【RF】深入皮下MORE THAN SKIN DEEP，P45~57

[失语]

建立同一性BUILDING AN IDENTITY

不管有些人如何努力，所有人或多或少都会受到他们的民族、宗教、超企或泛人种文化的影响。某种程度上，泛人类是个体映射到其上升文化的聚集体。几十年来，人们一直在分析和撰写民族与宗教的文化。超企文化根深蒂固，并在其公民的行动和表达中得以体现，在其使命宣言中得到界定。但是，泛人种文化只存在了55到65年，其中大部分时间用于处理日常生存问题，而不是发展新的文化——并不具备像其他文化同一性那样的广度和深度。换而言之，直至今日。我的名字是加勒特·风暴，我为大家带来了我的独家作品：《建立同一性》：长须种，尖耳种，长牙种，长角种，基准种，畸形种，兽毛种，改造人，和增殖人。
首先让我澄清一件事：在过去的65年里，我没有对泛人种的任何行业、形态或形体产生过支持或是反对的偏见。我的个人哲学是基于个体而不是大众的接受，因为我们每个人都有血有肉（嗯，我们大多数人都有血有肉），并且我们屈服于肉体的弱点，尤其是在我们同一团体的平辈人当中，我们有意或无意地感到需要给他们留下深刻印象。
我还要提一下，在每一种文化中都存在着反主流文化，他们觉得自己的文化认同是一个陷阱，一条枷锁，一个骗局，或者其他任何他们想用的词，并且他们觉得有必要逆潮流而动。大多数反文化主义者很少意识到的是，他们只不过是同一枚硬币的不同面。他们通常以公认的方式反抗他们的主流文化并创造一个亚文化。这里仍然有很多人有着相似的过去和共同的文化，但现在，他们联合起来逆流而行。在每个文化分析中，我们也会观察这些群体，虽然他们可能是一些小群体，但不可否认它们仍是每个泛人种成员聚集和定义自己的地方——尽管你可能不想跟他们提起这一点。

劇透 -   :

No matter how hard some may try, all are affected in some way or another by the culture of their nationality, religion, megacorporation, or metatype. Metahumanity is a conglomeration of individuals all reflective, to some degree or another, of the cultures in which they were raised. The cultures of nations and religions have been analyzed and written about for decades. The cultures of megacorporations are ingrained and evident in the actions and expressions of their citizens and defined in their Mission Statements. But the cultures of metatypes—only in existence for 55 to 65 years, with much of that time spent dealing with daily survival rather than developing new cultures—have not had the breadth and depth of examination other cultural identities have had. That is, until now. My name is Garrett Storm, and I bring you my exclusive work: Building an Identity: Beards, Ears, Tusks, Horns, Norms, Freaks, Furs, Alterations, and Augmentations.
Let me first make one thing clear: I am in no way, shape, or form prejudiced in favor for or against any of the metatypes that have arisen in the past sixty-five years. My personal philosophy is one of acceptance based on the individual, not the mass, for we are all flesh (well, most of us are mostly flesh), and we succumb to the weaknesses of that flesh, especially when in a group of our peers whom we feel, consciously or subconsciously, the need to impress.
Let me also mention that within every culture exists a counterculture, a group that feels their cultural identity is a trap, a chain, a sham, or whatever other term they want to use, and they feel the need to go against the grain. What is rarely realized by any counterculturalist is that they are simply a different side of the same coin. They defy their primary culture in often-standard ways and create a subculture. It remains full of people with a similar past and shared culture, but now they are united by their desire to go against the grain. Within each cultural analysis we’ll take a look at these groups too, because while they may be smaller groups, they are still places for members of each metatype to congregate and define themselves—though you might not want to mention that to them.

边栏：2076年世界人口分布
人类：39%
兽人：22%
精灵：15%
矮人：14%
巨魔：5%
其他：5%

劇透 -   :

WORLD POPULATION BREAKDOWN: 2076
Human: 39%
Ork: 22%
Elf: 15%
Dwarf: 14%
Troll: 5%
Other: 5%

[失语]

长须种：矮人BEARDS: DWARFS

虽然我不喜欢用蹩脚的双关语开头，但用在这里最合适。到目前为止，矮人们是这个新时代最被忽视的泛人种。作为一种文化，他们坚忍克己，沉默无声且意志坚定，即使是超企中无处不在的专横教化也没能改变那些在自己岗位上兢兢业业的矮人思想。正是这种意志的力量（而不是一些人所说的软弱）定义了为什么矮人是唯一没有建立自己国家的超人种。他们并不觉得有必要在一个地方聚集和发挥他们的意志，相反，即使被书籍、地界和底线分离，矮人也能团结一致。
但是这种团结对他们来说意味着什么呢？唔，这意味着不管矮人属于哪个国家，哪个公司，哪个宗教，他们通常会站在其他矮人一边，而且更愿意与其他矮人打交道，甚至他们父母并非出生于矮人文化。这不是种族主义也不是优越感的问题，而是他们共同拥有一种稳定感和理解性。当与他们自己人一起工作时，他们知道会发生什么，他们知道自己会被按照一套特定的文化规范来对待，他们知道，当交易达成或争论结束时，事情就会一直保持那种方式。在矮人文化中，交易就是交易。
现在我确信自己提到过矮人并没有建国，但取而代之的是他们获得了整个世界。由于矩阵全球化和与其等价的星界，矮人的文化不再受地界的限制。他们对技术和魔法都很精通。这些特点，加上他们坚韧不拔的天性，让他们能够在很远的距离内建立联系。通常来说，矮人的通讯链中，通讯录是它最大的数据文件，它与其他矮人建立的诸多联系，其中许多人可能只见过一次面。甚至说他们可能从未见过面，只是一些朋友提起过他们的名字。这种联结性使世界上近四分之三的矮人聚集在一起（失踪的成员中大约有五分之一是矮智人变种）。高强度人脉联系并非总是积极的，比如某个跟帖指出某某矮人不值得信任，或者没有遵守约定，就会通过小幅度的传播——通常少于3个，从不超过6个——而流传到矮人大型社群中的每个角落。
矮人孤立主义与闭环式社交联系的本性最明显的缺点之一，就是助长了矮人就是财富囤积者的阴谋论观点。矮人开的商店，尤其是开在那些治安不太好的街区，经常会成为那些寻找矮人矿金的愚民打砸抢的对象。都市传奇中，那些有关系的矮人会为非法公司运作充当中间人，并保存一些贵重物品，如信用棒和电子股票凭证，而这只会助长谣言。特别是当这些秘密财富被发现时。
这里提一句泛人变种的小贴士：介于当地文化差异和孤立主义，大多数矮人泛人变种（蜂斗矮人，哈奴曼，海岛矮人，侏儒）并非属于矮人文化的一部分。这些小群体往往由他们自己界定，并没有作为一个整体融入世界文化，融入到他们人口众多的同族当中。
矮人反主流文化是一个有趣的群体，就像他们的同族一样，这个群体主要有流放者和不守规矩者建立而成，但他们打破了更宽泛的文化社会标准。这些个体通常允许他们的势力范围包含非矮人，并且他们处理交易和社会交往的方式更显自由。这通常也是他们被父辈文化流放的主要原因。很多人这样做是出于在街头建立起的兄弟情谊，或者是由于其他文化的影响，这些文化对他们的友谊更加开放，最常见的情况会发生在某人被驱逐出她的父辈超企时紧张艰难的事件当中。
随着时间的推移，信任那些不值得信任的人或信任那些愿意放弃交易的人而造成的惨痛教训，让许多人看到了主流矮人文化的好处。当矮人决定重新获得他们兄弟的好感回到矮人大家庭时，这并不容易。首先，大多数矮人很难承认他们错了（他们的坚韧总是伴随着他们的固执），其次，任何矮人都很难信任一个生活在矮人信任文化圈之外的人。那些游离于紧密联系且受传统束缚的主流社会之外的矮人，通常情况下都被认为与其他任何类型的泛人种没有什么不同。

劇透 -   :

Though I dislike opening with a bad pun, it fit best here. Dwarfs are, by far, the most overlooked metatype of this new age. They are stoic, silent, and strong-willed as a culture, and even the ever-present overbearing indoctrinations of the megacorporations have not reshaped the minds of the dwarfs who work within their ranks. It is that strength of will (not a weakness as some have said) that defines why the dwarfs are the only metatype that has not carved out their own nation. They have not felt the need to congregate and exert their will in a single place but have instead maintained a sense of unity even while separated by books, borders, and bottom lines.
But what does that sense of unity mean to them? Well, it means that dwarfs, no matter where they fall in a nation, corporation, or religion, will usually side with, and prefer to deal with, other dwarfs before anyone else, even non-dwarfs within their parent culture. It is not a matter of racism or even a sense of superiority, but instead a sense of steadiness and understanding that they all share. When working with their own, they know what to expect, they know they will be dealt with according to a particular set of cultural norms, and they know that when the deal is made or the argument is done, it will stay that way. Within dwarven culture, a deal is a deal.
Now, I know I mentioned a lack of a nation, but what the dwarfs have instead is a world. Thanks to a global Matrix and its astral equivalent, dwarfs aren’t limited by borders for their culture. They are both technologically and magically savvy. Traits that, along with their steady and willful nature, give them ways to connect over great distances. The contacts list on a dwarf’s commlink is often its largest datafile and full of connections to other dwarfs, many of whom the owner may have only met once. Or they may never have met and just got a name passed to them by a friend. This connectivity brings together nearly three-quarters of all the dwarfs in the world (with approximately a fifth of the missing members being a pumilionis metavarient). Some of the connections may be negative, such as a note pointing out a dwarf is untrustworthy or has failed to hold to an agreed deal, but through small degrees of separation, —usually less than three, never more than six—a dwarf in the larger group can be connected to another dwarf.
One of the most significant disadvantages to their insular and well-connected nature is it feeds into the conspiracy-esque view of dwarfs as hoarders of wealth. Dwarf-owned shops, especially those in less well-todo neighborhoods, are frequently targeted by the dim masses in search of dwarven gold. The urban legend of well-connected dwarfs who operate as go-betweens for illicit corporate operations and keep certain valuables, such as credsticks and electronic stock certificates, has only helped fuel these rumors. Especially when these hidden wealth caches are discovered.
A note on the metavarients: Due to local cultural variation, and isolation, most members of the dwarf metavarients (the koborokuru, haruman, menehune, and gnome), are not considered part of the dwarven culture as a whole. These small populations are too often defined by themselves and have not, as a whole, been integrated into the worldwide culture of their more populous kin.
The dwarven counterculture is an interesting group, mostly created by outcasts and non-conformists (a rarity indeed among dwarfs) in a similar way to their kin, but they break the social standards of the broader culture. These individuals often allow their sphere of influence to include non-dwarfs, and they take far more liberties with the way they handle deals and social interactions. These are usually the primary reasons for their exile from their parent culture. Many do it out of a sense of brotherhood built up on the streets or through the influence of other cultures that are more open with their friendships, most often during the intense, trying events that occur when one is expelled from her parent megacorporation.
Over time, many see the benefit of the mainstream dwarven culture. This is usually caused by a lesson learned the hard way about trusting those who are not trustworthy or those who are willing to go back on a deal. When a dwarf decides to work their way back into the good graces of their brethren, it is not easy. First, it’s hard for most dwarfs to admit they were wrong (stubbornness goes with their willfulness), and second, it’s hard for any dwarf to trust someone who has lived outside the culture of dwarven trust. More often than not, dwarfs who have strayed outside the tightly-knit, tradition-bound mainstream community are considered no different than any other metatype.

