Peter III of Russia's Toy Soldiers

Origin
Peter III was emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was viewed as ineffective and disliked as a leader his failed attempt invading Denmark and alliances with Prussia and Great Britain. He also pushed liberal reform policies, such as removal of the secret police, political power for serfs and reorganization of the economic and nobility systems. He was deposed and possibly assassinated on orders of his wife, his successor Catherine the Great.

Peter repeatedly played with these toy soldiers and mistresses instead of tending to his wife. On time, a rat happened to appear on his mock battlefield. Peter decided to capture the rat and hang it for trespassing.

Effects
Each soldier is powered by the user’s intellect. They will animate to life and constantly annoy the closest creature they can find. Sometimes they are only a nuisance, while other times they actually know the solutions to the person’s problems. However, this drains the user’s intellect to that of an uneducated child who has not been taught to control their impulses and is unable to express the world with higher learning processes. This will make them unstable and act erratically. Also, the soldiers seem to take not so kindly to rodents.