@zim : I agree with you that the distinction between OOC and IC rules is not clear...

However, I don't think I broke any OOC rule in doing what I did... Oath-swearing, taxes, ownership of settlements have always been IC issues and thus were always enforced ingame (see Methodios secession in LotR for example)

Let me state also that I understand why Phonics feels cheated, I would have certainly felt the same had we traded places... But feeling cheated and being cheated is quite different...