Daemonology

Stories which explore the supernatural nature of the Warp cannot be interpreted literally, for no rational mind could contain the true and eternally-changing knowledge of unreality. When discussing such tales, we must consider them to be allegorical, filled with the metaphors of?simpler understanding which reveal the greater Truth. Such was explained by the poet Dominicus the Mad, whose work was considered to be entirely a fantasy of the insane until recent events revealed it to hold a kernel of?Truth. Herein follows an exploration of the adapted ideas of Dominicus and other scholars, poets and preachers who have been ridiculed and persecuted over the long millennia, whose unreal works on the ethereal have been vindicated by reality.

我們不能從字面意思上詮釋那些探索亞空間超自然本質(zhì)的故事，因?yàn)槔硇缘男闹菬o法容納非現(xiàn)實(shí)領(lǐng)域那真實(shí)且永恒變化著的知識。在討論這些傳說時(shí)，我們必須考慮到它們是預(yù)言性的，其中充滿了隱喻，簡單的理解揭示出的是某些更深刻的真相。這也解釋了名為“瘋子多米尼蘇斯”的詩人的作品，他的作品一度被認(rèn)為是純粹的瘋狂幻想，直到最近的事件才揭示出其中蘊(yùn)含著的真相內(nèi)核。下文中是對于瘋子多米尼蘇斯和其他數(shù)千年來一直遭到嘲諷與迫害的學(xué)者、詩人和傳教士們被改編觀點(diǎn)的探究，他們關(guān)于亞空間的奇異著作已經(jīng)被現(xiàn)實(shí)情況所證實(shí)。

Within every man, woman and child resides a soul. Such a statement is a heresy against the Imperial Truth, but is known to be true. The nature of?the soul has been the debate of scholars for millennia. It is believed that from this soul our thoughts, feelings and inspirations come; that the soul is the very root of?sentience. The souls of?Mankind are flickering beacons in the Immaterium, and like moths to a flame they draw the attentions of the aethertropic organisms which exist in the Warp. These harmless shades are pulled to us by the echoes of?human emotions in the void. The brightest souls, those of psykers, accumulate around them swarms of these flitting creatures and, drawn by those fluttering swarms of shadows, the bat-winged predators of?darkest night come to feast.

每個(gè)男人、女人和孩童體內(nèi)都有一具靈魂。這是違背帝國真理的異端邪說，但我們知道這是真實(shí)的。學(xué)者們已經(jīng)為靈魂的本質(zhì)爭論了數(shù)千年，人們相信思想、感受和靈感都來自于靈魂，靈魂是知覺的最初根源。人類的靈魂在非物質(zhì)宇宙中是閃爍的燈塔，它們吸引著存在于亞空間中的以太質(zhì)生物的注意力，就像燈火吸引飛蛾一般。人類情緒在虛空中的回響將這些無害的陰影拉向我們。其中最明亮的是靈能者們的靈魂，這些靈魂身邊聚集著成群翻飛著的生物，而這些成群飄動著的陰影也會吸引最黑暗的夜色中背生蝙蝠雙翼的掠食者們前來饜享。

The oldest bargains of Mankind involved the trading of?souls. The exchange, often in the form of a sacrifice, was intended to earn the favourable intervention of the gods. Tribal peoples of?Old Earth sacrificed animals to deities, believing that their lives, too, imparted some measure of the essence which their deities desired. This may be true, though it is now believed that it is the act of?worship inherent to such a gesture that aligns a soul to the sentience within the Warp. Those in more dire need, or who greedily desired greater power, sacrificed their fellow men, hoping to attain richer boons from the gods, and though they knew it not, their prayers were directed to the supernatural entities of?the Warp. These creatures are capricious, however, and only serve the purposes of Mankind for their own gain, the worshipping of believers often going unrewarded, to the amusement of dark powers. The vile kingdoms of the foulest hungering powers within the Warp, those sometimes called the gods of Chaos, are built upon the ethereal strength of the souls they hold sway over. In the Empyrean, the soul is the only unit of value, constituting both power and sustenance. For this reason, the Warp can also be known as the Sea of?Souls.

