Containment

The transition from the confines of the lower levels to the larger caverns of the first sub-level was  jarring. An immediate sense of liberation passed through the group, and their pace quickened. The party headed rapidly to the central pit of Gardanmah where their command post was set up. They gave quiet warnings to the tourists they encountered to return to the upper level and prepare for evacuation of the dungeon.

Reaching the assembly area, Geyr strode over to the command post where an Erziehungsoffizier was stationed. The officer rose to salute and opened his mouth as he recognized Geyr, but the chancellor's son cut him off before he could draw breath.

"There is a host of fiends loose in the dungeon," Geyr stated. "We need the containment wards activated immediately to prevent the creatures from reaching the upper levels."

The Erziehungsoffizier paled in confusion and disbelief. He looked over to the man in the black uniform and cylindrical, white felt hat next to him.

"Monsters have not been seen in Gardanmah for over 300 years," the man drawled casually.

 Geyr didn't want to argue. His face hardened into an expression of absolute authority.

"Do you know who I am?" he demanded.

"Yes. You are the imperial chancellor's son," the man replied mildly, holding his upright posture.

"And you are a dragoman in the employ of Eigenland," retorted Geyr. 

"I'm sorry," maintained the dragoman. "The last I was aware, the son of a chancellor was not granted any measure of political authority."

A series of low creaks and sharp cracking sounds echoed from the opulent promenades above them. Growing murmurs of concern filled the air as visitors scanned the cavern walls in puzzlement or looked down over the side of the promenades into the central pit.

Geyr glared in frustration at the dragoman whose composure finally cracked as he stared up at the upper promenades.

"Sir!" Cecilia addressed the Erziehungsoffizier. "Permission to speak!"

"Permission granted." The officer shook his head, falling into a familiar sense of routine.

"We should send out runners to recall the deployed vanguards and form up at the command post. They should bring along any civilian groups that they encounter as well."

"Yes," he replied slowly. "You make a good point." The officer rose and walked to his Telefon equipment with increasingly purposeful strides.

"Can you inform the Asuvanian authorities that there is an issue in Gardanmah?" Cecilia asked the dragoman. Fine tremors vibrated the ornate balustrades above them, punctuating her question.

"Yes..." replied the dragoman. "I think I should summon the arcane master to look into activating the wards as well..."

Geyr regarded Cecilia with narrowed eyes. "You're quite frightening," he remarked with ill-humor.

* * *

The Erziehungsoffizier sent Cecilia and her vanguard to arrange the evacuation of auxiliary personnel on the promenade levels. The dragoman presented them with red felt armbands embroidered with Asuvani script in white thread to indicate their positions of authority. They were told to place them on their left arms and lace them tight using gold cords threaded through brass eyelets.

As they rode the lift to the lower promenade, Cecilia worried about Hilde, and hoped that the Secundaner would be present in their suite when they arrived. As they exited the lift, they saw aristocrats and  fine ladies paused in their strolls, gathered about an ornate curb drain. They chattered excitedly as the stonework beneath their feet shuddered violently.

"There's something down there," a mustached Galliener nobleman exclaimed.

The ladies screamed, and the crowd surged backwards as a scaly arm reached out from the drain, sweeping at their ankles.

Cecilia and her group approached the gathered nobles.

"Please return to your suites, or better yet, exit Gardanmah entirely," she informed them in Gallic.

They turned to regard her as the ground shook again, and a hairline crack spider-webbed across the pavement above the drain. The arm snaked out again, but Petra was already pouncing, striking off the limb with a heavy swing of her sword. A roar of rage sounded from the hole.

As the arm writhed on the ground oozing black ichor, the aristocrats recoiled in horrified fascination.

"Leave now," Cecilia commanded.

As the Galliener hurried away, the ground continued to shake.

"It's unnatural," commented Cecilia. "It has no sense of self-preservation. It doesn't behave like a normal creature at all."

Macy cleared her throat. "I believe the creatures are tulpa—thought emanations; autonomous thought-forms."

Cecilia regarded the wizard without comprehension.

"They are entities created purely through the focused thought and imagination of a wizard," Macy explained. "Many of the denizens of dungeons are tulpa."

"So they're not living creatures?"

Macy shrugged. "I've heard stories of them gaining awareness, but I don't know."

* * *

At the center of the dais, the wizard lowered his staff slowly. Traces of shimmering energy faded in the air as he abruptly paused the tracing of intricate warding sigils with his free hand. He nudged the brim of his hat up with the end of the staff and gave the gathered officials a tight-lipped look of chagrin.

"I don't think this is going to work," the wizard stated, staring at his trembling fingers. "There has been too much damage to the ancient containment wards... the carvings have probably all been defaced or looted by tourists."

"If the containment wards have been rendered inoperable," the dragoman said, his voice clipped and dry, "the integrity of the entire dungeon is at risk."

Geyr turned to give the dragoman an expressionless stare, which was returned in kind.

The group on the dais turned as a cadet in an Eisenfelde uniform ran towards them. She stopped at the base of the platform and snapped to attention, saluting.

"Cadet Bischof, reporting with a message from Senior Cadet Gullfot." She handed a written note to the Eisenfelde Erziehungsoffizier. "Monsters are trying to enter the upper levels through the sewers!"

* * *

Hilde stood at the Erziehungsoffizier's side as a white-bearded wizard in off-white wool robes and a soft felt cap stood with his back to them on the assembly ground in the central pit of the dungeon. He spoke a word of power and tapped the floor with the end of his staff.

There was a flash of light, and she saw a small patterned square appear on the floor in front of them. The edges of the square began to expand, and within moments, turned into a large rug upon which stood the members of half a dozen Asuvanian vanguards.

As the vanguards marched from the rug, their leaders gathered with a group of dragomans in opulent uniforms, an Erziehungsoffizier from the Hauptkadettenanstalt, and sundry officials.

"The Asuvanian vanguards will deal with the monster infestation now," the Erziehungsoffizier' said to Hilde. 

She turned her attention back to the wizard. He turned to survey the chamber, and Hilde noted his thick, silver-white eyebrows, and sharp, clear eyes that reminded her of the good wizards from her childhood fairy tales.

The wizard tapped the floor once more, making the rug shrink and vanish into thin air, then repeated the summoning process again.