Butcher Bay Bandits

The **Butcher Bay Bandits** was a bandit gang that terrorized the area near Sanshu.

## Background

Led by former Major of the Imperial Army Yo Ling, the Spectre. Established almost forty years ago alongside his colleague, former Major Liu Shi, the two war heroes persuaded a number of their former soldiers into a life of banditry, getting fat off the slaughter of innocents. As years passed, they swallowed up the gangs in the area and grew into a juggernaut, putting enormous pressure on the surrounding cities. Extortion, robbery, smuggling, and more, Butcher Bay is synonymous with organized crime.

They travel by longboat from their hidden hideout through Western Treasures Lake, and either north or southeast along the rivers to their targets. It's estimated they have between three and seven thousand members, a veritable army. Favoring night attacks, they'll split up upon arrival, raiding the surrounding areas in a lightning fast offensive. Villages, farms, warehouses and the like, but they've been known to raid the fisheries, stealing the preserved goods along with the pay chests; low risk and high reward.

Chasing them back into The Western Treasures Lake is a death sentence unless intimately familiar with the area. A labyrinth of riptides and whirlpools constantly threatening to pull the boats out to the calm center where many a boat has capsized. As the name suggests, there is plenty of wealth and riches deep in the lake depths, guarded by the vicious sea creatures hiding within them.

The Marshal called upon the Imperial Defense Forces six times to subjugate the bandits, but each time Yo Ling and Liu Shi retreat to their hidden hideout to wait out the pressure, taking their elites out on surgical strikes when their food ran low. Rumors have the base situated among the islands or the forests to the south, but their central location and familiarity with the waters allows them to strike out in any direction, with four cities to target. Each time, the Marshal called off the bandit subjugation after the costs began to heavily outweigh the benefits, each one an abject failure and black mark on Marshal DuYi's otherwise spotless record.

In fact, the greatest setback to Butcher Bay came from within, a rift erupting between Yo Ling and Liu Shi over fifteen years ago. In the end, Yo Ling won out, taking sole ownership of the Butcher Bay Bandits. Liu Shi, now known as Bastard Liu, fled to Eastern Prosperity Lake with his loyal gangsters, starting his own bandit group, the Crossbone Corsairs.

## Chronology

The Butcher Bay Bandits were attacking a village that was being protected by members of the Imperial Defense Force led by Falling Rain.

The Butcher Bay Bandits were wiped out with their defeat at Sanshu.

## Known Members

* Yo Ling: **Leader**, *The Spectre*, former Major
* Gao Qiu: *Red Devil of Sanshu*, Former Captain
* Hideous Helvend
* Black Heart Nazier
* Ravager Kaliyan
* Viper Pang
* Malang
* Jester Wang

## Trivia

* Gao Qiu was rumored to have rescued Yo Ling from assassination by Bastard Liu.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 134
2. ↑ Chapter 182
3. ↑ Chapter 212
4. ↑ Chapter 216
5. ↑ Chapter 208
6. ↑ Chapter 179
7. ↑ Chapter 208