Child of Corwin of Amber and Dara of Hendrake

Personal Symbol:  None        Colors: Blue and Silver

Physical Description:
            Merlin unwillingly changes tir appearance to match the expectations of those
around tir.  In group situations, te will match to the highest Psyche of tir observers.  Though the strain of multiple viewpoints disturbs Merlin and te will not long remain in groups of over 6 people of better than Amber Psyche.  Te finds crowd situations *very* disturbing and avoids them at all possible.  Merlin does have control of tir standard shapeshift and finds it extremely easy to shape to what te wishes.  WAY too easy.  Te is losing tir contiguity.
        Mannerisms:   Merlin is loosing tir mind as well.  At moments, te will be very formal and proper.  At other times, a mad carelessness overwhelms tir.
        Attire:  Merlin tends to formal Renaissance masculine attire of blues and silvers.
But again is flexible about tir surroundings, so has no difficulty with changing clothing styles to match that environment.  Though te does always tend to pretty things of blue and silver.

Psychological Description:
            Merlin knows that te is 'loosing it.'  But isn't sure yet, how te feels about it.
Sometimes te feels that it would be a relief to merge back into the primal ooze of
unconsciousness.  To nevermore have to work and fight to remain a being.  At other times, a desire for survival awakens and te is desperate to stay a person.
            Unfortunately, te is not strong enough to remain congruent for long without the observation of others.  Thus, tir choices are to either quietly melt away, or to spend tir life as the mirror of other people's expectations.
           Likes: People who think of te as good and honorable.  Merlin enjoys being good
and honorable.  Watching other people struggle with no concept of their nature.  It amuses te.  Familiar, repetitive experiences.
        Dislikes:  People who think of te as mysterious and unknowable.  Not enough there for te to hang onto -- personality wise.  People who can't make their own decisions.  New experiences, sensations.

History:
            Merlin was conceived from Dara's desire for power in the stable realms of Amber and born of her admiration for the poet-warrior Prince Corwin.  As much as any
creature of Chaos can be said to be born of two people, Merlin was born from these two.  Dara's concentration and the growing realization of Prince Corwin that he *had* an heir, formed Merlin's earliest memories and natures... those of a burgeoning princeling.
            Dara's own vision of Amber had been formed as she struck from one of Benedict's dreams.  Thus, her understanding was a twisted perception through Benedict's eyes -- tactics, personalities, abilities, weapons.  Later, when she encountered the fleeing and injured Martin, the young Rebman concretized for her a Renaissance court filled with conflict and intrigue.  Her own curiosity led her to Corwin, where the ideas of a blighted chivalry and a high sense of melodrama were blended into her somewhat unstable framework.
            From these influences, Dara surrounded herself with the "Courts of Chaos", a fragmented pastiche of her own impressions of Amber.  It was within this framework that Merlin was raised.  Courts and Kingdoms required royalty, so Merlin was dreamed of as a Prince, a  furtherance of Dara's desire, given life in a dynastic role.  Though Merlin remained a fairly passive construct for most of tir
early life.
            Like tir creator, Merlin became fascinated with Amber, a place of artificial
stability, where a remnant did not have to struggle to gain personhood.  And like Dara, the first Amberite te met was Martin.  But the result of that meeting completely different.
            Coming from the intensely matriarchal court of Rebma and fleeing a betrayal, Martin had seen the 'female' Dara as a 'player' -- and thus influenced her to become one.  After several decades wandering in Shadow, the now somewhat lonely Martin perceived the 'male' Merlin as a potential chum -- and thus influenced tir to become one.
            Since Martin valued independence of spirit, Merlin became independent of spirit.  And for the first time began breaking away from tir creator's vision.  Merlin discovered that te liked that -- being tir own being.  Soon Merlin was exhibiting existence, even when neither Dara nor Martin was influencing tir.
            It was during this time that te approached and bargained with one of the oldest dreams in Chaos, Lord Suhuyaitharama.  Suhuy, for short, had created a swirling mass of active potential that called itself the Logrus.  It was Merlin's hope that by exposing tirself to the Logrus, te would gain enough integrity and entity to be able to function independently within the wilds of Chaos.  And it worked... for a while.
            Shortly thereafter, the conflict of the Abyss brought Corwin and Merlin into close contact for the first time.  With disastrous results for the developing remnant.  Corwin was *such* a strong personality that he quickly overwhelmed the fragile being and Merlin -- quite unwillingly -- became all *his* father wanted *him* to be.  Merlin was completely subsumed into the romantic (and somewhat self-indulgent) mindset of Corwin.
            However, Merlin's exposure to the Logrus allowed him the understanding of what was happening to him.  Gave him a small space of perception from which to notice a difference between what te wanted and he had become.  From there, te watched as tir creator Dara -- now his mother -- poured forth her denial of all things Amber and rode away into her own creations.
            Luckily for Merlin, Corwin had bigger things on his mind than his 'son.'  Once the Prince had recovered his strength, he went to investigate the newly made Pattern he had created during the War.  Corwin did ask his son to join him, but Merlin struggled hard and managed at the last minute to put 'the old man' off long enough to escape.
            The young remnant fled far and deep into Shadow to free tirself from Corwin's influence.  The distraction of the New Pattern proved enough for Merlin to break free of the 'son' perception and shakily begin to rebuild tirself.
            However, without Corwin's awareness of a 'son' and Dara now disassembling
everything her Amber-twisted perceptions had created, Merlin found tirself with no base to hang an entity on.
            And te began to slowly unravel.