The Laughing Mirror was a magical artifact, created from the magic of the Prim by Maerlyn. It was designed to distort reflections of the White making them appear hideous, stupid and ridiculous. Maerlyn shattered the mirror into millions of shards and they were scattered throughout all the world in an attempt to reflect an image of the Dark Tower back to itself. A shard became embedded in the heel of Eldred Jonas during his Gunslinger training at Gilead and one drifts into the eye of Rhea of the Cöos, making her aware of magic in the land.