西莱茵河卢森堡伟大公国（AGS）GREAT DUCHY OF WESTRHINE LUXEMBOURG (AGS)
虽然矮人没有自己的国家，但这里可能是最接近矮人国家概念的地方了。这是该地区早期泛人类政策导致的不快结果。就如同巨魔与精灵，矮人们需要一个属于他们自己的地方，并且寻找对抗政治迫害的力量，因此他们聚集在了这里。在德意志联盟国成立时，他们大度地将公国包含为“准成员国”，而这一联系一直延续至今。由于该地区统治者的社会性质，他们也是“欧洲壮游”（the European Grand Tour，译注：这是一个上流人士组织）的重要一站。除此之外，公国的矮人与他们在世界各地的同族没啥两样；他们只是在物理性质上更接近他们认识的其他矮人。

劇透 -   :

While dwarfs do not have their own country, this is perhaps as close as they get. It’s an unpleasant result of the early policies on metahumans in this region. Much like the trolls and the elves, the dwarfs needed a place to call their own and find strength in numbers against unfriendly politics, so they grouped here. When the Allied German States formed, they were broad-minded enough to include the Duchy as an “associate member,” and they continue that connection to this day. They also are an important stop on the European Grand Tour, thanks to the social nature of the area’s rulers. That aside, though, the dwarfs of the Duchy are quite similar to their worldwide kin; they are simply physically closer to many of the dwarfs they know.

矮人如何融入社会HOW DWARFS FIT INTO SOCIETY
很简单，就像小空间一样。抱歉，我实在忍不住，尽管我知道每个读到这篇文章的矮人都听过这个笑话千百遍了。这个世界上的矮人不需要“融入”到社会；他们就已经是其中的一部分了。尽管被心胸狭窄者嘲笑，有时还被迫愚弄，但想矮人这样的小人物从第五纪到第六纪遍地都是。他们经常游离在社会外沿，但他们没有被排斥。随着矮人们的崛起，他们的人数越来越多，对平等的渴望也越来越坚定，他们团结在一起融入到世界中，这个世界虽然不能完全接受矮人，但他至少习惯了与小人物打交道。这使得这场认同之战比之兽人和巨魔要容易得多（矮人的外表在恐怖片中不常出现，这一点很有帮助——某个带爱尔兰口音的旁白）。矮人也有类似于巨魔的问题，他们无法适应一个与他们体型不相称的社会（虽然这个问题对他们来说还不算太极端），但他们有一个显著的优势——他们不太可能压碎或摧毁不适合他们的东西。
另一个事实是，刻板印象有时对他们很有利。人们对巨魔的刻板印象是野蛮暴力，这让人望而却步；相比之下，矮子是世界上最好的技术人员这一刻板印象为他们提供了许多机会，正如每个人都会让矮人来为他们修理东西。这帮助他们中的许多人发展出了强大而独立的业务，如修理店和定制武器制造商，他们往往只需要出面，而这些技能需求工作实际上有其他人来完成。

劇透 -   :

Very easily, just like small spaces. Sorry, I couldn’t resist, even though I know every dwarf reading this has heard the joke a thousand times. The dwarfs of the world don’t “fit” into society; they are simply part of it. Though mocked by the small-minded and sometimes made to play the fool, little people have been around all through the Fifth World and into the Sixth. They often lived slightly outside society, but they weren’t ostracized. As dwarfs arose, they simply became larger in number, more steadfast in their desire for equality, and they blended right into a world that, while not fully accepting,at least was used to seeing and dealing with little people. That made the battle for acceptance easier than it is for orks and trolls (it helps that their appearance didn’t frequently feature in horror flatvids—one Irish-accented exception aside). Dwarfs have problems similar to trolls fitting into a society not built to their size (though the problem is not as extreme for them), but they have one significant advantage—they are less likely to crush or destroy the things that don’t fit them.
Then there is the fact that stereotypes sometimes work in their favor. The stereotype of trolls as brutal forces of violence makes people shy away; by contrast, the stereotype that dwarfs are the best technicians in the world provides them with many opportunities, as everyone always asks dwarfs to fix something for them. This has helped many of them grow strong, independent operations, such as repair shops and custom arms manufacturers, often using only their face, while the skilled labor is actually done by others.

边栏：游戏信息GAME INFORMATION
矮人的集体人脉网络翻译成游戏术语相当简单。当矮人在自己的泛人种文化范围与习俗内活动时，他们的联系会特别紧密。当与其他矮人生意来往时，他们获得+2调整值在社交界限上，也包括寻找装备是对付可获得性。该调整值只适用于矮人之间的相互作用，不影响一方知道另一方正在与非矮人合作或为了非矮人的利益而进行的互动。如果矮人不遵守主流矮人社会习俗行事，或者被驱逐出主流矮人文化社群，这个调整值也会消失——这意味着你不能太明显地去成为暗影狂奔者。在他们的文化中，消息会传得很快，他们很快就会排斥那些违背道德规范的人。如果一个矮人有炫耀这些传统的习惯，那么在和其他矮人打交道时，这该调整值就变成了-1，除非同为被流放者。同为流放者的经历会提高其信誉度，在与其他外来者打交道时角色的社交界限变为+3。

劇透 -   :

The collective networking of dwarfs translates into game terms rather simply. Dwarfs are exceptionally well connected when they function within the boundaries and mores of their metatypical culture. When dealing with other dwarfs, they gain a +2 modifier to their Social limit, including checks for Availability when looking for gear. This modifier only applies to interactions between dwarfs and does not affect interactions in which one party knows the other is working with, or for the benefit of, a nondwarf. The modifier also goes away if the dwarf doesn’t act in accordance to mainstream dwarven social customs or is exiled from the larger dwarven culture—meaning you can’t be obvious about being a shadowrunner. Word travels fast in their culture, and they are quick to ostracize those who violate their mores. If a dwarf is known to flaunt these traditions, the modifier becomes –1 when dealing with other dwarfs, except for fellow exiles. The boost in credibility that comes with being a fellow exile increases characters’ Social limits by 3 when dealing with other outsiders.

边栏：角色与矮人文化CHARACTERS AND DWARF CULTURE
那么进行这些文化的讨论对你的角色有什么作用呢？很简单，你要么加入，要么退出。你需要和你的GM一起做出决定，并且在你做出决定时必须坚持下去。成为矮人文化的一部分和成为暗影狂奔者最困难的事情之一就是这两者不能很好地结合。矮人们对坠入暗影狂奔的矮人不太友善，他们也不喜欢任何违反法律的矮人。他们的文化是建立在互相帮助、公平和直接地处理彼此关系的基础上。在他们眼里，任何不得不凭借法律错误一面的方式来追求生活的矮人，都会选择拒绝他的兄弟们这一路上提供的帮助。每个人都知道狂奔者的生活有多阴暗，即使大多数人是从超企赞助的三维视频节目中学到的。老实说，大多数矮人都清楚狂奔者也是普通人，但他们只是不想把这种冒险元素带入他们稳定的文化哲学中。
作为一个角色，你会尝试在矮人和暗影文化的边缘保持平衡吗？将你的狂奔生活与你的矮人生活隔离，拒绝使用你的矮人人脉，即使是对最信任的非矮人队友，不惜任何代价？或者你会买入完全的反主流文化，在信任和友谊的基础上建立你的人脉和关系网，而不是身高和胡子，甚至说你会完全避开其他矮人进行社会交往。你也可以期待最终到来的角色扮演挑战，你试图回到矮人文化当中，但是需要你去面对你曾经的选择。或者你已经深入了这个世界的另一面，已经深刻地滑入到暗影之中，并且此时此刻正在利用你与矮人的关系来帮助你和你的团队，但是之后你会慢慢地，或者突然地察觉到，矮人文化已经将你拒之门外。

劇透 -   :

What does all this culture talk mean for your character? Simply put, either you’re in, or you’re out. It’s a decision to figure out with your gamemaster, and when you come to a decision, you have to stick with it. One of the hardest things about being part of the dwarven culture and being a shadowrunner is that the two things don’t blend well. Dwarfs don’t take kindly to shadowrunning dwarfs or law-breaking dwarfs of any kind. Theirs is a culture based around aiding each other and dealing fairly and directly with one another. In their eyes, any dwarf who has to resort to living on the wrong side of the law is choosing to refuse the help his brethren would have offered along the way. And everyone knows how shady the lives of runners are, even if most have learned it from a corporate-sponsored trid show. Truthfully, most dwarfs know that runners are people too, but they just don’t want to bring that risky element into their stable cultural philosophy
As a character, are you going to try to balance on the edge of dwarven and shadow culture? Separating your running life from your dwarven life, refusing to use your dwarven connections, even for the most trusted of non-dwarven teammates, no matter the cost? Or maybe you’ll go totally counterculture and build your contacts and relationships based on trust and friendship, instead of height and beardiness, even going so far as to avoid other dwarfs altogether. You could also be looking for the roleplaying challenge of finally coming around and trying to get back into the dwarven culture but facing the choices of your past. Or maybe you’re on the other side of that slope and have slipped into the shadows and now use your dwarven connections to benefit you and your team, but then get to see dwarven culture slowly, or suddenly, shut you out.

[失语]

