Kingdom of Coria

[Eirikr]

I feel like that's pretty spot-on actually. Very similar to my thought processes on the various aspects to the situation. The only thing I question is why you felt Merlin had to repair his relations to succeed (assuming, of course, that the necessary time was taken for the other actions). It seemed like Jason at least was fine with Merlin until everything exploded inside Coria (which then rippled into the League). While I was Consul, I had a feeling things were rough between us and Tara, but until the Elost deal, the CE seemed to like us quite a bit.

I also know why he didn't approach his allies first: He expected them to do everything in their power to resist it. I think CE's initial reaction was fairly unexpected. I thought they'd instantly argue that there was no need for it.

[Perth]

So... basically he needed CE and Tara's permission if he was ever going to be able to make an attempt to free Coria (and the island) of CE and Tara's domination?

That blows.

[Eirikr]

So... basically he needed CE and Tara's permission if he was ever going to be able to make an attempt to free Coria (and the island) of CE and Tara's domination?

That blows.

Note, however, that CE was initially willing to grant it and Tara wouldn't even consider it.

[Telrunya]

So... basically he needed CE and Tara's permission if he was ever going to be able to make an attempt to free Coria (and the island) of CE and Tara's domination?

That blows.

Calling yourself another Empire is always a bit tricky, but CE would have not really cared much in general if it wasn't for all the letters floating around about attacking Tara and other CE Allies and getting CE Dukes to secede from the Empire. Even then, a bunch of Nobles felt no desire to take any action until Merlin made the first move. Tara appeared more opposed to the matter then CE.

[Dante Silverfire]

Tara appeared more opposed to the matter then CE.

Tara was not opposed to the empire.

Tara (Ottar) is opposed to Merlin.

There is a huge difference. Even if they both meant the same in the end.

[Zadar]

Tara won't care if someone wants to leave from our League, it will be their choice. But if and when someone makes actions against us we will do something.

Merlin was able to get Coria out of League and Tara was ready for it but he did choose something else.


That new Empire could have been success but Coria did burn too many bridges and way too fast. You have to gain something before you can represent it to others, that takes time in Atamara.

[Elegant]

All you have is a list of letters taken way out of context. You don't understand the discussions taking place at the time or how they are meant to be received.

How is this mean to be received :" we could have Coria join a new and united north and south against CE and Tara."
And this one? : "Coria could manuever our ability to cut off our allies from reaching the Barony of Makar, and in addition one of the first acts of such an empire would be to influence CE to stand down in their plans to attack the Barony"
And this one, the biggest one?: "I also plan to try and convince one or more dukes to secede from Tara or CE to join the Empire with their duchies."

Don't make me do it again. This is not the League channel, so I am not going to give more details. These sentences scream betrayal.

*I* as a player am trying to be 100% honest when I say that my character had ZERO intention for CE to be harmed in any way with his actions.

Oh yeah...I know, I know. Look the above extracts from letters. Do they really mean that Merlin had ZERO intention? Someday someone will do the same to you, then maybe you could understand the pain of being back-stabbed and being lied to in face. At least do yourself a favor and retain your honor as a player by not lying on forums.

The only people who received a fully "truthful" version of this tale were his allies, (CE, Tara, Talerium, Strombran).

Yes, after doing all the Secret Ops with other rulers, finally, you remembered that you forgot to give a "truthful" version to the allies. Too bad, we came to know about your Secret Ops.

It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to tell ME what my "intentions" are. You don't know. So, don't call me a liar for saying that when you don't know what they are, and that I'm misrepresenting things.

Okay, so you mean that you never intend to do what you write in letters? The problem was, you were writing secret letters which contained things like taking away duchies, making deals with BoM and saving BoM and you are doing sweet talk in front of us. Then you were implementing things in such a way that it was impossible to misunderstand you and impossible to believe your words. We knew what you were up to. We don't have to sit inside your brain to know your intentions.

Once you lock Merlin into a public statement regarding his policy he will stand by it completely. To go against any public statement would deprive him of any honor. Yet, all of his public statements were simply disregarded. Merlin publicly stated on multiple occasions that he would NEVER under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE come into conflict with CE while he ruled Coria.

Merlin had lost all his honor and credibility as soon as those letters were out. Nobody would believe Merlin's sweet talks, whether in public or in private. A dishonorable man's words have no value, either in public or in private.

Finally, I would like to say, you broke our hearts. When we got the secret intel about Falsani, we alerted you. Then I again expressed concern when I got some more input. What do we get in return : plan to cut off duchies, save our enemies, kill our friend etc... You needed duchy? We could have helped you get several. I never felt so betrayed in my life.

[Indirik]

You are taking this *way* too personally.

[jaune]

I'm really starting to be afraid of Ce & boys... If they are that serious about this game... we are screwd!

-Jaune

[Dante Silverfire]

How is this mean to be received :" we could have Coria join a new and united north and south against CE and Tara."

