Item: 9342
Containment Protocols (Updated 15/07/2007): Item 9342 must be completely and irreversibly sealed.
The chains affixed to Item 9342 must be constantly monitored and replaced if failure is imminent. At no time can there be less than 49 chains attached to the Item for any reason.
The sigils throughout Item 9342/A must be routinely checked, maintained, and repaired as necessary. Proposed additions must be reviewed and approved by at least three Level 4 or above Department of Thaumaturgy personnel.
Description: Item 9342 is an ironstone slab obstructing a 90cm by 200cm doorway in the central chamber of Item 9342/A, a semi-artificial subterranean network south-west of Stuttgart, Germany.
Item 9342 is engraved with the word ‘RETRACTARE’1 and was formerly connected to the wall opposite it by seven chains comprised of an anomalous alloy; three were broken on discovery and the remaining four were visibly failing, indicating Item 9342 was being pulled outward by a constant, steady force. All chains were replaced with non-anomalous approximations.
The surfaces throughout Item 9342/A are engraved with dormant thaumaturgic sigils; if activated, the sigils are predicted to pull Item 9342 shut with a force of approximately 1072 Joules.2
Attempts to non-invasively image the area behind Item 9342 fail to receive any data passing through a plane 20cm behind the front surface, or otherwise depict the Item as coterminous with the surrounding stone. There is insufficient clearance to insert probes between the Item and doorframe without damaging either.
Addendum 1: Item 9342 was discovered during investigations into a Young Codex Text passage, partially reconstructed from the following:
There are two great sources called Abenet and Muasada; their water is endless, but bitter and harsh. When mixed they are sweet, and give might to all that drinks; where the sources mix they become the river Unuthoth. Ages ago the water of Unuthoth flowed endlessly into […]
— Damaged phonograph recording of an Unendamubi oral legend (1916).
BANQUO
A potter’s jar with bitter water seal’d,
and tale’d wandering through lands of old.
A ruse; a fount of Erthot concealed
by king, but found and water drawn unmixed.
So bitter taste ‘til other found to add
and temper both.ANTONIO
And pray he thinks not ask for both?BANQUO
The one you have, but he with wellspring jar
spoke not of where it was nor offered it.
To seek is foolish; for guard bizarre
bids none to find the fount unless the taste
of waters mixed they know before the act.— The Tradgedie of Antonio, Psuedo-Shakespeare (1704), Act III Scene 6.
[…] stopping was not yet fast; and as Evö went it came undone, and the waters of Urthothr spilled once again.
There the land bowed, lest the sweet waters spill north into the Great River and swept into the North Ocean; lest they spill south upon the bones of Ymir, and they grow yet mightier in size; lest they spill west into the forest of Abnoba, and give might to the vengeful jötunn within.
The land bowed to cradle the waters of Urthothr; and it became strong and long-lasting, and ever after yields luscious crops and fruitful vine.
— ‘The Tale Of Evö’, Norse Legends: A Comprehensive Guide To Viking Mythology, (2018), 3rd edn.
[…] the cork was bound with seven bindings. Many other rare and powerful marvels are there hidden in the Ertoth, and the cask is with them. For ages and ages they have not been found, and will not be; not unless the watch lessens, and the bindings break, and the cork is removed; only then the casked Ertoth will be found.
Those who want Ertoth to flow will find their joy beyond the cork; those who want to master it will have their golden sword;3 those who drink of it will want nothing else.
— Direct translation of the Young Codex Text by Francesco Kircher (1653); accuracy is dubious.4
Addendum 2:
On 07/07/2007, a test was conducted to open Item 93425 under controlled conditions.
VIDEO LOG
00:00: Footage begins; Item 9342 is centre frame. Researchers move about checking equipment.
02:16: All staff exit view. Four winches attached to one side activate, slowly opening the Item away from the camera.
05:32: The winches stop. A figure wearing a tethered harness approaches, aiming a handheld camera at the opening.
06:12: The winches resume.
08:23: The gap widens enough for the handheld camera to see through unobstructed.
12:08: The winches stop, leaving a half-metre gap.
Researcher (off-screen): Get the camera in there so we can see.
12:56: The figure complies, activating the handheld camera’s flashlight and reaching through the gap with it. Excluding Item 9342 and its doorway – which are not attached to a surface on this side – nothing is illuminated or visible.
13:17, Researcher (off-screen): Wait, go back.
13:22: The figure slowly reverses the movement of the camera.
13:31, Researcher (off-screen): Stop, there.
13:37, Researcher (off-screen): Is that a –
13:38: A faint pop. The footage abruptly darkens, redshifts, and distorts toward the opening. Loose objects and personnel, including the perspective camera, are sucked toward the opening; the figure is pulled completely through.
13:40: The camera stops, jerking around on the end of its cord; several overexposed, blue-shifted frames show humanoids rapidly moving in the area behind it before the camera comes to rest facing toward the threshold. Airborne objects and personnel exponentially slow as they approach the opening, becoming physically and conceptually warped; they are indistinguishable, spaghettified, and functionally motionless at the threshold. Nothing is audible over the rushing wind.
13:41 – 40:06: The Item is gradually closed over half an hour, crushing all obstructions.
40:07: The gap closes. All visual and temporal distortions cease; the camera topples to the floor as the Item slams shut. All equipment and furnishings remain deformed toward the Item, and difficult to identify; movement, retching, and screaming is audible.
Afterword: Due to temporal dilation, the events of this log occurred over a 72-hour period relative to baseline.
The sigils throughout Item 9342/A activated in response to the phenomena, and closed Item 9342; the sigils have remained active since.
All entities within the central chamber were declared incompatible with life. Average hume and chronon readings have reduced by 3% globally since this event.
Addendum 3: On 22/09/2007, the sigils throughout Item 9342/A returned to dormancy. All personnel in the area reported a succession of brief, intrusive feelings consisting of, in order:
- Imminent, life-threatening danger;
- Uncertainty with recent decisions, requiring reconsideration;
- Intuitive certainty a significant object was secure;6
- Mutual comradery and solidarity with others.
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