Bestiary

Donald Gauntley

Former Director without Portfolio

Donald Gauntley’s story is a strange one to hear, and not one often recounted in the offices of Pentex. Still, occasionally someone tells the tale of the Director who developed a conscience and ousted the Urge Wyrm of Despair from his body. The act killed him, and that should have been the end of that.

Gauntley didn’t stay dead for long. His corpse be­ came a vessel for something else. Common belief among

the Directors was that Despair must have started using Gauntley’s form as a host rather than finding a new flesh-puppet. Something was controlling Gauntley’s dead body, and it certainly seemed to be working in service of the Wyrm.

After several years, the Board concluded that while Gauntley — or whatever possessed his body — was just as malignant as before, it acted with significantly less subtlety than was necessary among their ranks. Not wanting to anger the powerful entity within his body, they couldn’t just destroy him. Instead, they effectively banished him from the company, removing all his former aides and direct employees and all records with his name upon them. Gauntley disappeared from Pentex and the company lost track of their erstwhile colleague in the years following.

Secretly, Newberry, Kiker, Rushing, and Yamazaki decided that the pseudo-Gauntley should be able to do whatever misdeeds he chose, providing he did them outside of Pentex’s immediate reach. Where the rest of the Board lost interest in their prior colleague, the four funneled money, resources and personnel his way to propagate whatever destructive aims he may have had.

Five years ago, Gauntley started a new company in the heart of Israel, which quickly spread to new countries and new markets. Supported by one of the most dynamic economies in the world, Hitkadmut Inc. acts more overtly than Pentex but with no less success. It produces fire­ arms and weapons, and its factories are responsible for the subjugation and mistreatment of workers of all ages across the Middle East and Asia. Hitkadmut also supports various oppressive and violent regimes across the world.

Gauntley acts as the sole head of the corporation. After Kiker’s reported death at the claws and teeth of the Howling Blitzkrieg Pack, Hitkadmut became more effective almost overnight, copying many of the busi­ ness practices Kiker had used at Pentex. Rushing and Yamazaki, who organized Kiker’s killing, are now ques­ tioning whether he faked his own death to avoid the real thing. While they don’t have concrete evidence, they’re sure that Kiker — or something like him — has somehow surfaced at this new company.

Rushing needs to know if Kiker survived. If so, someone needs to put him down before he can spill Rushing’s secrets to Gauntley’s organization. Yamazaki by contrast believes that if Kiker and Gauntley serve the Wyrm’s interests, they can do whatever they like with the Middle East. Adrian Newberry hasn’t yet said anything. He has Kiker’s head is in his cabinet, and the Wyrm has told him it is genuine. He’s yet to mention this to the rest of the Board, or to speak up about any information leaks to Hitkadmut.