本文摘选自《Warhammer Quest - Blackstone Fortress》，该译文作为练习仅为个人与交流使用，不用作商业用途。  

步入黑暗·ENTERING THE DARKNESS

虽然黑石要塞的运作机制鲜为人知，但还是有办法进入它的内部的。在要塞巨大的侧面上布满了大小不一的洞孔。有些大得足以停靠一艘报应级战列舰，而另一些则小到几乎连人都过不去。钻过这些孔径，那些从绝壁星冒险出发的人也许就能找到进入无光陵墓内部的通路了，许多来自遗忘时代的科技珍宝就散落在这座陵墓中，否则，他们可能就会被要塞的防御系统干掉。

The mechanisms by which the Blackstone Fortress operates are little understood, but there are ways to gain accessto its interior. Apertures of varying sizes pock the massive facets of the fortress. Some are large enough to dock a Retribution-class battleship, while others are so small that a human can barely fit through them. Those who venturefrom Precipice through these apertures may find ways into lightless internal mausoleums scattered with technological treasures of many a forgotten age, or they may simply be obliterated by the abstruse defence systems of the fortress.

黑石要塞的内部是一座由走廊和厅室组成的狂野迷宫。某些几何形的门厅巨大无比，螺旋状的塔楼沿它们的长度方向楚楚而列，要么就是向下蜿蜒而入，没进了由能量溪流照亮的巨型裂缝之中。其它的则显得狭窄而又曲折，其剧烈扭曲的地面上覆盖着千百年的积尘。那些业已灭绝的种族曾经试图用地面和墙壁上的管线去控制黑石要塞的能源，他们（为此）创造了难以辨识的操纵面板，在那些东西的旁边，要么是昔日冒险闯入者的遗骸，要么就是违背自身意愿而被带入其中者的尸体。补给箱、干尸、还有正在朽烂的探索载具，连同那一度堂皇壮丽的宇宙飞船的碎骸残片，就这么胡乱地散落在整间厅室之中。在这些病态的碎屑中，虽然有一些带着已知种族的标识或者生理特征，但绝大多数都是完全无法辨识的，不是因为过于古老，就是由于太过深奥而无法识别。神秘的科技遗物被紧紧地攥在远古逝者的手心里，要么就是埋在一堆堆正在慢慢腐烂的废料之中，它们正等着被那些敢于找到并将其撬挖而走的人纳入囊中。冒险家之所以会从绝壁星纷至沓来，为的就是这远古科技。

The interior of the Blackstone Fortress is a brutalist labyrinth of corridors and chambers. Some of its geometric halls are vast, arrayed with spire-like towers along their length, or dropping away into yawning chasms lit with rivulets of energy. Others are narrow and winding, their acutely twisting floors covered with millennia of debris. Indecipherable control panels created by those dead races that have tried to harness the Blackstone Fortress' power line the floors and walls, and alongside these are remnants of those who ventured inside in ages past, or who were brought within its bounds against their will. Supply crates, desiccated corpses and decaying exploration vehicles are strewn haphazardly throughout the chambers, along with fragmented pieces of once-grand spacecraft. While some of this morbid detritus bears the symbols or biology of known races, most is completely unrecognisable, either too ancient or too esoteric to be identified. Relics of arcane technology lie clutched in the hands of the ancient dead, or buried amongst heaps of slowly corroding scrap, waiting to be collected by those intrepid enough to find them and pry them free. It is for this archeotech that adventurers set out from Precipice.

冥河之隙是离绝壁星最近的洞口。据说，可以停靠几艘小型飞船的它是迄今为止所发现的最安全、最稳定的坞埠入口。在冥河之隙里有许多磁悬浮运输舱，在进入舱室并将其激活之后，它们就会降入要塞的深处。这些舱室的运行准度实在是糟糕透顶。通过操纵排列在四方晶体状舱室内部的神秘符文界面，行程便可以由此而启，不过，迄今为止，任何踏足其中的人都无法获知这些舱室究竟会前往黑石要塞的何处。

The opening closest to Precipice is known as the Stygian Aperture. Capable of docking a handful of small craft, it is said to be the safest and most stable port of ingress yet found. Within the Stygian Aperture are a number of maglev transport chambers that, when entered and activated, descend deep inside the fortress. The operation of these chambers is far from precise. By manipulating the enigmatic rune interfaces that are arrayed across the tetra-form interior of the chamber, travel can be initiated, but dictating where in the Blackstone Fortress the chamber will go is beyond the ken of any who have thus far set foot inside.

