Grigori Rasputin "The Mad Monk" part 1...

Take a trip back with me to the early 1900's. Imperial Russia, a cold, dark place, in a darker time for the country.  More specifically, in 1916, whilst Russia was entangled in a long brutal war, and the country tetering on complete collapse, something even dark and mysterious laid in the lands of the late Russian Empire.

Born in a small village in Siberia in 1869, to a pair of peasant parents, Rasputin actually grew up as a fairly normal child. It wasn't until he was 8, when his life seemed to steer away from the calm quiet peasant life in which he had grown acustomed to. His brother Dimitri was killed, he fell into a river and was pulled along and died of pneumonia some time later. This caused great turmoil, and moodiness in Rasputin, and some argue that he was never the same afterward. The young innocent boy known as Grigori Rasputin was forever changed into a more dark, quiet and contemplative young man.

Later in his life, accused or multiple counts of adultery, theft, and being loud and unruly while drunk, Rasputin was nearly chased out of town. He left accordingly on a religious pilgrimage to find a meaning in life.

Grigori Rasputin would eventually meet up with a monk in a famous monastery and began learning about religious rites, rituals, and Rasputin was forever changed. The Monk, Makai, told Rasputin that he indeed possessed something powerful, a spiritual vocation.  He lived there for a number of months with the Monk Makai to 'develop' his spiritual power. Upon his return to his village, he came back a changed man. Full of religious fever and zealot, he eventually join a roving band of religious monks.
 

Rasputin, was very, very charismatic, he would stare at people right in the eyes when talking to them with a burning glare. He was a commanding figure, and his compelling stare is what carried his bold appearance. He eventually found his way to the capital of Russia, at the time, St. Petersburg, and would meet up with the Russian Royal family and the Emperor himself, and begin a chain of events that would leads to the deaths and fall of the entire Royal Family. ...
To be continued...