Eternal，永生者

alexries

http://www.wowpot.cn/bbs/viewthr ... p;page=1&extra=
这不素AD！
第一次翻译不是WE的东西……

Eternals are the divine-like beings of Azeroth and the other planes, who shape the large arcs of history for good and ill.Many beings transcend the bounds of mortal power and play key roles in the world’s long history, either obvious or subtle. These beings are known as Eternals. Wielding godlike powers, they battle to destroy or save the world, to disrupt or cultivate life upon Azeroth (and elsewhere).

永生者是艾泽拉斯及其他行星上存在着的神圣的生物。他们给历史造成了重大的转折，有的将历史引向了光明，有的带来了黑暗。许多拥有远远超出他们同类力量的生物都在历史中扮演着极其重要的角色，其中包括了十分明显的影响，也有不大引人注目的变化。这些生物，就是所谓的“永生者”：他们运用着神一般的力量，他们为摧毁或拯救世界而战斗着，为帮助或干扰艾泽拉斯及其他世界的生命而存在。

These are beings known only in legends to the peoples of Azeroth. Yet they are beings who have shaped not only the course of history in the world of Azeroth, but often the world itself: the Elemental Lords, ruling over planes of pure power and awaiting the time when they will once again serve the banished Old Gods; the Titans, whom the dwarves believe created Azeroth and many of its races; the great and powerful dragons who watch over the Titans’ creation; the moon goddess Elune, and the demigod-like beings She created to protect and guide the creatures of the land. They are the ancient powers. While mortals fight wars to lay claim to villages and kingdoms, the powers wage a perpetual struggle to determine who will dominate the whole of the universe, with Azeroth the nearest battlefield. Though rarely seen, the influence of the ancient powers is ever-present. It is known that They wrought Azeroth from pure chaos and formed it into the world it is today.

这些生灵的存在仅仅在艾泽拉斯的传奇中被提及过；但他们不仅仅是艾泽拉斯世界历史的创造者，有时候还是这个世界自身。元素领主，他们统治着高位面的纯净能量，等待着再次为被放逐的上古之神服务；泰坦，矮人眼中的创世神；威力无穷的巨龙，看守着泰坦的造物；月亮女神艾露恩，还有她为了保护和引导大地上的生物而创造的半神等等等等，他们都是上古的力量。当凡人们为了统治村庄和王国的权利而开战时，远古的力量正在艾泽拉斯这个最近的战场上为了决定整个宇宙的统治者而不断战斗着。虽然很少显露出来，但是远古力量的影响总是存在着的。正如我们所知的，他们将从纯净的混乱中制造了艾泽拉斯，并使之成为了今天的世界。

Most of the divine beings of Azeroth (known as Eternals) are distant entities. They exist to assist those caught in the conflicts of a cruel, violent world. Never directly intervening in the affairs of the world, They use divine magic as a proxy. With their many healing and protective spells, practitioners of divine magic are at the vanguard of the Gods’ efforts to ensure Their peoples' survival. Priests whisper prayers to evoke power from beings such as Elune the Moon Goddess. Shadow hunters invoke the names of dark Gods (loa), ancient powers whose legends are stained in cruelty and bloodshed, but who are also capable of benevolence when appeased. For example a shadow hunter might venture onto grounds consecrated to the Old Gods and spill his own blood to entice the forces of primeval cruelty to come and visit their worst afflictions upon him.

大多数的永生者都是非常遥远的存在。他们存在是为了帮助陷入了残忍、暴力的冲突的世界。他们使用神圣的魔法，而不是直接干预这个世界的事务。神圣魔法的学习者作为神尽力保护他的子民的先驱，拥有着治愈的、保护的强大法术。月之女祭司低声诵读着祷文，唤起来自月亮女神艾露恩的力量。暗影猎手呼唤着黑暗的野性之灵之名，召唤黑暗的力量——野性之灵的传奇建立在令人发指的暴行及虐杀之上，但在被满足之后也会表现出应有的仁慈。一个暗影猎手会冒险进入法阵将自己献给上古之神，将他的鲜血喷洒到空中——以此诱使太古的残酷的到来并使他的敌人陷入最可怕的苦难。

The ancient powers rule supreme in their particular bastions, unsurpassed in power, knowledge and ability. Each also possesses its own personality and agenda, which has led each to interact with mortals in its own way. In some cases, an ancient power may take an interest in a hero early in her life. The powers have an innate understanding of prophecy and divination surpassing that of mortals, and they are often aware of a hero’s fate long before the hero takes her first steps onto the path of adventure. A power may send monsters to kill a nascent hero years before she has an opportunity to meddle in the power’s schemes, or it may subtly assist her by quietly guiding her toward allies, information or hidden artifacts that will help her achieve her destiny. When unable to act or unwilling to show their hands, the ancient powers use mortal heroes and villains as agents to further their own agendas — Sargeras used Azshara as his servant in an attempt to open the Well of Eternity, and the human wizard Rhonin was the cat's-paw of the Dragons during the Second War. Heroes may be approached by an ancient power and asked to undertake a quest. They must take care when serving an Eternal, however, as completing a task for a power may mean incredible reward in thanks for a service well performed — or utter destruction as the Eternal hides its tracks.

