October 28th

Disabusing History: October 28th, 1840, the dark shadow of Tsar Ivan VI falls over Russia on his corronation day. Mere weeks after announcing Ivan as her heir, Empress Anna of Russia was found dead sealed within her palace of ice. Thirteen months of terror followed for Russia until the would-be Empress, Elizabeth, stormed St. Petersburg with her militia. By the time Elizabeth made her way to Ivan's throne room, the Tsar was gone. Ivan had escaped to his fortress at Daugavgrid on the North Sea. He refused to let his name be uttered until he had reclaimed his throne, instead he dubbed himself "The Nameless One." Initially sending annual invasions to seize St. Petersburg, The Nameless One was never able to successfully beseige Elizabeth's impregnable Winter Palace. Eventually driven mad by his legacy of failure and suspicious that his own entourage would betray him, The Nameless One mandated only he be allowed to set foot in Daugavgrid. He spent nearly twenty years in seclusion until one day in 1876, exitting his fortress for the first time in more than a decade, Ivan was mistaken for an intruder by a guard. He was arrested and executed before anyone realized his identity. Daugavgrid was razed and The Nameless One's body was never found.