Chapter 565 565 Give and Take


    The Sylvan Coven Council looked over the charms and the ammunition in the case with particr interest. Unlike Morgana Coven, who had rebels destroying their fields, the Sylvan Coven had been basically abandoned after the battles of the winter, and their food supplies were doing fairly well.


    Not that they weren''t nning to get as many of the Rank Two Garden Charms as possible, but the ammunition was the cure to their much more urgent concerns about security.


    Priya looked around the room and considered what could possibly be done to help their situation. Most of the issue now was ack of people, they just didn''t have the poption anymore to repopte the viges that had been abandoned duringst winter''s attacks.


    Morgana Coven had their own issues with all the humans who had been showing up and causing issues in the cities, taking ves or trying to take over viges, but arge portion of Sylvan Coven was simply uninhabited now.


    There was one possible solution for that, though. They could encourage the refugees from the viges in the Frozen Wastes to move to Sylvan while they worked on breaking the curses, which would put them off the front lines of any uing battles with the United World Army, but in position to prevent the Monster Tide from just rolling through and making the whole region too dangerous to live in.


    Unlike the Frozen Wastes, most of Sylvan Coven was a temperate forest, and there was an abundance of magical nts to feed the monsters. Once they were in, they could survive in great numbers, and that would be a disaster by the next spring, when they would be able to challenge the guards around the fields and viges.


    Priya cleared her throat to catch their attention and began to present her idea to the Sylvan Coven''s leadership.


    "What I would like to suggest today is that we make a trade. The Frozen Wastes have a lot of disced people already, and we can''t take them all into one city. But Sylvan Coven has dozens of empty viges.


    So what I would like to suggest is that, in exchange for our help with border security, and the continued prosperity of the people, you allow us to settle refugees in the abandoned viges, as well as spread area enchantments that will help break the curses from the Frozen Wastes into Sylvan Coven territory."


    The Coven leadership didn''t know that there were going to be half a million people moving westward as the battle in the east expanded. Each vige normally had thousands of residents, and there were hundreds of small viges across the shores and the eastern borders of the Frozen Wastes.


    They had taken in a dozen viges so far, from what she could tell, and even the expanded borders of Forest Grove were bing crowded again. That wouldn''t be a solution forever, and they couldn''t just keep overpopting the outlying viges forever.


    But if they could move into the Coven''s empty viges, and renovate them for their own needs, with Forest Grove supplied weapons, they could live good lives away from the uing battles.


    "You want us to rece the humans who fled our territory with mutants?" The elderly Coven Leader asked.


    "That''s right. But not sickly and dying ones. Stable mutants with fluffy animal ears, or scales. Once we break the Curse, we can allmunicate normally, and they''re well-trained in growing crops under harsh conditions, as well as defending against monster attacks. They will be excellent border guards, and we can extend the normal patrol routes to epass the northern border of Sylvan Coven." Priya agreed.


    "You''re nning to take over our country." One of the other Council Members stated bluntly.


    Priya shook her head. "I am letting you keep your country. If I went before the people and told them that I was taking over, they would have no qualms about ousting the Council for a Rank Three Coven Leader."


    The Councillors frowned at the reminder. Even if it was the United World Army that showed up with Rank Three and Four witches, the Sylvan citizens might well just turn over the Covennds to them unconditionally at this point.


    They had lost too muchtely, and not just from the war. They had lost reputation and that was much harder to recover.


    The old Coven Leader sighed. "I''m afraid that, at this point, it''s inevitable anyhow. They won''t ept us as leaders for long when there are Rank Three Sylvan Citizens out there and everyone knows it. We''re already viewed as ceholders for the next generation.


    Changes are going to have to be made, and it will have to be big enough that we can convince everyone that it''s in their best interest not to sell us out again. With all the soldiersing back, it''s no secret that our Coven is basically a city state already.


    If your n can bring back the people''s confidence and their security, then I am willing to support you, but I do have some conditions of my own."


    This was the part that Priya had been hoping to avoid, despite knowing that it was inevitable.


    "Alright, name your conditions and I will see what we can do." She reluctantly agreed.


    The old woman smiled. "First, we want a Witch Family appointed as managers of every refugee vige."


    Priya nodded. "We would have sent witches with them anyhow to get them set up. I don''t see that it would be a problem to make sure that there is at least one capable Witch and her Family staying there to keep up the defensive spells."


    "Secondly, we want the viges to raise a defence force to hold the border along with our army from the city when the Monster Tidees again." The Coven Leader continued.


    That was a given, the ones that she was nning to have moved to the border were viges that were willing to stand up for themselves, but that knew they couldn''t stand up to a full-scale war going on above their heads.


    "That won''t be a problem. The viges already have a system to raise defence forces, and with the weapons that we are supplying, they are getting much more confident." Priya agreed.


    The old woman''s smile turned a to a strangebination of relieved and bitter as she looked around the room, and the other councillors nodded to her.


    "Finally, we want you, or another Sylvan Citizen Witch at Rank Three from a respected Family, to take over as Coven Leader." The Leader sighed.