Merry Christmas! (Volume 4 Chapter 21 Pre-Release)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Have a present from me, as this is the last main chapter in Volume 4. There's still an epilogue after this to hint at what's to come, but none of the main characters will be there.

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Disclaimer: this is a pre-release, after I've had at least one beta-reader go through it and two major edit passes, so major changes are unlikely. There may still be minor fixes that needs addressing before publication.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iUP5l1JrHxMgC4Df_5h731D_JN8jt_WMjoqFOvbZuNo/edit?usp=sharing

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Historical references in chapter:

Ivan IV - known as Ivan 'the Terrible', one of the last rulers of the Russian Rurikid dynasty whose lineage traces back to the Norse Varangian Prince Rurik. His reign transformed Moscovite Russia from a feudal state to an empire through many legal reforms, most famously the Sudebnik of 1550 which liquidated the aristocracy's priviledges, strengthened the courts, and codified protection for peasants. This however earned him the ire of the aristocracy who poisoned many of his family members, including his first wife Anastasia Romanovna - the first tsaritsa of the Romanov dynasty and widely believed to be Ivan's true love. As a result of this and other events, Ivan's hatred for his subjects grew and he became increasingly distrustful, violent, and destructive over the course of his reign.

Mao Zedong - Founder the People's Republic of China. A fervant anarcho-communist revolutionary, Mao was known for being deeply empathetic towards the suffering of the lower classes during his youth. However, he lost most of his family during the decades of revolutionary struggle and civil war that followed (including his firstborn and favorite son to the Americans in Korea). Believing he could build a society without social hierarchy, Mao launched one movement after another to purge Chinese society of its 'elites' (including its Communist ruling elite during the Cultural Revolution), leading to over a decade of suffering for the common peasant whose lives he originally sought to improve.