Like most things, natural resources are finite and eventually the mine reaches its endpoint. The mine has sucked itself dry and their most coveted gemstone is in scarce supply. The mine can no longer find any new jade pieces - a symptom of relentless culling of the mine quarry for the past twenty years.
Miners and guards alike anticipate the worse and are prepared to face a shutdown of the quarry.
Thora is the sole female guard of the mine quarry, the only female guard in her team. The mine quarry is barren and dry. Its main export is jade stones.
Thora is illiterate. However, this does not deter her from her professional duties. She is good at what she does. Her core duty is to keep the miners in- check and to make sure that every jade stone makes it to the crate.
Some miners do not see the point of continuing their labour. They toil under brutal conditions and in their eyes, to continue in this fashion would seem redundant – especially when they face the likelihood of redundancy and a mine shutdown. In response, the miners start to riot and rebel in turn.
Protagonist’s action taken in response to Inciting Incident:
The riot erupts in the mess hall and Thora spots a jade piece in the hall, amidst the rabble – a place where a jade piece shouldn’t be. Thora deduces that some miners may be thieving, more than usual, and commences her usual method of carte blanche investigation to hunt down the thieves and salvage the stolen jade pieces.
She hopes that through this, the retrieved jade will fill up the crates and keep the mine alive and running.
Obstacle #1 encountered in the course of taking action
Yastar, a miner, is a match for Thora in cunning and wit. He takes clever albeit extreme measures to hide the jade from her. He does not, however, steal it for his own selfish gain. He steals it for his young daughter, who has recently sustained injuries from a mining-related explosion.
He is driven to steal a few jade pieces to pay for her treatment and prevent her from being succumbed to fatal injury.
Protagonist’s response to Obstacle
Thora struggles to catch Yastar red-handed with the jade. So she uses her keen eye and methods of entrapment to try to catch him out (e.g. gives Yastar a plate of chicken to eat when she suspects Yastar is hiding the jade pieces in his mouth; she sits and watches to see if he will spit any jade pieces out) She even persuades a miner to betray Yastar and share information about Yastar’s stash and whereabouts in exchange for a reward.
Obstacle #2 encountered in the course of taking action (if appropriate)
Occasionally, Thora’s illiteracy gets in the way as there are some clues which present themselves in written form which Thora cannot interpret.
Protagonist’s response to Obstacle
She attempts to bypass this by relying on her other senses of investigation and tracking although her inability to read does chip away at her confidence a few times which also reminds her of her futility if the mine closes down.
Story ending – Reward or Reversal? And why?
When Thora finally catches Yastar and discovers that he is stealing the jade pieces for his daughter, she lets him go. She lets him keep the jade pieces that he’s stolen, with the intention that the jade pieces will go towards restoring the daughter back to health.
Through previous encounters, Thora realises the daughter is bright and intelligent and has real potential to leave the poverty cycle and make a life for herself, something that Thora can no longer do.
Reversal: She goes against her initial goal of hunting down thieves and lets Yastar escape. The crate of jade may not be full however, she feels good for letting someone go who will put the jade to good use.
2087
baratheonpilled
origamiaround
pixelskylines
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
jbbartram-illu
jacobvanloon
ellievsbear
