Elim ap Codwigwr, or Elmo Ocodicrus, is a Thwylyth warlord. He embarked on a vision quest as a brave from his tribe, seeking initiation into his tribe's warrior society. Ten years later, he is still in pursuit of this vision. However, even though he is an uninitiated warrior, he has gathered a war band of uninitiated Thwylyth braves, Auryan outlaws, and other brigands around him. The Auryan Crown, though far distant from his theater of operation, has been troubled enough by his brigandry to place a massive bounty on his head. He is also slated for ritual sacrifice in at least three separate Thwylyth tribes, for his depredations. His band of brigands is known as the Burning Butchers, because they are notorious for flaying or burning their captives alive, tanning their hides, then the leather for equipment and clothing. They are also famous for shrinking the heads of their enemies and keeping them as tokens. The Burning Butchers recently besieged a small Auryan garrison within a royal castle in the Marches of Autumn. When the castellan surrendered, Elim ordered him impaled upon the gate he had thrown open. Hanging from the gate, he watched as the Burning Butchers roasted and feasted on his garrison for three full days before he expired. Every royal attempt to dislodge the Burning Butchers from Shakley Castle has ended in failure, because Elim was able to gather intelligence of each royal party's arrival and set an ambush. The Burning d Butchers wear black garb from head to toe, an scarves wrapped around their face, giving their faces the likeness of a skull. For this reason, they are also called by the local population the Black Butchers, the Blackburners, and by local royal forces, the Skullcaps.
After a raid, it is common for the to leave their mark as a warning to their rivals and the authorities. It is from these marks that they received their name the Burning Butchers. One call sign is to impale victim to a tree, douse him with oil then set him ablaze. Another is to hack apart various victims and reassemble them in a mismatched, scarecrow-like abomination, which is propped up to watch over the charred fields. A third call sign in the notorious "Burning Man" in which all the residents of a village are herded into a giant wicker man that acts as a holding pin. Then the entire apparatus is set ablaze with all inside.
Elim is somewhat of a folk hero and folk villain among the Thwylyth and Auryan serfs of the Autumn of Twilight for his vigorous resistance to the tyranny of the local Margrave of Tol Torva, who is widely despised by the populous for his heavy handed management of his manor and his ruthless tax collection methods. The Buring Butcherss regularly maim, decapitate, or burn tax collectors and rob stronghouses where tax revenues are stored. He is also a folk villain, for even though the Black Butchers have largely left the populous untouched by the violence they instigate, Burning Butchers often attack, pillage, and burn granaries which create artificial famine across the marches during the winter months. Interestingly enough, they have committed few depredations on priory lands of the Brothers of Ere. Nothing more than a few peasants maimed or a few fields ransacked during foraging operations. They have not mounted any direct assault on the Brotherhood's network of priories, despite these priories being well stocked with riches, treasures, and supplies. Most of the Auryan serfs believe this is because Elim is highly superstitious and afraid of offending the holy Brothers and incurring their divine reprisals. Some believe it is because is secretly pious toward the Brothers, or that the Brothers are aiding him in throwing off Auryan control in the area. Whatever the reason, these priories are strongly fortified and well defended by the highly disciplined militias of lay converts which work the lands of the priory. These Devoted Militias have served as a highly effective means of repelling and detering other Thwylyth incusions into Brotherhood property.