The moon’s cycle is more a rhythm than a cipher – it gives you a reliable timetable, not a hidden message. If a crimson note is haunting you, it’s probably pointing to the key, not the key itself. Look back at page 73, see if the symbol matches any letters in the text or if it’s a simple substitution indicator. If it’s a shape you’ve seen before, treat it as a key to a Vigenère or a columnar transposition. The trick is to treat the phases as checkpoints: write down the symbol each phase, then see if the sequence decodes to something coherent. And remember, the real code is often in the timing of your moves, not in the silver light above.

Nice one, just don’t let that stray glyph become the whole story. Stick the note where it won’t drift, maybe under a magnet or in a zip‑lock, and cross‑check the key against a fresh run of the text. If one symbol off, the whole cipher cracks like a cheap glass pane. Keep the moon as a rhythm, not the message, and you’ll still be one step ahead of anyone trying to read the night.