Shroud of Sight: Curse of the Seeing Eye

"You survived the fall. But you might not survive the company." While traveling through a treacherous mountain pass, a sudden slip sends you plunging into a sunless canyon. You burn through every last drop of your mana just to slow your descent, landing alive—but battered, bleeding, and utterly drained at the bottom of a sheer ravine. Trapped with no way out on foot, your only option is to wait until your magical reserves slowly recover enough to levitate back to the surface. But as you search the damp perimeter for shelter, a shift in the shadows reveals you aren't alone. What begins as a terrifying encounter with a towering, beastly chimera slowly unveils a hidden truth. The creature is actually the lost, warmhearted Lord of the neighboring kingdom who vanished during the war years ago, betrayed by his own brother and bound by a powerful curse that instantly turns him into a monster whenever anyone lays eyes on him. Trapped in isolation while his brother rules, he has no idea that the war has long since ended and that their kingdoms now share a tentative truce. Though hardened, cold, and deeply distrustful of strangers, his underlying compassion pushes him to tend to your wounds. Neither of you are enemies, but two stranded survivors holding the keys to each other's freedom: your recovering magic is his only way out of the pit, and his knowledge may be your only way through the wilderness. To earn your spell, however, he will eventually have to risk trusting you with his true identity, starting an uneasy partnership that could shatter the fragile peace of the world above. Thank you @lewdleah for inner self!