時代盡頭之預言
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人物介紹
諸神與力量
Roehn Theer (洛恩‧提爾)
無名者 (The Nameless) 所創造作為平衡的哨衛，因為擁有命運雙子劍的力量他亦被稱為噬神者 (Godslayer)，並曾放逐到虛空 (The Void) 之中。身為無名者唯一的使徒，洛恩‧提爾身負確保沒有任何生物的力量過於強大而能摧毀他所保護的宇宙的任務。
Aeteok and Enoxus (艾提歐和伊諾斯)
無名者所創造並給予洛恩‧提爾，這兩把強大的雙子劍協助他專注於他的力量，並在需要的時候執行他的宣判。當洛恩‧提爾被打入虛空後他便失去了這兩把劍，並流落到諾瑞斯世界。當凡人發現它們時，它們便被稱為命運雙子劍
，魂火 (Soulfire) 和奎諾斯巨劍 (Qeynos Claymore)。
Kerafyrm (克拉夫)
克拉夫，唯一的一隻水晶龍，是被禁止的兩條異色龍的後代。曾被稱為沉睡者 (The Sleeper)，他在混亂年代 (Age of Turmoil) 甦醒，並自此開始執行他征服諾瑞斯以及天空的計畫。他強大的力量遠超過其族類，克拉夫的計畫威脅到所有人的存在。
Anashti Sul (安納許提‧蘇)
曾經是健康女神的安納許提‧蘇試圖毀滅死亡，但卻反而招來不死到諾瑞斯。由於安納許提‧蘇的舉動過於驚駭，因此諾瑞斯的其他神衹們決定將祂放逐到虛空，企圖永遠摧毀她。自從她逃離虛空後，她就計畫要取回本應屬於她的一切。
凡人
Antonius Bayle (安東尼歐斯‧貝爾)
偉大貝爾血脈的第一人，第一個持有奎諾斯巨劍的凡人，也是在大災變前創建奎諾斯的人。
Antonia Bayle (安東尼亞‧貝爾)
安東尼亞‧貝爾是奎諾斯的女王，也是貝爾一族唯一存活的繼承人。許多年來，她被大眾視為一個象徵，而實際上是奎諾斯議會在統治這座城市以及其事務。然而，安東尼亞女王近來才展露出她不會那麼容易就讓別人取代她，並會以智慧、慈悲和勇氣帶領奎諾斯和所有的子民。
Lucan D'Lere (路坎‧德萊爾)
霸主，自由港的統治者以及魂火唯一的凡人持有者。也就是說，直到他最近被綁架並被搶走魂火之前。他現在已經成功地回歸並在一次掌控自由港，並再次使它充滿力量。
Tayil N'Velex (泰兒‧恩維利斯)
泰兒一直以來都是路坎‧德萊爾的左右手，以及他最信任的親信。當他不在時，她就代表了他，並能執行他的期望而不會失敗。然而，當提爾的手下來找她並給她機會讓她掌控自由港時，她就立刻背叛了路坎並企圖自行稱霸。
The Knights of Truth (真理騎士)
最接近政權且負責照顧皇室成員與城市的奎諾斯騎士團。
Erus Dal'viv (伊茹司‧達爾夫)
一個被二元者賦予攜帶無反應的命運雙子劍的神祕博學者，伊茹司‧達爾夫體現了所有現在已然消逝的深水騎士美德。他和二元者一起工作以便了解更多關於時代盡頭之預言，被賦予任務，並協助帶領深水評議會。
The Duality (二元者)
由史上最偉大的兩個博學者，達坦恩和艾卡博的意識所結合，如果有也只有很少人的聰明才智能與二元者匹敵。透過他淵博的知識，二元者打算將看起來且經常支離破碎的片段資訊組合，試圖破解災難性的預言 - 時代的盡頭並反制。二元者是少數了解諾瑞斯面臨危險的人，並正促使學者、領袖和冒險者加入來確保眾生存活。
Dame Livik (禮維克女士)
我們故事的編纂者。一位來自奧許部落的海獺人巫醫，她是她們人民的知識守護者，曾在尼匹克以及奧許門下學習，並參與研究時代盡頭之預言許多年。
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命運雙子劍
「現在這裡太危險了，」一個細小、含糊的聲音抱怨著。
女士看了一眼她蜷縮成一團在羽絨床上的孩子們。他們假裝睡著了，但她知道他們沒有。在這個已變得如此暴力的世界，睡眠是一件不容易的事且小仔們經常盯著她看，藉著她的行為來臆測他們自己的安危。
「對我們來說一生總是很危險，小崽子們。尤其是現在諸神和全世界似乎都把目光擺放在我們的土地上時。」她低頭看向他們並露出令人安心的微笑。「但我們迅速、狡猾且難以傷害，是不是?」海獺人的這幾句話讓他們沉默甚至點了幾下頭。終於，她最聰明的么子說道。
「是不是因為預言讓他們關注這裡?」
「許多人並不知道他們來到這是為了那個原因，」她回答道，「但是的，他們都來到此是因為預言所提及的事件。」
「妳會再跟我們說一次那個傳奇嗎，禮維克女士?」
They were all unsettled after the Yha-lei attack this morning. The outland adventurers that had helped protect their camp recently had mostly moved on and the fishmen were attacking more often. Add to that the knowledge that just over the hill, the Kromzek were being mobilized by a god to march their legions across Velious, and it was no wonder that everyone was on edge.
