TWISTS OF CHANCE · DEC 1241 · THE FROZEN DANUBE
The khan lives one more winter
December 1241. The Mongol war machine has annihilated the armies of Poland and Hungary in a single week and stands on the frozen Danube, aimed at Vienna. Four thousand miles east, the Great Khan Ögedei drinks himself to death in a single night, and the horde turns home to choose his successor. This is the timeline where the cup is set down.
You are reading the timeline that almost was · notes marked THE RECORD are real history
11 DEC 1241 · KARAKORUM
The armies that broke Europe answered to one man’s heartbeat. In a great ger at Karakorum, Ögedei is deep into a winter night of wine. He is the third son of Genghis, and Great Khan of the largest empire the world has known. His physicians have warned him. He once swore to his own chancellor to halve his cups, and kept the letter of it by doubling their size. In our timeline this night kills him. The news rides west and pulls the whole invasion home.
In the timeline recorded here, the khan looks into the third cup, feels winter in his chest, and sets it down full.
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