merlin is the son of prince corwin of amber and lady dara of chaos. raised in the courts of chaos, merlin became interested in his father and amber after the patternfall war. in his youth, he studied magic in the courts of chaos and walked both the logrus and the pattern. after this, merlin travelled to shadow earth to study computer engineering, assuming the name merle corey. during his time in college, merlin made friends with a fellow student luke reynard who was, unbeknownst to merlin, his cousin rinaldo, son of brand. merlin combined his magical and computer skills to create ghostwheel, a powerful artificial intelligence with the ability to move itself and others through shadow.