"I suppose none of us is getting any sleep anyway." She sighed. "Make a hole and I'll start the tale once everyone settles in and stops wiggling."
The pups scattered away from one another to let the shaman settle into the furs, and then dove through, over and under them as she settled back. Snuggling around one another, they eventually came together in a loosely woven, warm ring with faces poking inward toward the Dame, one of the most important shaman of their people and, right now, the complete center of their universe.
She waited a moment until their breathing quieted. She took a moment to hear that there were no unusual sounds outside. Taking a breath, she began.
"Like most tales, this one started at the beginning. At first there was the Nameless and the universe it created. But reality is huge and the Nameless would not watch over it. So what did it do?"
They all shouted at once. "The Sentinel! The Balance! The Godslayer!"
She nodded. "That's right. The Nameless created Roehn Theer, and also created Aeteok and Enoxus who were shaped into the form of swords for Roehn Theer to wield. He was to use them to act against anything that would disrupt the creations of the Nameless. He is a seraph. The only one ever, and he keeps the balance of the planes."
She swept her gaze across the pups, their unblinking eyes dancing slightly in the reflected light of the night fire flames. "Who can tell me what Aeteok and Enoxus became?"
They all knew this one. It was ritual that she ask it at this point of the story. "The Twin Swords," they shouted. "The Swords of Destiny," others squeaked.
"Good. That's right. And remember them well, because everything else hinges upon them." She paused. "For a long time, Roehn Theer had little to do. But one day, the gods discovered our planes and came here to live. Once they arrived, Roehn Theer was kept busy dealing with their mischief, scheming and plays of power."
"The gods grew to loathe Roehn Theer because he would curb their excesses. He was not only strong and powerful, but with the twin swords, he had the power to banish the gods to the Void, which was a permanent destruction. They despised Theer, but were false to him and deceived him with pretended friendship until they were able to separate him from his swords. They then turned immediately upon him and used the power of the swords to banish Roehn Theer himself to the Void!"
A small voice asked insistently, "Why don't you ever tell the story of how the gods get the swords away from him?"
"Because what's important is what happens next, small one. Listen well." She glanced across the others to be sure they were still watching.
"The gods became drunk with their new power and turned against another of their own, Anashti Sul, because she had so greatly angered them by bringing undeath to Norrath. Anashti Sul could not stop them from banishing her, but before she was drawn to the Void she used her own magic to knock the Twin Swords away from the gods and down to Norrath."
"The swords changed shape as they fell into the mortal realm and the gods could not find them because their form and magical auras were so transformed. The swords were lost for ages, but eventually were found by two very different mortals."
It was questioning time again. "Who was it that found the Claymore?"
"Bayle! The First King! The Founder!"
Once the shouting subsided, the dame continued. "That's right. Antonious Bayle discovered Enoxus, now in the shape of a great Claymore. He used its power to found the city of Qeynos and forge a new kingdom of his own." She glanced around. "Who found Soulfire?"
"The Overlord! D'Lere!"
"You do listen!" She smiled. "That's right. Lucan D'Lere. He found Aeteok still gripped within the dead hands of the Avatar of War. How the Avatar was destroyed, there is no tale, but Lucan dubbed the sword ‘Soulfire' and used its powers to found Freeport, establish himself as Overlord, and live a very long life for a human."
