The Mine

Deep in the rugged kingdom of Deep Marrow, hope has run dry. Forests are stripped bare, the people starve, and Queen Anita searches desperately for a way to save her land.

Once upon a time, in a land far away, the Kingdom of Deep Marrow had thrived for centuries. Its lands were vast and beautiful. But those days were gone. Deep Marrow was no longer a rich kingdom. The people worked hard just to put food on the table and struggled to pay their taxes. Ever since the invasion a century earlier, the people had suffered.

The kingdom had once held enormous wealth. They mined gold, silver, and salt. They timbered the great old�'growth forests whose beauty was legendary. But after the neighboring Kingdom of Vorrick invaded, the lands were ravaged and stripped bare. Every resource was taken until nothing remained.

The Kingdom of Vorrick had long coveted Deep Marrow’s riches. When they sensed weakness in the royal family, they plotted. King Ironvien of Vorrick married his daughter to the newly crowned, inexperienced King Jobe. When the moment was right, Vorrick spies murdered the young king, and his new queen claimed the throne. With her in power, King Ironvien gained complete control over Deep Marrow. He sent hordes of men to harvest every last resource. The once�'majestic forests were cut down until only brush and stumps remained.

The kingdom became a wasteland. The mines were worked at breakneck speed, tearing the land apart. In just seventy�'five years, the once-great Kingdom of Deep Marrow was stripped and abandoned. The people who had lived there for generations were left to starve and survive on whatever they could find.

Now, twenty�'five years after the kingdom was abandoned, a new queen had risen. She claimed the throne as a descendant of an ancient line of kings dating back to Deep Marrow’s founding. Her name was Queen Anita. She was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, and she ruled with firmness, compassion, and integrity. She knew the injustices her people had endured, and she intended to make them whole again. She sent her advisers across the land, searching for any answer to their misfortune.

On a lonely mountain at the kingdom’s border lived a mountain man named Wallace. He had spent his entire life wandering the mountains that formed the boundary with the outside world. The range was impassable; no one could cross it, making trade with the neighboring kingdom impossible.

One day, while searching for a goat that had strayed from his herd, Wallace stumbled upon a miraculous sight. He sat down in the sun on a warm rock, took out his canteen and took a long drink. As he sat there feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, he looked down at the rocky hillside, his eyes grew wide and his heart began to pound. On the ground in front of him was an enormous vein of yellow gold�"previously unknown. He made a mental note of the spot and, as soon as he returned home, he left for the castle to tell the Queen the good news. He knew this may be what saved their kingdom.

The queen’s advisers heard whispers of his discovery and met him on the road, without hesitation they presented him to Queen Anita.

“My Queen,” Wallace said, “I have found a hidden deposit of gold on my land near the border. This may be what saves our kingdom.”

The Queen was ecstatic. She ordered her advisers to give Wallace whatever he needed�"men, materials, engineers. Nothing was held back. The word spread like wildfire through the villages and towns. For the first time in decades, the people of the kingdom had hope.

The miners began digging day and night, continuously. They dug straight through the mountain extracting every ounce of gold they could find. Production was the only goal. Gold poured from the mine like water from the sea. As the months passed, the tunnel grew deeper. Trees that had grown back around the mountain were cut for timbers to support the expanding passage.

The engineers devised a plan: if they dug the tunnel twelve feet high and fifteen feet wide as they mined the gold, they could create a passageway through the mountain, opening trade and travel and prosperity to the wealthy kingdom beyond.

After three years of back breaking work, the day finally came. As the miners picked at the rock, a small hole appeared. Sunlight shone through like a beacon from the other side, announcing their triumph over the mountain itself. They had finally reached the far side of the mountain�"and had mined enough gold to restore Deep Marrow’s coffers and bring the kingdom back to something resembling its former glory . The miners had also created a highway through the mountain. This highway would be the key to unhindered economic growth, trade and free travel for the people of the kingdom with the lands beyond the mountains.

The people celebrated. They cheered the miners. Wallace became a hero. All was right again in the Kingdom of Deep Marrow. The people would no longer live in poverty or suffer hardship. Masses of people stood in front of the castle cheering for their Queen. They threw flowers at her feet and praised her name. They hailed their queen - Queen Anita, the savior of Deep Marrow.

Now the people were safe and happy, the queen was adored and the old mountain man Wallace became a Legend.

…and the people all lived happily ever after.

The End