尖耳种：精灵EARS: ELVES

没有其他的泛人类文化能像精灵文化那样对世界产生如此显著的影响。三个主权国家，几乎每个主要蔓城都有独立社区，几乎每一个世界大国都有代表他们的面孔或声音，尽管如此，他们仍然建立了一种以对其他泛人类的理解为基础的，充满谦卑的文化。
在前述的段落中某个地方，我撒了个小谎，或者说歪曲了一点事实。而这就是精灵文化。
精灵的优雅和美丽闻名于世，他们用魅力征服大众，且用傲慢惹恼大众。他们的身高略高于人类，通常身材修长，肌肉紧实（或者刻板印象是这样的），面部轮廓精细，杏仁状的眼睛，柔顺的头发，从不明基因表现的早期开始就充满了气质。他们常被爱恨交加，但当这份感情不是他们的同族所表达出来，他们就很少觉得有必要去承认其中任何一种情绪。他们用天生的优雅和美丽来营造一种信任的形象，同时用他们的魅力来延伸真理，掌握公共关系的艺术。他们歪曲事实的能力只是定义精灵的其中一部分；他们的孤立主义精神则是他们文化认同的后半部分。
精灵们会发现除了精灵之外的伙伴很难让他们愉快，在谈及英雄和偶像时，你很难在年轻精灵男女卧室墙体上发现除了精灵以外的古董壁纸。这种对自己同族的偏爱和尊敬导致精灵们出于优越感而孤立自己。无论是NAN境内的部族，还是名副其实的隐藏在神秘面纱后的精灵国家，或是百分之九九都是他们自己人的蔓城社区，精灵们总能找到让自己孤立的方式。
这个世界上的精灵文化已经发展出诸多类似的信仰和理想，无论它们位于何处。我所观察或研究过的每一种精灵文化中，都存在着对年龄和智慧的尊重。不管一个年轻人看起来多么聪明，他们在精灵文化中依然很少受到尊重，直到他们他们凭借聪明才智获得了几年的经验。其次，在某种形式上，艺术总是被欣赏。无论是培养一种特定的艺术才能，对他人才能的欣赏，甚至是对自然艺术的赞美，精灵作为一个整体都表现出了与美学的强烈联系。第三个共同点是对“生命之轮”的观念。大多数精灵研究和学习“命轮之道”，以及在他们一生中能选择的其他课程。有些人精细地踏上了一条道途，只追求在这个领域登峰造极。另一些人则在其人生中寻求尽可能多地摸索道途，尽管他们总是渴望在进入到下一阶层时能获得最低限度的掌握。这种信仰结构不仅仅是学习和踏上道途；它常与从头脑中抹去一条道途知识的神秘仪式有关。这道心灵屏障会一直存在，直到下一个命运被掌握，并且直到这一轮回被打破时，命轮会让追随者看到不同的道途，并非在他们经历之时，而是在他们回顾记忆之时。这种宗教活动一直在稳步发展，尽管有时现代社会的某些方面会阻碍这一实践。殖装会破坏存在之精华，有时会让未来道途难以追寻，而在全球化世界和时有时无的困苦试炼，精灵们可以把那些对道途旅行者的变化毫无了解的敌人抛之脑后。这些敌人不会明白，当精灵选择了一条不同的道途时，命轮会使之先前所有记忆全部消失，造就了其追随者全新的姿态。当他们不记得曾经的劲敌沿着过去的轨迹追击而来时，想象一下这将会发生多少混乱。
精灵常被认为是最具有魅力的泛人种（尽管许多兽人和巨魔不同意这种说法），他们的时尚潮流往往是最常被模仿。长发飘飘的风格，可不只是潮流而已。头发一直是精灵们的骄傲，而那些头飘逸长发的人一定程度上会被看作更加尊贵。这种虚荣心对精灵来说既是赐福也是诅咒，因为精灵无论男女为了保持他们的形象，经常遭受饮食失调和运动成瘾的困扰。这种虚荣心，以及常见的“精灵奖”（elven prize）现象，将许多妄图成为每个人都想成为的精灵青年和一些成年精灵推向了不健康的边缘。
但并非精灵的一切都似云鬓飘渺若仙。精灵的反主流文化强大且具备世界各地都能辨认出的标志。霓虹绿的“A”被圆圈包裹，这个标志在世界各地都知道它意味着古人帮——世界上最大的精灵帮派。这些莽撞而狂野的年轻新星定义了精灵社会中快节奏生活，力量为尊，活在当下的反主流文化。尽管艺术在这些特殊的精灵圈子里仍能得到一些赞扬，但通常是涂鸦，机车油漆活，或干脆就是一个赛车艺术家。古人帮代表了精灵反文化的一部分，他们忽视精灵传统，认为智慧和年龄并不需要来引导精灵和获得尊重。然而，他们没有做任何事情来改变精灵的优越感。古人认为他们自己比其他帮派好，不仅是因为他们在枪炮上，在骑术上，在被流放中都比其他帮派强；他们认为自己更强，因为他们是精灵。
深入反主流文化，真正罕见的是那些完全背弃养育他们的文化的精灵泛人种成员。他们的独立性意味着对艺术的漠视和对艺术努力的不屑，对所有泛人种友谊的高度重视，并且拥有经验和年龄并不赋予智慧的观点，生活和世界总是在变化着。过去时代的智慧在现代世界已不再是智慧，甚至自大觉醒以来，世界发生了如此之多的变化，以至于他们认为所有过去的知识都必须受到质疑。这些反叛者以剪短他们的头发（另一种反主流文化的反叛行为）和破坏他们“完美”形象的伤疤来识别。他们外形不完美但身体依然健康；这种不完美只是驻留在肌肉上的伤疤罢了。

劇透 -   :

No other metahuman culture has had the obvious world-changing effects as that of the elves. Three nations, isolated neighborhoods in almost every major sprawl, personalities acting as a primary face or voice for almost every major world power, and even with all of that they have still built a culture full of humility and founded on understanding of their fellow metahumans.
Somewhere in the preceding paragraph I was a bit untruthful, or at least skewed the truth a little. And that is the way of elven culture.
Known for their grace and beauty, elves have enthralled the masses with their charm and pissed them off with their arrogance. Their slightly-taller-than-human stature, usually with a lean and muscular frame (or so the stereotypes go), narrow facial features, almond-shaped eyes, and silky hair have filled the airwaves since the earliest days of UGE. They are usually loved or loathed, but they rarely feel the need to acknowledge either emotion when it is not expressed by another of their kin. They use the natural grace and beauty they were given to create an image of trust, while stretching the truth and mastering the art of public relations with their charm. Their ability to spin and skew truths is only part of what defines elves; their isolationist mentality is the second half of their cultural identity.
Elves rarely find the company of anyone other than elves to be pleasant, and when it comes to heroes and idols, you are not likely to find a young elven girl or boy with virtuwallpaper of anyone other than an elf on their bedroom wall. This preference and reverence for their own kin has led to elves isolating themselves out of a sense of superiority. Whether it be their own tribe within the NAN, their own nations behind veils of secrecy both figurative and literal, or a neighborhood within a sprawl that is ninety-nine percent theirs, elves find a way to separate themselves.
The elven cultures of the world have developed many similar beliefs and ideals, no matter where they are situated. A respect for age and wisdom is present in every elven culture I’ve observed or studied. No matter how bright a youth may seem, they garner very little respect within the elven culture until they have gained some years of experience to go with their smarts. Second, in some form, art is always appreciated. Whether it’s the cultivation of a specific artistic talent, the appreciation for the talents of others, or even the admiration of the art of nature, elves as a whole show a strong connection to aesthetics. A third commonality is the concept of the Wheel of Life. Most elves study and learn the Path of the Wheel and the various courses one can take within their life. Some narrowly walk a single path, seeking only to be the best in that one area. Others seek to walk as many paths in life as they can, though they always desire to gain at least a minimal level of mastery in an aspect before moving on to the next. This belief structure isn’t just about learning and walking the paths; it is often tied to arcane rituals that wipe the learnings of a path from the mind. This mental shield stays in place until the next Wheel mastery occurs, and when it is broken it allows the follower to see the differences in the paths, not as they go through them but in retrospect. This religious practice has been growing steadily, though certain aspects of modern society sometimes hinder the practice. Augmentations damage the Essence of the beings, sometimes making future paths impossible to follow, while a global world and sometimes difficult trials can leave foes behind who do not understand the varied journey a traveler of the paths takes. These foes do not comprehend that when a different path is taken, all memory of the previous is gone, making the follower something akin to a new person. This can cause confusion when a rival they do not remember from a previous path lashes out at them.
As the elves are often seen as the most attractive of the metatypes (though many orks and trolls would disagree with this characterization), their fashion trends tend to be the most frequently copied. One such style, long flowing straight hair, is more than just a trend. That hair is a source of pride among elves, and those who wear it best gain a certain level of prestige. This vanity is both a blessing and a curse as elves, both male and female, suffer from frequent eating disorders and exercise addictions in order to maintain their image. This, and the common “elven prize” phenomenon, push many elven youth, and some full grown adults, to an unhealthy brink as they try to be what everyone else wants.
But not everything among the elves is about beauty and long, flowing hair. Elven counterculture is strong and possesses an icon recognizable around the world. The neon-green “A” with a circle through it is known in sprawls around the world as the tag for the Ancients, the largest elven gang in the world. These brash and wild youngsters define the fast-living, honor-the-strong, live-for-the-moment counterculture of elven society. Though art may still gain some praise in these particular elven circles, it’s usually graffiti, a bike’s paint-job, or a driver who is an artist behind the wheel. The Ancients represent the portion of the elven counterculture that ignores the elven convention that wisdom and age should lead and be honored. They don’t, however, do anything to change the elven superiority complex. The Ancients think of themselves as better than other gangs not just because they can outgun, out-ride, out-cast, and outclass any other gang; they think they are better because they are elves.
Deeper into the counterculture, and truly rare, are members of the elven metatype that sometimes go completely against the culture that raised them. Their streak of independence means a disregard for art and disdain for artistic endeavors, a high value in friendships with all metatypes, and an opinion that experience and age does not grant wisdom, as life and the world are always changing. The wisdom of a past age is not wisdom in the modern world, and so much has changed, even since the Awakening, that they believe all supposed knowledge from the past must be questioned. These rebels can often be identified by their short hair (another act of counterculture rebellion) and scars marring their “perfect” form. Their imperfect form is still physically fit; it just has scars amid the muscles.

提尔纳诺TÍR NA NÓG
提尔纳诺主权国家便是孤立主义的最终表现，众所周知，这个国家是由精灵建立和控制，他们隐藏在神秘的幕布之后。虽然已经有关于它的报道，但这层幕布仍然存在，精灵仍然牢牢地控制着这个国家。他们并非是曾经唯一居住在爱尔兰的人，并且并非所有精灵都是提尔纳诺皇室成员，但即使是在他们的同族中最低级的精灵，也能获得比其他人更高的尊重。

劇透 -   :

In the ultimate expression of isolationism, the nation of Tír na nÓg, well known to be a nation founded and controlled by elves, hides behind the Veil, its mystical shield. Though issues have been reported with it, the Veil still remains, and the elves are still firmly in control of the nation. They are not the only ones who live in what was once Ireland and not every elf in the nÓg is royalty, but even the lowliest of elves is still more respected among their kin than the highest of anyone else.

提尔盖坦TÍR TAIRNGIRE
几十年来，提尔概坦这个国家一直处于孤立状态。他们抵御来自南方的侵略，生活在东北部的NAN冷漠中立的包围中，他们大部分的贸易都是通过西雅图的码头运行，一座只存在于它自身孤立之中的蔓城区。这个国家的精灵繁荣昌盛，尤其是他们的王子们，他们这样做的同时也塑造了世界对他们国家兴盛的看法，尽管国内之不满情绪在日益增长。即使现在边境更为开放，精灵王子和企业高管们编织的真相仍在继续着。虽然他们的“王公会议”（Council of Princes）已不再是至高无上的精灵中心，但毋庸置疑在提尔盖坦中的公司力量，特勒斯坦工业（Telestrian Industries），任牢牢把握在精灵手中。

劇透 -   :

For decades the nation of Tír Tairngire was in isolation. They held off aggression from the south, lived surrounded by the cold neutrality of the NAN on the north and east, and did most of their trading through the docks of Seattle, a sprawl that existed in its own kind of isolation. The elves of this nation prospered, especially their princes, and did so while shaping the world’s view of their nation as prosperous, even as discontent grew within. Even now that the borders are more open, the spinning of the truth by elven princes and business executives continues. Though their Council of Princes is not the elven island of supremacy it once was, the unquestioned corporate power in the nation, Telestrian Industries, remains firmly elven.

祖鲁国（阿扎尼亚联邦）ZULU NATION (AZANIAN CONFEDERATION)
非洲大地，弱肉强食。此乃祖鲁国精灵真实写照。尽管其最著名的是巨龙穆佳吉（Mujaji）和来自该地区的天民精灵，但祖鲁国自创建以来一直是精灵的据点（也是智人的据点）。这个国家的精灵保留着祖鲁人的大部分部落文化，他们也重视艺术技巧、年龄和智慧，甚至在大觉醒之前就有了与“道途”强烈相似之处——他们只是活得不够长，走不了太远。非洲是一个残酷的家园。

劇透 -   :

Africa makes the strong stronger and breaks the weak. Such is true of the elves of the Zulu Nation. Though most famous for the great dragon Mujaji and the Wakyambi metavariant of elves that come from the region, the Zulu Nation has been an elven stronghold (as well as a sapient stronghold) since its creation. The elves of this nation hold to much of the tribal culture of the Zulu, which also values artistic skill as well as age and wisdom, and had a strong parallel for the Paths even before the Awakening—they simply didn’t live long enough to walk many. Africa is a harsh home.

