The crimson curse

Prologue: The Crimson King The Crimson King refused to die. For centuries he searched for a way to escape death itself. Kingdoms rose and fell around him. Friends became memories. Enemies turned to dust. Yet he remained. Until the day even he felt his end approaching. Standing alone beneath a crimson sky, the King made a choice that would change everything. If his body could not survive... Then his soul would. He drove his hands into his own chest. The pain was unbearable. The scream that followed shook the world. Piece by piece, he tore his soul apart. Fragments of power, memory, emotion, desire, regret, and fear spilled into the world like drops of blood. The fragments searched for vessels. A ring. A pocket watch. A tooth. A rope. A pair of knuckles. Countless objects scattered across the world carrying pieces of the Crimson King within them. Each became a curse. Each became a gift. Each waited for someone desperate enough to claim it. Then the King vanished. The artifacts slept. For a very long time. Until the fire. --- Jesse James stood at the altar holding his wife's hand. Everything felt perfect. Family filled the room. Friends laughed. The future stretched out before him. Then the ring on his finger burned. At first it felt warm. Then hot. Then unbearable. Crimson flames erupted from his hand. People screamed. The church became an inferno. Jesse reached for his wife. But the fire swallowed her first. "Daisy!" Her name vanished into the flames. Then she was gone. Not dead. Not alive. Gone. The fire died as quickly as it had appeared. Jesse fell to his knees among the ashes. His wedding ring glowed crimson. A voice whispered from somewhere inside the flames. A voice only he could hear. Find the others. Jesse looked down at the ring. The ashes around him shifted. Moved. Obeyed. The impossible had become real. Somewhere in the world, other cursed objects were waking up. Somewhere, answers existed. And somewhere beyond it all... Something was waiting. Watching. Sleeping. The Crimson King had begun to wake.