人類最古老的交易中就包括靈魂交易。這種交易通常是以獻(xiàn)祭的形式進(jìn)行，目的在于得到諸神的垂青。古地球的部落民會向神祇獻(xiàn)祭動物，他們相信獻(xiàn)出生命能供奉出神明們所渴望的某些本質(zhì)。這可能是事實(shí)，不過現(xiàn)在我們相信崇拜行為固有于這種將靈魂對齊亞空間內(nèi)意識體的過程。而那些有更為急切的需求或貪圖更強(qiáng)大力量的人會獻(xiàn)祭自己的人類同胞，以期獲得神明更為優(yōu)厚的恩惠，但他們并不知道自己的祈禱對象是亞空間的超自然實(shí)體。這些生物反復(fù)無常，而且只是為了自己的利益才服務(wù)于人類的目標(biāo)，（所以）信徒們的祈禱通常會毫無收獲，淪為黑暗大能們的娛樂消遣。亞空間中最為腐壞邪惡的饑渴大能們有時(shí)也被稱為混沌諸神，他們邪惡恐怖的王國建立于他們所支配的靈魂的以太力量之上。在至高天中，靈魂是唯一的價(jià)值單位，它們構(gòu)成了（亞空間實(shí)體的）力量和養(yǎng)料。

Through our ancestors’?successful sacrifices and the prayers of?early religions, some creatures of the Warp, those with the most predatory intelligence, aligned themselves to the fates of Mankind and the other sentient species of?the galaxy. The sacrifices of?the religious, be it through ritual, warfare or murder came to nourish these entities and transfer a measure of?sentience to them, teaching them to draw ever closer to the bright flicker of?the souls of Mankind. So attuned, the ripples of our every strong emotion in the Warp, be it fear, fury, lust or grief became a morsel for these entities. So too have our emotions and desires - be they light or dark 一 that we as a species have projected into the aether for millennia, shaped the aspect and demeanour of these entities. And as they drew close, we came to know them, and we attributed them a name common to the fears of many of Mankind's ancient faiths: Daemon.

通過我們祖先的成功獻(xiàn)祭和早期宗教的崇拜，某些掠食智力最強(qiáng)的亞空間生物親自干涉了人類與銀河系中其他智慧種族的命運(yùn)。無論是通過儀式、戰(zhàn)爭還是謀殺，宗教獻(xiàn)祭都教導(dǎo)亞空間生物們愈發(fā)接近人類閃爍的靈魂。這種關(guān)系是如此協(xié)調(diào)，我們的每一種強(qiáng)烈情緒——無論是恐懼、憤怒、欲望還是悲傷在在亞空間中泛起的漣漪，都成為這些實(shí)體的一小部分。我們作為一個(gè)種族在數(shù)千年中投射在以太界中的情緒和欲望也是如此，無論這些情緒欲望是光正的還是黑暗的，他們都塑造了這些實(shí)體的外觀和舉止。而隨著他們靠近人類，我們也開始了解它們，并且用諸多古老的人類信仰中的恐怖生物命名它們：惡魔。

The Theology of the Damned

詛咒神學(xué)

Those amongst the learned know that there is little clear distinction between the real and unreal 一 they are a continuum with but a thin veil drawn between them. Those keen enough to realise this Truth have, throughout Mankind's history, been labelled deranged and been cloistered in asylums. One such person was Empyreal scholar Alana Sellius. Found among her papers is conjecture gathered from her research into the tales of?voyagers of?the Warp. These papers, which are assumed responsible for Sellius' insanity, attribute every emotion a certain flavour, and state that Daemons come to prefer some tastes over others. The more extreme the emotion, the more pressing the hunger of the Daemon: rage more piquant than mere anger, and unbridled lust a more tender morsel than simple desire. Though at the time of her writing these were dismissed as the delusions of a broken mind, she goes on to explain that as Daemons align around these common emotions, they take on the characteristics of their favoured palate. As they gather and amalgamate, their shared essence and combined power is what we might consider the realms and gods within the Warp. This analogy is useful when considering, through the lens of various cultures, why the notion that the power of gods and their realms are shifting and in constant struggle and competition with one another over the souls of Mankind.