波莫里亚公国（AGS）DUCHY OF POMORYA (AGS)
波莫里亚公国是德意志联邦的精灵国，自2030年以来一直存在，这使得它比两个提尔王朝都要古老。他们遵循的是一种贵族式的政府形式，尽管年龄不是主因，但真正的权力有时并不在政府官员身上，而是在支持他们的人身上。在这里，那些派系可能会让年轻人出面到台前，但权力和决策仍然来自那些坐在家族旗帜后面的年长而睿智的人。

劇透 -   :

The elven nation of the Allied German States, the Duchy of Pomorya has been around since 2030, making it older than both of the Tírs. They follow an aristocratic form of government, and though age is not the main factor, true power is sometimes not in the government officials but in the people who back them. Here, it’s three old houses that may put a young face forward, but the power and direction still comes from those older and wiser who sit behind the family banners.

精灵如何融入社会HOW ELVES FIT INTO SOCIETY
他们不必适应社会。社会适应它们。让我们看看新一季的《约会还是分手》，其中有一个突出角色叫吉莉（Keelie），一个在麦克休后台工作的邻家精灵女孩，她认为人类男孩很可爱，而精灵男孩都是势利小人。看似完美适应了新环境，不是吗？但要记住，这是娱乐剧。有多少人类少年的梦中情人是平易近人且更爱人类的精灵女孩？她在扮演一个角色，尽管这部剧被贴上了“现实”的标签。看看那么大多数所谓的已经适应人类文化的精灵吧，然后你会发现他们也有同样程度的矫揉造作。
精灵与精灵做朋友，和精灵工作。他们不与世俗合流，他们不参加乐队是因为他们的朋友参加，他们不做低贱工作即使这是他们唯一的选择。精灵们在前台工作，主持三维节目，播报新闻，为公关公司工作，担任广告活动的代言人，担任管弦乐队的首席指挥，并且做很多其他的使用他们的魅力、优雅和风度，让别人感到舒适或采购物品，的事情。我耸人听闻了吗？是有一点点。社会底层的精灵就和其他泛人种一样。但他们所感受到的压力是另外什么东西，他们为失去传统而感到罪过占据更大的比重。有趣的是，即使他们以捡垃圾为生，他们仍带着那种令人讨厌的优越感。
现在你会问，那在精灵国里呢？某些精灵一定会在底层对吧？这就是为什么他们会允许其他一些泛人类最低限度存在的原因。低贱工作，无论是平民还是军队都需要兽人和巨魔。更多的技术工作则需要矮人和人类来完成。老板们——他们多是精灵。

劇透 -   :

They don’t have to fit into society. Society adapts to them. Let ‘s take the new season of Date or Dump, which features Keelie, the elf girl next door, who works behind the counter at McHugh’s and thinks human boys are cute and elf guys are all snobs. Seems pretty acclimated, right? But remember, it’s entertainment. How many teenage human boys dream of an accessible elven girl who prefers humans? She’s playing a role, despite the show’s “reality” label. Scratch at most elves who seem to have adapted to human culture, and you’ll find a similar level of artificiality.
Elves connect with elves and do elven work. They don’t work regular jobs to fit in, they don’t join bands because their friends did, and they don’t do menial labor because it’s their only option. Elves work behind reception desks, host trideo shows, anchor the news, work for PR firms, act as the face of ad campaigns, sit first chair for the orchestra, and do a host of other things that include nothing but using their charm, grace, and presence to make others feel comfortable or buy something. Do I exaggerate? Yeah, a little. There are elves at the bottom of the ladder, just like with any other metatype. But the pressure they feel to be something else, and the guilt they feel for failing their heritage, can be considerable. The funny thing is, even when they are shoveling drek for a living, they still carry that annoying air of superiority.
Now, what about in elven nations, you ask? Someone’s gotta be at the bottom there, right? That’s why they allow at least some of the other metahuman races to be around. Grunt work, whether civilian or military, is full of orks and trolls. More technical work is filled by dwarfs and humans. The bosses—those are the elves.

边栏：角色与精灵文化CHARACTERS AND ELF CULTURE
成为一个精灵意味着要比其他人更优秀，或者至少在这样的观点下耳濡目染成长。精灵们，不管他们是在公司里还是在街头上长大的，都和他们自己人聚集在一起，并且蔑视于其他人。但是当他们这么做时，他们并没有造成大多数人所期望的敌意。他们的自然魅力通过其轻蔑目光闪耀，而他们周围的人也常常相信精灵真的比他们好。成为一个精灵意味着，要扮演出面带微笑，笑里藏刀。与其他泛人合作固然很好，但是当涉及到社交时间时，通常更可取的是与那些值得你陪伴的人在一起。精灵往往与其他精灵一起生活，甚至在精灵之间也有自己的小圈子，他们很难把外人带入其中，因为他们在那里会变得异常显眼。
对于那些想逆水行舟的人而言，他们发现这条路通常很容易走——但是这种容易实际上是一种滑坡效应。他们用自己的自然魅力结交朋友，他们常常被推迟到需要魅力时，他们仍然会有那种优越感，而不会表现得像个自命不凡的傻瓜。问题是，这些精灵仍然长着尖尖的耳朵和杏仁状的眼睛，这儿有一些人，不管精灵们如何兜售他们的善良，他们依然憎恨着精灵，而这些人中的大多数都会在同一个反文化地区游荡。精灵们成为了一个容易被发现的目标，在当地兽人帮派做出“发言”时，他们的一些“朋友”会保持沉默。这意味着在反主流文化中扮演一个精灵，对于指望朋友支持自己的人来说，可能会成为一种痛苦的经历。

劇透 -   :

To be an elf is to be better than everyone else, or at least to be raised with that view. Elves, whether they grow up in a corporation or on the street, congregate together with their own and look down their noses at everyone else. But while they do this, they don’t create the enmity most would expect. Their natural charm shines through their disdaining glares, and those around them often buy into the belief that the elves really are better than them. Being an elf means playing with a chip on your shoulder and a smile on your face. Working with the other metatypes is fine, but when it comes to social time, it’s generally preferable to be with those who deserve to be in your presence. Elves tend to live among elves and even have their bolt holes among elves, often making it hard to take others with them since they’ll stand out.
For those who seek to go against the grain, they find the road often easy—but the ease is really a slippery slope. They make friends with their natural charm, they’re often deferred to when charm is called for, and they still get that same feeling of being superior without acting like a stuck-up drekhead. The problem is, they still have pointy ears and almond-shaped eyes, and there are those who, no matter how well the elves sell their goodness, hate them, and most of those people will be hanging out in the same counter cultural locations. Elves become a target, a rather easy-to-spot one at that, and some of their “friends” are going to stay quiet when the local ork gang wants to have a “word.” This means playing an elf in the counterculture may be a trying experience for a person expecting their friends to back them up.

[失语]

长牙种：兽人TUSKS: ORKS

在所有泛人类中，兽人的出生率最高，但自然寿命最短。兽人人口数量激增，寿命简短，加上从事的体力劳动滋生了他们对抗文化的倾向，你会发现很难在其中做出有意义的改变，甚至很难形成自己持久的文化认同。在过去55年的大部分时间里，兽人一直试图在一个他们没有时间去发展文化的世界中生存——他们必须在生活中付出更多的努力。直至今日，兽人拥有了一种“carpe diem”（及时行乐）的文化，或者更准确地说，“ad diem vivunt”（活着）：活在当下。
作为地球上人口第二多的泛人种（仅次于人类），随着最近发现的欧扎特语，以及兽人剥削音乐和电影的流行，越来越多的年轻人与在这里工作，一种新兴的兽人文化已经加强并渗透到主流中。但它不是一种能让世界上大多数人感到幸福的文化。兽人剥削流行音乐《女神兽人安妮》中的歌词——“活得快，死得早，最好躲在烟枪旁”——这绝非人们所期待的反主流文化说唱，而是一种日益增长的文化规范，这种泛人种正开始找到前进的方向，并可能将一些酝酿已久的不满转向外部。当我看到这种蓬勃发展的文化时，我觉得最有意思的是，它最伟大的支持者，兽人剥削文化背后的超企正在点燃革命的火焰。虽然世界上的强国不会被愤怒的兽人起义打倒，但如果这些工人决定建立一个国家，那些超企可能就会失去一部分重型劳动力。
尽管这一倾向是在年轻人中形成，但仍有一种有趣的文化特征是由全体兽人共同形成，那就是女性的力量。从他们最年轻的时候起，兽人就在一个母系家庭中长大。雄性因为各种各样的原因缺席。一个重要的原因是超过一半的男性兽人在他们16岁之前至少被监禁一次（司法系统倾向于以严厉的惩罚方式对待他们），而且蹲监狱的兽人比任何时候就读大学的都要多三倍。剩下的兽人通常会去做一些时长而繁重的工作，把女性留在家里以确保孩子们被正确地抚养长大（尽管“守规矩”可能是一个更好的词）。这种社会行为让兽人对所有类型的女性都有了极大的尊重，尤其是兽人女性。在男性兽人面前骚扰女性兽人，不管他们是否互相认识，你最好应该预料到会有一些超级兽人肌肉朝你而来。
这让我想到了兽人文化中的另一个倾向：群居心态。有些人将兽人的多胎生育倾向与小动物的多胎生育作了贬义性的联系，但这种相似性其实是具有积极意义的。兽人在成长过程中很少独自一人，从而形成一种强大的群体心态。由于街头长大的兽人比在公司飞地或上流社会长大的要多的多，他们充满了狂野且常常互相保护，因此他们的行为举止与狼群非常相似。他们自己保护族人；“血亲高于一切，长牙种更在其上”是兽人共有的信条。如果他们觉得自己因为是兽人而受到骚扰或委屈，他们十有八九会拿起武器保卫他们的同族，有时他们甚至不需要那么深究的理由。如果一个兽人陷入了争斗，而其他兽人就在附近，那就可以期待一场超级大混战吧。
这让我想到了兽人文化中的另一件重要之事：荣誉。并非是“绝不背后捅刀”这种类型的荣耀；而是变得有能力去照顾你的亲人，你的族人，还有你自己。有时候为了证明自己，兽人会让他的长牙伙伴离开独自战斗，并且其他兽人在大多数情况下都以此为荣。就敌人而言，欺骗也许能让他们获得暂时的胜利，能让那个兽人挥手让其他兽人暂退，但是在战斗之后，受害者的兽人朋友会集结起来，再一次进攻中将那骗子打倒在地。兽人生活就是充满了暴力。
至于兽人的反主流文化，如今它有一个非常简单的目标：适应进去。当年轻一代日益增强的文化与社会的其他部分渐行渐远时，老一代和反主流文化的年轻人则试图融入整个社会。无论是一个企业的社会，还是一个国家的社会，抑或只是努力融入人类社会，这些兽人都在努力改善兽人的形象。许多人甚至做整容手术来让自己看起来不那么兽人化。这在更传统的日本公司非常流行，其公司健康计划范畴内就有这种手术。尤其是MCT和联络。在一段时间里，主流兽人一直在嘲笑这些人是自我憎恨的背叛者，这种融合常常通过诸如《铁哥们》和《欢度高中》的电视节目来传达微妙的信息，具有明显人类特征的兽人角色则扮演着“发小”或“足球队核心”这样的角色。地平线的《赛恩年代记》（Age of Syn）将由达格尔·塔吉特（Dagger Taggit）主演，他刚刚完成了最新的缩小长牙尺寸的牙科手术，他将饰演赛恩，一位从暴力文化枷锁中挣脱的重度赛博改造兽人，在地球的星际撤离过程中扮演一名警察。

