纯美苹果园

译文资料区 => 核心书籍(Core Books) => Pathfinder RPG => Pathfinder => 《异能冒险》 => 主题作者是: Namárië 于 2016-01-24, 周日 07:25:51

主题: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Namárië2016-01-24, 周日 07:25:51
密识位面

从主物质界平凡又壮丽的奇观,到天堂地狱之中诸般不可能存在之物,伟大彼岸中的众多位面包容了这现世中的一切事物。奥秘学说(Arcane tradition)的观点是多元宇宙中的位面是一连串相互交叠嵌套的界域,其中每一层位面和位面间的空间均代表现实的形貌。在一切的中心漂浮于银色的星界海上的是内环宇宙中的元素位面和主物质位面。元素位面是构造多元宇宙的基本组分,正负能量位面则分别掌握生死存灭之力。灵界不可见的迷雾和涡流渗透了内环宇宙的世界,将其交织勾连;而星界则将这些世界连向外环宇宙无限广阔的国度——诸神的领域,多元宇宙中灵魂的最终归宿。

密识学说(Esoteric tradition),或称“远古智慧”(“Ancient Wisdom”),承认了众多位面,半位面,乃至内环与外环宇宙中其他角落的存在。但是密识学说相较之下更专注于研究内环宇宙而非诸神的国度。神秘学学者坚信他们的研究将解释深藏于多元宇宙表面之下的隐秘真相。通过这些秘闻,一名修行者不仅能掌控她身为凡人的生命,更能让其在死后掌控自己的命运。她将进入不断的轮回,在每一世的生命中不断觉悟,最终达成身、心、魂的圆满,窥见意识之境,最终成就不朽。

因此,对密识的修行者而言,无论是或在彼岸蒙福,或在炼狱为奴的祈并者,还是主物质世界的组分譬如气土水火,均不具意义——对她而言,追求自身存在更高层次的道途比低下的元素更崇高,比祈并者早已被决定的宿命更自主。

正统的位面观认为正负能量这两股相互抗衡之力是多元宇宙存在的根基。这两种原始的力量各自在内环宇宙的核心处占据着一个庞大的位面。两者相互对立:正能量位面是生命之始,而负能量位面则是死亡之源。神秘学中的秘识则认为正负能量乃是一体两面,而非两股相互冲突之力。两者的两极对应并非意味着对抗,而代表了二元轮回中一体的双重性。二元的正面是宇宙之火——赐予活物生命的吐息。负能量位面则是同一个呼吸的纳入,是万物归尘,一切组分被收回以备重新构造未来之物的过程。

在远古智慧的深处埋着关于现世之本质更诱人的秘密。在伟大彼岸最古老的造物之中,有一类异界生物名为御衡者。据传这一种族是现实的守护者,多元宇宙最初的设计和锻造者。同密识中对位面的观点对应,这些原始的存在总是体现了一种两极的平衡——生与死,命定与自由,创造与毁灭。

御衡者坚信它们与多元宇宙在名为始一(Monad)的至高统一之中紧紧相连。始一乃现世一切发生之本源,万千造物超脱于现实之外的根源之魂(Undersoul)。在御衡者看来,始一既是正能量位面带来生命的宇宙之火,也是负能量位面毁灭万物的无尽虚空。此外,御衡者不仅将自身包括在这种同宇宙的统一之中,它们对于始一的观念包容了多元宇宙之中一些造物。一名人类和一位存灭御衡者(Pleroma aeon)均为宇宙之火的分发——只不过与人类相比,御衡者远远更靠近他们的本源,并与其保持着沟通;而从密识学说的角度出发,人类在始一之中的灵魂专注于卑微的主物质位面中的凡俗之事,而远离了宇宙之焰。

假如将宇宙之火想象成一团被厚厚屏障所遮蔽的燃烧的明光,这屏障上又有无数小孔供光线穿过——在世俗观点看来,这些光点彼此分散独立;密识观点则能透过屏障的表现看出这一切分散的光亮不过是从同一个根源散发出的光线。一个生灵的灵魂是屏障上星辰般亮点中的一个,而凡人学者所说的“始一”,通常便指宇宙统一的根源之魂及其独立的表象——它即是独立的个体,又是多元宇宙共同灵魂的一部分。修行者对其在这一格局中所处的位置了解越深刻,她对自己永恒宿命的掌控就越强。

下面的概括介绍了神秘学对通常被称为密识位面的几大国度的看法。密识修行者关注的是多元宇宙之中的真理以及凡人灵魂的旅程,故而在其宇宙观中,许多在正统体系中重要的位面,比如影界与元素位面,均不是重点。神秘学承认这些位面的存在,但并不对其着迷,这一态度也在此得到了体现。欲查阅关于这些位面的详情,包括其位面特性,见Game Mastery Guide.

Esoteric Planes

The planes of the Great Beyond encompass all of existence, from the simple and sublime wonders of the material world to the impossibilities of heavens, hells, and everything in between. Arcane tradition conceptualizes this multiverse of planes as a series of nesting spheres, with each layer and the spaces between representing different vistas of reality. At the center of it all, suspended within the silvery seas of the Astral Plane, lies the Inner Sphere of the Elemental and Material Planes. The Elemental Planes are the raw building blocks of the multiverse, while the planes aligned with positive and negative energy govern the forces of life and death, creation and destruction. The invisible mists and eddies of the Ethereal Plane connect and interpenetrate the worlds of the Inner Sphere, just as the Astral Plane connects these worlds in turn to the infinite realms of the Outer Sphere, the domains of gods and the final destination for the souls of the multiverse.
The esoteric tradition, sometimes referred to as the “ancient wisdom,” acknowledges the many planes, demiplanes, and corners of the Inner and Outer Spheres, but tends to focus more on the Inner Sphere than the realms of the deities. Scholars of occultism believe that their investigations reveal a hidden truth behind the multiverse, and that mastering the implications of this secret can give an adept power over not just her mortal life, but also her life after death. She can then enter a cycle of reincarnation that allows, over successive cycles of existence and ref lection, the complete mastery of body, mind, and soul, opening up new vistas of consciousness and immortality.
Consequently, the adept does not concern herself with the courts of petitioners enjoying their final reward or laboring eternally under fiendish masters, nor with the raw building blocks of the material world such as air, earth, fire, and water. Her final personal journey into a more evolved existence is loftier than the base elements, and more self-determined than the proscribed fate of the pious petitioner.
The orthodox view of the planes sees two opposing forces underlying existence in the multiverse: positive and negative energy. Each of these primal forces commands a vast plane of its own at the core of the Inner Sphere. The Positive Energy Plane is the source of life, and the Negative Energy Plane is the source of death; each exists as antithesis to the other. The great secret of occultism holds that rather than positive and negative energy being conf licting forces, they are in fact two halves of a single whole. Their polarity is not a sign of opposition, but rather two integral aspects of a single dualistic cycle. The positive aspect of this duality is the Cosmic Fire, the breath of life that grants vital force to living creatures. The Negative Energy Plane is the intake of that same breath, a return to dust, the recycling of component parts to pave the way for that which comes next.
Delving deeper into the ancient wisdom reveals even more enticing secrets regarding the nature of existence. Among the oldest creatures in the Great Beyond are the enigmatic outsiders known as aeons, who are said to be the caretakers of reality and the original architects and crafters of the multiverse itself. Befitting the esoteric view of the planes, these primordial beings always manifest a powerful dichotomy sustained in equilibrium: Birth and death. Fate and freedom. Creation and destruction.
The aeons believe they are bound in a supreme oneness with the multiverse known as the “monad,” or the “condition of all,” the transcendental undersoul of all living creatures. They equate this oneness with both the life-giving Cosmic Fire of the Positive Energy Plane and the destructive void of the Negative Energy Plane. Furthermore, they do not limit this cosmic oneness to themselves, but rather include all of the multiverse’s creatures within their concept of the monad. A human and a pleroma aeon (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 12) are both emanations of the cosmic f lame—the aeon is simply much closer to the source and believes itself to be in communication with it, whereas the monadic soul of a human is esoterically distant from the Fire, being focused primarily on the mortal affairs of the base Material Plane.
Imagine a blazing sphere of brilliant energy blocked by a thick screen. This sphere represents the Cosmic Fire. Now imagine multitudes of tiny holes in the screen, each allowing some of the light to shine through. From the exoteric viewpoint of the uninitiated, each pinpoint of light appears distinct and unique. The esoteric perspective looks behind the screen and understands that all of the individual lights are but rays from a single source. A creature’s soul is like one glimmering light in that screen’s field of stars, and when mortal scholars speak of “a monad,” they’re usually referring to this individual-seeming expression of the universal undersoul, at once a unique entity and part of the common soul of the multiverse. The greater an adept understands her place in this scheme, the more power she holds over her eternal destiny.
The short summaries below offer an occult viewpoint on the realms generally referred to as the Esoteric Planes. Many prominent planes in the orthodox scheme, such as the Shadow Plane and Elemental Planes, do not feature prominently in the cosmology of the adept concerned with multiversal truths and the journey of the mortal soul. Occultism freely acknowledges the existence of these planes, but does not dwell on them, an approach likewise observed here. For more information on these planes, including their planar traits, see the GameMastery Guide.
主题: 正能量位面;负能量位面;主物质位面
作者: Namárië2016-01-24, 周日 07:27:24
正能量位面

