The Rise of a Wolf

Prologue
It was a quiet morning in the camp of Temüjin. The horses whickered gently, while the watchmen dozed quietly around the edge of the camp.
Suddenly, one of the more alert watchmen saw something and called a warning. Within seconds, warriors were scrambling for weapons and horses, armour forgotten in the rush. The Merkit raiders hit the barricades at the edge of the camp, but many jumped straight over them. Temüjin's men had no time to get into formation, but they fought well nevertheless. One warrior, rushing for his horse had his eye taken out before the enemy even reached the barricades. The Merkits seemed to have the upper hand in the first few minutes, but they were outnumbered, and soon surrounded as more warriors burst out of the gers to fight. Temüjin had his head knocked by one of the Merkits as he defended Börte. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was Börte being heaved over the saddle of a Merkit warrior. The fight went on, and slowly the Merkits were pushed back, soon turning to flee. The warrior who has seized Börte, however, never made it out of the camp. He was shot through the throat by Temüjin's brother, Khasar, as he tried to flee. Börte fell to the ground, unconscious, and with wounds to her arms where she had tried to resist.




This is just the prologue to a TL I was thinking of writing. Is it worth carrying on?
Thumbs up to anyone who can identify the PoD and possible repercussion.
 
The POD is that Borte is not taken captive by the Merkits.

This means no debatable parentage for Genghis's firstborn son, which IIRC had some political effects later in the Great Khan's life--the son's enemies used it against him, which led to him being denied some position and may have contributed to a near-war between father and son.
 
Well done!
Of course, there is always the chance that without the kidnap, Jochi will not be born, but I think I'll keep him anyways.
So, what do others think? Worth continuing?
 
Well done!
Of course, there is always the chance that without the kidnap, Jochi will not be born, but I think I'll keep him anyways.
So, what do others think? Worth continuing?

One can make some interesting changes on the smallest of PODs--my Afrikaner TL had a fairly obscure POD at the beginning, as did my Harry Potter AU "The Wrath of the Half-Blood Prince."

I say go for it.
 
One can make some interesting changes on the smallest of PODs--my Afrikaner TL had a fairly obscure POD at the beginning, as did my Harry Potter AU "The Wrath of the Half-Blood Prince."

I say go for it.


I agree with the MerryPrankster, it looks an interesting start - certainly with no taint of illigitimacy on him Jochi will become a bigger figure, i think anyway.
 
Cool, I'm unable to post right now, as I have a coursework deadline tomorrow, but perhaps I'll be able to post later.
 
Part I
It was a beautiful winter's day in the mountains of home.Genghis smiled to himself as he rode up to the river with his family. He grinned at the thought that in his youth, such a journey would have been a hazardous one, with bands of marauding bandits roamng the land. Now, however, he had wrought them into one nation.
He grinned openly as his sons dismounted and tied up their horses. Jochi, at nine, was the eldest, and he dismounted with a flourish. Chagatai, a year younger, dismounted more cautiously, while the two younger boys needed their mother's help to get down from the pony.
Genghis quickly undid the sash holding his deel, letting it fall to the ground. He then swiftly removed his leggings and boots, before stepping into the freezing river. He glanced at his sons, and they began to follow. Jochi imitated his every move, as he always did, following his father with nothing short of awe. Chagatai was more reluctant, but followed swiftly enough. Ogedei followed too, seeming more enthusiatstic than his elder brothers. When Genghis saw Tolui reomving his deel with graet reluctance, he yelled out, "Noth this time, eh, Tolui? Maybe next year!" Tolui began doing hes deel back up again with obvious relief.
He the turned to his other sons so that they could see his face. It was compltely calm, exept fot the eyes, which burned with a fiert fierceness, and which none of the boys could hold for long.
He spoke to them. "You will all have heard of the cold face." he said. "It is a face which hides you true emotions while and makes you seem calm. Learning it is a useful thing, as it shows also your strength. But this is not the strength that is shown by hw well yo bend a bow or weild a sword. This is your inner strength, the one which keeps you going even through pain or fear. Learning the warrior's face anot only makes you seem calm, but it actually brings you calm, allowing you to conquer the fear of your flesh.
"In water this cold, even a fully grown man can slip into unconsciousness in a few dozen heartbeats. You must learn to slow your breathing by breathing only through your nose, so that your hears slows too. Now show me the cold face. Show me nothing of what you feel. Remember that even the bravest seeming enemy is quaking with fear behind his mask, and let that knowledge quiet your own fear, so that yo can be a better warrior."
Jochi's face became a mirror of his father's own, right down to the fierce eyes, whic were otherwise so dissimilar to Genghis's own. Chagatai took longer, but he too managed it. Ogedei was yet too young to completely master his body, but he did well, better than Genghis had expected.
The boys had gone numb, and, judging that the time was right to take them out, Genghis moved, expecting to have to lift three limp boys out of the water, but Jochi quickly mastered himself, and climbed out alone. Seeing his brother move stirred Chagatai into action, so that Genghis only had to carry Ogedei out.
"There", said Genghis, "that didn't kill you, did it?"
"Almost", replied Jochi, and Genghis laughed, remembering a similar exchane between his brother Khasar and his father Yesugei, many years ago.
On the shore, Genghis spoke again as they dressed.
"Now ther is one more challenge for you today. You are all to take a mouthful of that water, and run to the top of that hill and back, breathing only through your nostrils. You will spit the water at my feet when you return, to show that you have done as I asked. This will be useful on long rides as well, as you should close your mouths to conserve what water you have in your bodies. The first one back shall eat, and the others shall not."
With that, he motioned for them to leave. It was not a fair race, with the boys each being at least a year apart in age, but in his youth, Genghis had beaten his older brother, Bekhter, and was interested to see who won this race.
The firstback was Jochi, who spat the water at Genghis's feet, and grinned up at him. Genghis grinned back, surprised at the warmth he felt fotr his son. He was in such a cheerful mood that he even softened his gaze as Chagatai and Ogodei ran in, close together.
He motioned for them all to mount and return to the camp. Yesterday, his brothers and Ho Sa had returned, bringing with them a moasin from the Chin city of Baotu.
It was time to ride against the Chin.​
 