劇透 -   :

Orks have the highest birth rate but shortest natural lifespan of any metahuman race. Add an over-representative number of orks performing for physically taxing jobs and a cultural propensity for confrontation to this biological brevity and you’ll find a difficult window within which to make meaningful change or even to develop a lasting cultural identity of one’s own. For the bulk of the past fifty-five years, orks have been simply trying to exist in a world where they don’t have the time to develop a culture because they have to put so much effort into just living. Thus far they have a culture of carpe diem, or more accurately ad diem vivunt: live for the day.
As the second-most populous metatype on the planet (behind humans) with a growing youth population working alongside the recent discovery of Or’zet and rise in popularity of orxploitation music and films, an emerging culture for orks has strengthened and penetrated the mainstream. But it is not a culture that will make much of the world happy. The popular lyrics of orxploitation goddess Orxanne—”live fast, die young, best behind a smoking gun”—are not the counterculture rap one would expect, but instead the growing cultural norm for a metatype that is starting to find its stride and possibly turning some of its simmering discontent outward. It is most interesting to me when looking at this blossoming culture that its greatest proponents, the megacorporations behind orxploitation, are fueling the fires of revolution. While the great powers of the world will not be brought down by an uprising of enraged orks, they could risk losing a portion of their heavy labor force if said workers were to decide they wanted a nation.
Though this trend is building with the youth, there is still an interesting cultural trait that has been developed by the old and young alike, and that is the power of their women. From their youngest days orks are brought up in a mostly matriarchal household. The males are absent for a variety of reasons. One significant reason is that over half of all male orks are incarcerated at least once before their sixteenth birthday (justice systems tend to treat them in a harshly punitive fashion)), and three times more orks are in prison than attending college at any one time. The remaining orks are usually off working at some long-hour, heavy-labor job, leaving the females at home to ensure the kids are raised right (though “kept in line” is probably a better term). This behavior leads orks to have a remarkable amount of respect for females of all metatypes, especially ork women. Hassle a female ork in the presence of her male kin, whether they know her or not, and expect some serious ork muscle to be coming your way.
This leads me to another trend in ork culture: the pack mentality. Some have made the derogatory connection between the robustus tendency towards multiple births and that of dogs and litter births, but this similarity is truly more of a positive. Orks are rarely alone as they grow up and thus develop a strong pack mentality. Since more orks grow up on the street than in a corporate enclave or upper-crust neighborhood, they are wild and often in need of protection, and thus behave similarly to a wolf pack. They protect their own; “blood and kin outrank all, but tusks first” is a common credo of the orks. They’ll take up arms nine times out of ten in defense of others of their kind if they feel they’re being harassed or wronged for being an ork, and sometimes they don’t even need that deep of a justification. If an ork gets in a tussle and other orks are around, expect a mass melee.
This leads me to another big deal in ork culture: honor. Not like “never stab a guy in the back”-type of honor; it’s more like being able to take care of your kin, your kind, and yourself. Sometimes an ork will call off his fellows tusk-bearers in order to prove himself, and other orks’ honor this in most cases. Cheating on the part of a foe may get them a win over the ork who waved the others off, but after the fight, the ork friends of the victim will gang up and beat the cheater down for this new offense. Orkish life tends to be violent.
As for the counterculture of the orks, it has a blessedly simple goal these days: Fit in. While the growing culture of the younger generation is pushing away from the rest of society, the elder generation and countercultural youth seek to integrate into society at large. Whether it be the society of a corporation or a nation, or just an effort to integrate into the general human society, these orks work to improve the image of ork-kind. Many even go as far as cosmetic surgeries to look less orkish. This is extremely popular in the more traditional Japanacorps, where the surgeries are covered under the corporation’s health plan. Especially MCT’s, but especially Renraku’s. While mainstream orks deride these others as self-hating sell-outs, this blending in is often promoted with subtle messages put out by shows like Buddies and Welcome High, where ork characters with remarkably human features fill the role of “best bud” or “heart of the football team.” Horizon’s Age of Syn will be premiering with Dagger Taggit at the helm, fresh off his latest dental procedure to reduce the size of his tusks, playing Syn, a heavily cybered ork freed from the shackles of his violent culture to act as a cop during the Earth’s interstellar evacuation.

加美国西雅图兽人地下区ORK UNDERGROUND, SEATTLE, UCAS
尽管最近的政治合法性不仅只是针对兽人，但这个地下区是兽人最新的胜利，他们努力建立自己的身份而不仅仅是畜生和劳工。但事实是，他们需要做得更多，并且要快。地下区兽人已经输掉了这场战役，因为该地区的官方名称已经确定，“地下区”，或“地下城”，甚至是“深层西雅图”。“兽人”这个词已经排除了所有可能的选择。按照他们当前的社会目标，兽人非是带来改变的政治力量，因此不太可能改变当前的方向。也许他们所能期望的最好结果就是成为一场革命的主角，然后将整座翡翠城改造成兽人之地。对他们来说，这种行为比玩弄政治更自然。

劇透 -   :

Though of recent political legitimacy and not only for orks, this entity is the orks’ newest triumph as they work to build their identity as more than brutes and laborers. But the truth is, they need to become more than that, and fast. Orks in the Underground are already losing this battle as the official name for the district is determined, and it’s leaning toward just The Underground, or Undercity, or even Deep Seattle. The word “ork” has been written out of every likely option. With the current direction of their societal aims, orks are not a political force of change, and thus are unlikely to change the current direction. Perhaps the best they can hope for is to be leading players in a revolution, and then all of the Emerald City can become Orkland. That sort of action is more natural for them than playing politics.

黑森林巨魔共和国（AGS）BLACK FOREST TROLL REPUBLIC (AGS)
国如其名，兽人在这里并非主导权泛人种，但他们在人口中所占比例很大，而且还在迅速增长。这种增长速度加上兽人文化的兴起，以及在AGS内部反文化和无政府主义运动的悠久历史，意味着如果兽人结党同盟的话，黑森林巨魔共和国很可能会变成黑森林兽人共和国。对巨魔而言幸运的是，结党同盟非兽人之强项，但如果外部势力想要改变或甚至只是产生一点点的国内动乱，兽人将是最主要的内部对抗者。

劇透 -   :

Orks are not the dominant metatype here as the name implies, but they are a large, and rapidly growing, portion of the population. This growth, combined with the rise of ork culture and the long history of counterculture and anarchist movements within the AGS, means that the Black Forest Troll Republic could very well turn into the Black Forest Ork Republic if the orks get organized and political. Luckily for the trolls, those are not two of the orks’ strongest suits, but if outside forces want a change or even just a little civil unrest, the orks would be great internal antagonists.

尼日利亚王国KINGDOMS OF NIGERIA
该地区的诸多部落特别是约鲁巴人和伊博人，都有大量的兽人人口，而伊博人是由一位兽人领导。这些地区战争频发（即使没有几千年，也有几百年了），尽管这可能并非是该地区兽人文化的一小部分，但也绝非是大部分。这是兽人在该地区借助古老地方传统发展出的更强大的文化基础。

劇透 -   :

Many of the tribes within this region, in particular the Yoruba and Igbo, have large ork populations, and the Igbo are led by an ork. Fighting in these regions is common (and has been for hundreds, if not thousands, of years) and though it may be a small part of the ork culture in the region, it is not the greater part. This is one area of the world in which the orks have developed a stronger culture based on older local traditions.

兽人如何融入社会HOW ORKS FIT INTO SOCIETY
兽人以两种截然不同的方式融入社会：一是卑躬屈膝，二是排挤他人。这是同一枚硬币两个截然不同的侧面，这是一枚会被抛出，会翻转，会让兽人陷入两种困境之一的硬币。对于许多兽人来说资源是很难获得的，但体力劳动则相对容易。由于这项工作对他们来说很容易，公司没有理由为它支付兽人高薪。再加上兽人的人口数量，以及几乎普遍存在的白领就业不足，使得大量劳动力被迫以较低的成本工作。
硬币的另一面是生活在社会边缘地带的兽人，在那里，他们可以利用自己的身体素质和体力来摆布他人。他们通过成为最强壮者来攀越巅峰。有些人会认为巨魔才是占据这个位置的泛人种，但孑然一身的巨魔（这是他们喜欢的生活方式）绝非一群兽人的对手。顺便一说，这种群体的规模和数量正以惊人的速度增长着。最新的数据显示，目前全世界的兽人人口占22%，但预测到2080年，这一数字将达到甚至可能超过30%。这些增长的数字将会使未来几代兽人更容易进入社会的方方面面，在那里他们可能会被迫屈膝，但至少他们因为发生意外而人员伤亡的机会会更少。

劇透 -   :

Orks fit into society in two very different ways: by groveling at its feet or by pushing others out of their way. These are two very different sides of the same coin, a coin that flips and leaves orks in one of two predicaments. For many orks resources are hard to come by, but physical labor is relatively easy. Since the work is easy for them, companies don’t see a reason to pay orks well for it. This, combined with their numbers and almost universal lack of white-collar employment, leaves a large labor pool that is forced to work cheaply.
On the other side of the coin you have the orks who live in the wilder edges of society where they can use their bulk and physical intensity to push others around. They find their way to the top of the heap by being the strongest. Some would expect trolls to take this spot, but a solitary troll (which is their preferred lifestyle) is no match for a pack of orks. Packs that, incidentally, are growing in size and number at an astonishing rate. Latest figures present the world population of orks currently at twenty-two percent, but projections show that number to reach and possibly to exceed thirty percent by 2080. Those growth numbers will make it easier for future generations of orks to push their way into the aspect of society where they may be required to grovel, but at least they stand less of a chance of having their faces bashed in.

边栏：角色与兽人文化CHARACTERS AND ORK CULTURE
建立一个兽人角色，关键在于你想成为哪种兽人而做出选择，或者接受你所扮演的角色。这个社会不在乎你有多重量级。是的，当地人可能会因为你恐吓他们而逃跑或避免注视你，但没人会在乎你，或者他们会按下紧急报警按钮让你被当地的警徽人赶走。这意味着你可以扮演和进行愚昧野蛮人的行为（或者也许这本身并非是一种行为），或者你可以努力提升自己。不要在街头巷尾打架斗殴，不要为了争取一些日结短工在当地的临时工作机构前挂点，也不要选择化身暴力加入当地帮派。相反，你应该与你的兽人伙伴一起成为强大的泛人，聚在一起要求更高的工资，或者去照看你的长牙兄弟，你的兽人族群，而不是当地帮派，他们会给予你生活的意义，给予你家庭和亲族的感觉。
兽人清楚自己的生命将会很短暂，但他们努力让自己的生命在有限的时间里变得有意义。

劇透 -   :

Being an ork is about making a choice about which ork you want to be, or accepting the role you’ve been stuffed into. Society doesn’t care how big you are. Yes, the locals may run or avoid looking at you as you intimidate them, but no one gives a devil rat’s hoop about you, or they’ll all slap the PanicButton to get you chased off by the local tin star. This means you can play the role and act the ignorant brute (or maybe it’s not an act) or you can work to elevate yourself. Stop fighting on the street corners, hanging at the local temp agency to snag some day-laborer work, or opting for a beatdown to get into the local gang. Instead, step up alongside your fellow orks to be the bigger metahuman, get together to demand a better wage, or look to those tusked brothers, your pack of orks, instead of the local gangers for a sense of meaning, home, and family.
Orks live a life that they know is going to be too short, but they fight to make it meaningful in the little time they have.