正能量位面是一切生命之源,诞生凡物灵魂的多元宇宙中心之火。这个位面没有实体表层,而是完全由一团生命能量构成。这些能量辐射自近似恒星内核的耀眼的中心。讽刺的是,对于一个同生命有着紧密关系的位面而言,正能量位面对于凡人访客可谓危险重重——凡人的身躯无法吸纳位面中的过于强大的能量,只会被充盈涨破。在某些角落,宇宙之火的光被弯曲折射,形成了固态的岛屿。在这些地方,强烈的位面能量让凡物概念中的生命根本无法存在,但在广阔的闪耀平原之上,身披凤凰羽毛的乔帝怪(Jyoti)照料着长有海葵状的发光巨树的果园。这些树高如山峰,尚未成熟的灵魂从其上生长而出,如同光泽的液体果实。排外的乔帝怪深居在错综复杂的水晶城市之中。这些城市经过特别设计,专用于反射宇宙之火的奇异光芒。乔帝怪鲜少外出,终日专心于它们照料保护多元宇宙中新生灵魂的神圣使命。在每一座乔帝怪的城市中心都有一座壮丽的大门,通往主物质位面的一颗恒星。新生的灵魂通过这扇门,乘着光波去寻找承载它们的凡物躯壳。

如果说乔帝怪以保护尚待孵化成熟的灵魂为己任,那么正能量位面中的另一类居民,圣仙(Manasaputra),又唤心生子(“Sons of mind”),则以协助凡人的精神升华为追求。凡物的精神经过数度轮回,随着每一次转生这些精神体同根源之魂愈发紧密相连,终成心生子。圣仙中的至高者是光耀的鸠摩罗(kumara),他们身披荣光,居于宇宙之火中心。他们据称已经同宇宙之火神识相通。诸如阿尼什跋陀(agnishvattas),跋利刹(barhisads),和摩奴(manus)之类下位圣仙分散在内环宇宙各处,向凡物中的修行者传授多元宇宙之神秘,好让他们也最终得以融入那诞生了心生子的光。

神性存在无法踏入正能量位面,各种原因即便是最古老的本土生物也说不清。有些人或为躲避神灵的报复,或为藏匿重要的圣器使其不落入某些神祗之手来到正能量位面同乔帝怪交涉,后者因此在无数世纪中收敛了数目惊人的足以灭世的神器,众多半血凡人的私生子,各种异端分子和其他危险人物。

POSITIVE ENERGY PLANE

The Positive Energy Plane is the source of all life, the Cosmic Fire at the heart of the multiverse that gives birth to mortal souls. The plane has no surface and exists as an emanation of life-giving energy radiating from an incandescent interior that resembles the molten heart of an active star. Ironically for a plane associated with life, the Positive Energy Plane can be extremely deadly to mortal visitors, as its ambient energies are so powerful that a mortal shell cannot absorb them without bursting. At certain vertices, the refraction of the Cosmic Fire’s rays create islands of solidity where the plane’s energies are not so extreme, and some manner of life as mortals understand it becomes possible. Here, upon vast shimmering fields, phoenix-feathered creatures known as the jyoti tend to orchards of glowing, anemone-like trees as tall as mountains, sprouting immature souls like glossy, liquid fruit. The xenophobic jyoti dwell in complex cities of crystal specially designed to reflect the weird luminescence of the Cosmic Fire. Jyoti seldom venture from these structures, focusing all of their energies on their sacred charge of tending and defending the nascent souls of the multiverse. At the center of each jyoti city is an imposing gate to a star in the cosmos of the Material Plane. New souls pass through these gates and ride waves of light to find incarnation in mortal vessels.
If the jyoti dedicate themselves to the protection of incubating immature souls, the other primary inhabitants of the Positive Energy Plane, the manasaputras, dedicate their existence to assisting the spiritual development of mortals. These “sons of mind” are the powerful psychic incarnations of mortals who have endured scores of mortal reincarnations, with each step becoming more attuned to the universal undersoul. The greatest and most powerful of the manasaputras—the glory-clad solar kumaras— dwell within the heart of the Cosmic Fire, and claim to be in communication with it. Lesser manasaputras like agnishvattas, barhisads, and manus spread through the Inner Sphere to initiate mortal adepts in the occult nature of the multiverse, so that they too might step once again into the light that birthed them.
For reasons unknown even to the eldest natives, divine beings cannot enter the Positive Energy Plane. Refugees from the vengeance of the gods or those hoping to hide important relics from certain divinities sometimes venture to the Positive Energy Plane to negotiate with the jyoti, who over the centuries have amassed an astounding trove of world-shattering artifacts, illegitimate half-mortal bastards, heretics, and other dangers.


负能量位面
在正统位面观中,负能量位面是正能量位面的孪生子,更是其满心妒忌的大敌。这片黑暗是充满了熵的无尽虚空,存在之敌,其唯一的目的便是吞噬与毁灭。负能量位面是诞生生命的正能量位面的黑暗对立,也常被作为带来毁灭的工具,它更是不死生物活化之力的来源。神秘学中的远古智慧着眼于负能量位面同造物之间这一看似矛盾的关联,指出多元宇宙正沿着一个长远得不可想象的演化周期不可阻挡地前行,而熵的作用便是清除过去的残余,为将来一切铺平道路。完美并非固定的状态,而是会不断地成长和改变。若要说完美有一个“自然”态——比如说完全的湮灭——就如同将极限强加于无限一般绝无可能。神秘学家认为毁灭驱动改变。

尽管如此,负能量确实支撑驱动着无数不死生物,让它们在这可怖而广袤的国度中填满了荒凉不毛深渊中原有的空虚。这个位面几乎没有坚实的表层,故而此处的不死生物以虚体为多。这个位面寒冷得直透灵魂的气流裹挟着外来者前往位面中心的绝对黑暗,而只有虚体生物才能在其中飞舞。位面深处的深黯由传送门通向遍布主物质位面宇宙中的黑洞。有关前往在主物质位面那一侧的传送门的星界旅行的记载中提及了这些黑洞,黑洞的吸积盘上聚满了被困于事件宆界内的虚体亡灵。

在负能量位面之内,假如负能量的浓度达到了极点,变会形成实质,长成由纯粹的熵构成的晶体,美丽而致命。当这些晶体长出怪异的角度时,位面便会诞下锡兑怪(Sceaduinar)。这些恶毒的生物仇视生者也仇视不死者,它们存在的目的唯有散播熵与毁灭。讽刺的是,这些生物的诞生会消耗位面内的熵能,致使这种四处飘散的雪花状晶体的附近区域反而成了这个充满敌意的位面中最稳定、最容易生存的区域。不过虽然负能量的威胁降低了,锡兑怪对于造访者而言又是一个不可忽视的威胁。

远古智慧提出乔帝怪仇视锡兑怪的原因是乔帝怪知晓毁灭在新灵魂的创生中扮演的角色,而乔帝怪害怕这一信息走漏。负能量位面中最可怖,最充满恨意的居民是名唤夜影(Nightshades)的不死怪孽。这些亡灵对位面间的争斗毫无兴趣,它们只希望灭绝宇宙中所有的生命,用黑暗淹没主物质位面的每一个恒星,不顾任何后果地将宇宙之火熄灭。