研究亞空間的學(xué)者明白：現(xiàn)實(shí)和非現(xiàn)實(shí)之間幾乎沒有明顯的區(qū)別——它們是一個(gè)連續(xù)體，彼此之間僅有一層薄薄的紗幕。在人類的整個(gè)歷史中，那些敏銳到足夠意識到這一真理的人都被打上了瘋子的標(biāo)簽，并被隔離監(jiān)禁起來。其中之一就是亞空間學(xué)者阿蘭娜 塞留斯，我們在其論文中發(fā)現(xiàn)了她對于亞空間航行的事例進(jìn)行研究后所得出的推測。這些被判定要對阿蘭娜的精神失常負(fù)責(zé)的論文認(rèn)為每種情緒都有一種獨(dú)特的口味，聲稱惡魔對于某些口味情緒的偏好勝過其他。越是極端的情感越能勾起惡魔的饑餓：狂怒比純粹的憤怒更加辛辣開胃，肆無忌憚的貪婪也比簡單的欲望更鮮嫩一些。雖然在她寫下這些文章時(shí)，這些論點(diǎn)被誤解為她因精神崩潰而產(chǎn)生的妄想，但她繼續(xù)解釋：惡魔們排列在共同的情緒周圍，他們也會呈現(xiàn)出自己偏好的口味的特質(zhì)。隨著它們聚集并混合起來，他們共有的本質(zhì)與合并的力量就是可能被我們視為亞空間中的領(lǐng)域與諸神的存在。當(dāng)我們觀察各種文化，思考為何（各種傳說中）神明的力量和領(lǐng)域是在不斷變化的，以及他們?yōu)楹尾粩啾舜藸帄Z人類的靈魂時(shí)，這套神學(xué)理論是很有用的。

Her writings go on to expound that the so- called gods, or ruinous powers, are actually amoral in their truest form; they are acts of nature, likened as to the storms of inclement weather which gather in Terra's troposphere. These sentient storms harbour no malignant intent, but travel freely upon invisible currents of psychic force. Occasionally, these pressure waves collide, manifesting a Daemon as if from a bolt of?lightning, and although such a creature is highly dangerous, its actions are random and are not in themselves motivated by malice. Sellius claims that Daemons do not harbour ill- intent, but can be directed to do harm in the same manner as lightning can be caged and then called forth from a weapon to destroy.

阿蘭娜的著作繼續(xù)闡述所謂的諸神或者說毀滅大能在最本質(zhì)的層面上是無從區(qū)分善惡是非的：它們是自然現(xiàn)象，就像聚集在泰拉對流層惡劣天氣中的風(fēng)暴一般。這些有感知能力的風(fēng)暴們并非心懷惡意去進(jìn)行刻意毀滅，而是乘著靈能力量的無形潮流自由旅行。偶爾這些波潮互相碰撞便會顯現(xiàn)出一只惡魔，宛如風(fēng)暴撞擊摩擦就會形成閃電一般。雖然這類生物極其危險(xiǎn)，但它的行為是隨機(jī)的，其活動自身也并非出于惡意。阿蘭娜聲稱惡魔們并無惡意，但它們可以被引導(dǎo)去引發(fā)傷害，手法與將閃電困住并將之從武器中召喚出來用以破壞目標(biāo)相同。

Her radical theology argues that, because these similarities are shared throughout so many cults and religions which were encountered during the Great Crusade, it lends them credence. The concept of an afterlife too is a galactic constant, though, as per Sellius' notes, a soul simply drifts in the Warp after death until a passing Daemon takes a liking to its essence and devours it. It would Appear that all of these practices of worship point to the evocation of the same deities, and of a unified spiritual understanding common to all of humanity. With religion, we may have been able to reconcile the horrific occurrences experienced in Warp travel because of?the soothing teachings of?faith. Therefore, she argues, religion itself may have played a pivotal role in the development of Mankind as a species capable of braving the cosmos, providing us with a common goal: to unite and collaborate in a journey (or even a 'pilgrimage', the apocryphal term favoured by Sellius), to meet the gods in their domain among the stars. She further posits that religion may have had the benefit of simplifying matters, of?giving humanity a balm with which to soothe the madness of the knowledge that Daemons exist. If such holds true then the conclusion to be drawn from such theology is that we are as a species more vulnerable to the predations of?Daemons due to the atheism of our Truth.