[失语]

长角种：巨魔HORNS: TROLLS

当我听到人们说巨魔没有文化时，我并不认为这是他们习惯性有意的贬损。相反，我听说巨魔作为泛人种并未建立起文化。这是很难否认的事实。作为数量最少，与原始模型最不相称的泛人种，他们很难找到一个适合自己的位置，更不用说发展一种文化了。如果非要说有的话，种族隔离、斗争、冲突和隔离才是他们在大多数地区设法发展起来的文化基础。
世界上有一个地方才是巨魔真正的家园：施瓦茨瓦德（the Schwarzwald，即黑森林）。黑森林巨魔共和国位于德意志联邦的南部地区，与莱茵河和瑞士接壤，它是一个独立的国家，但它的政治立场反映了愤怒和分裂主义的心态，而这些情绪往往来自个人。对于国内形式，他们最近才将局势稳定下来，试图合理地处理与德意志联邦与其周边国家的关系。许多人认为这是因为巨魔们缺乏政治技巧，正是因为他们没有足够的政治经验来发展它。此外，他们对政府内部每天都在上演的错误具备一定的容忍度。是的，有一些巨魔做得很好，比如前UCAS副总统候选人加里·格雷（Gary Grey），但是大多数巨魔缺乏能力改造他们的环境来适应他们，因此他们必须努力适应一个不是为他们存在而创造的世界，这非常困难近乎不可实现。在某种程度上，巨魔们已经被推到了社会的边缘，但他们也靠自己的努力走出了一条路。当这个世界无论从字面上还是象征意义上都不适合你时，你没有办法改变世界，你就只能继续前进，直至寻找到一个适合你的地方。
随着超企的崛起，生态建筑成为企业人口的生活标准，而大量的房屋建筑遭到遗弃。尽管这些生态建筑从没考虑过巨魔的存在，但没有人能阻止巨魔对这些废弃的建筑进行小小的改造。贫瘠之地，边陲之地，穷困之地，隔离之地，这些地方与公司住房、郊区住宅和生态建筑相比，更有可能拥有为巨魔而调整过的住房。巨魔住在泛人类的郊区，因为只有那里才拥有他们能尽情舒展腿脚的地方。
那么，这对反主流文化意味着什么呢？什么都没有。你不能在无水的河中逆流而上。最接近反文化意义的事情就是试图融入社会，而这是一条危险之路。一些巨魔女孩忍饥挨饿，割掉了她们的角，刮掉皮肤上的角质层，只是为了让自己看起来更像人类。试图融入这个世界并不容易，这可能意味着从事一份安全工作，在那里你可能会看到一个巨魔，或者仅仅是敏锐地意识到所有需要做出调整的地方，而不是对此大惊小怪。
在一份有趣的学术报告中，巨魔是所有泛人种中识字率最高的。一些带有种族偏见的人会声称这是对基于巨魔人口所占比例和其他泛人种的统计数据的误用，但这只能表明他们不知道利率是如何运作。对这一现象的解释被埋没在早期社会的残垣断壁中。巨魔生活在我们最后的信息时代的废墟中，这些信息是写出来的，而非编码出来。旧图书馆里的纸质书、丢弃的纸张和被遗忘的信件填满了巨魔家园的空间。在他们的空闲时间，他们就会读书。许多巨魔甚至可以阅读和破译草书，这是我们父辈所留下的，他们用书法作为一种艺术表达。这种“暗码”,伴随他们独特的种族特征，长角，一起为他们开辟了一条独属于他们自己的表达渠道。古代的雕刻艺术，骨头雕刻，与真墨水纹身一起被融入到巨魔文化，使许多巨魔的角和皮肤成为艺术作品。所以反主流文化的巨魔们，与其试图表现得更像人类，不如努力成为完美的巨魔吧。

劇透 -   :

When I hear people say trolls are uncultured, I don’t hear it as the derogatory slight they are often intending. Instead, I hear that trolls, as a metatype, lack a culture. That truth is hard to deny. As the least numerous of the metatypes and the most disproportionate from the original model, they struggle to find a place just to fit in, let alone develop a culture. If anything, segregation, struggle, strife, and separation are the foundations of the culture they have managed to develop in most areas.
There is one place in the world that trolls have actually made a home of: the Schwarzwald. The Black Forest Troll Republic, in the southern region of the Allied German States and bordered by the Rhine River and Switzerland, is its own nation, but its political stance reflects the anger and separatist mentality that so often comes from the individuals. Within the nation they have only recently managed to settle down enough to try to deal reasonably with the rest of the AGS and surrounding nations. Many claim this is due to a lack of political skill, but if trolls lack political skill, it’s because they haven’t had enough political experience to develop it. Plus, they have a certain intolerance for the falsities that are perpetrated in the halls of government on a daily basis. Yes, a few trolls have done well for themselves, such as former UCAS vice-presidential candidate Gary Grey, but most are too poor to reshape their surroundings to fit them and thus must instead try and fit into a world that is not made for their stature, which is very difficult, bordering on the impossible. Trolls have, in some ways, been pushed to the edges of society, but they’ve also done some walking there all on their own. When the world does not fit you, literally and figuratively, and you do not have the means to change the world, you move on and keep looking for a place that works.
As megacorporations rose and arcologies became the norm for corporate populations, massive numbers of homes and structures were abandoned. While those arcologies were never built with trolls in mind, no one was around to prevent the trolls from doing a little remodeling to those abandoned structures. Barrens, warrens, impoverished zones, and containment zones are far more likely than corporate housing, suburbia, and arcologies to have housing that has been adjusted for a troll. Trolls live along the outskirts of metahumanity because that’s where they can find the most legroom.
So what does this mean for a counterculture? Nothing. You cannot swim against a current that doesn’t exist. The closest thing would be trying to fit in, and that’s a dangerous route. Some troll girls have starved themselves and had their horns cut off and shaved down along with their dermal deposits in an effort to look more human. Trying to blend into the world is not easy, whether it means taking a security job where one would expect to see a troll or simply being acutely aware of all the places where adjustments have to be made and not making a fuss over it.
In an interesting intellectual note, trolls have the highest literacy rate percentage of any metatype. Some racially biased individuals will claim this is some misuse of statistics based on the small population of trolls versus other metatypes, but that just shows they don’t know how rates work. The explanation for this is buried in the rubble and cast-off detritus of earlier societies. Trolls live in the ruins of our last information age, when information was written, not coded. Paper books from old libraries, cast-off papers, and forgotten letters fill the spaces where trolls have made their homes. And in their free time, they read. Many trolls can even read and decipher cursive, which died with my grandfather’s generation, and many use calligraphy as an artistic expression. This “secret code,” along with their unique racial trait of horns, has opened an avenue of expression all their own. The ancient art of scrimshaw, the carving of bone, is practiced alongside real-ink tattooing to make the horns and skin of many trolls into works of art. So countercultural trolls, rather than trying to appear more human, endeavor to be fully beautiful trolls.

黑森林巨魔共和国（AGS）BLACK FOREST TROLL REPUBLIC (AGS)
虽然在兽人中提到过一些，但我还是要在这里简要地介绍一下这个巨魔的成功故事。他们是最——我没在和谁开玩笑，重点符号，“最”——不正统，最难对付的AGS地区之一，而巨魔多年来一直陶醉于这种状态。尽管在2073年将他们的政府结构从封建王国修改为共和国似乎在政治上很精明，但与其说这是一种政治智慧，不如说是一种生存行为。他们失去了他们的国王，他们需要一个领导人，选举一个领袖比试图找出或争论谁将是下一个王位继承人要容易得多。从那以后，这种政治上的转变导致了无休止的勾心斗角，而黑森林巨魔共和国的巨魔们正在提高他们的政治技能，尽管大多数巨魔仍然喜欢扮演粗野的野蛮人，把阴谋留给波莫里亚（Pomorya）。

劇透 -   :

Though this was mentioned with the orks, I’ll briefly cover it here as a success story for the trolls. They are one of the most—who am I kidding, the most—unorthodox and difficult regions of the AGS to deal with, and the trolls have reveled in that status for years. Though modifying their government structure in 2073 to a Republic from a Kingdom may seem politically savvy, it was far more an act of survival than political acumen. They had lost their king, they needed a leader, and it was easier to elect one than to try to figure out, or argue over, who is next in line for the throne. This political shift has lead to endless jockeying since and the trolls of the Trollrepublik Schwarzwald are improving their political skills, though most still prefer to play the uncouth brutes and leave the scheming to Pomorya.

巨魔如何融入社会HOW TROLLS FIT INTO SOCIETY
他们没法融入。就是这么简单。社会可能会容忍他们，你会看到一些巨魔在做门警、码头工人或保安打手，但大多数情况下，巨魔存在于世界社会的边缘，甚至完全在社会之外。少数杰出的巨魔在社会阶梯上攀登到了成功，但这绝对是例外而非定律。在任何地方适应都是每一天的挣扎，它不断提醒着巨魔们局外人的身份。
当他们有机会建立自己的社会时，它通常是混乱的，强权即公理的原则往往在其社会运作中起着很大的作用。这并不是说他们的社会比其他社会更暴力，大多数遭遇战更多把重心放在关于各方对彼此的评估而非参加实战。

劇透 -   :

They don’t. It is that simple. Society may tolerate them, and you’ll see some working as janitors, dock workers, or security goons, but for the most part trolls exist on the edge, or even completely outside, of the world’s societies. A few exceptional individuals have made it up the social ladder, but that is definitely the exception rather than the rule. Fitting in anywhere is a daily struggle that constantly reminds trolls of their outsider status.
When they have a chance to set up their own society, it is usually chaotic and the principle of might makes right tends to play a large role in how their society functions. This is not to say that their society is more violent than other societies, as most encounters are more about the various parties involved sizing each other up rather than engaging in actual combat.

边栏：角色与巨魔文化CHARACTERS ANDTROLL CULTURE
大笨巨魔的扮演方式经典不过时，但扮演聪明伶俐的巨魔亦是可行。扮演巨魔并不需要表现出智力的问题——你应该着重于其孤立感。试着夸大这样一个事实：你真的不适合搭别人的车，这个世界不是为你而建的。你会感到抑郁，对世界是如此纤细脆弱完全不适合你而感到愤慨。当你在扮演巨魔时，你可以做的一件事就是要求GM不要给你超大杯的豆制啤酒；相反，你应该告诉他，你宁愿别人强迫你喝正常尺寸杯子的酒，这些杯子在你手里看起来就像小孩的杯子，你得花了一大笔钱才能喝个痛快。
GM们，请记住，除非他们有钱，否则这个世界是不会为那5%的大笨笨做出调整。但对于大多数巨魔而言，情况并非如此。

劇透 -   :

Playing the big dumb troll is typical, but so is playing the smart troll. Being a troll isn’t really about intelligence—it’s about isolation. Try to play up the fact that you really don’t fit into other people’s vehicles and that the world just isn’t built for you. Depression would be common, along with anger at the world for not fitting and being too small or delicate for you. One thing you can do when playing a troll is ask the gamemaster not to give you the oversized glass of soybeer; instead tell him you’d rather it was made a point that you’re forced to drink regular-size glasses, which look like kids’ cups in your hands, and cost you a fortune to drink enough.
Gamemasters, remember the world doesn’t adjust for the large-and-ungainly five percent, unless they have money. Which is not the case for most trolls.