NEGATIVE ENERGY PLANE

The orthodox view of the Inner Sphere casts the Negative Energy Plane as the jealous rival of its positive-energy twin, an empty infinite void of entropic darkness antithetical to creation, fit only to consume and destroy. Negative energy is itself a dark opposite of life-giving positive energy, yet while it is most often a source or tool of destruction, it is also the animating force of the undead. The ancient wisdom of occultism seizes on this seemingly paradoxical association with creation and posits that entropy clears the slate for what’s next as the multiverse inexorably marches along an unimaginably vast evolutionary cycle of its own. Perfection is not a fixed state. It is always growing and changing. To say that there is one “natural” state—for instance, utter oblivion—that constitutes perfection is as impossible as imposing a limit on the infinite. Occultists believe that this destruction allows for and drives change.
Nonetheless, negative energy sustains the undead, who throng to the sterile and desolate gulfs of nothingness that compose the overwhelming expanse of this dark and terrifying realm. The plane offers few solid surfaces, so the undead present here tend to be incorporeal and capable of taking f light on the soul-chilling currents that seem inexorably to guide visitors toward the absolute darkness at the plane’s heart. This inner blackness connects via portals to the black holes scattered about the cosmos of the Material Plane. Records of astral voyages to the Material Plane side of these portals relate tales of the accretion disks of black holes swarming with incorporeal undead trapped within the event horizon.
Within the plane, where the concentration of negative energy reaches an absolute, it begins to manifest a crystalline material that grows into beautiful and deadly structures of absolute entropy. When these crystals form strange angles, the plane gives birth to a sceaduinar. These vile creatures hate life and unlife alike, and exist only to sow entropy and destruction. Somehow, their manifestation seems to drain a measure of the plane’s entropic energies, ironically making the regions around these haunting snowf lake structures the most stable and survivable regions in the otherwise hostile plane. While negative energy is less of a concern, the sceaduinar themselves represent a significant threat to visitors.
The ancient wisdom suggests that the jyoti hate the sceaduinar for their knowledge of the role destruction plays in the creation of souls, and the jyoti fear the exposure of that information. The Negative Energy Plane’s most terrible and hateful residents, the undead abominations known as nightshades, care little for this squabbling between the planes. Theirs is a quest to eradicate all life in the cosmos, to cloak the stars of the Material Plane in darkness, and to quench the Cosmic Fire, no matter the consequences.

主物质位面
主物质位面是物理感官和肉体存在的国度。灵魂在此存在于一具肉身之中,这一联合完美得让大多数生物不会去多考虑物理整体形态和在更高层次指引物理躯壳行为和命运的始一之魂之间有何区别。在凡物的生命中,其灵魂的最终归宿尚未决定,因此主物质位面磁石一般吸引着神灵与异界生物的注意,这些存在都希望将凡人在死后自愿或者受迫加入自己的旗下。主物质位面是诸位面的交叉路——灵界和影界同它共存,而所有内环宇宙的国度均与它相连。

就好像某种不甚明确的力量将物质躯体同其在星界和灵界中的对应体紧紧捆绑在一起一样,整个宇宙都由一系列灵脉(Ley lines)绑束——灵脉是穿透多元宇宙中众多位面的精魂导管。在主物质位面灵脉极其多见,神秘学的修行者,奥法的钻研者,甚至乡野女巫都会学习辨识操纵这些力量作为自己的助益。有些人相信最强盛的灵脉之一被称作“灵魂长河”(River of Souls),这条灵脉引导着始一之魂经过凡物轮回的精神之旅乃至死后来生——但这只是多元宇宙整个动脉系统的一部分而已。

MATERIAL PLANE

The Material Plane is the realm of physical sensation and incarnate existence. Souls manifest here in the shell of a physical body, a union so complete that most living creatures do not spend much time contemplating the difference between the gross physical form and the higher monadic soul that guides its movements and destiny. The final destination of a soul is not yet determined during its mortal life, making the Material Plane a magnet for the attentions of gods and outsiders eager to rally mortals to their banners in the afterlife, either willingly or by force. A planar crossroads, the Material Plane is coexistent with the Ethereal and Shadow Planes and coterminous with all of the realms of the Inner Sphere.
Just as little-known forces bind a physical body to its astral and ethereal counterparts, the whole of the universe is bound together by a series of ley lines— spiritual conduits that interpenetrate the many planes of the multiverse. Ley lines are prevalent on the Material Plane, and wise adepts of the occult arts, canny students of the arcane, and even village witches learn to recognize and manipulate these forces to their own ends. Some believe that one of the most prominent of these ley lines is the so-called “River of Souls” that guides a monad’s spiritual journey through mortal incarnation and the afterlife, but that is just one aspect of this multiversal arterial network.
主题: 灵界;幻梦境
作者: Namárië2016-01-24, 周日 07:34:26
灵界
灵界是情绪之力的所在,是迷雾缭绕的作祟与恐怖的居所,也是通往内环宇宙无处不在的门户。灵界同这些位面共存并且相互交织,大体上在景观与轮廓上与这些位面类似。然而由于四处飘散的雾气,加上犹如雷暴阴沉的内里般缓慢亮起又变暗的昏暗光幕,灵界的能见度要低得多。从灵界内部看起来,这些毗邻的世界像是结霜的玻璃外的景观一般,显得雾霭环绕,看不清晰,而邻接世界的居民完全无法感知灵界,不过一些身负敏感异能这一祝福或诅咒的凡人有时能够看见其中的景象。因为灵界对内环宇宙的世界总体隐形,收到幻化灵体(Ethereal jaunt)和同游灵界(Etherealness)影响的生物不能被非灵体的生物看到。通常情况下,灵界的生物无法攻击主物质位面的生物,反之亦然。

在灵界的迷雾之中,扭曲而模糊的场所同其在内环宇宙的对应重叠。这一现象加上灵界生物本身无重量的特点,让利用灵界作为有利地位侦查位置的地点,穿过不具实体的墙壁,轻易从陷阱上方飘过等等变得极具诱惑力。然而,灵界的本土居民让这变成了一种恐怖的可能性,这保证了大多数进入灵界的冒险都只持续短暂的一段时间。在本土最致命的威胁之中有血红色的锡尔族(Xill)——这种好战的异界生物能够穿越位面,在活着的凡人身上孵化他们的卵。更糟糕的是丑恶狂笑的夜鬼婆,她们用灵界作为小路前往幻梦境去在噩梦中绑架凡人的灵魂。

凡人灵魂扭曲的残余构成了灵界居民中的大多数。一些灵魂在死后从肉体中解脱,却被强烈的情绪伤痛捆绑在灵界,在斩断这些强大的情绪束缚之前他们而无法沿着多元宇宙之流进入灵魂长河,进而汇入骨园。这些灵魂在死后的旅途中逗留越久,便向负能量位面游离得越近,他们的记忆和人格也被纯粹的情绪伤痛和精神创伤吞没。这些灵魂最终成为虚体不死生物,通常以缚灵(Wraiths)和幽灵(Spectres)的形式出现。

唤魂师(Spiritualists)能够呼唤灵界的精魂,将自己肉身的心灵作为这些灵魂寄居的场所。通过练习加上一个有经验的唤魂师的帮助,一个精魂甚至得以用世界间帷幕的组分——灵质(Ectoplasm)——包裹自身,并在毗邻的位面中显形。这些精魂向导被称为魅影(Phantoms)。尽管他们始终对同自身相捆绑的唤魂师保持忠诚,他们和灵界的情绪连接依然非常强大,即使是最和善的灵魂也会表现出激烈的怒气和嫉妒。灵界的灵质极其易受位面内居民的思想和和情绪的影响。一个实体地点的灵界版本形态不仅仅由其实际的外观和大小决定,也取决于盘踞于此的精魂的记忆和印象。比如说,在灵界,一座老宅有可能看起来就像是居于此处的鬼魂尚且再世时的样子。如果这些精魂最终安息,这些构架再也不被其记忆支撑,便会化为一摊灵界废墟。一些虚体灵魂同这个位面的情绪本质交缠极深,甚至可以将这些灵质构成的景观在邻接的位面重叠的地点显现出来,将这一地点暂时化为过去某个时刻样子的倒影。

就像外界世界的地点在灵界有投影一般,凡物也具备一个灵体二重身,其形态是一个灵体版本的自己,同自身的肉体完全重合。这一灵体躯体承载了赐予生物生命力的宇宙之火吹息——通常称为气。这种能量聚焦成七个名为脉轮(Chakras)的七彩能量构成的漩涡。脉轮将灵界复制体同肉体相互捆绑,还把生命之力分配到两个身躯之中。这种能量发散到生物肉体的两到三呎以外,形成了生物的灵光——一抹神秘彩色的能量光晕,揭示了生物的性情和情感状态。

生物的灵界复制体,灵光,和脉轮对于没有相关知识或者魔法的人来说是不可见的。从主物质位面看的话,这需要一个具备异能敏感(Psychic Sensitivity)专长(见138页)以密识方式使用察觉(Perception)技能,或者一系列法术。从灵界观看,要看出这些力量的相互作用只需简单地专注——假如你知道你要找什么的话,它就会变得清晰可见。至于解析这些信息则自然又是另一码事。灵界复制体的轮廓由紫灰色或者蓝灰色的荧光所勾勒。同星界投射产生的星界体或者幻梦境中的醒梦体不同,灵界复制体通常无法作为独立的意志载体行动。

