07. September 2017 - The Cavern

Introduction
"wool-taut fingers weaving tracks from all four corners long-taught wisdom breathing flames for dawning bonds of silver siblings webbing outwards looking inwards""and marching ever-deeper to conceive this sacred ground"

The Red Comet's Playlist

 * Xiu Xiu - Blood of the Lamb
 * The Raincoats - The Void
 * Slint - Good Morning, Captain
 * Vivian Girls - I'm Not Asleep
 * Grass Widow - Time Could Bend
 * Rachael Dadd - I Am Your Home

(i)
A red comet summoned from the freezing black, Heaving now to plough the earth and its creatures; Sleeping in the north, startled in the south. Dragging down mountain rocks to feed its ancient bones, Drinking up ocean waves to quench its angry flames. Being and knowing collide in an orchestra; Beauty and danger are carried on the wind. It breaths beneath the moon, And builds beneath the sun, And burns like a candle, So slow and so certain. Then, in an instant

Is gone

Like Anna, entering the cavern. She is neither lost nor uncertain, Just gone.

To find herself again, She must follow the North Star.

(ii)
Anna gropes for a familiar shape in the pitch darkness and finds a key on the cold ground. Language rests heavy on the tongue of the girl; she makes sounds but knows their meanings are buried deeper within.

"Follow the North Star" "Follow: the north star..." "Sleeping in the north, startled in the south." "Sleeping in the north, startled in the south." "The first four letters are T-L-E-D. Use your cryptogram skills to solve from there" "TLEDVNIZASFXKPHYWBRJMCQGOU"
 * Hint
 * Hint
 * Hint
 * Hint
 * Solution - Part 1
 * Solution - Part 2

(iii)
With the key in one hand and her words taking shape, memories begin to emerge in the girls' mind. But some feel like they have been borrowed from elsewhere; she tries to cling only to the truth and beware the impostors.

"Consider what you solved in (ii) - their meanings are buried deep within" "Ant, Tap, Ram, Light, Urn, Man, Bowl, Beet, Ice, Owl, Oak"
 * Hint
 * Solution

(iv)
Squinting through inky shadows, Anna beholds the silhouette of a door, illuminated from behind by a soft and swaying golden glow. The gears of the lock clatter as the girl turns the key in the hole.

"Use the solution from (iii) to guide your way" "Ant - SH, Tap - EW, etc..." "Unscramble the letters to find your true message" "'She with the wires in anagram'" "Sister Sleepcote carries the wires. Her name, unscrambled, is TELESCOPE."
 * Hint
 * Hint
 * Hint
 * Solution - Part One
 * Solution - Part Two

(v)
Anna heaves the wooden doors open, sets food into the darkness once more. She allows the object in her hand to guide her through the labyrinthine corridors carved into the heart of the earth.

"Follow Sister Sleepcote" "The path of the telescope leads to the matches"
 * Hint
 * Solution

(vi) & (vii)
Anna completes her task an dis led into a great hall. With a sharp intake of breath, she sets her eyes upon The Cyprianus, the ancient text whose flaming letters banish shadows and whose teachings permeate this sacred place.

As Cryptogram Puzzle Post is still running a competition with prizes for the first season, the guide will stop here for now. Once the Season 1 prizes are completely handed out, this will describe the solution for (vi) & (vii).

References and Rabbit Holes
The Cyprianus