Frandos Wakami

Famous for his control of DermPachyges during its first 25 years of existence, Frandos Wakami was born in -106 EC. Nothing is known of his father and little is known of his mother. The most persistent tales describe her as a gypsy pleasure woman. Although Wakami persistently denied these tales, he was unable to proffer more credible alternatives.

Since his death in -15 EC, some scholars (I believe the proper term for these people is "gossips") have attempted to discover the tale of Wakami’s mother in the hope that it will provide them with a juicy tale of lost love for the salacious True Tales of the World magazine.

What we do know about Wakami is that as a young boy he was sent to study under the tutelage of the Brothers of the Lantern. He spent eleven years in their care before taking up an apprenticeship as a Wadjidir. Wakami found this craft was not for him; In his own words:

"I lacked the manual dexterity to manipulate the tools that are traditional for a Wadjidir. I also found the noise, heat and particularly the dust not to my liking. Besides, there really isn’t much money in it is there?"

After abandoning his apprenticeship, Wakami found himself acting as an aide to Mary Elizabeth Carsokian in her role as head of the Carsokian Clan. During this time, Wakami met and eventually married (in -80 EC) M.E. Carsokian’s niece Sylvia Beth Panderlock.

Soon after the wedding, Wakami became the owner of a pachyderm courier service - a situation that is widely attributed to the influence of his wife’s extended family. Wakami operated the courier service until -78 EC when the DermPachyges cooperative was formed. Through ruthless maneuvering and thuggery, Wakami positioned himself so that he was able to take control of the cooperative and incorporate it. As well as becoming Supreme Benevolent Dictator For Life, Wakami ended up with effective control of the organisation through the auspices of the Carsokian Clan, whose members own most of the stock in the corporation.

Employees of DermPachyges often referred to Wakami as “Elephant Ears”. This nick-name is attributed to his unusually small ears and signals a certain dryness to the humour of couriers.

In the 25 years that Wakami ran DermPachyges he was almost fanatical in the way he promoted and protected “his” company. During the construction of the Cataract Road, he was heavily involved in opposing and delaying the works. When the road was complete, Wakami was implicated in the long period of banditry that occurred along its length. Wakami’s stewardship of DermPachyges was so thorough that, when he retired in -53 EC, the company was the undisputed leader in freight. After his retirement, Wakami devoted his time to the mentoring of budding business people within his wife’s extended family.

Wakami died in his sleep on the 13th of Ikk, -15. He was survived by his wife Sylvia who died three years later, and their two children Horatio Gloom Wakami and Aristea Sylvia Panderlock. In -5 EC, DermPachyges errected a memorial to Wakami at the side of the Cataract Road as it enters Folktown.

Citations: Carsokian Clan, True Tales of the World, Wadjidir.

--Dok 22:03, 21 Oct 2004 (EDT)