最后,广阔的灵界是无数微小的现实的所在,这些现实被称为半位面(Demiplanes)。这些国度中的许多都是强大的奥术施法者的私人领域,次神的玩乐之地,神秘的造物主(Elohim)的实验场,又或者是牢笼,监禁着对于宇宙造成巨大威胁,因此绝对永远不得被放出的生物。
ETHEREAL PLANE

The Ethereal Plane is the seat of emotional forces, the mist-shrouded home of haunts and horrors, and the ever-present doorway between the worlds of the Inner Sphere. The Ethereal Plane coexists with these planes, interpenetrating them and generally mimicking their contours and vistas, albeit with greatly reduced visibility thanks to drifting fog and the slow rise and fall of fading sheets of light like the somber interior of a thunderstorm. From within the Ethereal Plane, these neighboring worlds appear hazy and indistinct, as if viewed through frosted glass. Inhabitants of neighboring planes can’t perceive the Ethereal Plane at all, though certain mortals blessed or cursed with psychic sensitivity sometimes catch glimpses of its vistas. Since the Ethereal Plane is generally invisible from the other planes of the Inner Sphere, creatures under the effects of spells like ethereal jaunt and etherealness cannot be seen by creatures who are not themselves ethereal. Normally, creatures on the Ethereal Plane cannot attack creatures on the Material Plane, and vice versa.
Within the mists of the Ethereal Plane, warped, indistinct versions of locations overlap their Inner Sphere counterparts. This, coupled with the inherent weightlessness of creatures in the plane, makes it tempting to use the Ethereal Plane as a vantage to scout out unknown locales by passing through incorporeal walls and f loating over traps with ease. The natural denizens of the plane make this a frightful prospect, however, and ensure that most forays into the Ethereal Plane are brief endeavors. Among the deadliest of local hazards are the blood-red xill—warlike, plane-shifting outsiders who incubate their eggs in living mortals. Worse still, hideous, cackling night hags use the Ethereal Plane as a byway to the Dimension of Dreams, where they slip into nightmares to abduct mortal souls.
The twisted remnants of mortal souls comprise the vast majority of the Ethereal Plane’s inhabitants. Some souls, freed from their physical bodies by death, remain tethered to the Ethereal Plane by profound emotional distress and cannot proceed along multiversal currents to join the River of Souls flowing inexorably toward the Boneyard until they sever the powerful emotional ties that bind them. Indeed, the longer these souls remain stalled on their afterlife journey, the closer they slide toward the Negative Energy Plane, and the more of their memories and personalities become subsumed by raw emotional distress and psychic damage. These souls eventually manifest as incorporeal undead, frequently in the form of wraiths and spectres.
Spiritualists call out to the spirits of the Ethereal Plane and open their physical minds as refuges for them to inhabit. With practice and the help of a trained spiritualist, a spirit can even take its own physical form on the neighboring planes by cloaking itself in a sheath of ectoplasm, the ghostly substance that acts as a veil between worlds. These spirit guides are known as phantoms, and while they are loyal to the spiritualist to whom they are bound, the emotional connection to the Ethereal Plane remains strong, manifesting in jealousy and fiery outbursts from even the kindest of souls. The ectoplasmic nature of the Ethereal Plane is extraordinarily susceptible to the thoughts and emotions of the plane’s inhabitants. The ethereal version of a physical location is informed not just by its actual dimensions and appearance, but also by the memories and impressions of the spirits that haunt it. For example, on the Ethereal Plane, an old mansion might look as it did in the era of its ghostly inhabitants. If those spirits find final rest, their memories cannot sustain the structure, and it falls into an ethereal ruin. Some incorporeal spirits become so entwined with the emotional nature of the plane that they can manifest these ectoplasmic vistas in an overlapping location on a neighboring plane, temporarily cloaking it in a disturbing reflection of some past incarnation.
In a similar way that locations in the outside world possess overlapping etheric reflections, mortal creatures also have ethereal doppelgangers in the form of etheric doubles that exactly overlie their physical forms. The etheric double is a vessel for the cosmic breath of life that gives a creature animate force, most commonly known as ki. This energy collects in seven blazing vortices of colorful energy known as chakras, which bind the etheric double and the physical body together and distribute vital life energy to both. This energy extends 2 to 3 feet beyond the outlines of the creature’s physical form to create its aura, a nimbus of colorful occult energies that reveals much about a creature’s disposition and emotional state.
A creature’s etheric double, aura, and chakras are not visible except to those with the knowledge or magic to see them. From the Material Plane, this involves esoteric use of the Perception skill by a creature with the Psychic Sensitivity feat (see page 138) or any of a number of spells. From within the Ethereal Plane, all it takes to observe the interplay of these forces is simple concentration— if you know what to look for, it becomes plainly visible. Interpreting this information, of course, is another matter. An etheric double is outlined in violet-gray or blue-gray luminescence. Unlike an astral body generated by astral projection or a lucid body of the Dimension of Dreams, an etheric double is not normally capable of acting as a separate vehicle of consciousness.
Finally, the sweeping expanse of the Ethereal Plane is home to countless pocket realities known as demiplanes. Many of these unique realms are the private domains of powerful arcane spellcasters, the playgrounds of minor gods, the experiments of the inscrutable elohim, or the prisons of creatures that pose such danger to the cosmos that they must never be released.

幻梦境
当凡人沉睡时,其始一之魂便会离体神游于幻梦境(Dimension of Dreams)中。灵魂在梦中的化身又被称为醒梦体(Lucid body)。醒梦体的形态各异,具体由做梦人的潜意识决定。主物质位面无数梦中人的心灵擦过灵界,生成了寿命短暂的半位面,梦中人的醒梦体便在这些半位面之中经历自身心灵无意识中编织出的种种不可思议的冒险。做梦人能够改造她梦中的环境,而拥有寻梦师(Lucid Dreamer)专长的人甚至获取更强的控制。在梦中施展的法术和使用的物品在现实中不会被消耗;梦中的创口和症状对生物清醒的身体和心灵没有影响;而梦中所有的奇异冒险不会给清醒的生物带来任何的经验和宝藏,不过在幻梦境中获取的知识有时候会在清醒世界中解决难题时派上用场。即便是最可怕的梦魇对梦中人也不会造成什么威胁。醒梦体要是死了,梦中人只会被惊醒。做梦的人可能会有些受惊但是极少受到更大的影响。拥有寻梦师专长的生物在这种情况下惊醒的话会处于疲乏之中,因为她的心灵在对梦境(Dreamscape)中的感知里沉浸得更深。

梦境中的经历通常是私密的事件。少数法术(比如梦境会议Dream council)、魔法物品或者其他的能力能够让一些生物同另一个生物在短时间内共享梦境半位面。虽然这些次要造梦人(Secondary dreamers)能够同高度可塑的位面、主要造梦人(Primary dreamer)以及其他次要造梦人互动,但是这一半位面的存续依然只依赖于主要造梦人。假如主要造梦人醒来,这个半位面便会从现实从消失,将其他还在做梦的梦中人推入其自身的梦境,或者被直接惊醒。

然而,醒梦体并非是唯一一种进入梦境的方法——以肉身进入梦境的探险者将面对众多的危险。异界传送这一类位面旅行常用的法术无法将人带入梦中世界,只有专门的法术,如梦境旅行(Dream travel)能做到这种事。一个生物以肉身进入梦境之后无需进行检定以决定自己的初始状态,但是也不能尝试不可能完成的奇举(见下)。这种状态下施展的法术、使用的物品或者施放的次数有限的能力会像在其他位面中冒险时一样被消耗掉。物质状态下的生物可以使用梦境中造出的物件,但是一旦主要造梦人醒来,或者是物质状态下的生物离开梦境后,这些物品便会消失。这种状态下受到的创伤和经验都是真实的,即使在该生物离开梦境以后也会留存。肉身状态的生物若是在梦境半位面中死去就会真的死亡。主要造梦人醒来后,仍在梦境内的物质状态生物会被推入毗邻的梦境或者同幻梦境接壤的灵界区域之中。

虽然每个造梦人沉睡的灵魂各自在灵界召唤出自己的梦境半位面,但是所有的梦都属于幻梦境巨大的网络之中。当多个梦境在灵界的迷雾中交叠时,在梦之间的来往会变得更简单一些。此时,情绪,情感,乃至生物都可以从一个梦中流到另一个梦中。当一个梦境擦过人们对其知之甚少的时间维度(Dimension of Time)时,这个梦境便常常带上了预知梦色彩。

梦中世界的残影有时会趁着一个想象力格外丰富的造梦人醒来,半位面即将消散而梦境的现实最为脆弱之时逃离幻梦境。这些古怪变幻的生物以活化梦境(Animate dreams)的形态潜伏于灵界之中蚕食凡人的心智,并不断搜寻着新的梦境供自己藏匿以折磨新的梦中人。