一旦抵达目的地，磁悬浮舱就会陷入沉寂，它会停机一个小时，一周，甚至更长的时间。因此，舱内的乘客别无选择，他们只能向前进发，并且得从宛如兔穴一般的厅室中寻出一条道来，直到找到另一台能够将他们送回（要塞）表面的磁悬浮运输舱。对于受困的探险者来说，在暗中摸索的时候他们得时刻保持警惕，以免跌跌撞撞地坠入骤然直落的深渊之中，或者被看不见的高温通风口烫死，或者触发了哪个藏伏在诸多厅室中的隐秘防御机关。

Once a maglev chamber arrives at its destination it falls silent, powering down for an hour, a week or even longer. As such, those on board have little choice but to press forwards, probing their way through the warren-like halls until they find another maglev transport to take them back to the surface. The stranded explorers must keep their wits about them as they plumb the darkness, lest they stumble into asudden plunging abyss, be scalded to death by an unseen hyperthermal vent, or trigger one of the latent defence mechanisms that are hidden within the various chambers.

不管走的是哪条路线，想要绘制地图都是不可能的，因为和其它已知的黑石要塞不同，这个造物会定期重塑自己的内部结构。曾经穿越而过的房间会与通向它们的走廊分离，取而代之的是封闭的墙面，或者干脆就只剩下巨大的裂口。同样，道路也是由嵌有无形维度技艺的舱室组合而成。（至于）房间为什么会移动？以及是什么决定了它们的排列方式？这些只能任人揣度了。但那些在移动大厅中行走往来的人都会产生一种可怕的怀疑，那就是黑石要塞知道里面有人，并且正在决定他们可以徉往何处。

Whatever route is taken cannot be mapped, for unlike in the other known Blackstone Fortresses, the internal structure of this creation reshapes itself regularly. Rooms that have been passed through detach from the corridors to which they led, being replaced by occluding walls or simply left as yawning chasms. Similarly, paths are assembled from the chambers that tessellate the craft's unseen dimensions. Why the rooms move and what determines their arrangement can only be guessed at, but those who walk these shifting halls have a dreadful suspicion that the fortress is aware of those inside, and is dictating where they can roam.

由探索黑石要塞所带来内在危险和不确定性意味着只有绝壁星上的那些最大胆、最坚定的住民才会前来探险。不过，进入黑石要塞的吸引力依旧很强。散落在要塞里的绝大多数残片甚至要比那些漂浮在要塞周围的残骸星云里的更加古老，更加神秘。在理论上，星云带里的残舟碎舸都是被黑石要塞的重力吸引过来的，它们被吞进了最大的孔隙之中，从而提供了一种维持形式。随着舱室的移动，它们的残片在巨型空间站里洒得到处都是。如此一来，要塞的大厅里总是堆满了难以估量的财富。此外，在那些冒险入内的人中，能一直归来的只有一小部分。粗心大意的探险者可能会发现他们所有的逃生路线都被切断了，或者一下子就被装满防御系统的房间给包围了，它们每一个都预示着一种独一无二的恐怖死法。无论这些倒霉蛋在临死之前收集到了什么宝贝，它们都处于带回收的状态。不过，最有价值的商品是与要塞本身有关的信息。通过绝壁星最先进的飞船所做出的扫描，人们已经在不断移动的舱室中发现了稳定的节点，即所谓的隐藏墓室，不过，依然不知道它们里面装的是什么东西。任何与这些墓室相干的数据，或者有关如何引导磁悬浮运输器前往其之所在的线索，都是无价的发现。

