The Night Stalker

In towns where the populace knows and believes the tale of the Night Stalker, taverns and bars will close early on nights without a moon. Groups of drinkers will leave together to travel to the homes of the members of the group one-by-one, dropping off each person and only leaving after their door is securely bolted. The last two people will stay at the home of one of them, rather than leave one person to walk the streets alone.
Nobody has been lost from a group taking such a precaution - but is that evidence that there is no such being as the Night Stalker, or that their precaution works?

Summary

Several of the towns and cities surrounding the Wyrmsea have an urban legend of a being called 'The Night Stalker' or some variation thereof. On moonless nights, the legend goes, the Night Stalker wanders the streets looking for those out alone and defenceless. It will then choose one of them as its victim and they will disappear, never to be seen again.
Sometimes some of the victim's possessions will be found the next day, in the form of a dropped hat or pipe, or a shoe lost as if running, but nothing else is ever found.

Historical Basis

While nobody knows where the urban legend originated, law enforcement officers in the affected towns have noted that there have been occasional disappearances on moonless nights, exactly as the legend says. They have carried out increased patrols with multiple officers on moonless nights, swept the towns with clerics, and more, but no evidence has ever been found. However, there have been disappearances even from towns where the patrols were being made.

Variations & Mutation

In some towns the Night Stalker is claimed to target only single men, while in others it is married women, and yet others the Stalker is an indiscriminate being, taking any who garner its attention. It is worth noting that the apparent victims of the Stalker conform to the beliefs of the town, even where those beliefs differ from one another.