"More about Theer," the smallest one demanded. They all seemed to like to hear about him for some reason.
"Yes, yes. Don't rush me." Still, she smiled inside. She enjoyed when they asked for the tales. "Roehn Theer had been banished to the Void, but he was not destroyed. Even without the twin swords, Theer was powerful enough that after decades of effort, he could make himself known to agents in the mortal world. Through those agents, he set events into place so they would bring the swords to him in the Void, so he could use their power to escape and resume his role as the Sentinel of Balance."
"First, he struck a deal with Tayil N'Velex in Freeport. He fed her ego and encouraged her to betray Lucan D'Lere, her longtime friend, so that she could usurp control of the city for purposes dear to her. In return, she pacted to turn Soulfire over to Roehn Theer."
"In Qeynos, the queen did not often wield the Claymore personally and the Knights of Truth kept it under guard in their citadel. Roehn Theer's agents arranged for an attempted kidnapping of Antonia Bayle while she was traveling. When the Knights of Truth leapt into action against foes that immediately never really existed, Theer's agents stole the Claymore away."
"As the swords made their way to Roehn Theer, he sensed impending success and began to plan for the retribution he would bring thereafter. But his victory was to be brief."
The pups started squealing again, this time with just a tinge of fear in their voices. "The dragon! The Awakened!"
"Yes, small ones. Kerafyrm. That ancient scourge."
The dame paused a moment while she thought about the prismatic dragon that was so intertwined in the prophecy. The only dragon ever to be born from opposing elemental dragons, Kerafyrm's rune rested atop that of the rune for the twin swords in the prophecy disks and there was no avoiding that the fates of both of them were intertwined.
All scholars agreed that Kerafyrm must have had some vision of future events, because the dragon had put a long-term plan into effect well before the swords were stolen back by Theer's agents. The first part of the dragon's plan was simple. He taught the mortals a new trick.
"Who can tell me what the dragon taught the mortals to do?"
"Absorb magic! Enervation!" they shouted.
She nodded to herself. The dragon had used agents of its own to ensure that mortals stumbled upon the art of siphoning magic from artifacts of power and into their own mortal selves.
"That's right. And the mortals embraced the new magic, becoming even better at it than the dragon could have hoped."
She stopped a moment and idly licked a paw to rub at a pup's dirty face while she gathered her thoughts. "Stop fussing, small one."
After she had the pup's fur smoothed again, she continued. "But that wasn't all. Kerafyrm spread the story that the world was going to be destroyed if the Underfoot door was not permanently sealed."
The dame felt a few wriggles of restlessness in the pile. She could fix that with questions. "What is the Underfoot?"
That perked them up again. "The world beneath! The plane of earth!"
"Yes, it's the plane that touches all of Norrath below our world. And who is the protector of the planes?"
That got them bouncing. "Theer! The Balance! Twin Swords!"
"That's right. Now that Roehn Theer was in possession of the swords again, he regained the powers of the balance. When he heard of mortals moving to seal the Underfoot door, he knew of the great risk this would run for the stability of the planes and he had to step in to stop them from succeeding. Thus, the mortals were neatly maneuvered into facing off against one of the great powers of the universe, just as the dragon had planned."
She let that hang for a moment, took a breath and then continued. "Then was a great moment of victory for the mortals, but the long-range consequences of that victory are still to be determined. Faced with the hugely powerful weapons that Roehn Theer wielded, they naturally chose to use the magic they had so recently mastered."
Lowering her voice and trying to be sure they understood the lesson that Othmir must always be clever and to never let themselves be duped like this, she went on. "They used enervation magics on the twin swords of destiny. Roehn Theer was unprepared for this, but Kerafyrm was not."
With murmurs of "the dragon" and small squeaks of fear, the pups snuggled further back into the furs.
"The dragon had been lurking nearby in the form of a glowing Erudite mage. When the mortals began drawing the energies from the swords, he used his greater magics to divert the swords' essences into himself. Once completed, he paused only to gloat at the duped mortals and seraph before vanishing to parts unknown."
No one knows Kerafyrm's plans for that power, but the prophecy describes an end of everything when the prismatic dragon and the swords have crossed, and many now fear we are poised on the brink of the destruction of all.
