The Kite

*Proceed at your own risk if you have not yet listened to Season 3 and beyond of the Penumbra Podcast.*

**The Kite**, also known as **Sir Galahad**, is an augur and monster-hunter. He is the primary antagonist of season 3 of Tales of the Second Citadel.

## Early Life

Sir Galahad The Great was admired by Sir Absolon as a witch-hunter and monster-killer. Absolon says he once fought a serpent. He resigned when Mira took the crown.

After he left royal service, he became an obsessive monster hunter, specializing in bird-like creatures whose powers he stole using the Soulkeeper Amulet. The amulet was kept in the Citadel's archive vault, but it was stolen and replaced with a fake. During this time, he took up the moniker The Kite, once again displaying his fixation with birds.

As a trusted knight of the crown, he was told of Queen Mira's secret chambers and the passages to enter it.

## History

The Kite attacked The Garden of Graves, demanding they give him 'the changeling.' The sisters refused, summoning an army of the dead to challenge him, but their strength did not concern him. The Kite lost the changeling while fighting and made his way to Milltown, where he killed the elder and used his body for an augury. He then sent a message to Queen Mira saying that he would kill one person in Milltown every night until she delivers to him the changeling. He sends her a soundstone each morning with a recording of the last night's kill.

In Milltown he raised a militia to help him in his occupation. When Alé and Sir Angelo began rescuing villagers from execution, he captured Alé and demanded that Angelo bring him Olala. Angelo tricked him with a bag of rocks, but the Kite anticipated the trick and was ready to petrify both men, though Angelo managed to flex out of the spell. So Kite told him to tell Queen Mira that he would burn Milltown to the ground. Angelo attempted to fight the Kite again, to give Alé time to save Milltown but Olala arrived herself to help. The Kite recognized her immediately and told Alé to flee with Angelo, or he'd kill the knight so he could enjoy his victory. He prepared to fight Olala to absorb her into the white gem on his amulet.

Caroline and Mira realize his identity as Sir Galahad, and he describes his bitterness at the treatment of knights of his generation. Olala is able to defeat him using the power she inherited from The Garden of Graves and the nuns there, shattering the amulet. The pieces embed in his palm, and he wishes for a knife to cut them out, or cut his hand off entirely, if it will spare him the sound of his victims' voices. He disappears, to be hunted by The Weirdo Brigade.

## Abilities

The Kite has the ability of augury; to divine the future in the guts of slain beings. He is also a formidable fighter.

He has an amulet studded with jewels, each of which is a monster's soul he has captured.

* Green is the cockatrice which temporarily petrifies people. It was an old wives' tale that they turned to stone.
* Yellow is the thunderbird which neutralizes all magic, including monsters.
* Blue is the garuda which allows the user to change locations quickly.
* Red is the Devil Bird which can create overwhelming, cacophony of sound.
* White is the most powerful, tengu, allowing him to draw a crystalline sword from his wounds.

## Personality

The Kite is jaded and easily bored. He holds no care for the people around him and will do whatever he wants to them. He sees Sir Angelo's worldview of good vs evil as naive, and considers himself a man who’ll do what's necessary against anyone who tries to stop him. He is obsessed with what he considers unjust treatment of his generation of knights, and the killing of monsters and their supporters.

## Episode Appearances

* Second Citadel - The Fool in the Garden of Death (Part 2)
* Second Citadel - The Devil in the Sunlight (Part 1)
* Second Citadel - The Strong Arm of Justice (Part 1)
* Second Citadel - The Strong Arm of Justice (Part 2)
* Second Citadel - The Priestess' Fortune (Part 1)
* Second Citadel - The Priestess' Fortune (Part 2)
* Second Citadel - Judgment of the Empire (Part 1)
* Second Citadel - Judgment of the Empire (Part 2)

## Trivia

* The name Galahad is a reference to the Arthurian figure, and was probably chosen to contrast that character's reputation for purity, piety, and just conduct.
* The name The Kite is a reference to a family of birds of prey.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Second Citadel - The Strong Arm of Justice (Part 1)