[失语]

基准种：人类NORMS: HUMANS

尽管没有单一的人类文化，但对于那些人口数量最密集的泛人种而言，这种情况也算是正常现象。他们的人口数量和他们在魔法衰退期的存在给予了他们一种人性上的统一性，这种统一性只会随着超企的崛起和国家政府的衰落而增长。数千年来，人类与其他文化以不同的方式彼此分离，无论是宗教、民族还是种族。超企的崛起，以及它们各自的企业文化，仅仅给予了人类更多的，用来在他们之间驱动楔子的空想。但是这些不胜枚举的人性，便是他们文化的定义。他们创造文化和亚文化，然后寻找最适合他们的。有时他们甚至在一生中多次改变其文化。
那么他们的反主流文化是什么呢？所有与个人先前文化或其所在地区主流文化的信仰相违背的事情，就是他们的反主流文化。这意味着反文化对不同的人有不同的意义，当一个人从一个地方移动到另一个地方时，他以前的反主流文化生活方式可能会在文化上被认同。人类找到了一种方法使自己适应一种文化；如果做不到这一点，他们就会找到适合自己的文化。

劇透 -   :

Though there is no single human culture, there is a sense of normality for those of the most abundant metatype. Their abundance and their presence during the down-cycle of magic gives them a sense of unity in their humanity that has only grown with the rise of the megacorporations and decline of national governments. Humans have spent thousands of years with other cultures separating themselves from one another along various lines, be they religious, national, or tribal. The rise of megacorporations, along with their individual corporate cultures, only gives humans more ideals with which to drive wedges between themselves. But this mass of humanity is the definition of their culture. They create cultures and sub-cultures, and then seek those that fit them best. Sometimes they even change cultures several times in their lifetime.
So what is their counterculture? Anything that goes against the beliefs of the individual’s previous culture or the greater culture of their region. That means it can be very different for different people and when moving from one area to another, one’s previous counterculture lifestyle could become culturally acceptable. Humans find a way to make themselves fit a culture; failing that, they find a way to make the culture fit them.

人类如何融入社会HOW HUMANS FIT INTO SOCIETY
制定基本规则并混合在一起。这对人类而言确乎并非是融入社会的问题，更重要的是在非人类不这么做时尽力避免被指责。人类已经制定了数千年的社会规则。事实上，历朝历代在时间长河中起起落落，但没有哪一个如当今世界般如此剧烈之转变。改变需要时间和支持。由于人类仍然存在，他们仍然有各种亚文化的支持。不是只有一种文化，它们都在不断地变化着。越来越多的人接受其他的泛人种，年轻一代的煽动（与年长一代的抵制），以及其他的力量干涉下保持变化的进行。
另一方面，人类试图融入到其他泛人种所制定规则的地方。大多数选择呆在其他泛人种建立的政府或社会地区的人类，要么很清楚自己作为二等公民的地位，要么他们是不愿搬家的钉子户，觉得自己可以就这样安静地度过余生。后者中的大多数在60年的某个时间点突然去世，但前者一直存在且常被效仿。为此，他们在社会中的地位发生了变化，许多人面对的问题是他们多年来作为大多数人中的安静部分而没有做好准备。这些问题包括那些在打破体制的孩子们——更准确地说，是不守规矩的青少年们。他们认为他们的父辈是受压迫者，是软弱者，他们觉得有必要站出来，加入地下组织，甚至可能积极地去反抗他们的社会。但这桩事对父母的打击远远大于对年轻人的打击。父母会因为孩子的行为而受到排斥，有时甚至被驱逐出境。

劇透 -   :

By setting the ground rules and blending in. It isn’t really a matter of fitting in for them, it’s far more a matter of trying to avoid being blamed when non-humans don’t. Humanity had set the rules of societies for millennia. In fact, many societies rose and fell over the years, and none of those changed in a day. Changes take time and support. Since humans are still around, they still have support for their various sub-cultures. There is not just one culture, and they are all constantly shifting. Increased acceptance of other metatypes, agitation from younger generations (and resistance from older generations), and other forces help keep the changes moving.
On the other side of the coin, in places where the other metatypes set the rules, humans try to blend in. Most who have chosen to stay in the places where other metatypes have set up governments or societies were either well aware of their position as a second-class citizen, or they were just too stubborn to move and figured they could live out the rest of their years quietly. Most of the latter died at some point in the last sixty years, but the former have stayed in place and often reproduced. Their place in the society has changed because of this, and many face problems they were ill prepared for after so many years of being a quiet part of the majority. Those problems include kids—more accurately, unruly teenagers—who are all about bucking the system. They see their parents as being oppressed and weak, and they feel the need to speak out, join underground groups, and possibly even actively rebel against their society. But the trouble hits the parents far harder than it hits the youth. Parents are ostracized, and sometimes deported, for the actions of their children.

边栏：角色与人类文化CHARACTERS AND HUMAN CULTURE
作为人类，你可以自由地从无数的现实世界背景点子中选择元素，或与GM合作创造全新内容。他们可以是主流人类社会的一部分，也可以通过扭曲命运融入到其他泛人种的社会中，感受来自亲近者的接纳，避开那些他们所不认识的人。他们可以在“人类至上”充满仇恨的世界里长大，但当他们意识到这个组织及其信仰对其他种族的毁灭时，他们就可能步入良善。他们可以是一个尽忠爱国之人，一个唯唯诺诺之人，一个隐遁的萨满，或者任何其他的人。放飞你的想象力！
记住，作为人类意味着被其他泛人视为“标准”——无论好坏。在其他泛人种眼里，人类拥有一切，并且在任何地方都受到特殊对待，除了少数由其他泛人类为基础力量的国家。有些人类认为这是应该的方式，他们就应该被区别对待，因为他们是人口最多的种族。另一些人则认为每个泛人都应该被平等对待，人类不应该得到特殊待遇，数字不过是数字罢了。人们对如何最好地一体化社会，一体化的步伐应该如何迈出，以及泛人种该如何发展等问题争议不休。这些争论已经持续了很长时间，似乎不太可能很快结束。
在构建一个人类角色时，最好确定他们的立场是什么，以及他们在其他泛人种中的暴露情况。许多人类对巨魔的经验非常有限，而突变人类、泛人变种和智能生物则更加罕见。那么，当他们与一条三米长会说话的蛇一起狂奔时，这个角色会作何反应？他们将如何超越第一印象，并且他们将试图建立什么样的关系？

劇透 -   :

To be human is to be free to select elements from the myriad of real-world background ideas or to work with the gamemaster and create something entirely new. They can be a part of a majority human society, or they can be integrated into other metatypes’ societies through some twist of fate, feeling acceptance from those close to them but shunning others who don’t know them. They can be raised in a world of hatred by the Humanis Policlub, but then turn to kindness when they realize the destructive nature of that organization and its beliefs. They can be a true patriot, a corporate yes-man, a reclusive shaman, or anything else. Let your imagination run wild!   Remember that being human means being looked at by everyone else as the “norm”—for better and for worse. Humans have it all, in the eyes of the other metatypes, and get treated special everywhere but the few nations were the other metahumans were the founding force. Some humans feel this is the way it should be, and that they should be treated a little differently because they are the most abundant. Others feel that everyone should be treated equal and that humans shouldn’t get special treatment, numbers be damned. People have contentious debates about how to best integrate societies, what the pace of integration should be, and how metatypes should get along. These are variants of arguments that have been going on for ages, and they are not likely to end soon.
When building a human character, it’s good to decide where they stand in all this and what their exposure to other metatypes has been. Many humans have very limited experience with trolls, while SURGEd people, metavariants, and sapient critters are even more rare. So how will the character react when they run into a three-meter-long talking snake? And how will they move beyond that first impression, and what kind of relationship will they attempt to build?

[失语]

畸形种：调换儿FREAKS: CHANGELINGS

调换儿持续发展的文化是值得关注的研究领域。人类学家应该能够实时观察某一文化派别的分裂，而不是从文章或故事中臆断发生了什么。当今的调换儿通常是两种方式中的一种，这取决于他们突然不明隐性基因表现的严重程度。我更愿意关注那些发生了巨大变化的人，因为他们正在为自己和他们的同族发展一种新的文化。那些外在表现较不明显的一类调换儿通常只是留在他们原来的文化中，并且接受他们之间那被视为自身一部分的小小差异，或者把它们隐藏起来以融入社会。这些相同的个体也会出现在调换儿的聚会上，然后试着融入他们，他们以为自己“知道那是什么感觉”，结果发现自己在聚会上被轰走或被忽视。因为事实上，他们根本不知道那是什么感觉。
调换儿文化就是接受自己同族以及他们外征发生的剧烈变化，同时不愿参与其他任何种族正式文化的文化。他们陶醉于自己的自然性，许多调换儿一直试图建立仅限调换儿参与的社区，但由于具有剧烈变化外征的个体数量实在有限，所以成功的程度各不相同。在这些地区，在调换儿的文化中，通常以艺术或舞台表演来接受差异与表达自我。重铸一小部分贫民窟社区已经成为调换儿社区的一张名片。作为一个群体，作为一种文化，他们互相帮助，这里的每一个构造都是为将要生活在那里的调换儿所定制。他们甚至一起动手改造，为那些搬进来的人或他们的孩子表现出不同特征的人改造家园。这些地区也吸引了许多在世界各地从未有家园之感的泛人类变种。只要是变异人他们就能接受。然而，这种接受是有限的，因为他们对任何想要生活在他们中间的普通人类（或者他们称之为“诺曼人”）几乎没有任何容忍度，他们觉得自己只是被用来提升普通人类的反文化信誉，或者被人同情为“怪胎”。
调换儿的反主流文化是不接受自身的改变，而是试图抹去改变以融入社会。他们可能会尝试自残以恢复“正常”，他们可能会掩盖变化假装它们不存在，或者他们在某个领域成为主流的成功者，给予那些普通人类一些东西作为“灵感”，让他们屈尊欣赏。对于调换儿而言，融入整个世界的文化就是他们的反主流文化。

劇透 -   :

The still-developing culture of the changelings is an interesting area of study. Anthropologists are able to observe the breaking away of a sect of a culture in real time as opposed to making guesswork on what happened from writings or stories. Changelings today usually go one of two ways, depending on the severity of their SURGE expression. Those who have been greatly changed are what I’d rather focus on, as they are the ones who are developing a new culture for themselves and their kind. Those whose expressions are minor often simply stick within their original culture and accept their small differences as simply a part of who they are, or they hide them in order to fit in. These same individuals are also the ones who show up at changeling gatherings and then try to fit in because they “know what it’s like,” only to find themselves drummed out or ignored. Because in truth, they don’t know what it’s like.
The changeling culture is one of acceptance for their own kind and the expansive variations of their expressions, along with a reluctance to take part in the formalized culture of anyone else. They revel in their nature, and many have been trying to create changeling-only communities with varying levels of success due to the limited number of individuals with extensive expressions. Within these areas, and within the culture of the changelings themselves, is a world of accepting difference and expressing one’s self, often through art or stage performance. The revitalization of small portions of slum communities has become a calling card for changeling communities. As a group and as a culture, they help each other out, and every structure is customized for the changeling who will live there. They even work together to remodel homes for those who move in or when they have children who display different traits. The areas have also attracted many metavariants who also don’t feel at home in the rest of the world. Acceptance is universal for the altered. That acceptance is limited, though, as they have very little tolerance for any normal human (or “norman,” as they call them) who wants to live among them, feeling they are simply being used to boost the norman’s countercultural cred, or that they are being pitied as “freaks.”
The counterculture of changelings is about not accepting changes, but rather trying to erase them in an effort to fit in. They may attempt self-mutilation to get back to normal, they may cover up changes and act as if they don’t exist, or they may try to become a mainstream success in some field or another, giving something for the normans to condescendingly admire as an “inspiration.” For changelings, joining the culture of the world at large is their counterculture.