阿蘭娜激進(jìn)的神學(xué)理論聲稱：由于帝國在整個(gè)大遠(yuǎn)征時(shí)期遇到的諸多教派和宗教共享著某些相似性，所以它們是可信的。來世這一概念在銀河系中同樣常見，不過根據(jù)阿蘭娜的理論，人死后靈魂僅僅是在亞空間中飄動，直到某只路過惡魔喜好其本質(zhì)并將它吞噬。這套理論指出：所以的祈禱行為都是在呼喚相同的神明，指向的是全部人類所共有的統(tǒng)一精神理解。經(jīng)由宗教，我們或許能夠調(diào)和在亞空間旅行中所經(jīng)歷的可怕事件，因?yàn)樾叛鰩в袚嵛拷虒?dǎo)的作用。由此，阿蘭娜聲稱：在人類和其他所有能夠勇敢探索宇宙的種族的發(fā)展歷程中，宗教本身可能都扮演了一個(gè)關(guān)鍵性的角色，給他們提供了一個(gè)共同的目標(biāo)：團(tuán)結(jié)起來，相互合作，進(jìn)行一場前往群星間的圣域面見神明的旅行（甚至“朝圣”，塞留斯偏好這個(gè)虛構(gòu)的詞匯）。她進(jìn)一步假設(shè)宗教可能具有使問題簡化的好處，宗教給予了人類一份（精神上的）鎮(zhèn)痛香膏，緩和人類因得知惡魔存在而產(chǎn)生的瘋狂。倘若這一切都是真實(shí)的，那我們從這套神學(xué)理論中可以提取出這樣的結(jié)論：由于我們視無神論為真理，所以我們在面對惡魔的捕獵時(shí)是一個(gè)更為脆弱的種族。

Manifestations and Incursions

（惡魔的）顯現(xiàn)與入侵

Daemons take many forms, as we know from the accounts of travellers of the Warp, and the survivors of the Age of Darkness. In the immaterial realm they are amorphous and ever-changing. When they manifest in corporeal reality, Daemons absorb material around them to display shapes which invariably cause revulsion and fear in those who behold them. These forms are categorised as their 'Daemonic Emanations', and are not limited to what the human mind can imagine. Indeed, the human eye may be an inadequately crude instrument with which to behold such abominable creatures, and survivors of minor Daemonic incursions have spoken less of the visual Appearance of?the Daemon than of their pervasive, putrid, rotting-meat stench and the feeling of?cold dread they inspire. Much like their aspect, their motion too is unnatural and does not scan by the laws of physical movement we would naturally expect a living creature to uphold; jerking between flickering bursts of speed and glacial sloth.

我們從亞空間旅行者和黑暗年代幸存者的報(bào)告中得知：惡魔的形體繁多。它們在非物質(zhì)宇宙中是不定形且永恒變化著的。當(dāng)他們在實(shí)體宇宙中顯現(xiàn)時(shí)，惡魔們會吸收自己周邊的物質(zhì)以顯露出身形，而這些外形總是會讓那些看到它們的人感到反感和恐懼。這些形體被分類為它們的“惡魔散射體”，而且這些形體并不受限于人類的想象力。事實(shí)上，人類的雙眼作為觀察這些可憎生物的工具還是過于精密了，少數(shù)惡魔入侵事件所留下的幸存者們能講出的與其說是惡魔的外表，不如說是它們彌散出的腐肉臭味和惡魔所引發(fā)的寒意。而且惡魔的行動也大致如同他們的外表那樣是非自然，并不遵循我們認(rèn)為生物應(yīng)當(dāng)遵守的那些物理法則，動作就是在極快和極慢之間進(jìn)行抽搐。

For indeterminate reasons, the Emanations commonly take the form of bestial limbs and crude ancient human weaponry, or else mimic the immediate horrors of the environment into which they are born, fusing their nascent corposant with both inanimate matter and flesh in hideous ways. It seems also that Daemons Appear to swell in size with the glut of energy they contain as they leave the Warp, able to Appear as vast, hab-sized behemoths of twisted flesh or brutish hulks of writhing ectoplasm that can smash aside a Predator tank, though it is impossible to ascertain if?their size implies any form of?hierarchy or is simply a coincidence of?the conditions of?their manifestation. It is believed also by the insane that Daemons take on altering aspects depending on their place in some vast pantheon or some tiered dominion within the Warp, though this is beyond the knowing of any sane human mind. Those practiced in the arcane, however, do suggest that it may be possible to influence or manipulate the form in which a Daemon may manifest, through rituals of an entirely esoteric nature.

