Motif · from book 6

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Odette's people's proverb — never stare into the blinding eye of the Bedlam Bride, lest obsession blind you to all else — and, by the end of the eighth floor, a tattoo above Carl's sternum: an eye Shi Maria pokes into him with ink from a toraline root while she wears his body, that blinks once and hides. 'I am a part of you… Keep me with you and gain my power, or set me free.' The escort quest survives the tearing of her card.

First appears: Book 6

Series arc

As of book 8. Tattooed above Carl's sternum in book 6, a spider who cannot get out in book 7; in book 8 it opens for Eris, moves to a dachshund's forehead and speaks — 'Let me take over' and 'I am here when you need me' — freezing a mimic cold. 'I control it', Carl tells the party; Elle: 'You’re keeping secrets from us.'

Open threads

Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.

Thread	Opened	Status
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride: an eye tattooed into Carl's chest	B6 ch. 71	open · B8 ch. 86 — On the forehead of Carl as a dachshund the Eye speaks — 'Let me take over' and 'I am here when you need me' — and, opened by reflex, freezes a shadow mimic cold; Elle tells Carl he is keeping secrets from them: 'It’s going to bite us on the butt' (ch. 87).

All threads: Open threads.

Through book 6

Odette's proverb (B6 ch. 37); ink from a root (B6 ch. 71); 'He needs to expel that presence' (B6 ch. 73).

Through book 7

Casting through Carl; 'on rails'; open on a Sultana (B7 ch. 14, B7 ch. 54, B7 ch. 62).

Through book 8

It opens on Carl's chest for Eris (B8 ch. 35, B8 ch. 36). On the dachshund's forehead it speaks — 'Let me take over' and 'I am here when you need me' — and freezes a mimic cold (B8 ch. 86); 'I control it', Carl tells the party, and Elle answers 'You’re keeping secrets from us' (B8 ch. 87).

Where they appear

Book	Chapters they are in (of the book's)	Where
6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride	3/74	Ch. 37, Ch. 50, Ch. 71 · the book's own page
7 — This Inevitable Ruin	3/89	Ch. 1, Ch. 54, Ch. 58 · the book's own page
8 — A Parade of Horribles	4/99	Ch. 35, Ch. 86, Ch. 87, Ch. 88 · the book's own page

By book

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

'The Bedlam Bride. Now that’s a proper name' (ch. 8); a Reaper Spider Minion, and a new quest (ch. 26); the announcer's shriek (ch. 28); Odette's people's saying — never stare into the blinding eye of the Bedlam Bride — and Odette, who has stared into it once again (ch. 37); the saying in Carl's dream (ch. 50); a tattoo, in ink from a root and a friend's blood (ch. 71); 'in a different way' (ch. 72); 'He needs to expel that presence' (epilogue).

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin

Still open at the book's start, a quest update and a tattoo (ch. 1); Rosetta puts an ice-cold hand down Carl's shirt against it (ch. 11). The quest to bring the Bride to Larracos fails, and Carl wonders whether she is gone and how she killed a whole room (ch. 17); a jolt in his chest is not her (ch. 47); Vinata is driven mad by it (ch. 54); a voice in it says 'You're always on rails […] You're a puppet' (ch. 62).

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride in book 8 — A Parade of Horribles

It opens on Carl's chest for Eris (ch. 35, ch. 36). On the dachshund's forehead it speaks — 'Let me take over' and 'I am here when you need me' — and freezes a mimic cold (ch. 86); 'I control it', Carl tells the party, and Elle answers 'You’re keeping secrets from us' (ch. 87).