Second Citadel - The Ocean Oracle (Part 2) is an episode of the Penumbra Podcast in the Tales of the Second Citadel series. It is the eleventh Second Citadel episode of season 4, and the twenty-second overall.
Overview[]
Deep in the waters of Silvershore lies the City Beneath, home to the city's water-breathing denizens... and an ancient and mysterious monster named Enoch.
Enoch, it is said, was present when Silvershore was first built, and so knows every secret the city holds. Sir Tristan the Cold is in search of one secret in particular -- and neither Enoch nor the city they built will survive if Tristan gets his hands on it.
Trigger Warnings[]
- Violence and threats of violence
- Deception
- Deep water and drowning
- Enclosed spaces
- Depictions of being hunted or chased
- Depictions of xenophobia
- Death and discussion of death
Episode Summary[]
Angelo, Rilla, and Arum pursue Tristan and Damien onto an "airbreathers' tour of the City Beneath," riding within a Glass Leviathan bred as submersible transport. As they board, keeping their distance to avoid being recognized, Arum explains that he and Rilla made money doing something by the side of the road that Rilla finds too embarrassing to let him name. The group realizes that they need to ask Angelo to get closer to Tristan to hear what he's saying, as he's unlikely to be recognized.
Rilla and Arum urge Angelo to be silent and discreet, but know this doesn't come naturally to him. Angelo approaches in time to hear Tristan flirting with a pair of frog women, making them giggle and ribbit. Angelo has an epiphany about the strange metallic sand in Silvershore, realizing it reminds him of strange metal used to make Helicoid's podium. If Damien's vision of the past is correct, that would suggest the metal in each case came from over the edge of the world. Angelo rejects his own theory as too ridiculous and tries to focus.
Tristan's falcon, Chivalry, starts harassing Angelo, whom Tristan dismisses as "that whale-boy." He asks the frog women about a person he's looking for named Enoch, claiming he wants to consult them about a drought in his home. The women say they're a very old and reclusive pillar of the community, and that they drew the plans for some of the first buildings in the settlement. The women take his hints and give him directions to Enoch's home, and money to rent their own Glass Leviathan. Angelo returns to report on what he heard, and Rilla reluctantly agrees they need to busk again to rent a Glass Leviathan too, revealing that the talent she'd been so embarrassed by is singing.
Some time later, the group navigates their rented Glass Leviathan. The jellyfish-men who guard Enoch surround the creature/vessel and threaten them. Angelo remarks they look like men wearing jellyfish hats, but Arum explains the jellyfish is the main part of their bodie--the rest is, as Rilla incredulously puts it, "A vestigial guy?!" As they try to evade the jellyfish men, Rilla and Arum produce a magically enhanced seed pod they invented together, and burst it to reveal a Banshee Pepper, which they give to Angelo to rub on the Leviathan's tongue, giving it adrenaline to pull ahead.
Rilla next releases Torpeetles (torpedo beetles), but they die in the water, confusing Arum. He remarks that the freshwater surrounding Silvershore should have been the right climate for them, but Angelo muses there's something strange about the biome altogether, considering the sand. As they watch, the Glass Leviathan containing Tristan and Damien is surrounded by a vortex, and their own living craft is hit by a shockwave, knocking Arum out. Angelo leaves to try to rescue the jellymen while Rilla helps Arum by feeding him fruit from the Keep at his request. It restores his connection to the keep, which the shockwave had briefly severed.
Arum and one of the jellymen Angelo is able to rescue describe the explosion as an anti-magical blast. The jellyman explains that the water there has always had lightly anti-magical properties, but this blast made him feel like "just a silly man wearing a jellyfish for a hat." Their Glass Leviathans have also been disrupted by the blast, and Angelo grimly reports he saw swimmers entering the Anemone Fields where Enoch lives.
Arum, still fragile, stays behind while Angelo and Rilla go with the jellyman in the best condition to help Enoch. Sadly, they find Enoch--a jellyfish "the size of a dinosaur"--has been murdered. They find a letter from Damien, addressed to Angelo, who saw him on the tour. He explains that Tristan intends to eradicate all of Silvershore with "divine destruction." He wants to bring down a magical barrier protecting the city and leave it vulnerable to what he claims are the wishes of the saints. Damien admits that he also heard a voice that appeared to be Saint Damien confirming this, and is disturbed by it. He asks Angelo to help him escape Tristan's clutches so they can save the city and "atone" for their own past slaughter of monsters.
Enoch, not quite dead, asks them to come closer and hear their last words.
Life lingers in a shining cage
One sanded smooth by suffering.
It may be born again one day —
Beware the cost it brings.
It’s safest to remain within
Despite the hungers of the heart —
For though trust may not be a sin
It will tear us apart.
Therefore we cage ourselves away,
Our timid terrors intertwined,
Within a tower tall and gray
In misty bars of time.
So never let the trusted in
For this is when the end begins.
As they recite, Enoch shrinks, leaving a polyp crying like a baby. Rilla realizes they're an "immortal jellyfish," with a phoenix-like life cycle. Enoch isn't really dead, only an infant. The jellyman sings them a lullaby while Rilla writes down the poem, Angelo suggesting they take it to Quanyii.
Elsewhere, Caroline and Olala have another argument about Olala's safety, and Lam's trustworthiness. Olala finally admits that she never saw Galahadin Silvershore. She lied because she was so desperate to see if it was a place she could live. Caroline is devastated and angry, but the argument is interrupted by the arrival of the dandelions she sent for to treat Quanyii. Talfryn has brought them, but he explains sheepishly that he came along with Sir Marc, who has become one of Sir Tristan's most trusted monster-slayers.
Cast[]
- Melissa Ennulat as Rilla
- Noah Simes as Lord Arum
- M. Sutherland as Angelo
- Joshua Ilon as Sir Tristan the Cold
- Matthew Zahnzinger as Damien
- Leslie Drescher as Caroline
- Marge Dunn as Olala
- Jason Mellin as Sir Talfryn
- Stefano Perti as Sir Marc
- Kate Jones and Allison Choat as Frog Women (Credited as Ensemble, unconfirmed)
- Allison Choat as Tour Guide (Credited as Ensemble, unconfirmed)
- Bob Mussett as Jellyman (Credited as Ensemble, unconfirmed)
- Harley Takagi Kaner as Enoch (Uncredited, unconfirmed)
Crew[]
- Alice Chuang as Head of Design
- Ginny D'Angelo as Head of Merchandise and Outreach
- Melissa DeJesus as Script editing team
- Harley Takagi Kaner as Co-creator, Head of Episode Development, Director, Sound designer
- Joelle Kross as Transcriptionist
- Noah Simes as Production manager
- Grahame Turner as Script editing team
- Kevin Vibert as Co-creator, Head of Operations, Lead writer
- Ryan Vibert as Composer and performer of original music
- Recorded by Mertz at The Bridge Sound & Stage