由于某些不確定的原因，惡魔散射體通常會呈現(xiàn)出擁有野獸肢體和古代人類武器的形體，或者是模仿出他們所誕生的環(huán)境附近某些可怖之物，以可怕的方式將無生命的物質(zhì)和肉體融合成他們那圣火般的新生軀體。在離開亞空間時(shí)，惡魔們的體積似乎會因體內(nèi)所保存的過剩能量而膨脹，形體呈現(xiàn)為扭曲血肉所構(gòu)成的巨大惡獸或扭曲外質(zhì)所構(gòu)成的兇殘巨人，體積大到能將掠食者坦克撞到一邊，但我們無法確定它們的大小是否意味著任何形式的層次結(jié)構(gòu)，或僅僅是它們顯現(xiàn)條件所造成的巧合。發(fā)瘋的人們也相信惡魔會根據(jù)它們在某個(gè)巨大的神殿或亞空間中的某些分層領(lǐng)域中所處的位置而改變外貌，但這超出了理智者們的理解范疇。不過，那些修習(xí)過奧術(shù)的人也明確表示可以通過某些完全神秘的儀式對惡魔可能的出現(xiàn)形式進(jìn)行可能的影響和操縱。

There have been psykers since humanity's earliest days, and as the incidence of the psychic mutation has grown over the millennia, so too has grown the incidences of?Daemonic incursions. There are many ways in which Daemons can breach the borders of?reality to become tangible, manifest horrors. Indeed, Mankind's first material contact with Daemons may have been entirely accidental. The use of psychic power pulls energy from the Warp and can draw a Daemon with it unintentionally. The more unrestrained the psyker, as we often see in the untrained psykers hunted by the Sisters of Silence, the greater the pull on the other side. Daemons are drawn towards the flaring brightness of?a soul in the Empyrean, and in their hunger they clamour to push through into our world and devour that soul and all others.

靈能者在人類的早期歷史中就已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)，而在數(shù)千年的時(shí)間里，隨著靈能變異的發(fā)生率上漲，惡魔入侵的發(fā)生頻次也在增加。惡魔有很多突破現(xiàn)實(shí)邊界來化為恐怖實(shí)體的手段，事實(shí)上，人類與惡魔的第一次物理接觸可能完全是偶然的。對于靈能力量的使用會把能量從亞空間中抽出，并無意地將惡魔吸引過來。越是放縱的靈能者——就像我們經(jīng)?？吹降哪切┍患澎o修女們追捕的未受訓(xùn)練的靈能者，在另一邊的世界中產(chǎn)生的吸引力就越強(qiáng)。惡魔們被至高天中靈魂閃爍的光芒所吸引，這些饑餓的生物嚎叫著沖入我們的世界，吞噬掉靈魂和其他一切。

Daemons can also be manifested by those desirous of their power through an arcane rite of summoning. Mankind has, through morbid curiosity, been drawn to the substance of the Warp and the allure of?its power since time immemorial. Over the ages, Mankind's sorcerers learned and refined their knowledge until, in hubris, they thought to control the powers of the Warpunleashing the horrors of?Old Night. The stories from this time, preserved by the Sigillite's historical arcanists, speak of the many methods of summoning and subjugating Daemons as slaves of?darkness to undertake the bidding of their arcane masters. Invariably, these tales end in disaster. What we can glean from them however is that summoned Daemons are inherently weaker than their kin in the Warp, for their power is derived from the quality and quantity of sacrifices made in trade for their manifestation. These summoned Daemons are then subdued, either through etheric rites or a focussing relic such as an arcane cornerstone. They may also be implanted into a person, pushing out the soul (or offering it to be consumed) to be replaced by the Daemon, in a form of summoning known as possession. This is considered to be relatively safer, as the destruction of the vessel would banish the Daemon within. Additional sacrifices and rituals of?binding are required to stop the Daemon from rebelling and escaping back into the Warp, and these too weaken it.

