2.33: Second Citadel -- The Hallowed Halls of Helicoid (Part 2)

The creatures which thrive at the end of the world are enough to make even the bravest knight's skin crawl. Massive slugs of sentient slime and nightmare-guards to a fortress beneath a sea where nothing survives walk the halls that lead to Fort Terminus, and passing them will be no small feat.

Yet our heroes trudge on. On separate paths they draw closer and closer to the heart of this palace of horrors now, and if one thing scares them most, it's this: whatever lies within that terrible place terrifies the beasts outside it, too.

Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you enjoy your journey.

(Trigger warnings can be found at the bottom of this episode description.)

On staff at the Penumbra:

Kat Buckingham -- Head of Merchandise and Outreach

Alice Chuang -- Head of Design

Sophie Kaner -- Co-creator, Head of Episode Development, Director, Sound designer

Noah Simes -- Production manager

Kevin Vibert -- Co-creator, Head of Operations, Lead writer

Ryan Vibert -- Composer and performer of original music

Attribution:

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

"Kind of Girl" by Jeris, featuring spinningmerkaba: http://ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/35657

“Wood_Creak_03.wav” by dheming https://freesound.org/people/dheming/sounds/177778/

“Snapping, Wooden Fence, G” by InspectorJ https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/352183/

“Smashing, Wooden Fence, B” by InspectorJ https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/352204/

“Ambience_Cave_00.wav” by LittleRobotSoundFactory

https://freesound.org/people/LittleRobotSoundFactory/sounds/270387/

“Door, Church, Close, B” by InspectorJ https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/271562/

“Door, Church, Open, C” by InspectorJ https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/271569/

“Rock Scrape 2” by Benboncan https://freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/74441/

“Door falls to floor.wav” by CastIronCarousel https://freesound.org/people/CastIronCarousel/sounds/216749/

“Boiling water, large, A” by InspectorJ https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/412843/

“Wet_Slaps.mp3” by HerbertBoland https://freesound.org/people/HerbertBoland/sounds/104686/

“Splat” by Audionautics https://freesound.org/people/Audionautics/sounds/133968/

“Blood and gore FX performance 2” by Slave2theLight https://freesound.org/people/Slave2theLight/sounds/157113/

“Step.wav” by CGEffex https://freesound.org/people/CGEffex/sounds/95755/

“Whoosh.wav” by xtrgamr https://freesound.org/people/xtrgamr/sounds/257779/

“BoneClicks&GoreSquelches_15.aif” by vincentoliver https://freesound.org/people/vincentoliver/sounds/180486/

“20061111AirHoseDisconnect1.wav” by daveincamas https://freesound.org/people/daveincamas/sounds/25578/

“Balloon_Inflate_1.wav” by Terhen https://freesound.org/people/Terhen/sounds/234220/

Trigger Warnings:

Sudden loud noises

Claustrophobia

Violence and threats of violence

Hostage situations/kidnapping

Death and injury

Death of (monster) animals

Implied killing of people and animals

Deception and gaslighting

Language and references that may be construed as sexual in nature

For early and ad-free episodes, production scripts, commentary tracks, blooper reels, livestreams with the creators, and much more, you can find The Penumbra Podcast: SPECIAL EDITION at: https://thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com(In old episodes, you will often hear us mention Patreon, which was our old platform and is no longer live. Please feel free to ignore!)

For tickets to our live reading of If Memory Serves: A Juno Steel Mystery on November 21, 2026, visit: https://therockwell.org/calendar/the-penumbra-podcast/ Join us at The Rockwell, home of our first two live shows, in Somerville, MA, for Joshua Ilon's one-night-only reading of an excerpt from our Juno prequel novel to be followed by a Q&A with Harley and Kevin. We can't wait to see you there to celebrate the release of the full audiobook!

We are also currently running a subscription sale on our Supercast and Patreon subscriber platforms to celebrate the conclusion of our first full season of Thirst. Visit https://thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com/ or patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast to get 28% off all tiers!

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