The inherent danger and uncertainty of exploring the Blackstone Fortress means that only that boldest and most determined occupants of Precipice ever undertake an expedition. But still the draw to enter is strong. Most of the debris scattered inside is even older and more esoteric than that found amongst the nebula of floating wreckage that surrounds the fortress. It has been theorised that the broken craft of the nebula are drawn in by the Blackstone Fortress' gravity and consumed within the largest apertures, thus providing a form of sustenance. Their remnant pieces are then scattered through the innards of the monolithic space station as its chambers shift. In this way the fortress' halls are always lined with incalculable riches. Furthermore, of those who do venture inside, only a fraction ever emerge. Unwary explorers may find themselves cut off from any route of escape, or suddenly surrounded by rooms laden with defence systems that each promise a uniquely horrific demise. Whatever treasures these unfortunates had gathered before their end also lie ready to be recovered. Yet the most valuable commodity is information on the fortress itself. Scans made by the most advanced craft at Precipice have revealed stable nodes amongst the constantly shuffling chambers -so-called hidden vaults - though what they contain is still unknown. Any data on these vaults or clues as to how to steer the maglev transports towards them are priceless finds.

行商浪人贾努斯·德莱克

Rogue Trader Janus Draik 

行商许可令R38-79N1

Warrant of Trade R38-79N1

数据日志条目：11707b

Datalog Entry：11707b

【（序言）远程通讯仍旧徒劳无功。再另行通知之前，数据日志条目会被储存在先锋号的沉思库中，待返回德莱克之星后，再手动转移至星语中续站】

<<PREAMBLE> Long-range vox continues to prove fruitless. Until further notice, datalog entries will be stored in Vanguards cogitator banks, to be transferred manually for astropathic relay upon return to the Draikstar.>

现在，我总算知道绝壁星的本质了——它就是一个囊肿，里面集满了银河系中的污秽之物。我在腐朽的行廊和临时的集市中与亚人和异形擦肩而过，要是在一个更加帝国化的地方，即便是为了礼节起见，我也早就大开杀戒了（译者注-1）。但遗憾的是，这座星站的规定<见数据日志11707a>让我无法这么做。我已经下令，那些一直陪我走到现在的随从与保镖留绝对不得离开先锋号，并且还启用了敌对领土安保设置。如果有当地的渣滓想要对我的穿梭艇下手，那他们在后悔之前就会被干掉。

I understand now the nature of Precipice - it is a cyst inside which the filth of the galaxy has pooled. Within its corroded corridors and makeshift bazaars I have crossed paths with abhumans and xenos who, in a more Imperium-compliant setting, I would have cut down immediately, if only for the sake of propriety. But alas, the dictates of this station <see datalog 11,707a> prevent me from doing so. I have ordered those attaches and bodyguards who have accompanied me thus far to remain strictly aboard Vanguard, and have implemented Hostile Territory security settings. Should any of the local scum try to interfere with my shuttle, they shall not live long enough to regret it.

尽管这种杂居行为毫无内在品味可言，但绝壁星上的安排方式或许也有一些闪光点。凡是登上这座星站的人，都具有一定程度的勇气和决心【这一点值得钦佩，不管他们的种族为何（在传送前编辑掉）】，而且作为临时的盟友，其中一小部分甚至能够被证明是可靠堪用的。我已经见过了取自黑石要塞的远古科技，在我执令行商的整个过程当中，很少有曾见过具有如此内在价值的物品。我必须进去，哪怕这意味着要和那些不受欢迎的家伙一起冒险。

Yet despite the inherent tastelessness of such intermingling, perhaps there is some merit to the arrangement on Precipice. All aboard possess a degree of grit and determination <that is admirable, regardless of their species <REDACT BEFORE TRANSMISSION>>, and a handful of them may even prove useful as temporary allies. I have glimpsed the archeotech taken from the Blackstone Fortress, and over the entire course of my Warrant I have rarely seen objects of such intrinsic value. I must enter, even if it means venturing alongside this crop of undesirables.