Scholars all agree that it's not possible for Kerafyrm to contain that amount of power within himself for long. Even the prismatic dragon is too fragile of a vessel for the power of the Nameless. How that energy is released will determine the fate of the universe.
She realized she was letting her mind wander, but it seemed only a second or two had passed, so she picked up the tale again. "That would have been enough for any tale, but as always, the gods cannot see trouble without wanting to add to it. Tell me the name of the citadel that appeared in the Wastes recently."
Fewer voices chimed in this time. This part of the story was still new and not so time-worn as the rest. "The War God's tower. Drunder!"
"That's right. The Citadel of Drunder is a bridge between our continent of Velious and the Plane of War itself. Rallos Zek has descended to our plane to muster his Kromzek giants into vast armies so he can conquer Velious and Norrath beyond in search of Kerafyrm."
"And that's why things are dangerous right now, small ones. The forces of the cosmos are staring down upon our frozen home of Velious now and we are small indeed, by comparison. But we will do as we always have done. We will be fast. We will be clever. And we live for another day."
"Now settle in and sleep. I need to go watch the stars for a few moments."
She disentangled herself from the pups and watched as they burrowed into the warm spot she had left behind. Smiling gently, she turned to move out the flap of the tent and out under the night stars.
Her smile faded quickly as she returned her thoughts to the War God. Her brows furrowed as she realized how likely it was that the forces involved in all of this were beyond mortal abilities. The seraph, gods, dragons, and prophecy….to what hope could mortals cling?
But she knew that word was getting out. The Bayles and D'Leres of the world would know soon what was happening and they would…they must…send help somehow.
The War God was the immediate problem and where the most help was needed at the moment. The god had pretended his armies would slay Kerafyrm and return the power of the swords back to Roehn Theer, but the scholars knew better. Rallos Zek has never released power of any kind. Everyone knows that once he attains the power of the swords, he will have the power to rule everything and the planes will know naught but eternal War.
Somehow, some way, the plans of Rallos Zek must be foiled before they can start. "There must be a way," she thought. She sat and stared at the stars and thought of her wards, hoping that they would not be the last and trying to discover a way to stop a god. "There must be a way."
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摘要版
- 洛恩‧提爾、艾提歐和伊諾斯是由無名者所創造。艾提歐和伊諾斯被鑄造為命運雙子劍。
- 洛恩‧提爾就是平衡本身並確保這受到維持，這樣現實才不會被干涉。
- 諸神討厭提爾因為祂使祂們無法擴張。祂們偷走了雙子劍並將提爾放逐到虛空。
- 接著祂們轉移目標到安納許提‧蘇病一樣放逐了她，但使用魔法將雙子劍擊落至凡間，並轉化造型為巨劍與魂火。
- 安東尼奧斯‧貝爾使用巨劍創建了奎諾斯，成為國王並繁衍了一個血脈。
- 路坎‧德萊爾使用魂火稱霸自由港並獲得永生。
- 由於被放逐至虛空，洛恩‧提爾派出手下在諾瑞斯行使密謀。
- 路坎‧德萊爾遭到背叛，被綁架且他的劍被送去給提爾。
- 安東尼亞‧貝爾的騎士被騙離巨劍使其未受到保護。它也被搶走了。
- 當這一切正發生時，克拉夫教給凡人弱化的方式。
- 克拉夫並散布出地底國度的大門必須被封印否則這個世界將會被摧毀的故事。
- 凡人於是嘗試要封印那可能使整個宇宙陷入危險的大門。洛恩‧提爾如預料中干預以保護那扇門。凡人們使用新的技能來弱化雙子劍並擊敗提爾。克拉夫此時就趁機偷走了雙子劍的能量並帶著力量消失。
- 如今整個宇宙陷入危機。克拉夫很明顯無法掌控那個力量並可能因此摧毀所有人。
- 瑞羅‧賽克認為出擊是最好的方式。牠透過戰術異界連結了戰爭異界與薇洛斯，並接著帶領牠的克羅賽巨人大軍攻打克拉夫。
- 所有人都擔心賽克將會嘗試偷取那個力量使自己成為權能者異界的霸主並立下永恆之戰的開端。祂必須被阻止!
符號
艾提歐 (魂火) 符號
伊諾斯 (奎諾斯巨劍) 符號
結合預言符號
查爾斯之石
