神光晶體戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)

  The Aetherium Wars

  神光晶體戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)

  by Taron Dreth

  塔隆德萊瑟著

  Dedicated toKatria,

  至卡特莉亞

  my Friend andColleague

  我永遠(yuǎn)的摯友兼戰(zhàn)友

  The end, whenit came, was swift. In the span of three

  很難想象，戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的結(jié)束來得如此之快。在短短三年之中，那些天際省中的矮人

  short years,the great dwarven cities of Skyrim, from

  城市，從馬卡斯到瓦洛西山脈，一個(gè)個(gè)隨著至高國(guó)王軍隊(duì)的到來而淪陷。那些一

  Markarth tothe Velothi Mountains, fell before the armies of the High King. Cities that hadheld fast against the

  直排斥外族而近百年來不斷抵制諾德人的城市突然被摧毀，連警告都無(wú)法傳遞給

  Nords for overa hundred years crumbled abruptly and

  其它人。

  withoutwarning.

  For centuries,scholars have marveled at the sudden

  數(shù)個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，學(xué)者們一直為史書中記載的矮人城邦的突然消亡而嘖嘖稱奇。即

  collapse ofthe Dwemer city-states. Even the Nords seem to

  使是諾德人，在短時(shí)間內(nèi)連續(xù)拿下數(shù)座城池時(shí)也面帶驚喜，雖然他們的史官很快

  have beentaken by surprise, though their chroniclers were

  反應(yīng)過來并將他們的勝利歸功于格里爾國(guó)王的英明指導(dǎo)和索爾的庇佑。

  quick toascribe their success to King Gellir's inspired tactics and the blessings ofShor.

  My researchsuggests a much different cause, however. In

  然而，我的研究和調(diào)查卻展現(xiàn)了另一個(gè)鮮為人知的原因。在那些天際的矮人都市

  the decadespreceding their fall, the dwarven cities of

  湮滅之前的幾十年里，它們就因?yàn)閮?nèi)部無(wú)止盡的爭(zhēng)論與內(nèi)戰(zhàn)而削弱了不少實(shí)力，

  Skyrim hadbeen decimated by internal disputes and

  而這些內(nèi)亂的原因令人驚訝：神光晶體。

  infightingover a most surprising cause: Aetherium.

  Modernscholars know Aetherium as a rare, luminescent blue

  近代及現(xiàn)代的學(xué)者把神光晶體看作一種能在某些矮人遺址中發(fā)現(xiàn)的稀有，

  crystal foundin some Dwemer ruins. Most consider it little

  發(fā)冷光的藍(lán)色水晶。他們其中的一大部分人不僅將它當(dāng)成一種裝飾品，因?yàn)樗?

  more than acuriosity, as it has proven all but impossible

  經(jīng)被證明出一些不可思議的特點(diǎn)：它的四周包裹有一層魔法的磁場(chǎng)，且任何藥劑

  to work with:while it has a strong magical aura, it is

  或草藥都無(wú)法與其反應(yīng)，現(xiàn)已知的任何工具都無(wú)法將它變形，熔化，塑形，壓縮

  alchemicallyinert, and no known process can enchant, smelt,

  或摧毀。

  mold, bind, orbreak it.

  To thedwarves, of course, such problems were merely a

  當(dāng)然，對(duì)于矮人族來說，這些問題只不過是一種挑戰(zhàn)。在哈拉德國(guó)王統(tǒng)治年間，

  challenge. Inthe years following King Harald's reign, the

  矮人們?cè)谧钌畹牡V井處發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)重要的神光晶體來源。為了能夠監(jiān)督采集礦物，

  Dwemerdiscovered a considerable source of Aetherium in

  their deepestdelvings. An alliance of four cities, led by

  加工及研究的整個(gè)過程，著名的研究者中心在馬卡斯南部，由四個(gè)城市聯(lián)盟建立，

  Arkngthamz,the great research center in the southern Reach,

  was formed tooversee its extraction, processing, and study,

  同時(shí)，聯(lián)盟還建造了一座“神光熔爐”來安全穩(wěn)定地熔煉礦物。

  and a new'Aetherium Forge' constructed to smelt it under precisely controlledconditions.

  If theinscriptions I discovered are to be believed, the

  如果我發(fā)現(xiàn)的那些銘文碑刻確實(shí)可信的話，那么矮人研究的結(jié)果不亞于一個(gè)奇跡：

  results werenothing short of spectacular: the items produced by the Forge were artifacts ofimmense power,

  熔爐中生產(chǎn)出的這種物質(zhì)就像是強(qiáng)大力量濃縮而成，在將其灌注進(jìn)器物的同時(shí)便

  imbued fromthe moment of their creation with powerful

  賦予其無(wú)與倫比的魔力。毫無(wú)疑問，矮人的聯(lián)盟瞬間支離破碎，四座城市以及知

  enchantments.The dwarven alliance shattered almost

  情的其他競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者都爭(zhēng)先恐后地嘗試著獨(dú)吞那座共同建造起來的熔爐。

  immediately,as the four city-states and their rivals attempted to claim the Forge.

  We can onlyspeculate that none were successful. Decades

  我們只能推測(cè)最后沒有一方真正成功。數(shù)十年的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)使他們對(duì)外徹底虛弱，使得

  of conflictmerely weakened them all, allowing for King

  格里爾國(guó)王的軍隊(duì)有了可乘之機(jī)。雖然矮人族在一個(gè)世紀(jì)之后收回了失去的領(lǐng)土，

  Gellir'ssubsequent conquests. And though the Dwemer reclaimed most of their lands acentury later, there is no

  沒有證據(jù)表明他們之后重新開始了關(guān)于神光晶體的研究。大概是因?yàn)檫@股神力所

  evidence thatthey ever resumed their research on Aetherium.

  帶來的代價(jià)實(shí)在太過巨大了吧。

  Perhaps thecosts had just been too great.

  But nothinglike the Aetherium Forge described in the

  但就現(xiàn)在在天際省發(fā)現(xiàn)的銘文記錄來看，并沒有什么類似于神光熔爐之類的

  inscriptionshas ever been found within the borders of

  東西存在。它可能在很久很久以前就被諾德侵略者或矮人自己摧毀了?；蛟S，就

  Skyrim. It mayhave been destroyed long ago, by the Nord invaders or the Dwemer themselves. Orperhaps it, like the

  像神光晶體的秘密一般，仍然藏在不知名的某處，等待再一次的重見天日。

  secrets ofAetherium itself, still remains to be discovered.

  Locations：

  Arcanaeum,in the southeastern part of the room, resting on a table.

  冬堡，秘藏室，在房間的東南角一張桌子上。

  BardsCollege, after the right turn from the entrance, on a small bookcase.

  吟游詩(shī)人學(xué)院，從入口進(jìn)入后向右拐，在一個(gè)小書架上。

  DarklightTower, before the hagraven, in the room with the lever, on a cupboard's shelf.

  暗光塔樓，烏鴉鬼婆之前，在有拉桿的房間里，一個(gè)櫥柜的架子上。

  DayspringCanyon, on topof a barrel in a tent of the camp outside Fort Dawnguard (only if the campexists).

  拂曉峽谷，在黎明守衛(wèi)要塞附近的營(yíng)地帳篷里的桶上(如果有營(yíng)地的話)

  DeadDrop Mine, on a shelf under a wooden platform.

  亡落礦坑，在一個(gè)木平臺(tái)下面的架子上