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

Page (i)

The letter contains the clues.
It only makes sense when used with the map on the next page.
It directs to one location, by referring to four others.
The letter describes four of the numbered locations; the possible location of the Oracle that best fits the position described relative to those four locations is the correct choice.

Page (ii)

The compass directions described are not entirely precise but are unambiguous.
Words can be used in different ways—for example, needles have “eyes.”
The collective name for a group of crows is a “murder.”
The “broken spines” belong to the books in the library; the “murders” refer to the crows in the aviary; the “leaves” are the pages printed on the printing press; the “eye” is that of the needle in the haberdashery. Therefore, the correct location is the one marked with a circle.

The hidden markings mentioned are the solution: four letters (not a word).
What you form in the centre of the tiles is what’s important.
Create the shape of your prior solution and note the four letters directly surrounding it.
Forming a circle in the center of the tiles presents four letters: R, S, O and A.

The solutions from the two prior pages are needed—plus there’s a partial clue in the text.
Note the four quadrants of the sign.
Replace the letters marked with circles with letters from the corresponding tile quadrant in the prior solution.
Adding R, S, O and A respectively forms the solutions: BIRD, SAND, BOAR and COAT.

Four of these objects are useful.
The order in which you select the objects is important too.
Maintain the order of the words as they appeared on the sign; find the objects; note the directions.
Selecting BIRD, SAND (timer), BOAR and COAT results in LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT.

There is a cipher to be solved, first of all. The sign at the bottom reads EXIT.
All the text uses the same cipher but not all of it is part of the solution.
Note the central text, and the text appearing on the correct route as described by following the directions from the prior solution.
The central text reads “when you meet the Oracle,” and the text along the correct route reads “listen closely to the words spoken first and ninth.”

The prior solution tells you what to do.
All of the words spoken by the Oracle Sofja are important, but two especially so.
Select the two words indicated by the prior solution to get the final answer.
The first and ninth words spoken by the Oracle provide the final answer OUR BREATH.