Ebenezer Scrooge

I lift the lid of the supply crate and find it completely empty – indisputably, hopelessly and tragically empty. I turn to my hapless companions, who avert their eyes in shame. How did it come to this? The whole team lacks organization, not to mention any sense of solidarity. Is there no one to manage our resources fairly? I have half a mind to lecture them on the virtues of collective management, our shared responsibility for each other's well-being, the importance of planning ahead… but I haven't the strength. Besides, my speech would surely be interrupted by the rumbling of empty stomachs. It's better to save my strength for later, when it's time to take stock. I close the lid with an exasperated sigh and sit down on the crate. Just because I'm not voicing my complaints doesn't mean I should sit around idly. With the tip of my cane, I draw Glyphs in the snow, infusing them with the bare minimum of Mana.

A small gentleman appears, as dry and wrinkled as a vine in winter and as shriveled as a piece of overcooked meat. He wears an ancient, battered top hat, which sits over a severe face framed by a bushy beard. He's wrapped in a moth-eaten, threadbare old overcoat that should have been retired years ago. He barks at me in a hoarse, creaking voice, then gives the crate I'm sitting on a tentative kick – and immediately understands from its hollow echo how much trouble we're in. For an emergency this bad, I need equally strong support. Ebenezer is an inflexible old quartermaster who will efficiently administer and ration our remaining supplies. He's got the keen eye of a buzzard when it comes to optimizing, planning and determining rations so we can all get through this together. But until he's ready to loosen the purse strings, we're going to have to tighten our belts…

Ebenezer Scrooge is a character from the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol who starts as a cold-hearted and misanthropic miser but eventually changes his perspective. Filled with contempt for the Christmas holiday, he is confronted one night by three spirits – the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future – who help him to see the error of his ways and become a better and more generous man. This iconic Christmas character is described as a wizened, inflexible, lonely and greedy old man who cares for nothing but increasing his own wealth.

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