The idea of selling all sorts of items to the witches in Morgana Coven through the villages sounded like a great one to Wolfe.
"I think that we can arrange a plane to come with a selection of our new items. Driving isn't safe over those sorts of distances, especially with a load of magical items. Just give me a moment to contact our colleagues, and I'll get someone to come to us." He agreed.
"You mean today? Like right now? The Elder asked.
"I don't see why not. The flight is only a few hours long, so they can come straight to us with a selection of items that they would like you to sell.
Then, once those are handled, we can deal with payments and restocking based on the requests you get.
Having the items here will make them easier to sell than a promise of having them delivered, and the place can hold quite a bit."
"And what about the flying monsters? There is a reason you don't see much air traffic." The old woman reminded him.
"We will have one of the Rank Two witches on the flight. She can handle defence against monsters, and the high speed of the plane helps dissuade most of the weaker monsters from attacking.
Don't worry, we've tested this theory, and the pilots are fairly heavily armed."
John sighed at the reminder that Wolfe wasn't going to give up the really good stuff. It was obvious that they weren't short on weapons; everyone in the Frozen Wastes had seemed to have some sort of powerful magical device in the battle reports last winter, but the trust level for this alliance was still too low.
With that in mind, he started thinking of a proposal to put before his superior officers. If they would agree to get the other villages on board, they could create a safe zone for the people of the Fae Forest that would encourage more trade and better deals to keep bringing magical items their way.
The leadership at home was tempted to start moving back toward the sort of mixed magic and technology society they had before the war, and the swamps and forests of Morgana Coven were the testing ground.
But after his stint in captivity, John understood very well where the lines between acceptable and unacceptable arrangements were and how much could be gained by wiping out the Grand Dutchies army completely.
That was why he obsessed about getting better weaponry. He wanted to get even, with penalties and interest applied.
When the conversation faded, and it looked like Wolfe was going to move the young witch up to a room at the inn, John decided to make his excuses and head home to write the formal proposal for the colonel.
That seemed to be the signal for everyone to break up, but Wolfe had one last reminder for them.
"I will ask my people to come in the morning, bright and early. That will give them time to get everything together, and we can catch a ride back with the plane. We will return here soon and try to arrange a date when we can get multiple village leaders together for a group meeting.
Is there a time when everyone gathers? In the Fae Forest, we did a big festival to bring everyone together. The villages in the Frozen Wastes need to mix to avoid inbreeding and such, plus festivals are fun."
The elder smiled back and nodded. "We hold a marriage festival as well. The summer solstice, but you've missed it. That's really the only time everyone travels.
We didn't do it this year, though. Too many dangerous questions about the allegiances of the villages. But I think I can get eight or ten village leaders together with a week's notice."
"That should be fine. We won't do it right away. Sell off a load or two of gear first so they know what we're offering. Now, if you excuse us, I'll put Sophie to bed, and we will see you all in the morning."
Explaining the situation to Cassie and Priya was easy. Getting them to decide who would come along on the trip was not. They both wanted to come for the ride, but both of them had duties that they needed to attend to the next day, which the other was happy to point out. So, in the end, the duties were pushed back, and they agreed that they both would take the trip but make it short.
The exploration of the Forest villages' allegiance could wait since they now had a willing helper who would sort through it for them. That meant that once they got the trade flights going, they could focus on the development inside the Fae Forest and build up their alliances and defensive lines in preparation for winter.
Nobody believed that the Grand Dutchies would give up that easily, and they had at least one ally in the North who had tried to send an army to them last winter, so there might be even more mundane forces coming through the Frozen Wastes this year.
The defence of their new territory was the primary goal of everyone in the Fae Forest. The witches of the Morgana Coven were good allies to have, but they weren't part of the group, so to speak. The mutants of the Frozen Wastes were the nation that Wolfe intended to build into his own, assuming that they wished to go along with it and fight for their dignity using the weapons he would provide.
[We will take off at first light. We don't have much for navigation equipment, and the GPS units that we acquired from the mundane army aren't reliable out here in the Wastes. They will let us navigate pretty well once we are further south, but for now, it would be best to limit ourselves to day flights only.] Cassie informed Wolfe later that evening.
[Just make sure you've got a good variety of fun stuff for a village of Witches, and leave the guns and ammo at home. I made them some decent bows, but we're not going to give even more enchanted ammunition to the Covens yet. At least, not the ones out here in the woods who are working with the humans.] Wolfe replied.
[Understood. If you're not ready to trust them yet, we will hold off. But I will pack one case, just in case there is a certain someone who you think could be trusted with a rifle. I know how you operate.]
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