as the son of the chaosian dara, merlin was trained in spell-casting, but he frequently relies on the objects he carries with him. frakir, a piece of rope enchanted during merlin's walk through the logrus, warns of danger and acts as a weapon. when the ghostwheel computer is completed, merlin occasionally "wears" it in the form of a bracelet. merlin eventually discovers a ring of great power called a spikard, and abandons frakir after frakir objects to the spikard. merlin also obtains an unusual set of trumps that contains many locations and individuals absent in a normal deck.