Two giants bearing broken swords Stood by a river’s bend Whose water fell straight down to Hell: They battled at World’s End. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you enjoy your journey. (Trigger warnings can be found at the bottom of this episode description.) Want Penumbra shirts, posters, and pins? We have a merch store! https://store.dftba.com/collections/the-penumbra-podcast We're an independent team that needs your help to keep making these stories. Support us on Patreon and you...
Feb 12, 2019•25 min•Season 2Ep. 36
ERROR. ERROR. IF TOWER.DAMAGE == CRITICAL THEN THEN THEN ERROR: NO PROTOCOL FOUND. SCANNING USER.JUNOSTEEL.MEMORIES() FOR SUGGESTED PROTOCOL SCANNING... SCANNING... (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 O...
Jan 29, 2019•43 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Welcome home, Juno Steel. (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 This episode also makes use of 2 Mello's track "BIG BEAST" o...
Jan 15, 2019•43 min•Season 2Ep. 34
A blow of the hunting-horn. A battlecry. Boots that crash through snow and ice, the crackling of open flame, the bellow of an ancient, timeless beast of the frozen tundra. They call him Old Cinder, the Frozen King of Flame. And this is just another New Year's celebration in the Southern Frosts. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Travelers. 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 Merc...
Dec 31, 2018•43 min•Season 2Ep. 47
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 te...
Dec 04, 2018•39 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Two paths wind beneath Judge Helicoid's monstrous courtroom: two paths containing different players in this game, different tricks and traps and treacheries. All they share is this: A destination. Fort Terminus, the prison at the end of the world. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Travelers. 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 Des...
Nov 20, 2018•34 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Give up control. That's what the thing that looks like Mick says to do. And in a year like the one Juno Steel has had, with the past, present, and city of the future all out to get him... why not? In a world where control can be torn from you so easily, so constantly... why not just give in, let that thing plug you in to its monstrous chip, and give everything you have away to it? So why not, Juno? Why not give up control to the Theia Soul? Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you enj...
Nov 06, 2018•45 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Our final voting contest for US listeners opens on Election Day, November 6! All three of our contests will remain open until the end of the day on November 8, and you are encouraged to submit entries to all of them. Entries can be sent to [email protected]. For more information, visit http://www.thepenumbrapodcast.com/vote. For early and ad-free episodes, production scripts, commentary tracks, blooper reels, livestreams with the creators, and much more, you can find The Penumbra Podca...
Nov 03, 2018•2 min
Ramses O'Flaherty has been a busy man in recent days. A brand new way of life doesn't build itself, after all -- and before you can ever build it, you'll have to tear down the old life getting in everyone's way. As Juno and Rita come up from the sewers they can see, immediately, that Ramses has succeeded in the latter goal. Oldtown is gone. It's never coming back. And in its place stands Newtown, a shining city on a hill, a paradise of Ramses's own design. The only questions, then, are these: wh...
Oct 23, 2018•43 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Legends say that far north of the Second Citadel, close to the Northern edge of the world itself, lives the Spiral Sage. They say he is a powerful being, a sacred warrior for human good who controls time and the wilderness itself. They say he is a great hero. And he'd better be, because the number of creatures who need saving keeps on rising. First Lord Arum, then Rilla and Sir Caroline, and then... well, you'll just have to hear for yourself. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you ...
Oct 09, 2018•50 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Far, far to the north of the Second Citadel lies the Terminus, a sacred or magical ocean (depending on who you ask), a place of power where world-changing things happen... and where monsters bicker for order and entertainment. Sir Caroline and Rilla are deep in monster country, now: deep enough that the human tales of this land are fuzzy and indistinct. They've wandered into the land of beasts... and soon they'll find that the rules are a little different here. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Trav...
Sep 25, 2018•30 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Down in the sewers, home seems like a distant memory. It's even more distant for Detective Steel now, because even aboveground home doesn't feel like home anymore. Hyperion City has changed. Even its sewers have changed, and the things that crawl in those sewers. And at the bottom of it all is Ramses Takano, or should we say Jack O'Flaherty, or should we say any number of names that once belonged to this incredible disappearing and reappearing man. Blink and his face has changed. Blink and your ...
