Gazing into the Abyss

And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you - Friedrich Nietzsche.

There was a superstition in the line of the Wittelsbachs, though it went unspoken from generation to generation. One only learned of it when one had experienced it, and even then, it was greeted with muted nods and knowing looks. No one raised the question of why they could see, or what it may mean. The only warning ever given was that if perchance you saw, be sure never to look again.