永生者们拥有极其卓越的力量、知识及技巧，在他们各自的领地实行着至高无上的统治。他们同样也拥有他们各自的个性。他们拥有着各自的议程，用他们自己方式使它们与凡人相互交流相互影响。某些情况下，一个永生者会对一个凡人英雄产生兴趣；永生者通过对语言和占卜拥有远超凡人的天生的理解，使他们早已知道一个英雄的命运，早在那个在英雄的第一步踏出之前。永生者也许会在一个尚未上路的英雄有机会干预他的计划之前派遣怪物去杀死她；也可能会悄悄地将她引向她的盟友、有价值信息或能帮助她成就她的命运的、被隐藏起来的物品，敏锐地帮助她。当不允许去扮演或不愿意展示他们的力量时，永生者们会借用凡人英雄或恶棍作为执行他们长远计划的代理人——萨格拉斯利用他的从者艾萨拉企图开启永恒之井，而人类法师罗宁在第二次战争则是巨龙们的……肉球~喵。英雄们或许会被一个永生者接近并赋予一个一个使命——但是他们在为一个永生者服务时必须小心翼翼：作为服务地很好的奖赏，完成永生者的布置的任务或许意味着令人难以置信的奖励；但同样可能为了隐藏行踪而被永生者被彻底毁灭。

A number of the Eternals died during the War of the Ancients. This doesn’t, however, mean that those powers can have no influence in later eras. Many of the fallen powers still have followers 10,000 years later, such as the Furbolg who follow in the path of the long-dead ursine demigods Ursoc and Ursol. Further, though written history says they perished, can Eternals who possess the special quality of immortality truly die? Perhaps a "fallen" Eternal simply sleeps away centuries while his wounds heal....

在上古之战期间，许多永生者逝去了；但这并不意味着这些力量在今后的历史中没有了影响力。许多死去的永生者在数万年后依然有着为数众多的追随者：例如熊人们仍然追寻着死去已久的巨熊半神乌索克和乌索尔的脚步。此外，即使历史上记载了他们的消亡，但是拥有永生特权的永生者们会真正死去吗？也许一个倒下的永生者仅仅是离开凡间陷入了长眠，等待着他经受的创伤愈合……

Eternals usually only appear before mortals only when they have truly earned the audience through their actions, such as by performing a great service to the Eternal or by making a formidable stand against its plans. The tangled web of relationships among the Eternals means that a favor performed for one may be a slight to several others.

只有在人们的行为真正引起了永生者的注意的时候，永生者们才会在凡人之前出现。例如为永生者提供了巨大的帮助，或者是极大地阻挠了永生者的计划。永生者们之间错综复杂的关系网意味着，讨好了其中一个永生者并不代表可以在其他人身上起到同样作用。

Ancient powers operate not just on levels of power far above mortals, but also on a vastly different time scale: the youngest have lived a hundred mortal lifetimes, and their goals can lay millennia away. Events of the mortal world may be more than meaningless in the larger scope of history to Eternals. For those who are asked to undertake a mission on behalf of an Eternal, the Eternal may be unable or simply unwilling to explain the reasons behind the task to "mere mortals" who cannot possibly comprehend. The immortal lifespan of Eternals allows them to collect on debts from many decades previous, and they hold grudges much longer. For example; the great dragon Neltharion spent a lifetime disguised as a human noble, infiltrating the royal courts of Lordaeron and consolidating power in order to avenge himself upon the other dragon Aspects.

永生者的力量不是仅仅远高于凡人，而是根本不在同一个等级上。即使是最年轻的永生者，也度过了相当于数百凡人的一生的岁月；而他们的目标，也可能会隐藏数千年直到适当的时机来临。大多凡间的事务相对于历史的大局，对于永生者们来说都是毫无意义的。对于被要求承担了代表了永生者利益的任务的人们，永生者是不会或者非常不愿意对那些不能理解深藏任务背后缘由的“卑贱的凡人”进行解释的。不朽的寿命使永生者们能够对许多年之前发生在他们身上的事件进行报复，他们能比任何人都要更久地保留他们的仇恨。黑色巨龙耐萨里奥就花费了一生的时间伪装成一个人类贵族，完全地渗透了洛丹伦的贵族圈而且以此加强了自己对其他巨龙复仇的力量。

Eternals in Warcraft include the Titans, the Old Gods, demigods, and other powerful entities worshipped or venerated by the mortal races on Azeroth, often as part of Creation Myths of various people in the world.

永生者包括了泰坦、上古之神、半神，以及其他被艾泽拉斯上的凡人们膜拜的，各族人民文化中创世传奇中组成部分的强大存在。