Eldridge, a wanderer across realms, pieced together the delicate balance between immortality as a both a blessing and a curse. Unwilling to accept this, he distorted his own path, leading to his unexpected transformation into a Cursed Artifact.

With an end to the prologue that was his human existence, he accepted a new identity: Apollyon. As he ascended, countless souls were melted and recast, but his new form still had shackles of its own, and they demanded payment.

It was a good thing, then, that mortals often sacrificed themselves for a myriad of petty reasons. Apollyon needed them to bear the great karma of his Path towards [Detachment] - the only true unfettered immortality he recognized.

As the choices of Apollyon’s wielders reshaped the destinies of those around them, so too did the cursed artifact they accepted affect them. Only, could they bear this pact and accomplish their wishes before the weight of the curse became too much?

Expanded Synopsis:
Within the pages of folklore and fantasy, tales of people who chased after immortality rarely ended with happy endings. They either came to terms with their limitations, gave up, and returned to a life of mundanity or faced a ghastly realization of their wishes. The latter was often the worse fate, as they came to realize, only far too late, that what they sacrificed was worth far more than the time they gained.

Ultimately, the common thread in all these stories was that “immortality is as much a curse as it is a blessing”. Time and again, people either realized this early and turned back, or pressed forward, doomed to inevitably face the consequences of their choice.

Throughout Eldridge’s travels across countless worlds, nothing had contradicted this saying yet. Every pathway had shackles of its own. To ambitious mortals on the ground, they brought the skies high above down to the earth, leveling the playing field. With luck and determination, they too could become the heaven others looked up to. And, with time, they too would be replaced. After all, what fun was a game if the pieces stayed stagnant over the eons?

It was thanks to this fundamental, foundational law that the determined few were able to defy their fate and achieve immortality for themselves.

Eldridge’s path didn’t break this trend. In fact, his shackles were more binding and restrictive than most. However, he didn’t see it that way.

On the day of his ascension, a world’s worth of souls were melted and recast. On that day, the human’s path had reached its conclusion, its feeble form remolded into a Cursed Artifact, cursed by the resentment of a world. All of this, however, was secondary to the fact that his plan had succeeded. An artifact, a weapon, was eternal, after all.

As for the curse? The payment will be made, as it must. So why not offload it to someone else? Mortals threw their lives away for all manner of petty reasons, noble or otherwise, especially in times of desperation.

Someone would eventually be willing to foot the bill. Most would, if given the chance. The bait was far too tempting, after all. Power, status, knowledge - all were at their fingertips, if only they said “yes”. Though their meager life alone might not have been enough to bear the weight of all those shackles, what were mortals if not numerous?

Apollyon was very willing to help any lost souls; his kindness and generosity knew no bounds. His help extended to anyone or anything, rich or poor, weak or strong. It did not matter. Well, if they sacrificed everything of theirs in return just as generously, of course.