Eleanor's first disciple accompanied her teacher to Evasendia to seek admission to the Order in 194 and was there recognized as an apprentice of the Order. She was declared mage at the founding ceremony of the Cholaeic Order in 198, when Eleanor gave her the name Merula, "the Blackbird," the first example of the granting of a mage name in Order history.
A political activist, Merula supported the Tympanian revolutionary Tyrus, while her two filiae supported Tyrus' opposition, the Andarean Gaultere. This rivalry between master and filiae remained friendly for a time, but by 231 Merula and her two students had taken the field against one another. Their relationship was only mended through the intercession of Eleanor, who insisted that they resolve their differences once the strife had come to an end in 232. Nonetheless, Merula separated from her students later that year, choosing to travel south into Rhythnor with her friend and ally, the Manerean Ledo, rather than north to Chaeronia alongside her filiae.
It was Merula who befriended the witch-king Helde and assured him of magical training in exchange for his aid in the founding of Covenant Melos in 232. Because Helde refused to take instruction from a woman, however, he was to become Ledo's apprentice later that year. Merula supported the decision to reject Helde as a candidate for Cholaeic magery in 239 and insisted that he be encouraged to leave the premises. She was killed in the destruction of Melos by Helde in 242, after which her filiae, Monedula and Columba Rava, travelled themselves to Rhythnor in order to avenge her death.
She taught three students:
- Monedula (E4), from 204 to 217
- Columba Rava (E7), from 217 to 230
- Iassitor (E11), from 232 to 242
Her final student, Iassitor, continued her training under her filiae Monedula and Columba Rava after her death.