内在的危险·THE DANGER WITHIN

黑石要塞里的每一次探险都充满了风险。除了不断改变位置的建筑构架和致命的防御系统之外，黑暗中还潜藏着具有敌意的实体。在翻找大厅的同时，冒险家们可能会碰到成簇的机蜂哨卫、成群的掠食生物和成队的嗜血战士。但要说最大的危险，那显然当属黑石要塞本身那令人无法理解的感知能力，因为它的存在目的及其真实威力尚有待发现。

Every expedition inside the Blackstone Fortress is fraught with peril. Aside from the ceaselessly rearranging architecture and deadly defence systems, there are hostile entities lurking in the darkness. Whilst delving through the halls, adventurers may cross paths with clusters of drone-like sentries, packs of predatory creatures and squads of bloodthirsty warriors. But the greatest danger by far is the incomprehensible sentience of the Blackstone Fortress itself, for the purpose of its existence and the true extent of its power are yet to be discovered.

在黑石要塞里遇到的某些实体似乎是空间站里的原生住民，它们的形状是在模仿要塞棱角分明的内锁结构。而其他的生物则来自银河的偏远边隅，从野蛮的、通常是在黑暗之城科摩罗里发现的乌尔-古尔斯，到混沌诸神的扭曲仆从。

Some of the entities encountered within the Blackstone Fortress appear to be native to the space station, their form imitating its angular, interlocking structure. But others are creatures from far-flung corners of the galaxy, from savage Ur-Ghuls usually found in the Dark City of Commorragh, to the twisted servants of the Chaos Gods.

当冒险者与敌人在厅堂中徜徉时，他们总是会不期而遇。随后发生的交火紧张而又残酷，在歼灭共同的敌人之前，冒险者会暂时搁置彼此之间的猜疑和仇怨。战士们会跳到残骸后面寻找掩护，或者躲到地面和墙壁上的壕状缺口中去。当他们的临时盟友转移到有利的阵位上时，他们会在那里打出雹霰一般的掩护火力，或者尝试通过残骸上的间隙包抄狙敌。枪声，榴弹声以及战吼的咆哮声在黑暗的大厅中响彻不已，在战斗结束后，那些倒下的战士会被搜刮的一干二净，他们的武器装备要么就是被幸存者取走，要么就是被要塞本身的折叠建筑吞噬殆尽。

As adventurers and hostiles roam the halls, they invariably cross paths. The ensuing firefights are tense and brutal, with distrust and animosity between the explorers temporarily set aside until the common enemy has been eliminated. Fighters dive for cover behind wreckage or duck into trench-like openings in the floors and walls. From there they lay down hails of covering fire while their make shift allies move to positions of advantage, or attempt to outflank and snipe their foes through gaps in the debris. The sounds of guns, grenades and bellowed war cries thunder through the dark halls, and those fighters who fall are picked clean after battle's end, their wargear either taken by the survivors or consumed by the folding architecture of the fortress itself.

由暴虐领主奥西迪斯·马雷克斯率领的混沌星际战士也许是黑石要塞里所能遇到的最可怕的敌人。目前还不清楚这帮异端阿斯塔特究竟在这座巨大的空间站里藏了多久，不过在要塞周围的星云中尚未发现混沌舰队的踪迹。不过，在黑石要塞里发现了一艘异端阿斯塔特飞船的碎片，在这些碎片上的邪恶祷文中有庆祝卡迪亚陷落的章节片段。绝壁星上的情报贩子得出的结论是，这些玩意是混沌星际战士舰船的一部分，在大裂隙打开之后，它们先是被黑石要塞吸了过来，然后又被吞了下去。

Perhaps the most terrifying enemies encountered within the Blackstone Fortress are the Chaos Space Marines led by the tyrannical Lord Obsidius Mallex. How long these Heretic Astartes have been entombed within the monolithic space station is unclear, but no trace of a Chaos fleet has yet been seen in the nebula surrounding the fortress. However, fragments of a Heretic Astartes ship have been found scattered through the fortress, and amongst the foul litanies inscribed on these fragments are passages celebrating the Fall of Cadia. The information traders of Precipice have concluded that these are parts of the Chaos Space Marines' vessel, which was drawn in and devoured by the Blackstone Fortress after the opening of the Great Rift.

