: Re: When does a partially random event go from reasonably possible to contrived "deus ex machina"? There will always be some amount of luck, some amount of chance and randomness in any story. This

@Kristi637

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I'd say this isn't a deus ex machina - those usually occur suddenly, resolve the story's conflict/dramatic tension, and in many cases occur from outside the narrative context.
Here you've essentially got a co-incidence (which aren't actually as unlikely as you'd might think) - two aggrieved parties with a common foe encounter each other and team up. This is then driving the plot forward, setting up the conflict (both literal and figurative) in the next act.
Yes it's fortunate for the MC that he encountered someone inclined to help him and it's fortunate for the native(s) that they encountered someone with information valuable to them (the knowledge of the daughter) and yes it's probably more likely in the real world for them not to have run into each other but this isn't the real world, it's fiction and suspension of disbelief will get you along just fine.
This doesn't resolve all the MC's and the Native's problems - they still have a gang of evil gold miners to face off and a damsel to rescue. Adventure, peril and general hi-jinks ensue.

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