一类被称为“梦魇生物”(“Nightmare creatures”)的邪恶怪物寄居在幻梦境中,闯入一个个梦境追猎供它们折磨摧毁的受害人。这些生物中统御其他更弱小的梦魇生物的阶级被称为梦魇领主(Nightmare Lords)。它们居于充满傀儡的宫廷里,侍奉它们的是被奴役的发疯造梦人那破碎的灵魂空壳。这些不满于在睡梦的国度中散播恐怖的生物甚至有在主物质位面显形的方式。

幻梦境中最令人害怕的威胁当属夜鬼婆。她们在梦境中肆意来回,搜寻着混乱或者邪恶阵营的造梦人,然后骑在这些人的背上直至天明。在梦境之间遇上她们或者是住在她们猎物梦境里的生物则会被不分阵营地屠杀。夜鬼婆会将死于她们手中的敌人的灵魂存在宝石内卖给诸位面之中的买家。

虽然大多数梦境都只持续短暂的一段时间,只要梦中人一醒来便会消散,但是有一些梦境因为反复出现,又或者是获得了众多造梦人共同潜意识的支持,会变得格外强大,有时能永久持续下去。在幻梦境中最可怕的永久区域当属怪异的冷原(Leng)。在冷原之中,外貌近人的居民驾驶着黑船,满载着将在多元宇宙黑暗的集市中售卖的奴隶驶过灵界之海。

幻梦境有如下特性。
•流动时间(Flowing Time):醒梦体和肉身进入幻梦境的生物都会在一个梦境中受到流动时间位面特性的影响。
•高度可塑:一个生物以醒梦体进入一个梦境时,它必须进行一个魅力检定(DC 15)才能不在进入幻梦境时就处于恶劣情况之下——比如丢失了一件重要的装备,或者在雪崩时出现在一座极地的雪山旁边。豁免成功的生物将以完全健康、装备齐全的状态出现(在梦中用掉的法术和魔法物品在现实世界并不会被消耗)。然而即使在最糟糕的情况下,醒梦体也可以做到神奇甚至绝无可能的壮举。做梦人在梦中可以以一个标准动作尝试进行一件不可能的举止,次数为该生物的魅力调整值(最小为1)。这类举动包括施展法术、如同施展了一个法术一般获得一个法术的效果或者凭空唤来魔法物品。这么做需要成功进行一个魅力检定(DC 10+施展或复制的法术的等级或者被召唤的魔法物品施法者等级的一半;非魔法物品视作施法者等级0)。根据GM允许,也可以进行其他的奇举,DC由GM决定。若这个检定失败,则梦中人无法进行这一奇举。以肉身入梦的生物无需进行第一个检定,但也不获得创造物品和法术效果以及进行其他奇举的能力,同时还需要以其他的方式处理梦境中怪异的现实。
•狂野魔法:醒梦体和肉身进入幻梦境的生物都受到梦境中狂野魔法特性的影响。


DIMENSION OF DREAMS

As a mortal sleeps, its monadic soul withdraws from the physical body to manifest in the Dimension of Dreams. This dream avatar is known as the lucid body, and can take a variety of forms based on the dreamer’s sub-consciousness. The minds of the countless dreamers of the Material Plane brush up against the Ethereal Plane, bubbling forth ephemeral demiplanes in which the dreamers’ lucid bodies experience fantastic adventures inspired by their own unconscious minds. A dreamer can alter her surroundings, and one with the Lucid Dreamer feat gains a greater measure of control. Spells cast and items used in a dream are not depleted in the real world. Wounds and conditions don’t have any effect on the creature’s waking body and mind. Fantastic adventures don’t yield real treasure or experience to the waking being, though knowledge gained in the Dimension of Dreams occasionally aids in solving real challenges faced in the waking world. Even the worst nightmares hold little true danger for the dreamer. Should the lucid body die, the dreamer simply awakens, perhaps a bit shaken but otherwise little worse for the experience. A creature with the Lucid Dreamer feat (see page 137) awakens from such an experience fatigued, as her mind is more invested in perceptions of the dreamscape.
Experience in a dreamscape is usually a private affair. Rare spells (such as dream council), magic items, and other abilities allow creatures to enter and share another creature’s dream demiplane for a short amount of time. While these secondary dreamers can interact with the highly morphic qualities of the plane, with the primary dreamer, and with each other, the existence of the demiplane is still contingent on a single primary dreamer. When the primary dreamer awakens, the demiplane pops out of existence, causing any other dreamers to continue dreaming—shunted into a dreamscape of their own creation—or to wake up.
A lucid body is not the only way to enter a dream, however, and considerable danger faces the explorer who enters the Dimension of Dreams in his physical body. Regular methods of planar travel like plane shift do not offer transit to the dream world—only specialized means such as the dream travel spell do the trick. When a physical creature enters a dreamscape, he doesn’t have to make the check to determine his initial state, but also can’t attempt impossible feats (see below). Spells cast, magic items used, and other limited abilities expended are lost just as if the creature were adventuring on some other plane. Creatures in their material forms can use items generated within a dreamscape, but these items wink out of existence when the primary dreamer awakens, or when a creature in material form leaves the dreamscape. Wounds and experiences are real, and remain after the creature leaves the dreamscape. A creature in its physical form that dies within a dream demiplane actually dies. Material creatures still within a dreamscape when the primary dreamer awakens are pushed into an abutting dreamscape or regions of the Ethereal Plane that border the Dimension of Dreams.
Although each dreamer’s slumbering soul conjures a personal demiplane dreamscape that manifests on the Ethereal Plane, all dreams collectively belong to the greater network of the Dimension of Dreams. When numerous dreamscapes cluster in the ethereal fog, transit between dreams is easier, and moods, emotions, and even creatures from one dream spill more easily into another. Where the individual dreamscapes brush up against the little-understood Dimension of Time, dreams often take on prophetic elements.
Figments from the dream world sometimes manage to escape the Dimension of Dreams, usually at the moment when a particularly imaginative sleeper awakens, and the reality of the dream is at its weakest as the demiplane fades away. These weird, shifting creatures stalk the Ethereal Plane as animate dreams, feeding off the minds of mortals, searching for other dreams in which to take refuge and torment a new sleeper.
A class of vile so-called “nightmare creatures” infests the Dimension of Dreams, venturing from dreamscape to dreamscape hunting victims to torment and destroy. A hierarchy of horror known as the Nightmare Lords rules over lesser nightmare creatures in puppet courts staffed by the soul-shriveled husks of insane enslaved dreamers. Somehow, these creatures have even found a way to manifest on the Material Plane, not content to limit their terrors to the realm of sleep.
Night hags are among the most harrowing threats of the Dimension of Dreams. They walk freely between dreams, searching for chaotic or evil dreamers, on whose backs they ride until morning. Creatures they encounter between dreams or dwelling within the dreamscapes of their prey are simply cut down, regardless of alignment. Night hags collect the souls of their slain enemies in gemstones they sell to clientele throughout the planes.
Although most dreamscapes are ephemeral, fading when the sleeper awakens, particularly potent dreamscapes, bolstered by recurrence or by the shared subconscious of numerous dreamers, sometimes last forever. Among the most formidable and permanent regions of the Dimension of Dreams is the bizarre realm of Leng, where near-human denizens sail ethereal seas in black-hulled ships packed with slaves bound for the dark markets of the multiverse.
The Dimension of Dreams has the following traits.
• Flowing Time: Both lucid bodies and creatures visiting the Dimension of Dream with their physical bodies are subject to the flowing time trait of a given dreamscape.
• Highly Morphic: When a creature enters a dreamscape with a lucid body, it must make a Charisma check (DC 15) to prevent arriving in the Dimension of Dreams at a disadvantage, such as without important equipment or on the side of an arctic mountain during an avalanche. A successful save means the dreamer manifests in perfect health, with all of its regular equipment (spells and magic items used in a dream are not actually expended in the real world). Even in
 
the worst of circumstances, however, the lucid body is capable of fantastic—even impossible—feats. As a standard action, a number of times during the dream equal to the creature’s Charisma bonus (minimum 1) the dreamer can attempt one impossible action, such as casting a spell, gaining an effect of a spell as if it were cast, or conjuring a magic item. This requires a successful Charisma check (DC 10 + the level of the spell being cast or spell effect replicated or half of the caster level of the item conjured; nonmagical items are caster level 0). Other fantastic feats are also possible with GM approval and a Charisma check with a DC determined by the GM. If the check fails, the dreamer cannot perform the feat. Creatures that enter the dream with their physical bodies do not need to make the initial check and do not gain the ability to create items and spell effects or perform other fantastic feats, but must otherwise deal with the strange realities of the dreamscape.
• Wild Magic: Both lucid bodies and creatures visiting the Dimension of Dream with their physical bodies are subject to the wild magic of dreamscapes.

