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.