Quest:Missing Pets

Two women in the tavern are talking about how both of their cats have not returned home, and how they have both noticed a lot of "missing" posters all around the Outer West. Missing posters are also easily found on a low-level investigation check / remembered.

The Plot

A group of children is being intimidated by a teenage boy to catch animals and participate in rituals to sacrifice them in order to summon the Lord of Crows, who he has been dreaming about.

The boy is a young human from the Outer West called Metrin DeRink. He is about 15 years old and has been having dreams of the Lord of Crows for months now, in which he has been instructed to sacrifice Cats, Dogs, and other smaller animals to summon it. So far with no success, though he has begun to manifest strange powers, occasionally cawing and having a growing obsession with shiny objects.

Clues

1. Talking to the women in the tavern reveals that one of them remembers that Old Martha saying she's been seeing children play with cats more recently. Old Martha lives on the main street, just a few minutes from the tavern.
2. Old Martha will tell them that she recently saw two kids cats a cat and run off into an alleyway, and saw another kid carry a rabbit into the same alleyway.
3. The Alleyway has a lot of tracks, mainly child-sized ones. Following the tracks leads through several alleys, crossing streets, until reaching an alley near the edge of Outer West. (tracking checks?)
   1. It leads into a dead-end with a lot of cages stacked around. Only two of them currently contain cats (which will run off when freed).
   2. A DC 10 investigation will reveal a hole in one of the wooden walls behind the cages.
4. Asking around the Outer West makes it clear dozens of people are missing pets, from cats and dogs to rabbits and birds.
5. Searching around the Outer West shows a bunch of kids playing, and some of them even stalking some animals that are outside (DC10). The same role would reveal an abundance of crows (DC15).
6. Talking to children shows they are nervous to talk about it. Persuading them (dc 15, or by any other means then talking) leads them to spill the beans about Metrin "asking" them to bring the animals. Pressing them more will reveal details about killing these animals.
   1. One of the kids will take them to the alleyway, if asked where to go.

The hole in the wall

The hole in the wall behind the cages leads through about 10 meters of muddy, dirty crawl space - until it opens up into an overgrown, forestry area outside of the Outer West. It's a small square-like space with multiple half-destroyed houses and a big tree in the middle.

• DC 12+ perception to notice the tree is full of crows.

Most houses contain nothing but destroyed furniture, but one of them has a dirty boy in the middle of a ritualistic circle. The boy is covered in grime; dirt and what seems to be tried blood. Noticing the players he asks them if they are here to help. The house Metrin is in has many cages of living animals.

Metrin

Metrin doesn't understand he is doing anything wrong, and requires a series of high persuasion checks to be talked out of his delusions. Effectively he is enchanted by a Fey that calls itself the Lord of Crows. A "dispell magic" would lift the enchantment, though it would leave Metrin without memory of what happened.

Metrin can be convinced to come to the town to be handed off to the guards, even if he isn't brought to understand what he has done.

Combat with Metrin turns dangerous, as the crows will all become aggressive and start functioning as 10 enemies as "flocks". Metrin himself will then be possessed by the Lord of Crows to try and complete the ritual.