绝壁星上的许多人都认为黑石要塞穿越时空是为了给自己收集邪恶的生物集群。其他人则认为在要塞的厅室中可能嵌宿着能够让它从现实空间、网道甚至亚空间中探取实体的科技造物。目前所知道的就是，黑石要塞会将这些富有攻击性的实体引向那些过墙而入的人，就像免疫系统的端粒体一样，利用他们消灭入侵者。但更加令人不安的是，有证据表明，在缓缓苏醒的时候，堡垒可能会让墙内的人互相残杀，它是在争取时间，为某些尚未实现的目标做准备。

Many on Precipice believe the Blackstone Fortress has travelled across space and time, collecting its vile menagerie of creatures. Others think there may be technologies nested amongst the fortress' chambers that allow it to reach out and pluck entities from realspace, the webway or even the warp. What is known is that the Blackstone Fortress steers these aggressive entities towards those who enter its walls, using them like the particles of an immune system to purge intruaers. But even more disturbing is the evidence that the fortress may be pitting those within its walls against each other while it slowly awakens, biding its time as it prepares for some as yet unrealised purpose.

行商浪人贾努斯·德莱克

Rogue Trader Janus Draik 

行商许可令R38-79N1

Warrant of Trade R38-79N1

数据日志条目：11707d

Datalog Entry：11707d

我第一次探险的准备几近完成。我和绝壁星上的一些住民签下了契约，一起进入要塞冒险。我们的表面动机在任何情况下都显得如此紧密，以至于能够令我们在探险期间暂时放下彼此之间的猜忌。其中的一些人是帝国的同类，而其他的则来自人类曾经在不同阶段与之屈尊合作过的种族，而且还取得了不同程度的成功。这些同盟者既不强大，也不优雅（译者注-2），但他们是不可或缺的。

Preparations for my first expedition are almost complete. I have formed compacts with some of the denizens of Precipice to venture into the fortress together. In each case, our surface motives align closely enough that we can temporarily set aside our mutual mistrust for the duration of an expedition. Some of these individuals are of the Imperial ilk, whereas others are of species that Humanity has deigned to cooperate with at various stages, and with varying degrees of success. These alliances are not robust or elegant, but they are necessary.

通过与情报贩子所进行的大量交易，我从以前的探险队身上汲取了经验教训。【（补充报告）绝壁星上的交易贩子并不像后方星区的那帮家伙一样容易摆布，登站时我必须费点脑筋。】首先，大型冒险团队是无法生存下来的，因为每个磁悬浮舱只能容纳一小撮人，而且没人知道要怎样才能将多个运输舱引导至黑石要塞内部的同一个地点。其次，尽管要塞的内部结构复杂多变，但依然存在着稳定的节点，用当地人的说法即“隐藏的墓穴”，然而尚未有人造访过——至少，活着回来的一个都没有。第三，要塞里的任何东西都不能相信。第三条述论在部分程度上近乎于一种迷信，即黑石要塞能够“看”到要塞里发生的一切，它会主动保护自己最珍贵的宝物。现在我还无法证明这一点是否正确，但我希望自己很快就能做到。

Through considerable commerce with the information traders, I have collected the learnings of previous parties of explorers. <<SIDEBAR> The traders in Precipice are not as pliable as those found in other back-sector outposts. I must maintain my wiles whilst aboard.> Firstly, large venturing groups are inviable, as only a handful of individuals can fit in each maglev chamber, and no one has discerned how to direct multiple transports to the same location within the Blackstone Fortress. Secondly, though the internal structure of the fortress is inconstant, there are stable nodes, known in the local parlance as 'hidden vaults', that have not yet been accessed - at least, not by anyone who has returned alive. Thirdly, nothing within the fortress can be trusted. This third observation is part of an almostsuperstitious belief that the Blackstone Fortress 'sees' all that happens inside its bounds, and that it actively guards its most precious treasures. I cannot yet speak to the validity of this, but I hope that I will soon be able to.

译者注-1：由此看来，在人类帝国，撞到贵族老爷的亚人是要被无礼讨的……

译者注-2：这话真亏得他说得出口……