: Shiver did specialise in mind influencing magic, so the
: whole beauty thing could have simply been a complex
: web of illusions created by a self-conscious crone all
: the time.
Actually, mindspells were the Deceiver's purview. Shiver just happened to have one Dream that focused on the mind and soul.
And we know that Rabican used Shiver's vanity to "stun her," so it seems reasonable that she probably wasn't aware of her ugliness before. You'll note that when she starts fighting Rabican in tales, her eyes are cloaked by swirly darkness; when Rabican thinks about vanity and strikes back, her eyes are uncovered and have an astonished expression.
--SiliconDream