Grimlocke Bird

Summary

Attracted by murder this great bird, wreathed in shadow, stocks the nights of the northern world. Created some say by placing a crow's egg into the body of the recently murdered, this great bird seeks vengeance for the dead. Or it simply desires the blood of humans, depends on who is telling the myth.

Historical Basis

There is a number of giant birds in the northern lands of which Ethilia is part. Giant Rock's, Eagles, and other flying beings of less savory heritage. The myth itself may refer to a real creature, though there has been no conclusive evidence.
There has been a few dead travelers found, with a giant beak shaped wound, sucked dry of every ounce of blood they posses. Scholars assume this is the origin of the myth of the Grimlocke bird.

Spread

Most small villages and towns in the Northern part of the world have some form of this myth. Usually told around fires or while traveling at night, it is rarely believed but often told. One of the wizard towers in the north took an interest to the myth and sent out a research team, who were unable to reach any conclusive evidence.

Variations & Mutation

Near the town of Grimlocke the myth takes a different hue. Here the townsfolk speak of an old lord, the Krähe Lord (crow lord to the common man) was the local Margrave. Notorious for his brutal methods of defending the realm against the strangeness beyond his lands.
The myth spoke of the brutal murder of a village that had become infected by some strange arcane illness. Each person of the village was killed and burned, though perhaps without the thoroughness necessary. The son of a witch was caught in the massacre, slain for no reason while he sought to aid in curing the villagers. His mother upon having seen his ghost in passing, travelled to the village where she found his dead and half burned corpse. There she cast dark magic upon his body and inserted the egg of a crow into his body, birthing the Grimlocke bird. She imbued it with the need to destroy the Krähe Lord and all those who served him.
Here the myth takes a strange turn as old empire records indicate that the local Margrave was attacked many times by a dark power, and that he was weakened beyond his ability to defend his lands, and ended up being unseated by his lord and his land given to a new and more powerful lord. Shortly there after the old empire fell, and the records become lost or ceased to be created. Meaning that nobody knows of the final end of the crow lord and his people.