Second Citadel - Knight of the Crown, Lord of the Swamp (Part 1)

Cover Art by disasterscenario (Mikaela Buckley)

—Sir Damien

**Second Citadel - Knight of the Crown, Lord of the Swamp** is the sixth episode of the second season of The Penumbra Podcast. It was released June 6, 2017.

## Overview

The Festival of the Three is the most important day of the year in the Second Citadel - or the most important three days. as the case may be. Battles and music and drink run free in Citadel's square, and nearly every knight is in attendance... which leaves very few to guard from the monster's constant threat.

Luckily Sir Damien is on guard tonight, standing outside the Queen's chambers with his trusty bow in hand. But Sir Damien is injured, and when a monstrous threat crawls in he may find that it's a very different sort of challenge from what he's used to.

### Trigger Warnings

* Sudden loud noises
* Depictions and descriptions of violence and death
* Close, claustrophobic spaces
* Depictions of illness (poison)
* Gaslighting

## Episode Summary

Sir Damien, best knight of the Citadel (or tied for it, at least) begins the episode with a long spiel to his fiancee, Amaryllis, about how he defeated a basilisk. Amaryllis (nicknamed "Rilla"), exasperatedly tolerates his tale, despite having head the story already and treated his wounds.

Sir Damien has been in the infirmary for a while now, healing his leg which had been broken into five pieces. He fears that if he is out of service too long, his best friend and rival, Sir Angelo, will forget about him.

In order to ease his anxiety, Rilla takes Sir Damien outside to the Queen's balcony to see the Festival of the Three. Tonight was the first night of the annual Saint's festival (St. Aaron's night). While overlooking the festival's festivities, Damien inquires when the two will be married and suggests that they get married during the festival. He continues on to convince Rilla, weaving the story of the three saints that the Citadel tells every year...with a twist. At the end of the story, he says that thanks to the efforts of the Saints on that fateful day, the Citadel was able to grow and its citizens were able to fall in love, just as the Saints intended.

Rilla leaves Damien alone to his watch, making him promise to come see her when his shift is over. Damien, now alone, begins overthink Rilla's promise to marry him. Thinking that maybe she doesn't love him, or want to marry him, or be with him. His lament is interrupted by a crash in the Queen's bedroom.

Damien shoots an arrow, assuming he hit the beast that has entered the Queen's chambers. He didn't. The beast in the Queen's bedroom allows Damien to leave the chamber in order to not get hurt, but Damien refuses. He and the beast continue like that for a while, trading insults and missing shots in the dark. In order to break the stalemate, Damien and the beast make compromises. Eventually, they fight one on one, both armed with a knife. As they argue about the superiority of their species, the beast begins hitting the walls and running into the bricks, making the walls shake violently. Damien fears that the castle is going to collapse around them.

After Damien finally managed to get a hit on the lizard, he concludes that the castle isn't collapsing. The beast admits defeat, letting Damien kill him. Damien declines, stating that the fight was unfair to begin with. Instead, he offers that the beast and him fight again tomorrow but on the beast's turf and terms.

They promise to meet again to duel tomorrow. Before parting ways, Damien asks the name of the beast, who responds that he is 'Lord Arum, Who Rules the Swamp of Titan's Blooms'

## Cast and Crew

Starring

* Matthew Zahnzinger as Sir Damien
* Melissa Ennulat as Rilla
* Noah Simes as Lord Arum

## References

 Bonus Episodes

 Bonus Episodes