主题: 星界;阿卡夏灵录;骨园;外环宇宙
作者: Namárië2016-01-24, 周日 07:40:33
星界
星界是纯粹的思想与意识之域,这片一望无际的银色穹宇将所有位面相连。除去在一片空旷中宛如浮岛般的少许固态物质,星界的绝大部分都是一片庞大而仿佛永恒的虚空,唯有银辉充斥其中。星界是连通内环宇宙与外环宇宙的门径,在这里,从在位面间穿梭的人物,到搜寻某个藏匿于此的半位面的探险家,再到追寻某个受困于这广袤界域之中的灵魂的探索者,众多旅者络绎不绝。因为其交叉口的地位,星界内充满了危险。因此即使位面传送(Plane shift)这种法术和星光法袍(Robe of stars)这类物品能够让人以肉身进入星界,大多数星界旅者还是喜欢更安全的方式——通过星界投射(Astral projection)这类法术让自己的灵魂在星界以星界体(Astral body)的形式显现。

一个生物的星界体看起来就像是其肉体半透明的复制。星界体身周通常环绕着蓝色或紫色的温和光晕。一条纤细却坚韧的无实体能量带连接着一个生物的星界体和肉体,这条能量被称为银线(Silver cord)。假如一个星界体死去,其银线会回到其肉体之中,连带着灵魂一同归位(尽管会因为死亡的创伤造成两个永久负向等级)。银线能承受大多数破坏的尝试,但是一旦银线真的断裂,这个生物会立刻死亡,而容纳着灵魂的星界体则会在星界的暗流中漂流,无法抗拒地被拉向从外环宇宙表面的骨园中一直延伸至星界的巨大漩涡之中。星界是思维的国度,无数象征着诞生于凡人思绪之概念与传奇的生物以此为家。通灵者(Mediums)为这些星界的居民开放自己的意识,邀这些生物前来居于自己的肉体之中,对主物质位面施加影响。

在星界旅行是一件怪事——这个位面的主观重力能让每个旅者选择重力吸引的方向。生物要向任何一个方向移动,只需要在脚下想象“下方”,就会朝那个方向“坠落”。这种情况下一个生物在第一轮“落下”150呎,之后每轮300呎。这种方式只能直线移动。人物可以通过进行一个DC16的感知检定来重置一个方向,或者以自由东西停下。这个检定每轮只能进行一次,感知检定失败的生物可以在下一轮得到+6的加值,直到其检定成功为止。以这种方式移动的时候,一个旅者没有感受到任何移动,相反地,星界的景观(尽管稀少)会朝他移动,直到将他甩下。星界体以极快的速度掠过以后身后会留下变幻的光。

死者的星界体在失去连接之后会随着灵魂长河流向骨园。在这一过程中,灵魂身上残存的凡物冗余逐渐脱离,只留下灵魂的核心本体,和生前记忆与提纯后的个性。外环宇宙的诸神将灵魂长河看做不可侵犯之地,并常常派出天界或者炼狱生物以护送迷失的灵魂前往经受审判以决定其在死后究竟蒙福还是受罚。喜好收集甚至吞噬灵魂的掠食怪物,譬如夜鬼婆(Night hags)和星界邪魔(Astradaemons)捕猎星界中的亡者,尽管它们通常只染指落单的虚体不死生物,但是经常也会劫掠一群同肉体分离前往永恒宁静的灵魂。死者之神法拉斯玛对这种违背多元宇宙自然规律之事深恶痛绝,被称作招魂者(Psychopomps)的生物常常领导护卫灵魂安全到达彼岸。

星界的其他生物还有星界巨鲸(Astral leviathans),这些在银海中游弋的生物背上有时带着顺路的乘客甚至半永久的居住地;怪异的膜生怪(Caulborn)从星界旅者身上汲取知识与心灵能量(Psychic energy);无形的nirmanakaya manasaputras以心灵感应指引凡物中的修行者;瘦长人形的Shulsaga驭驶着魔法浮碟在位面间捕猎,他们对入侵其星界国度的外人报以仇外的蔑视。

ASTRAL PLANE

The Astral Plane is the great silvery sky that connects all planes to one another, the realm of pure thought and expanded consciousness. Occasional islands of solid matter float in astral space, but most of the plane is an enormous, seemingly eternal void of silver radiance. As a gateway between the Inner and Outer Spheres, the Astral Plane teems with travelers, from entities venturing between planes to explorers searching for one of the numerous demiplanes secreted here or looking for the one of the countless marooned spirits that dwell within the expanse. Its nature as a crossroads makes the Astral Plane very dangerous. Although it’s possible to visit the plane bodily via plane shift or by using an item such as a robe of stars, most travelers prefer to play it safe by manifesting their souls in an astral body created by spells such as astral projection.
A creature’s astral body looks like a translucent version of its physical form, usually limned with a soft nimbus of blue or violet light. A slim tether of resilient incorporeal energy known as a silver cord connects a creature’s astral body to its unconscious physical body. If the astral body dies, the silver cord retracts into the physical body, returning the soul to its familiar seat (albeit at the cost of two permanent negative levels due to the resultant trauma). A silver cord resists most attempts to damage it, but if it somehow manages to break, the creature immediately dies, and the astral form housing its soul is cast adrift on the astral currents, pulled inexorably toward the enormous spire of the Boneyard, which extends up into the Astral Plane from the surface of the Outer Sphere. As a realm of thought, the Astral Plane is home to entities that represent concepts, myths, and legends spawned from mortal thoughtforms. Mediums open their consciousness to these denizens of the Astral Plane, inviting them to reside in a physical form and spread their influence on the Material Plane.
Travel through the Astral Plane is a strange affair, as the plane’s subjective directional gravity means that each traveler chooses the direction of gravity’s pull. Creatures can move normally in any direction by imagining “down” near their feet and “falling” in that direction. In this way a creature “falls” 150 feet the first round and 300 feet on each successive round. Movement is straight-line only. A character can attempt a DC 16 Wisdom check to set a new direction of gravity or stop as a free action; this check can be attempted once per round. Any character who fails this Wisdom check on successive rounds receives a +6 bonus on subsequent checks until he succeeds. When moving in this manner, the traveler does not have the sensation of physical movement. Rather, the landscape of the Astral Plane (such as it is) seems to come toward, through, and past him. Scintillations of light are thrown off by the astral body as it moves along at great speed.
The untethered astral bodies of the dead f low toward the Boneyard along the River of Souls. During this process, the dross of mortality is shed, leaving behind only the soul’s core self, its memories, and the refined character of its prior life. The gods of the Outer Sphere consider the River of Souls inviolate, often sending celestial and infernal outsiders to help steward wayward souls toward judgment and eventual delivery to their afterlife of reward or punishment. Soul-collecting or soul-devouring predators such as night hags and astradaemons prey on the dead of the Astral Plane, usually limiting themselves to picking off isolated incorporeal undead but all too often raiding parties of disembodied souls as they make their way toward eternity. Pharasma, the goddess of the dead, hates this perversion of the natural order of the multiverse, and the entities known as psychopomps often act as guides to deliver souls safely to their final destinations.
Other inhabitants of the Astral Plane include enormous astral leviathans that f loat through the silvery seas, sometimes with passengers or even semi-permanent settlements upon their backs; strange caulborn who harvest knowledge and psychic energy from astral travelers; formless nirmanakaya manasaputras who seek to guide Material Plane adepts through telepathy; and the lean humanoid outsiders known as the shulsaga, multiplanar hunters who ride magical disks and view intruders to their astral realm with xenophobic disdain.