边栏：角色与调换儿文化CHARACTERS AND CHANGELING CULTURE
调换儿天生就是外来者。他们不想成为正常社会的一部分，因为他们就是如此特殊。他们被赶到社会边缘之外，在那里找到了家，和其他像他们一样了解他们的人生活。当这个世界有60年的时间来适应2.5米高巨魔、粗壮兽人、矮胖矮人和优雅精灵（还没有达到完美的版本）的观念时，他们只有十多年的时间来掌握喙、触须、蛙舌和尾巴的局面。调换儿比泛人类少得多，没人有机会让他们天天都被人看见，没人有机会让他们看起来变得正常。
一个角色，即使穿梭在暗影中的天生的局外人，仍然需要一个可以和理解他们的人在一起的地方。角色可以选择是否试图融入社会，不论他们是回到自己的社群，还是踏上隐士之路，独自生活，原理尘世。扮演所处之人与你尽不相同颇为困难，甚至是在生活中找到与你相似的人亦是困难重重，可能永远也不会发生，而这对角色会产生多大的影响。他们可能是确信正义就在彼方的梦想家；他们可能是孤家寡人，愤世嫉俗者，他们永远不知道那些伙伴是真的把他们当人看，还是因为他们只是想看场杂耍；或者他们可能会选择遗忘，选择假装遗忘他们所处的现实情况。创建一个调换儿可能看起来很酷，拥有强大的能力或漂亮的初始属性，但真正的优势在于你将获得扮演外在拒人千里，内心却努力挣扎试图被人认可的局外人角色的机会。

劇透 -   :

Changelings are outsiders by nature. They don’t want to be part of the normal society because they are special. They were pushed to the outskirts and found a home there, with others like them who understand them. While the world has had sixty years to adjust to the idea of 2.5 meter trolls, burly orks, stout dwarfs, and graceful elves (and haven’t gotten it perfect yet), they have had only a little more than a decade to come to grips with beaks, tentacles, frog tongues, and tails. And there are so many fewer changelings than metahumans, no one ever gets a chance for them to be seen everyday and make them seem normal.
A character, even one running the shadows who is a natural outsider, still needs a place to call home with people who understand them. The character can choose whether they are trying to fit in, whether they go back to their neighborhoods, or whether they go the route of the hermit and live alone, away from the world. Roleplaying the difficulties of fitting in when you don’t look like anyone near you or even the difficulties of a life where finding someone like you may never happen should weigh heavily on the character. They may be the dreamer who knows that the right one is out there; they may be the shut-in, angry at the world because they can never know whether their present company is there for them as a person or because they want to watch the sideshow; or they could be oblivious, or play oblivious, to the reality of their situation. Being a changeling may seem cool to have the great abilities or nifty stat boosts, but the true advantage is in the character you can play, the chance to play out the role of the outsider on the outside, while struggling to be accepted on the inside.

[失语]

兽毛种：变形者FURS: SHAPESHIFTERS

变形者文化中最重要的两点是，首先，他们是动物，不是泛人类，其次，他们都是不同的动物。这两个因素有助于定义不同变形者种类的文化。变形者物种可能来自地球上的任何地方，因此可以模仿或呈现数百万种不同的文化，其中许多文化可能永远不会与其他泛人类文化互动。
他们的文化，他们的教养更多反映的是他们动物同族的精神活动，而非人类文化的任何东西。狼变形者可能对他们的群体忠诚，但他们的理由是为了生存和相互保护，不一定是因为他们是朋友或彼此喜欢。这种忠诚只是为了生存。海豚变形者可能很风趣也很友好，但那是因为他们所成长的世界是如此。一旦他们被泛人类沉重的生活方式压得喘不过气来，他们的行为可能就会发生改变，不管好坏——没有人知道会发生什么直到它发生了。
变形者文化中有一种独特的平衡，这种平衡源于他们在两个世界之间的位置。他们太过聪明而不愿生活在父辈物种的兽性世界里，但他们又过于狂野而不愿生活在泛人类的僵死社会里。他们经常生活在边陲之地，在泛人类的野外区域，有些变形者甚至和其他一些人聚集在一起发展社区，但大多数变形者在教育和理解方面远远落后于潮流，因此他们融入不了两个世界的任意一个。这种适应对掠食性更强的物种来说更为困难，因为他们不像普通人那样看待其他泛人类。我接触过的许多变形者都会在城市蔓城区中积极地狩猎，这包括把泛人类列入到他们的菜单。
变形者的反主流文化是一个有争议的话题，并且对他们大多数来说，这是一个极其令人不安的话题。他们的反主流文化就是忘记动物的一面，拥抱泛人类的形式。那些努力在反主流文化中发挥作用的变形者往往能更好地融入泛人类文化，但却忘记了自己的自然性。他们以自己能维持在泛人类形态有多长时间而自豪，并且再也没有变回到他们的自然状态。有些变形者甚至声称他们的自然状态是泛人类，变成野兽只是魔法。虽然在他们接触到魔法衰弱区时就会原形毕露。如果它让那些没有做好思想准备的人大吃一惊——那么，这就是为什么你会得到许多死变形者的原因。包括那些脑袋里埋了银弹的。

劇透 -   :

The two most important points on the culture of shapeshifters is that, first, they are animals, not metahumans, and second, they are all different animals. These two factors help to define the culture(s) of the different shapeshifter species. Species that could come from anywhere on the planet and therefore could mimic or appear to be millions of different cultures, many of which may never interact with the rest of metahuman culture.
Their culture and upbringing is often more of a reflection of their animal kin’s mentality than anything in human culture. Lupine shapeshifters may be loyal to their pack, but their reasoning is one of survival and mutual protection, not necessarily because they are friends or like each other. That loyalty only goes as far as survival. A dolphin shapeshifter may be fun-loving and friendly, but that’s because of the world in which they were raised. Once they are crushed under the oppressive weight of metahumanity’s burdensome lifestyle they may not act the same and will change, whether for the better or worse—no one knows until it happens.
There is a unique balance within the culture of the shapeshifters that stems from their position between two worlds. They are too intelligent to live within the bestial world of their parent species, but they are too bestial to live within the rigid societies of metahumanity. They can often live on the outskirts, in the wild areas of metahumanity, and some have even gathered with enough others to develop a community, but most are too far behind the curve in terms of education and understanding, and thus they don’t fit in with either world. This fitting in is often difficult for the more predatory species as they don’t look at other metahumans the same way regular folks do. Many shapeshifters I’ve spoken to will actively hunt in the urban sprawls, and this includes putting metahumans on their menu.
Counterculture when it comes to shapeshifters is a controversial and extremely upsetting topic with most of them. Their counterculture is all about forgetting the animal side and embracing the metahuman form. Those who strive to function in this counterculture often fit in better with the metahuman culture at large, but they forget their nature. They pride themselves on how long they have been in their metahuman form and never returned to their natural state. Some even claim that their natural state is metahuman and that changing to a beast is the magic. Though all it takes is a weakened area of mana and the animal comes back out. And if it surprises people who weren’t expecting it—well, that’s how you get a lot of dead shapeshifters. Including ones with silver bullets lodged in their skulls.

边栏：角色与变形者文化CHARACTERS AND SHAPESHIFTER CULTURE
你是个动物。你用动物的思维方式思考，尽管你可能已经接触过人类并学会了说他们的语言，但你仍然经常对他们做的事情和他们的行为方式感到困惑。他们之间许多复杂的互动方式，以及他们经常自欺欺人和欺骗他人的方式，似乎都是毫无意义的。为什么要撒谎？如果雌性在发情期，而你想要交配，为什么要赞美她的鞋子，为她点酒埋单？你为什么不直接带她走？也许在她怀孕的时候给她带点食物什么的会比什么都好，当然，你要确保你的后代得到照顾，但文明的标志和尊重他人意愿的概念会很难理解。
如果你想扮演一个花了更多时间在泛人类领域并了解这些需求的变形者，请记住他们现在是自己同族的排斥对象了。无论他们来自哪个物种，还是他们可能遇到的其他变形者，都会把他当作不可信的局外人。
当考虑互动时，要记住不同的感官于变形者而言存在且常被强化。通过气味识别人，被餐馆、商店或洗手间里面的浓烈气味赶了出来，试图阻隔城市街道上不和谐的噪音，并且不明白为什么其他人如此害怕走在巷子里，这些都是让你的角色表现其超感官的机会，从而定义他的自然性，而不是纸上谈兵。
不信任是变形者和泛人类之间关系的决定性特征。许多国家仍然在悬赏猎杀变形者，每一个超企都会从他们的黑皮账本中抽出资金来支付一个活变形者，他们可以在其上进行一些测试。虽然变形者可能没有受过教育，但他们知道自己常被作为泛人类的猎杀对象。揭示他们的自然状态非常罕见，往往是他们离开泛人类社会的前兆。

劇透 -   :

You are an animal. You think in animal terms, and though you may have been around people and learned to speak their language, you are still often confused at the things they do and the way they act. The complexities of many of their interactions and the way they often deceive both themselves and others seems pointless. Why lie? If a female is in estrus and you desire to mate, why do you have to compliment her shoes and buy her drinks or dinner? Why can’t you just take her? Maybe after it might be nice to bring her scraps or something in case she’s pregnant and of course you’ll make sure your offspring are taken care of, but the trappings of civilization and the concept of respecting others’ will are difficult to comprehend.
If you desire to play a shapeshifter who has spent more time in the metahuman realm and understands the need for these things, remember that they are now an outcast from their own kind. Both the species from which they originate and other shapeshifters they may meet will treat them as an outsider who is not to be trusted.
When considering interactions, remember the different senses that are present and often heightened for a shapeshifter. Identifying people by smell, being driven from a restaurant, store, or washroom due to the overwhelming odors, trying to block out the cacophony of noise on urban streets, and not understanding why others are so afraid to walk down the alley are all sensory opportunities for your character to define their nature without outright saying it.
Mistrust is the defining feature of the relationship between shapeshifters and metahumans. Many nations still pay bounties for shapeshifters, and every megacorporation out there will slip money from their black-book operations to pay for a live shapeshifter on whom they can run some tests. While shapeshifters may not be educated, they know they are often hunted by metahumans. Revealing their nature is a rare thing and can often be the precursor to their departure from metahuman society.