渴望亞空間生物力量的人們也能通過召喚惡魔的秘術(shù)儀式讓它們現(xiàn)形。自從無法追憶的遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)期，人類就由于某些病態(tài)的好奇心而被亞空間的實(shí)質(zhì)所吸引。歲月更迭，人類巫師們學(xué)習(xí)和完善著他們學(xué)識，直到他們傲慢地自認(rèn)為控制住了亞空間的力量，結(jié)果釋放出了舊夜中的恐怖之物。掌印者（麾下）的歷史術(shù)士們保管著源自舊夜的故事，這些故事講述了諸多召喚并制服惡魔以使之成為黑暗奴仆去執(zhí)行自己術(shù)士主子命令的手段，而這些傳說也一貫是以災(zāi)難做結(jié)。不過我們也可以從這些中收集到一個(gè)信息：這些被召喚（到現(xiàn)實(shí)中）的惡魔天生就比他們在亞空間中的同胞們?nèi)跣?，因?yàn)樗鼈兊牧α縼碜杂糜诮粨Q他們現(xiàn)形的祭品的數(shù)量和質(zhì)量，之后這些惡魔會被召喚者用神秘儀式或者諸如奧術(shù)柱石之類的聚集（能量）圣物制服住。惡魔們也可能會被植入一個(gè)人類的體內(nèi)，原有的靈魂會被惡魔推擠出（或被惡魔吞噬），肉體被惡魔所奪舍，這種召喚方式被稱為附魔。附魔被認(rèn)為是一種相對安全的手段，因?yàn)榇輾лd體就能放逐其中的惡魔。要阻止惡魔背叛或逃回亞空間的話，就需獻(xiàn)上額外的祭品和綁定儀式，而這樣也會削弱惡魔。

It was once believed that a Daemon must be summoned through ritual and incantation, even accidental incursions being caused by an untrained psyker stumbling upon some spell, and that the Daemon has no agency of its own; the very act of summoning causing its creation, allowing it to exist only for a short time before withering into the ether. In Ultramar, the Word Bearers performed the ritual of the Ruinstorm which dispelled that belief. This ritual gathered exceptional power through the sacrifice of millions of?souls and the promise of billions more over the course of the Horus Heresy, and indeed in some symbolic fashion the sacrifice of the unrealised potential of?the ambitions of Ultramar. With it, the Diabolists of the XVIIth Legion sought, by creating a great warp storm, to confound Loyalist reprisals.

我們曾經(jīng)相信必須通過儀式或咒語來召喚惡魔，哪怕是未受訓(xùn)靈能者引發(fā)的偶然入侵也是（因?yàn)椋┡既话l(fā)現(xiàn)了某些咒語，而且惡魔也沒有自己的代理；召喚行為使惡魔的現(xiàn)形，只允許惡魔們在消失進(jìn)入亞空間之前短暫存在于現(xiàn)實(shí)中。但懷言者軍團(tuán)在奧特拉瑪進(jìn)行的毀滅風(fēng)暴儀式打消了我們的這一看法。通過獻(xiàn)祭數(shù)百萬靈魂并且承諾在荷魯斯叛亂的過程中追加獻(xiàn)祭數(shù)十億祭品，這次儀式聚集起了異常（龐大）的力量，也確實(shí)以某種象征性的方式犧牲了奧特拉瑪完成尚未實(shí)現(xiàn)的雄心壯志的潛力。第十七軍團(tuán)的惡魔術(shù)士們試圖通過制造出強(qiáng)烈的亞空間風(fēng)暴來阻止忠誠派的報(bào)復(fù)。

Whether by accident or design, they also eroded the border of reality until it was gossamer thin. Able to push through this thinned veil of their own accord, Daemons in all of their unadulterated horror were able to manifest en-masse. These 'Ruinstom'?Daemons were not constrained by the bindings of sorcery, ritual or sacrificial power. They were not at all safe, controllable or predictable. These were the untamed?malice of the Warp unleashed on an unprepared galaxy.

