The world was not much of a pleasant place to exist in the first half of the nineteen hundreds. The fabric of many societies and countries had been so thoroughly abused and dragged through the mud of progression that the world had emerged from this transformation unable to return to the darkness that was an infant society with the inability to grasp the finer workings of the universe.
In this time the Russians had seen many changes and had come out with a war encroaching on their doorstep. The uneasy politics of the country had resulted in the execution of the Tsar (Nicholas II) and the rise of the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin and the birth of Communism. Lenin had made himself unpopular with the Nobility of Russia with his subsequent exile and execution of many of these families who had thrived under the Tsar's rule. A post war recession had forced this man to make concessions with Capitalism and had allowed a profit to some; he was criticised, yes, but he had managed to pave the way for another to take his place after his death and lead Communism to a world authority. Joseph Stalin was thus produced from the lunacy that was Lenin's ideals and had managed to surpass the Great Depression which took the western world under its grasp when they could no longer hold up the finances of their countries. Stalin, ruthless he may have been, managed to create a world super power and prove Russia to be a worthy opponent in war when it had managed to storm the capital of Adolf Hitler's pockmarked Germany and captured the corpse of the Fuhrer who had been too cowardly to face retribution for his inhumane actions against many people across Europe. Russia had emerged wondrously powerful by the time nuclear warfare had been resorted to and was ready to be taken seriously in the Cold War.
Not all was well with a certain group of Russians, though. The first class nobility had been thrust from their homes at a velocity which was devastating. Their exiles had led them to hiding from the Red army which pursued them to realise the Communist dream. Many were content with the Americas and Africa, some preferred Europe where their statuses would remain well known and kept in high esteem.
The implications of their exile and evasion of capture resulted in the spread of many Russian Noble families across the world and the birth of a girl who would remain blissfully unaware of a more gruesome part of her family tree which her mother would always regret. This girl took the only thing her mother had to offer, her name and her title. Countess Anastasia de Torby.