阿卡夏灵录
星界深处一个名为阿卡夏灵录的半位面是远古智慧的重要部分,也是神秘哲学的核心。阿卡夏灵录是一个图像馆,内里收有多元宇宙历史上每个时刻的完美精神记录。找到这一所在的人可以观看从最近到遥远的过去早至多元宇宙之初任何一个时刻的片段。当一个死者失去连接的星界体在骨园中等待审判看到其生前在眼前闪过时,它的意识便进入了阿卡夏灵录。当感灵师(Psychometrist)靠接触来看见一个物件的过去时,他实际上看到的便是阿卡夏灵录中场景的印象。

于凡间的历史书不同,阿卡夏灵录乃是事件完全按照其实际发生过程的完美记录。两个生物实时观察的同一个事件也许会变成全然不同的对刚发生的事件的主观理解,然而这种混淆在阿卡夏灵录中却绝无可能。神秘学者称此为自然之记忆。在身披斗篷的神秘御衡者口中,阿卡夏灵录也被称为因果之书。这些御衡者是因果业报之主(Lord of Karma),他们记录凡物生命中的事件以衡量其死后应得的位置。

阿卡夏灵录的访客只需专注于她想要看到的那一时刻,这时刻便会呈现在她面前——不是书籍上二维的插图,而是在她身周展开,仿佛她亲临现场见证了历史中这一刻一般。她面前的演员不过是投影,因此对她的存在毫无知觉,而观看者也不能以任何方式影响他们的举动。

观看者能够调整时间发展的速度。即使观察者原本不懂那种被阅读或者说出来的语言,或者是不了解文化背景和对他来说原本陌生的信号,他也能够完全理解灵录中所有的交流。如果这一事件来自于观察者自己的生命之中,他可以选择以一个外人的视角观察,也可以寄居于他自己的形体之中再次体验那一事件,重新体会第一次时体会到的情绪。

阿卡夏灵录毗邻神秘的时间维度(Dimension of Time)。到达阿卡夏灵录是极其困难的事。进行位面旅行的法术,比如异界传送,无法将一个探寻者带到阿卡夏灵录之中。神秘学说中虽然提出了几种“进入”阿卡夏灵录并且对在那里所见的景象施以影响的方式(比如从过去的片段中救出一个人物,带着她逃到星界之中),胆敢这么做的人有可能会在时间维度的乱流中迷失,困于属于被观测事件的那段过去之中,极可能永远无法回归。这种扰乱时间的行为可能招来因果业报之主的愤怒,引来时间元素(Time elementals)或者制裁者(Inevitables)的报复,或者吸引名为廷达洛斯猎犬的怪异嗜血生物。
阿卡夏灵录有如下特性。
•流动时间(Flowing Time)
•有限形态(Finite Shape)
•不变(Static)

AKASHIC RECORD
Deep within the Astral Plane lies a demiplane called the Akashic Record that forms a critical part of the ancient wisdom at the heart of occult philosophy. The Akashic Record is a visual library of perfect psychic records of every moment in the history of the multiverse. Those who find their way here can observe scenes from any moment from the recent to distant past, going all the way back to the beginning of the multiverse. When a dead creature’s untethered astral body sees its life f lash before its eyes as it awaits judgment in the Boneyard, its consciousness ventures to the Akashic Record. When a psychometrist divines a touched object’s past, he really gains impressions from scenes stored in the Akashic Record.
Unlike the history books of mundane existence, the Akashic Record is a perfect recording of events as they actually happened. Two creatures observing the same event in real time might come away with very different subjective understandings of what just occurred, but such confusion is impossible in the Akashic Record, which occultists speak of as the memory of nature. It is also known as the Book of the Lipika by the mysterious cloaked aeons who act as the Lords of Karma and who record every event in a mortal’s life to measure its rightful place in the afterlife.
A visitor consulting the Akashic Record simply turns her attention to the moment she wishes to observe, and it appears before her, not as a two-dimensional image like an illustration on page, but rather all around her, as if she were actually present witnessing the desired moment in history. The actors before her are unconscious of her presence, as they are but ref lections. The observer can’t change or affect their actions in any way.
The observer can set the pace of events. He understands perfectly all communications within the record, even if he would not otherwise understand languages read or spoken, or the importance of cultural norms and signals otherwise foreign to him. If the event in question is from the observer’s own life, he may choose to view it as an outsider, or may inhabit his form and live out the event again, re-experiencing the emotions associated with the event the first time around.
Traveling to the Akashic Record, which abuts the mysterious Dimension of Time, is incredibly difficult. Spells that allow for planar travel, such as plane shift, cannot take a seeker to the Akashic Record. While occult lore suggests several methods to “enter” the Akashic Record and influence the visions seen there (for example, to rescue a character from some past scene and escape with her to the Astral Plane), those doing so risk becoming lost in the currents of the Dimension of Time, marooned in the real past of the observed event, very likely never to return. Such meddling with the affairs of time risks drawing the ire of the Lords of Karma, unleashing retributive time elementals or inevitables, or attracting the bloodthirsty otherworldly predators known as the hounds of Tindalos.
The Akashic Record has the following traits.
• Flowing Time
• Finite Shape
• Static

骨园
自外环宇宙的表面突起,一支巨大的漩涡深深地刺入了星界一片广阔的银色之中,吸引着在灵魂长河中自由漂浮的始一之魂前往其死后终点。骨园便坐落在这尖峰的顶点。这里是充满墓地和陵寝的死城,也有着效忠于死亡女神法拉斯玛的肃穆的审判所。这个阴郁的国度又名判魂炼地(Purgatory),是无数等待最终审判的灵魂的居所。这些阴沉的旅居者身披星界体的外壳,沉浸在深层的静思之中。他们在充满回忆与宣泄的内心之旅中不断独自重新经历生前的片段。

这个有时被称为“欲界闪回”(“Kama-loka”)的过程让灵魂回顾其凡人生命中的重要时刻,分析从在主物质位面前世中学到的经验。灵魂必须在克服了过去的心理困难以后才能沿着灵魂长河继续前行。当一个灵魂仔细思考、解决了过去的事件之后,它才会放下这些往事的牵绊,开始遗忘的过程,以清理自己的灵魂为即将来临的壮观(或者可怖)的转变作准备。因此外环宇宙的祈并者才鲜少能记起身为凡人时的一切,而大多数凡人无法回忆起在主物质位面的前世。

远古智慧有时候会将灵魂的最后时刻比作向凡思湖(The Lake of Mortal Reflections)中凝望看到自身存在的所有经历在眼前闪过。在圣仙引导指教凡人研习神秘学时指出,密识命运中最伟大的目标不是仅仅止于远望这湖水,而是踏入其中,让湖水全然吞没自身。一个完全沉浸于凡思湖湖水中的灵魂将斩断所有前世因果,完全净化后的始一之魂得以再度降生于一具肉体之中,开始新的轮回。随着每一世轮回,始一之魂都将加深对一连串轮回经历的感受,这是对宇宙之火作为宇宙根源之魂之体现理解的前提。随着这一理解的加深,灵魂将对最终转生为异界生物的过程获得更大的控制。根据密识学说,修为最深的修行者能够选择自己的命运,化为强大的异界生物,或是凡人之中无人能及的“升天大师”,甚至凡身成神。

大多数灵魂并不转生。经过了欲界闪回之后,他们的星界体便准备好了接受最终审判。一些灵魂的欲界闪回进展神速,而其他的灵魂则有可能要花上数年,数十年,乃至更长。在法拉斯玛的审判庭之中,本土的招魂者同来自外环宇宙的使者协力指引灵魂前往最适合其宗教信仰和道德的安息之处。在少见的临终皈依、弃绝信仰、或是尚存争议的灵魂契约状况发生时,灵魂可能的命运的支持者彼此争论。最重要的争夺将由法拉斯玛本尊出面解决。骨园有如下特性。

•无时间(Timeless):年岁,饥渴,病痛(比如疾病,诅咒,和毒素),和自然治疗在骨园无效,但是一旦旅者离开骨园便会重新生效。
•神力可塑(Divinely Morphic):在骨园内拥有领域的神祗能够随意改造骨园。
•强烈中立阵营倾向(Strongly Neutral-Aligned)
•增强魔法(Enhanced Magic):有死亡描述符的法术和类法术能力,以及死亡(Death)和安眠(Repose)领域的法术被增强。

