Character Profile
Soraya
Age 14. The researcher of the group. Soraya spent her year in Paris reading in the Bibliothèque nationale, and she came home ready to dig. Her patient work in the village archive uncovered Ebenezer Crowther's deed — the legal document that gifted the lighthouse land to the village forever. And she found the 1782 treatise that proved the deed was drafted as a binding legal instrument, not just a letter.
Merhaven village The village library Old records
Favourite Things
The village archive
Soraya knows where every record lives — the parish minutes, the keeper's logs, the construction plans signed by Ebenezer Crowther himself.
Old maps and deeds
She collects them. A faded deed can tell you more about a place than any modern map — and prove who really owns the land.
Her magnifying glass
A gift from her gran. Soraya says the details are where the real story hides — and the legal language too.
The university library
She found the 1782 legal treatise there — the one that proved Ebenezer's deed was drafted as a binding legal instrument.
Skills
Sharp eyes
Soraya spotted the deed in the hidden room — and recognised the legal language as something more than a simple letter.
Research
She dug through the county archive, the maritime museum, and the university library to build the heritage case. The construction plans, the keeper's logs, the rescue records — all hers.
Problem-solving
She found the 1782 legal treatise that proved Ebenezer Crowther had used the correct legal formula for an irrevocable gift. It won the tribunal.
Staying calm
When the council's lawyers challenged the deed, Soraya presented the historical evidence without flinching. The judge listened.
"He didn't just write a letter. He wrote a legally binding gift."
— Soraya