The Birdman of Aachen

The Birdman of Aachen is a recent urban legend in this hallowed city, a creature that is quickly becoming a boogeyman to many. And to others a horrific serial killer sent directly from Hell.
Whatever the belief in where he came from one thing is certain, the Birdman is all too real. Given how he looks it is no surprise that he haunts the city at night. Sticking to the alleyways and less well lit sections, the Birdman stalks looking for his next victim to dismember and feast upon. Every time he strikes he leaves behind a multilated corpse and a black downy feather to show that he struck again. Men, women and children of any species is potential prey to him.
Given that the local wizard is also part of the court, Emon Kanis has been tasked with trying to determine the identity of this killer at behest of the Crown. So far he has had no real success. What he has discovered makes finding the Birdman even harder. It seems the latter dwells within shadow, and the feather comes from a raven. A tinge of the Shadowfell surrounds each kill and always carried out in darkness. It appears that the Birdman either comes from this dimension or has a strong connection to it.
Whether he resides in this world or the Shadowfell when not hunting is another thing. So far sweeps of the city, especially in the areas where he has killed has proven fruitless. Litle is found and what tracks are discovered seem to appear from the darkest patches of shadow only to disappear again into said shadow.
Nearly all the kills are to the south east of the city well away from the more upmarket area touching the Palace of Aachen. This acts to prevent the nobles from taking further action themselves since none of them or their faimiles have been affected yet. All it does is stir up the locals who feel as if something has been sent to cause them more hardship in life.
The same locals always remark that before & after a kill that they hear the sound of large beating wings overhead and sometimes the sound of a large bird on top of their dwellings before & after. When the screaming starts they don't hear anything else, and those that try to find the victim being attacked are always too late.
One thing that has been turned up is that some of the bodies have been lifted up into the air and dropped from a few feet to the ground. Why the Birdman does this is corrently unknown. It is speculated it's as if he has tried to carry off the victim's remains but couldn't.
So far the city leadership has speculated that the Birdman has been sent from the Shadowfell to terrorise and demoralise them. With the Saxon Wars still raging, the think that the Saxons may have made some type of pact with the denizens of that dark evil dimension for the Birdman to target the average citizens who would make up the bulk of the Frankish army.