cryptogram puzzle post | artwork, games & storytelling by jack fallows

Page (i)

Anna needs to find herself.
The final sentence of text refers to words in the Rite.
The solution is four letters.
Interpreting the clue to “find the North Star and see what follows” in reference to the line “Sleeping in the North - Startled in the south” results in the letters T L E D (which literally follow the North Star).

Page (ii)

The previous solution provides the first four letters of the key; numbers represent letters.
The rest can be inferred with a little trial and error, starting with BEETLE then probably B_ D and B_ _L which have the same second letter.
All rows/columns are words, but the highlighted squares are also words themselves (and are what’s used in the next puzzle).
Starting with 1=T, 2=L, 3=E, 4=D, then inferring 18=B, and so on, every square can be completed (the words are: JUXTAPOSE, WARZONE, QUANTITY, CLOAK, PLIGHT, TURN, BOWL, MANIFEST, BOARD, BEETLE, FRAME, VOICE and EFFIGY). The shaded squares are the solution.

Thirteen of the shards are needed, the rest are unrelated to anything.
The previous solution comprises the shards you need. Sort the shards’ letters into an order that makes a sentence.
The shards can be read as four consecutive lines: those touching the top of the square, above the middle, below the middle and touching the bottom of the square.
Using the ANT, TAP, LIGHT, OWL, ONE, MAN, RAM, ICE, FIG, URN, OAK, BOA and BEET shards results in the solution SHE WITH THE WIRES IS AN ANAGRAM.

One of the six objects is the solution.
The prior solution directs you to a name and what to do with it.
The correct object is an anagram of SLEEPCOTE.
Sister Sleepcote presents the wires, so it’s her name that needs unjumbling; thus the telescope is the solution.

It’s a maze.
Start at the illustration of one object, end at another.
Once you’ve reached the new object, that’s what to take forward to the next page (rather than the old object).
Starting at the telescope, the route ends at the matches. This is the solution.

Only heed one of the three paragraphs.
You’ll need to solve a mathematical problem.
First add some numbers, then subtract that from another number.
Selecting the paragraph beside the matches and adding 3000, 600, and 28 gives the current population (3,628); subtracting that from the original 20,000 gives a solution of 16,372.

The final answer is one five-letter word (though there’s a clue in the text about what it’s not).
Your prior solution is a number. One letter associated with each digit should be selected in sequence to make a word.
Two possible common words can be made, but the first half of the final sentence indicates ARGUE is the wrong one!
Selecting letters associated with 1, 6, 3, 7, 2, creates the final answer ARISE.