Supernatural Organisation Data Files: Meander Corporation

Supernatural Organisation Data Files: Meander Corporation

Summary: Meander Corporation is a front used by the largest, and most well organised, group of necromancers in the world. Boasting over fifty thousand employees, Meander is one of the largest and richest privately owned companies in the world. Unlike many of its competitors, much of its funding comes from secret methods that it – somehow – manages to keep entirely secret. Even we do not know what these techniques are, however, it is certain that it involves necromancy – hence both the secrecy, and their ability to keep it entirely secret.

            The vast majority of the Meander Corporation consists of employees without any knowledge of necromancy (or any other form of supernatural phenomenon). Those who are ‘in the know’ form three main groups: necromancers who perform research for the organisation (often solely into the necromantic arts, with no potential for profit), tainted who fill a variety of roles within the organisation and keep an eye on the ordinary humans, and the board which consists of older, powerful necromancers who utilise the company to hide their own activities.

            The Meander Corporation’s current CEO is seemingly unaware of the details of the shady activities the company performs, however, he is certainly aware that means he has not been briefed on are the source of much of their income. The chairman of the board is – and has always been – the lich, currently serving under the identity of ‘James Sanders IV’.

            We believe that the Meander Corporation is not currently engaging in much (if any) research upon living humans, as per the terms of our alliance. Unfortunately, the size of the corporation – and other demands on our resources – prevent us from being absolutely certain.

Structure: Although structured as a company, many divisions of the Meander Corporation have vague, meaningless names to hide their true purposes. These necromantic research divisions have managers, and researchers, and demand results that are worthwhile in return for the resources they provide (though not specifically financially rewarding). This structure is, in part, responsible for Meander’s great pace of advancement – the expertise of the Meander Corporation is far greater than that of any of the necromancer cults.

            The only other unusual aspect of Meander’s structure is the level of involvement the board – and the other private holders – have. Often they directly utilise company resources for a wide range of things, or take temporary command of various sub-offices. These actions are often scrutinised closely, but no ‘wrongdoing’ (according to local laws) has ever been found. It is also notable that the private holders are not involved in any other companies, though with our knowledge of Meander it is something we expected.

History: The Meander Corporation was founded in several European countries in the mid-nineteenth century by members and agents of the ‘Meander’ necromancer cult, also known as ‘they by the river’. The reason for the founding in multiple countries was the presence of cult members within those countries.

            Founding (and becoming, mostly) a corporation was the idea of the lich. After succeeding where so many other necromancers had failed, he had put himself in a position where he was both nigh impossible to defeat and possessed knowledge many other necromancers would give much to know. As such, his strange idea took off and succeeded where many had failed.

            The Meander Corporation was to be both a front for necromancer activities (this was, notably, in the days when companies could literally get away with murder) and also to unify the often fighting necromancer groups. The lure of the lich’s knowledge, and the seeming strength of the Meander Corporation, was enough for them to begin absorbing other groups. Quickly, they snowballed into the largest necromancer group in the world.

            Some groups, however, were reluctant to work underneath the lich. So, after twenty years of growth, the Meander Corporation began to bring other necromancers into their organisation by force. Already larger and far more organised than any other necromancer group, the Meander Corporation destroyed more necromancer cults than all other causes combined. This continued until roughly twenty years ago, when they made peace with the handful of remaining cults – as these groups had long since become completely insignificant.

            To return to earlier history, the Meander Corporation became one of the first global corporations as necromancers all over the world joined them. Using their dark magic to gain revenue, they performed terrible acts anywhere they could get away with them – where the voices of fear were considered too primitive, too superstitious, to be speaking the truth.

            This continued until the nineteen sixties, at which time news exposés began to occur quite frequently. A single exposé on the true terror of their experiments would have spelt disaster for the Meander Corporation.

            Rather than risk exposure, the company cut back on its activities and focused on growth – utilising certain necromantic ‘technologies’ that it keeps secret to this day to provide funding. With a large workforce, Meander was able to purchase and run many facilities to hide their research. While they performed things that would make any ordinary person blanche, the necromancers and later tainted who worked on the experiments could not be tempted by money or even morality to reveal the secrets of the Meander Corporation.

            This growth continues in the current day – in the past year alone the Meander Corporation has added roughly two thousand to its employee numbers. Due to sensible management of funds and people, we believe that – amazingly – the ordinary activities of the Meander Corporation (in which it acts as a services and advice company with investments in a wide variety of areas) almost pay for themselves. Despite being bloated in size, the company only needs a small portion of the mega-profits it generates from its necromantic activities.

            The most recent change for the Meander Corporation was moving its headquarters to Midwel in 2010. We believe this change to relate to Meander’s large investment in Australian mining, however it could be something as simple as a whim on the part of the lich.