THE BONEYARD
A massive spire stretches deep into the sliver expanse of the Astral Plane from the surface of the Outer Sphere, beckoning unfettered monads on the River of Souls toward their final destinations in the afterlife. At the pinnacle of this spire is the Boneyard, a necropolis of graveyards, mausoleums, and solemn courts dedicated to Pharasma, goddess of death. This gloomy realm, also known as Purgatory, is home to countless souls awaiting final judgment. Clad in the sheaths of their astral forms, these somber sojourners bask in deep reverie, reliving scenes from their mortal lives during a solitary, inward journey of remembrance and catharsis.
This process, sometimes known as the “kama-loka,” allows the soul to revisit key scenes from its mortal life and evaluate the lessons of its previous incarnation on the Material Plane. Only when it has worked through the psychological troubles of its past can it proceed further along the River of Souls. As a soul ref lects upon and settles its past affairs, it lets go of its ties to these events and begins to forget them, cleansing its soul for the glorious (or terrible) transformations to come. This is why petitioners in the Outer Sphere seldom remember much of their mortal existence, and why most mortals cannot remember anything of their past incarnations on the Material Plane.
The ancient wisdom sometimes analogizes the soul’s final moments as gazing into the Lake of Mortal Reflections, and seeing the whole of one’s existence f lash before one’s eyes. The lessons of the manasaputras who guide the occult development of mortals suggest that the greatest esoteric fate is not to simply glance at the lake, but to step fully into its waters and allow them to subsume you. A soul immersed fully in the waters of the Lake of Mortal Ref lections sheds the karma and experiences of its past life and, once again, the cleansed monadic soul descends into a new physical body in a cycle of reincarnation. With each subsequent reincarnation, the monad gains a greater appreciation for the experiences of a multitude of different incarnations, underlying the concept of the universal undersoul represented by the Cosmic Fire. With this understanding comes greater control over the soul’s final incarnation as an outsider. According to esoteric lore, the most learned adepts are able to choose their own fates, becoming powerful outsiders, peerless mortal “ascended masters,” or even living gods.
The majority of souls do not reincarnate. When they finish the kama-loka process, their astral forms stand ready for final judgment. For some souls, the kama-loka progresses rapidly, while for others it can take years, decades, or even longer. Within Pharasma’s courts, the native psychopomps work in concert with ambassadors from the realms of the Outer Sphere to guide souls to the final resting place that best matches their religious beliefs and ethos. In the unlikely event of deathbed conversions, renouncements of faith, or disputed soul-binding pacts, advocates for the souls’ potential fates argue with one another. The most significant disputes are seen to by Pharasma herself.
The Boneyard has the following traits.
• Timeless: Age, hunger, thirst, aff lictions (such as diseases, curses, and poisons), and natural healing don’t function in the Boneyard, though they resume functioning when the traveler leaves the Boneyard.
•Divinely Morphic: Deities with domains in the Boneyard can alter the plane at will.
• Strongly Neutral-Aligned
• Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the death descriptor, or from the Death or Repose domains, are enhanced.

外环宇宙
星界的银线从内环宇宙边缘伸出,连向了外环宇宙的位面,发配自骨园的灵魂在此抵达它们最终的归属地——一个同其信仰及阵营同调的国度。当凡物灵魂到达此处以后,那些没有立刻转生为异界生物或是其神祗的侍奉者的灵魂成为祈并者。随着时间流逝,它们过去的存在对这些已然超越了凡物生命的存在的意义渐渐丧失。即使有少数祈并者还能记得它们在尘世还有什么牵挂之人,它们也绝不会为这些人担忧,而只是一心专注于眼前的天堂或地狱。
随着时间过去,祈并者同其选择或者被发配到的位面愈发同调。有些祈并者最终成为与该位面有关的异界生物,但是其他的则会结束自己的旅程,同它们的位面完全融合,从现实中全然消失,成为源质(Quintessence)——构成外环宇宙的物质。
OUTER SPHERE
The silver void of the Astral Plane extends from the edge of the Inner Sphere to the planes of the Outer Sphere, where souls sent from the Boneyard arrive at their final afterlife destinations in realms attuned to their beliefs and alignment. By the time they arrive here, those mortal souls who did not immediately incarnate as outsiders or direct servitors of their deities are known as petitioners. Having transcended mortal life, their past existence means less and less to them as time goes on. The few petitioners who even remember those they left behind cannot bring themselves to worry for them, focusing instead on the paradises or hellscapes immediately before them.
As time progresses, petitioners become more and more attuned to their chosen or assigned plane. Some manage to eventually ascend into the form of an outsider associated with their plane, but others simply end their journey of existence by merging completely with their plane in body and soul, vanishing from reality altogether and becoming quintessence—the very matter of the Outer Sphere itself.
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Namárië2016-01-24, 周日 07:43:51
几个问题,待补足

Manasaputras的翻译暂时留空

Shulsaga的翻译暂时留空

感谢提供法术专长怪物等等一切译名的前辈 :em003
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: 月夜白雨2016-01-24, 周日 10:00:00
 :em003 好评回复,希望能将一些专有名字加上英文注释 :em003
“我曾经见证过帝国的兴亡衰落,物种的诞生与灭亡,在数不尽的千年之下,只有苦力的奉献是永恒的,你的出现,验证了此事。 ”
那么,时间之团呢 :em013
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Namárië2016-01-24, 周日 11:42:46
:em003 好评回复,希望能将一些专有名字加上英文注释 :em003
“我曾经见证过帝国的兴亡衰落,物种的诞生与灭亡,在数不尽的千年之下,只有苦力的奉献是永恒的,你的出现,验证了此事。 ”
那么,时间之团呢 :em013

我觉得我大多数都标了啊……有的没标是因为有些名词我都是在第一次出现的时候注释的,后面再出现就不重复了
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: 四月2016-02-13, 周六 10:23:16
【Bestiary 4】梦魇生物(Nightmare Creature)
http://www.goddessfantasy.net/bbs/index.php?topic=82366.msg777182#msg777182
大概看了一下,这边新翻译的这个怪物和LZ的文章有联动的感觉
建议LZ和这个怪物的译者沟通一下,把译名统一
另外译文好评,这就加入肯德基豪华……不对,索引
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: 灯泡powerbult2016-02-13, 周六 13:33:19
我是那个帖子的作者。这边lz的翻译明显比较通顺。我会用这边的译名参考修改的。(噩梦领主那段翻得比我好多了)
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Garrise2016-03-30, 周三 17:02:08
正能量位面的Agnishvattas,Barhisads和Manus也做了翻译,分别是
阿尼什跋陀(又称烈日祖灵Solar Pitri),跋利刹(又称暮光祖灵Twilight Pitri)和摩奴
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Namárië2016-03-31, 周四 14:01:13
正能量位面的Agnishvattas,Barhisads和Manus也做了翻译,分别是
阿尼什跋陀(又称烈日祖灵Solar Pitri),跋利刹(又称暮光祖灵Twilight Pitri)和摩奴

肥肠感谢,然而agnishvattas居然也被算在下位圣仙里了……


顺便请问nirmanakaya manasaputra这个东西的出处有人知道吗?
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Garrise2016-04-01, 周五 23:00:19
Agnishvatta的描述里面模模糊糊地表示,7个上位的鸠摩罗也是Agnishvatta
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: dbmail2016-06-29, 周三 17:48:40
正能量位面的Agnishvattas,Barhisads和Manus也做了翻译,分别是
阿尼什跋陀(又称烈日祖灵Solar Pitri),跋利刹(又称暮光祖灵Twilight Pitri)和摩奴

肥肠感谢,然而agnishvattas居然也被算在下位圣仙里了……


顺便请问nirmanakaya manasaputra这个东西的出处有人知道吗?
nirmanakaya应该是梵文或巴利语,它的意思应该是化身或者应身,出自佛教法身、报身、应身(或者化身)的三身概念。
Manasaputra按照原文我觉得可以翻译成“转生体”,有点类似往生极乐世界的意思,不过这个是在正能量的核心重生。原文看下面内容:
“For most creatures, the path to self-perfection ends as all mortal pursuits do: in death. For a few, however, the path to self-perfection ends with fiery rebirth in the heart of the Positive Energy Plane, where the souls of those not yet born fuse with the potential of those who've learned from lifetimes of reincarnation to form wholly new entities—the manasaputras. These outsiders continue their path to perfection by striving to achieve oneness with the universe, further evolving and discovering new cosmic truths, as well as guiding mortals on their paths to similar ends.”
主题: Re: [Occult Adventures]密识位面
作者: Namárië2016-07-04, 周一 13:41:35
正能量位面的Agnishvattas,Barhisads和Manus也做了翻译,分别是
阿尼什跋陀(又称烈日祖灵Solar Pitri),跋利刹(又称暮光祖灵Twilight Pitri)和摩奴

肥肠感谢,然而agnishvattas居然也被算在下位圣仙里了……


顺便请问nirmanakaya manasaputra这个东西的出处有人知道吗?
nirmanakaya应该是梵文或巴利语,它的意思应该是化身或者应身,出自佛教法身、报身、应身(或者化身)的三身概念。
Manasaputra按照原文我觉得可以翻译成“转生体”,有点类似往生极乐世界的意思,不过这个是在正能量的核心重生。原文看下面内容:
“For most creatures, the path to self-perfection ends as all mortal pursuits do: in death. For a few, however, the path to self-perfection ends with fiery rebirth in the heart of the Positive Energy Plane, where the souls of those not yet born fuse with the potential of those who've learned from lifetimes of reincarnation to form wholly new entities—the manasaputras. These outsiders continue their path to perfection by striving to achieve oneness with the universe, further evolving and discovering new cosmic truths, as well as guiding mortals on their paths to similar ends.”


谢谢回复,Manasaputra翻译成圣仙是为了和怪物区的翻译保持一致……不过这么说的话,nirmanakaya可以翻译成应化圣仙?法身圣仙?