無論有意還是無意，懷言者們的行為也侵蝕了現(xiàn)實(shí)的邊界，直到邊界變得像游絲一樣脆弱。（現(xiàn)在）惡魔們能夠自行推開這層薄紗般的邊界，這些純粹恐懼的生物能夠集中現(xiàn)形。這些“毀滅風(fēng)暴”惡魔們并不受到巫術(shù)、儀式或獻(xiàn)祭力量綁定的束縛，它們根本就不安全、不可控和不可預(yù)測。這就是亞空間向這個(gè)未做好準(zhǔn)備的銀河所釋放出的殘忍惡意。

Appearing from tears in realspace, drawn of their own volition by the promise of?souls on which to feast, the Daemons of the Ruinstorm brought untold ruin upon the worlds of the Imperium. These mass manifestations, or incursions as they became known, Appeared with little warning, although sometimes were heralded by a surge in the tides of the Warp, sensed only by psykers, who are a mistrusted breed at the best of?times. No two recorded incursions are alike, though many share common expressions of esoteric phenomenon; such as the darkening of midday skies, the barking of?hounds, and fires burning more fiercely and in flames of unnatural colours. Incursions could be accompanied by howling winds carrying screaming voices, anguished faces Appearing in clouds of dust, raging floods and sudden, catastrophic tectonic activity. Daemons could Appear as if from thin air, fall from space in their hundreds or march out from the maddening glow of portals to the unfiltered Warp.

饜享靈魂的許諾吸引了毀滅風(fēng)暴的惡魔們，它們自行從現(xiàn)實(shí)宇宙的裂隙中現(xiàn)身，給帝國世界帶去了難以言述的毀滅。這種大規(guī)模的惡魔現(xiàn)形或者說入侵幾乎沒有警告，不過有些時(shí)候也會產(chǎn)生某些只能被靈能者們感知到的亞空間潮涌作為預(yù)兆，但這些靈能者即便在最好的情況下也是不被信任的。沒有哪兩次被記錄的入侵是相似的，但很多入侵事件中都有著共同的神秘現(xiàn)象：比如正午天空變得黑暗，傳來猛犬的吠叫聲，出現(xiàn)燃燒的更為猛烈并且呈現(xiàn)出不自然色澤的火焰。惡魔入侵會伴隨著夾雜了尖叫聲的風(fēng)暴、出現(xiàn)痛苦面龐的煙塵云、狂暴的洪水已經(jīng)突然且災(zāi)難般的地殼活動。惡魔們的出現(xiàn)方式宛如從稀薄的空氣中鉆出：成百上千的惡魔從太空中降落到星球上，或者從閃爍著令人發(fā)狂的光芒的傳送門中涌出。

The Daemons of the Ruinstorm are beings of unrestrained predacity, which recall our ancestral memories of?the caves on Old Earth where we helplessly cowered in fear from antediluvian megafauna. It is believed that for every moment they are removed from the Warp, these Daemons weaken, though they may sustain themselves by absorbing into their matter the souls of?those whom they kill. Daemons Appearing from the Ruinstorm were witnessed to fall upon the citizens of the Imperium with wild ferocity, tearing open their bodies and feasting on their essence, causing terror and inflicting destruction until such a time as they could no longer remain cohesive in our reality; fading back into the Warp. The Daemons of the Ruinstorm are the very horrors of unplumbed space, they are the avatars of the Primordial Annihilator, and to speak openly and frequently of them courts madness.

毀滅風(fēng)暴惡魔是不受拘束的掠食者，它們喚起了人類在古地球洞穴中的遠(yuǎn)古記憶：我們無助地懼怕著那些上古的巨獸。我們相信：盡管惡魔可能靠著吸收被殺死獵物的靈魂來維持自身，但它們在剛剛離開亞空間時(shí)也是脆弱的。出現(xiàn)在毀滅風(fēng)暴中的惡魔們被目擊到兇殘野蠻地降落到帝國的民眾當(dāng)中，它們扯開人類的身體，飽食人類的靈魂，它們制造恐懼、散播破壞，直到它們無法在我們的現(xiàn)實(shí)宇宙中保持形體為止，之后它們就會返回亞空間。毀滅風(fēng)暴惡魔是來自無盡空間的極度恐怖之物，他們是原初毀滅者的化身，公開且頻繁地談?wù)撍鼈兙蜁斐莎偪瘛?/p>