As I said this was taken out of context. Want to know what I was responding to? He was proposing a solution to a "What IF" scenario whereby Tara declared war on Coria and attacked us from the south. We were considering what the possible responses would be to Coria assimilating a fourth duchy. One possible outcome that was considered, is that Tara wouldn't like Coria becoming stronger so we would need to be prepared for this eventuality.

Is that statement betrayal now?

And this one? : "Coria could manuever our ability to cut off our allies from reaching the Barony of Makar, and in addition one of the first acts of such an empire would be to influence CE to stand down in their plans to attack the Barony"

Also taken way out of context. Did Raoul even give you the letters surrounding these, or only my letters? Merlin was trying to coordinate an agreement with Raoul whereby BoM would lose a duchy to Minas Leon, and use that lost duchy as a major concession by BoM to CE for the end of the war against the Barony. This would provide a legitimate platform for CE to work out harsh terms against BoM, but also benefit Coria at the same time. So yes, I would negotiate for BoM if i felt it would benefit CE, BoM, ML, and Coria from a long drawn out war and give Coria positive grounds.

Is that statement betrayal now?

And this one, the biggest one?: "I also plan to try and convince one or more dukes to secede from Tara or CE to join the Empire with their duchies."

I've already addressed this one in-game and will leave that in-game.

Oh yeah...I know, I know. Look the above extracts from letters. Do they really mean that Merlin had ZERO intention? Someday someone will do the same to you, then maybe you could understand the pain of being back-stabbed and being lied to in face. At least do yourself a favor and retain your honor as a player by not lying on forums.

Yes, Merlin had ZERO intention as I've been trying to make this clear. Read the context for those various letters, and you'll understand. Of course the characters in game have NO IC REASON to let you know what context they were written in. Why should they? It benefits them for Merlin to be taken down a notch. So they'll do what they can to pull off that end. It benefits them to pull letters from over 30 days previously and send them to you. I don't have the time or inclination to respond to 50 different letters to explain every single word taken out of context. Especially when Jason had those letters for weeks before revealing them to the League in an attempt to MAKE Merlin get out of line first. Jason set up Merlin the entire way. If he truly had a concern he should have addressed them with me privately as soon as he received the letters.

Finally, I would like to say, you broke our hearts..... I never felt so betrayed in my life.

I stand by the fact that you got played. I can forward you html saved copies of the entirety of all of Merlin's conversations to prove it, but I shouldn't have to. No one can contest the contexts which I've outlined here. Merlin would never betray the Cagilan Empire. But, his enemies convinced your character that he would.

[Eirikr]

How is this mean to be received :" we could have Coria join a new and united north and south against CE and Tara."

This was very old. I believe this was before Merlin had even proposed the Empire to his inner circle. The intent, as I recall, was to save Eston in an attempt to fight Tara, not CE. If the CE portion was there (which it probably was), I'm amazed I missed it. I also believe this idea was shot down quite quickly since Eston was already beyond saving.

And this one, the biggest one?: "I also plan to try and convince one or more dukes to secede from Tara or CE to join the Empire with their duchies."

This, too, has a slightly different motivation, but the same overall appearance. Merlin was trying to have them leave voluntarily, offering the Empire as a safe haven. If the Duke didn't easily want to leave, Merlin said he would let it rest. The Empire was supposed to be open to all and defend even those splitting off of powerful realms from retribution. I don't think any Duke in either Tara or CE could secede even if they wanted to right now. They'd have four realms bearing down on them in an instant.

I will give you that "convince" was definitely the wrong word to use.

So yes, while these two letters do convey betrayal (that I will not contest), they are also absent of the context where they were either shot down or surrounded by much more reasonable thoughts. I would still expect CE and Tara to be against any secession even if their Dukes had wanted to and Merlin was just providing a way for them to make their move.

Silverfire (the player, not the character) is right in saying you cannot tell him what his intentions are. You can hazard a pretty good guess based upon that information, yes. Silverfire can also choose to lie about his intents... but that doesn't instantly validate our guess if we believe he's lying. For all we know, he could have been making these plans to bait out anti-CE supporters. It's unlikely, but the very same letters could do that job as well.

Elegant, please be the better man and just let it rest. Persecute Merlin's character in-game as you want. There's already enough information for people on the forums to decide for themselves what was going on. He's already considering leaving the game. Doesn't that indicate to you that he's suffered enough, especially on an OOC level?

I'm not saying he's innocent in all this, either. There's no reason for either of you to continue posting on this. It's flogging a dead horse. Neither one of you will convince the other to change their mind and everyone who uses the forums probably don't care anymore.

[Vellos]

You are taking this *way* too personally.

+1

[Elegant]

There's no reason for either of you to continue posting on this. It's flogging a dead horse. Neither one of you will convince the other to change their mind and everyone who uses the forums probably don't care anymore.

Okay. I won't make post on matter related to Merlin Incident; only until he posts anything.

You are taking this *way* too personally.

I play like this. It's all personal.

[Indirik]

Then you're doing it wrong.

[Vellos]

I play like this. It's all personal.

That's... yeah that's not okay man. Like, not at all.