Sep 11, 2018•38 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Where is everybody? That's the question that dogs Juno Steel now. He has bigger things to handle, he knows. Loose ends to tie up, old betrayals to pay back, and a mysterious mayor to reckon with. But even while city-sized mysteries weigh him down, the one that concerns him most is much closer to home... and while he tries to solve his disappearing act, all he has to keep him company is the tale of another disappearance, thirty years in the past. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope yo...
Aug 28, 2018•37 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Well, the boy-knights have definitely learned one thing about Nymphs: Nymphs LOVE Sport. And at first, the boys loved Sport too... until it became clear that this was less throw-the-ball-around-with-your-friends-and-rivals and more blood sport. Twists and turns wait behind every rule of this violent game, and one such twist is just in the distance... where the sound of great wooden wheels signals the arrival of the Nymphs' long-awaited Damsel. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you ...
Jul 31, 2018•42 min•Season 2Ep. 25
What's more knightly than rescuing a Damsel? Doing it better than all the other knights, of course... especially if those other knights are really, really annoying. Sir Marc and Sir Damien do not like each other at all. Each is extremely important to the other's favorite person, and neither understands it in the least. So when a glade of beautiful forest-women offers to watch these men manhandle one another in manly competition, how can they say no? Saving ladies, being swooned over by ladies, f...
Jul 10, 2018•46 min•Season 2Ep. 24
He tunes the radio, sorts through static for answers. Only questions, clean and clear: can one child really ruin the lives of his entire family? A ghost-sound, like a voice; then, gone. Why did he have to stay with her? Who was that at the door, all those years ago? Did his life, her life, Juno's life... did they all have to end this way? No port in the static storm. But then, distant, a sound. He's found it, he thinks; tunes closer, and closer, feels the rush of answers, the relief of a mystery...
Jun 26, 2018•55 min•Season 2Ep. 23
"You did it in one day. One choice. When you let him in, when you let the hero rob us blind without taking a thing." That's how Sarah Steel justified the murder of Benzaiten Steel, twenty-one years ago. But the day she was referring to was even older: fifteen years before that. A motive a long, long time in the making. But what does that mean? How could one four-year-old child ruin three lives? Juno remembers. But what he remembers... can't be right. It can't be. It can't be. Welcome to the Penu...
Jun 05, 2018•25 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Today we journey within. Within the sands of Mars, to the clinic of Hanataba; within the Theia Spectrum and its labyrinthine connections; within the mind; within the past itself. Try to throw away the past if you like, Juno Steel, but it lies within. And you can't lose your past without losing yourself... can you, little monster? Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you enjoy your journey. (Trigger warnings can be found at the bottom of this episode description.) Want Penumbra shirts,...
May 22, 2018•31 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Subject: the Keep of Titan's Blooms. Symptoms: spreading petrification; irritability; musical inclinations. Suggested treatment: cooperation with its master, Lord Arum, a creature who would scoff at the idea of tracking symptoms in the first place, a lizard whose scaly mind is ever-absorbed in suspicion, self-preservation, and ego. Side effects may include: sleep loss; injury; frustration; entombment; and then... Keep it together, Rilla. This is a medical record, not your diary. Welcome to the P...
May 08, 2018•55 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Deep in the Swamp of Titan's Blooms stands a towering plant with no equal in the Second Citadel. It is in parts tree, fern, beanstalk, and a single gigantic flower -- and it is the Keep from which Lord Arum watches over his Swamp. No human has ever seen the labyrinthine interior of this Keep until today. When Rilla awakens in the Keep she will come face-to-face with things she'd never dreamed she'd see, magical artifacts and creatures and mysteries that tie deep into the workings of the very uni...
Apr 24, 2018•52 min•Season 2Ep. 19
People bury a great deal beneath these Martian sands: bodies and secrets and even entire cities. But some things refuse to stay buried long – like the past. Those we thought lost, hoped lost, but never gone for good. Buddy Aurinko is learning that lesson the hard way. Her buried past has a face and a name, and though all Buddy wants is to forget, her past does not seem content to be forgotten. Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Traveler. We hope you enjoy your journey. (Trigger warnings can be found ...
