Some wraiths believe paradise can be found here, or Hell; explorers who’ve ventured that far say they’ve found both, lorded over by would-be gods and devils. In truth, no one knows what the Far Shores hold, but the empire has forbidden journeying there.
<p>疾风于平静水面下咆哮着,这就是大风暴,一场永不停歇的暴风雨。恶灵(Spectres)能在其中如履平地,渡者(Ferryman)则怀着隐秘的企图曳浆无声。在无尽的狂风中,只有极其稀少的岛屿能够稳定存在,冥渊(Stygia)便是在这样的岛屿之上。其他的黑暗王国(Dark Kingdoms)也以能够抵御大风暴而为人所知。在大风暴中,也存在被称为旁路(bypath)的安全小道能够穿越大风暴。这些旁路的具体位置只有极少人知晓,并且这些人也出于妒忌意图被严密看守着。</p>
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Howling beneath the placid surface of the waters is the Tempest, the eternal storm where Spectres roam free and Ferrymen silently pole their rafts to unknown purpose. Rare islands of stability exist within the endless winds; Stygia is built on one, and other Dark Kingdoms are known to stand against the storm as well. There are also safe paths, called Byways, through the storm. Their locations are known to only a few, and they are jealously guarded.
<p>大风暴的中心是一个不断变换的巨大迷宫。这是恶灵居住的地方,也是未诞者(Neverborn)的安眠之所,他们在沉睡中不断重复着毁灭的梦。这里可以找到任何可以想象的恐怖景观,其中一些更是超人想象。而在迷宫的最中心是虚空之口,湮灭如无底洞似地不断吸引吞噬,令其显眼且致命。</p>
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
At the heart of the storm is a monstrous, constantly shifting Labyrinth. This is where Spectres dwell and the monstrous Neverborn slumber, dreaming of destruction. Every horrific landscape imaginable can be found here, along with some that defy imagination. And at the very center of the Labyrinth is the mouth of the Void, the sucking maw of Oblivion made manifest and deadly.
<p>并不是每一条支路都会向下,有些反而会把旅人带到幽土(Shadowlands),这是一层犹如半透明毛毯一样坐落在生者的皮囊之地上的现实。这里充满了被具象化的记忆和回响——被摧毁的建筑和古老的道路——许多鬼魂仍带着强力的桎梏居住于此。一层恐惧和难以置信的膜——尸幕(The Shroud),将幽土和皮囊之地分开。在它变薄的地方,死灵会更容易影响生活,那里也会因闹鬼而名声大噪。</p>
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Not every Byway leads down. Some instead take the traveler to the Shadowlands, a layer of reality that sits atop the Skinlands of the living like a translucent blanket. Full of memories and echoes given form — destroyed buildings and ancient roads — it is where many ghosts with strong Fetters still dwell. The Shroud, a membrane of fear and disbelief, separates the Shadowlands from the Skinlands. Where it grows thin, wraiths can affect the living more easily and places acquire reputations for being haunted.
<p>当然,这一切与任何信仰对来世的看法都不相符。冥渊既非天堂亦非地狱,尽管许多冥渊居民开玩笑说它可能是炼狱。多数死去的人类都不会出现在冥界。而那些人身上发生了什么,这些不眠死者们也不知道。 </p>
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Of course, this doesn’t match any faith’s view of the afterlife. Stygia is neither Heaven nor Hell, though many of its denizens joke that it just might be Purgatory. Most humans who die never appear in the Underworld. What happens to them, the Restless Dead do not know.
<p>但尽管它既恐怖又过激,但大多数死灵不难承认,冥渊比任何可见的替代方案都要更好。因此,冥渊的街道上到处都是死不瞑目的亡灵,他们生于各个时代,从古代雅典到现代,并且他们都以自己的方式和各自的目的坚守着反对湮灭的战线。</p>
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
But despite its horrors and excesses, most wraiths readily concede it’s better that the visible alternative. And so the streets of Stygia are full of the Restless Dead, born of every age from ancient Athens to the modern day, all holding the line against Oblivion in their own way, and for as long as it takes.