2e<Men1.p003>第1章：幽暗地域中的卓爾城市Drow Cities of the Underdark
出版時間：1992/12
校對：艾思哲
幽暗地域中的卓爾城市Drow Cities of the Underdark
這是一個深埋在地表人類熟知的「陽光普照之諸國度The Realms That See The Sun」之下的另一個世界，廣漠寬大、無法無天。這是一片危機四伏的荒野，包括黑暗的洞窟、深暗的裂縫和迷宮般的通道：它便是 地底諸國度The Realms Below，浩瀚而神秘的 幽暗地域Underdark。沒有地表冒險者曾窺遍它的所有深度和角落。那些並不在地表棲息的野獸仍潛伏在未知的角落——對倖存的探險家們來說，已知的危險已夠糟糕了！
There is a world beneath the world humans know—a vast, lawless land under The Realms That See The Sun. It is a perilous wilderland of dark caverns, crevices, and labyrinthine passages: The Realms Below, the vast and mysterious Underdark. No surface adventurer has seen all itsdepths and corners. Beasts that nosurface-dweller yet knows of lurk in itslightless depths—and surviving explorerssay the known dangers are bad enough!
對粗心大意（或者僅僅已經絕望）的幽暗地域旅行者來說，城市似乎便是黑暗中躲避厄運的避難所。畢竟，城市意味著繁華的生活——食物、工具、以及可能的援助。
To the unwary (or merely desperate) traveler in the Underdark, a city mayseem a refuge from creeping doom in the darkness. It holds, after all, bustling life—with food, tools, and perhaps aid.
但事實可能並非如此。在地下，即便是那些善良生物（如矮人、侏儒、掘墓人thaalud 和斯涅布力侏儒）也往往（正確地）以懷疑的眼神看待外來者。其他的城市居民包括（其中包括僅僅只是讓人厭惡的種族，如禍蚊jermlaine）諸國度最邪惡、最危險的種族：寇濤魚人、杜爾加矮人、靈吸怪、斗篷怪、以及其中影響最廣泛的卓爾（即黑暗精靈）。
Perhaps not. Even the good beings of the depths, dwarves, gnomes, thaalud, and svirfneblin, tend to be (rightfully) suspicious of intruders. Other city-dwellers include (among merely nasty folk, such as jermlaine) the most evil and dangerous races of the Realms: kuo-toa, duergar, illithids, cloakers, and most far-reaching of all, drow, the dark elves.
這個致命種族的關鍵指南是《幽暗地域的卓爾Drow of the Underdark》一書。地下城主可以結合它以及《怪物綱要Monstrous Compendium》卷2中「精靈，卓爾Elf, Drow」條目來熟悉卓爾精靈的「基本概念」。然而，如果這位地下城主想要理解這一種族非凡的力量與影響力，就必須了解一座卓爾的城市。
The essential guide to this deadly race is the sourcebook Drow of the Underdark. A DM familiar with it and the "Elf, Drow" entry in Volume 2 of the Monstrous Compendium knows drow "basics." To understand the unusual power and influence of drow, however, one must see a drow city.
在這些殘酷、不斷交戰的卓爾中，生活會是什麼模樣可以從 R.A.薩爾瓦多R.A. Salvatore 的 被遺忘的國度®FORGOTTEN REALMS® 系列小說《故土Homeland》和《流亡Exile》一窺，但如果想讓一座卓爾城市鮮活起來，還需要更多：比如這套盒裝書。
Something of what life is like amid the cruel, ever-warring drow can be gleaned from the FORGOTTEN REALMS® novels Homeland and Exile by R.A. Salvatore, but bringing a drow city to life needs more:this boxed set.
在本集的三本書中，本冊是關於 魔索布萊城Menzoberranzan（一座中等規模的重要卓爾城市）的指南，（對大部分地表人來說，謝天謝地的是！）從最近的地表通道前往需要1周的旅程。同套的其它書則詳述了城市的貴族家族和冒險的點子。
Of the set's three books, this tome is a guide to Menzoberranzan, a drow city of middling size and importance that is (thank fully to most surface folk!) a week's travel from the nearest surface connection. Companion books detail its nobles and suggest adventures.
我們在約40座已知的卓爾城市中，選擇了魔索布萊城作為探討對象，這是因為它是著名的 崔斯特·杜堊登Drizzt Do'Urden（其人詳述於本套裝集的第二冊，其數據的更新來自《英雄殿堂Hall of Heroes》）。讓我們審視一下他從中一躍而出的這團詭異、嚴酷、有時又燦爛奪目的邪惡糞坑，這將會告訴我們卓爾如何成為諸國度一支強權——並打開那道通向在卓爾統治的幽暗地域展開生動冒險的大門。
We’ve explored Menzoberranzan, of the forty or so known drow cities, because it is the birth place of the famous Drizzt Do'Urden (himself detailed in Book II of this boxed set, his statistics updated from Hall of Heroes). A look at the strange, harsh, and at times splendid cesspool of evil from which he sprang shows how drow became a power in the Realms—and unlocks the door to vivid adventures in the drow-ruled Underdark.
你可以用這套書創建任何地下卓爾城市，從改變其布局、到貴族家族的名字和NPC的詳述、以及貿易利益與居民總體目標。
This set can be used to create any subterranean drow city by changing the layout, the names and detailed NPCs of the noble Houses, and the trade interests and overall aims of the inhabitants.
將對羅絲無處不在的崇拜（魔索布萊人稱之為「羅斯Lloth」）替換為羅絲、關納德Ghaunadaur、維倫Vhaeraun 之間的緊張競爭，你就得到了 艾瑞德林城Eryndlyn，這是一座位於 至高荒原The High Moor 中某處隱藏洞穴的城市，與 劍灣Sword Coast 進行著貿易。若改為純關納德信仰（加上對黏怪、果凍怪和軟泥怪的崇敬和培育），你就得到了 魯爾斯·德雷爾城Llurth Dreier，一座有40000卓爾精靈人口的城市，統治著位於 夏亞The Shaar 地下、矮人的 深地王國The Deep Realm（詳述於《矮人深地Dwarves Deep》）西北的廣闊真菌農場洞窟。若由巫師統治，讓女祭司降為次一級的權力者，你就得到了位於 遠丘The Far Hills 地下某處的魔法物品貿易城市 沙瑪斯城Sshamath。閱讀本書，找尋冒險！
Change the all-pervasive worship of Lolth ("Lloth" to Menzoberranyr) to atense rivalry between worshippers of Lolth, Ghaunadaur, and Vhaeraun, and you have Eryndlyn, a city that trades with the Sword Coast from hidden caves somewhere in The High Moor. Change it to the worship of Ghaunadaur only (with reverence and breeding of slimes, jellies, an doozes) and you have Llurth Dreier, a city of 400,000 drow ruling vast fungi-farm caverns under The Shaar, northwest of The Deep Realm of the dwarves (detailed in Dwarves Deep). Let mages rule, reducing priestesses to minor power, and you have the magical item-trading city of Sshamath, somewhere beneath The Far Hills. Readon, and find adventure!
_強顯目錄_