Apr 10, 2018•45 min•Season 2Ep. 18
I do suggest you reconsider this particular destination, Traveler. Most places on Mars are dangerous, but the desert holds threats no human can survive. Radiation beats down from above, subterranean predators rumble below, and before you lies nothing but sand and heat and time. And behind you… do you see that growing shadow in the distance, Traveler? It is always there. And depending on how you play your cards it may be your only way out… or the most dire threat of all. Welcome to the Penumbra, ...
Mar 27, 2018•37 min•Season 2Ep. 17
It's December 24th, and you know what that means: it's Mista Steel's birthday, and it's up to Rita to make it the best birthday ever in a star-studded special that includes both of Juno's friends and some people who are lukewarm about him. Can Rita put together the ultimate birthday party in thirty minutes? Maybe! Is Juno's birthday really on the 24th? This episode is not canon and the Martian calendar is famously inconsistent, so I don't know, what do you think! Welcome to the Penumbra, dear Tr...
Dec 24, 2017•20 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Sophie and Kevin are assembled by special guest star and elected guru of our Tumblr fandom to answer questions about how these stories are written, their perspective on diverse perspectives within the show, whether Sophie is a visionary, whether you're allowed to cry at your own show, how this show has made them better people, queerness, mental illness, and whether Sophie is allowed to call herself a visionary. Sneaky announcements of future projects revealed! Kevin says "SOPHIE" in a very frust...
Dec 06, 2017•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Sophie and Kevin gather around the festive nondenominational tree to unwrap some exciting announcements. Includes info on the start of the next half-season, merch updates, a midseason Q&A, a special surprise, what Sophie and Kevin are thankful for, and how you can help us for free, right now! Gobble, gobble. Vote for us in the AudioVerse awards here: http://www.audioverseawards.net/site/vote/ For updates on merchandise, special surprises, and the next half of the season, follow us... ... on ...
Nov 25, 2017•5 min•Season 1Ep. 39
If you had asked Erin Marshall D’Arc, the Free Dome was supposed to be for everyone. Anyone who wanted a home away from the War, she said, could have it. If you had asked Marshall Erin D’Arc, the Free Dome was only for the best of the best. Only those who could create paradise, he said, could have it. If you ask Mayor Pilot Pereyra, the Free Dome belongs to the highest bidder. Whoever finds it, they say, owns it – and they can do with it as they please. And if you ask Juno Steel, Private Eye, dr...
Nov 14, 2017•54 min•Season 2Ep. 16
This case was supposed to be simple. Go into the Old Subway system, figure out what Mayor Pereyra is trying to get, stop them from getting it, then go home to a parade and a new world order. But now three days have passed, and the election looms, and still Juno, Alessandra, the Piranha, and Pilot Pereyra are down here, waiting for something in the distance. It seemed like it was going to be simple. But in this line of work, when you’re dealing with mysteries of the present, past, and future… not...
Oct 24, 2017•45 min•Season 2Ep. 15
The story goes that two hundred years ago, when the War was at its most brutal, Erin Marshall D’Arc made the most important discovery in Martian history… and never shared it with anyone. An election always makes itself about the present, and so Juno Steel never expected that this case would bring him two centuries into the past. Yet here he is, on the trail of Mayor Pilot Pereyra, with a Private Eye at his side and hundreds of years of history to dig through. Down here in the Free Domers’ ruins ...
Oct 10, 2017•36 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Special threats deserve special measures, and Queen Mira of the Second Citadel is a master of special measures. Enter Sir Caroline: a free radical knight, one of the Queen’s most capable and least trustworthy, and most likely the only hope the Second Citadel has of surviving the scourge of manipulative monsters that has plagued them for months. Sir Caroline, newly-appointed Investigator-General of the Second Citadel, must assemble a team and head north, to the source from which these monsters fl...
Sep 26, 2017•59 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Late at night in the Museum of Colonized History, just a few short days before the election that will decide the fate of Hyperion City, Juno Steel is watching the Mayor participate in a heist gone horribly, horribly wrong. And typically a heist not going well would be great news for Juno Steel, Private Eye… if only his bust of that heist hadn’t also just gone belly-up. The crooks will escape in half an hour. Juno and Captain Omar Khan of the HCPD are running out of time to stop them, and prevent...
Sep 12, 2017•45 min•Season 2Ep. 12