:eek:
This is looking really good!
Does Genghis approve of Jochi enough to make him his heir? Becasue IMO, Jochi was always the best of Genghis's sons.
Keep it up please!
 
How do you :eek::p

I like it to, with the approval of his father I can't imagine the others wishing to challenge Jochi as much.

Also with no taint the majority of tribes leaders/generals whatever will be more likely to follow him, i can't rememeber where i read it but somewhere it said that the generals would of followed him but they feared the Great Khan's wrath while he was alive and in death they were still split.
 
*Bump*
Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday; I had three essays to write for today.
Next update coming in a few hours.
 
Here we go. This is just a short one, there may be more tonight.


The seige of Yanjing was not going well. Genghis's trebuchets had been destroyed, and with the defences too great for even his warriors, he was forced to wait and starve out the Jin Emperor. It was less than ideal. Due to the size of the Mongol herds, they could only remain in one place for a few months before moving on. There was also the restlessness of his men. Even his loyal Noyan were asking to be allowed out to raid. He sighed. Without any good reason, he would have to set them loose.
That night, Genghis called a meeting in his ger. It was attended by all of his Tumen commanders and his three eldest sons.
"Men," said Genghis Khan, "I have decided that as the Jin Empire is no longer a threat, you shall be sent out to raid in my name. Each of you shall take a Tumen, and three of you, Subutai, Jebe, and Khasar, you shall be the ones charged with training my sons. I send out young boys. Do nut return without young men. Subutai, you shall take Jochi. Where will you go?"
"I shall go north and west, my lord. I wish to see our homelands again, and then I sha go further west, to see what lies beyond the Xi Xia."
"Excellent. Jebe, where will you take Chagatai?"
"My lord, I will take your son east. I have a wish to see this 'sea' of which the Jin speak."
"Good. Khasar, you are to take Ogedei. Will you go and raid other Jin cities?"
"I will, my brother. I shall go west and south, and paerhaps meet with the Sung."
"Good, my brother. But do not attack them just yet."
The men got up and left the ger, calling their Tumens together as they went.
 
Right. Here begin the MAJOR BUTTERFLIES.
There are probably going to be some clichés or blatant mistakes here, but roll with it.

The Death of a Wolf and the Beginning of an Age

It was the year 1240 when Genghis Khan died. He was stabbed in his sleep during the seige of Guang, last refuge of the Song Emperor. His death mearked the end of an era, and the end of the first great unified Mongol society, but what he created was to prove more enduring than any would have believed.
Upon his death, Jochi assumed the title of Gurkhan, or Yekhe Khagan, of the Mongol peoples. The empire of Genghis Khan was divided up amongst his sons and most able noyan, all of whom had sworn an oath to Jochi, and all of whom jad, at that point, an army numbering between 30,000 and 50,000.
Jochi's Khanate included the ancestral Mongol homelands, along with Koryo and the northeastern Jin. Chagatai received Xi Xia and the conquests of Subetai, reaching up to the land of the Volga Bulgars. Ogedai inherited the Jin and Song empires, setting up his capital at Kaifeng, and the remainder, the old nation of Khwarezm and the other middle-eastern territories were granted to Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. The structure set up by Genghis meant that each of the Khans fielded an army of 40,000, being divided up in the usual decimal system. All the military forces had to take a personal oath to the Gurkhan himself, and were to obey him over the commands of their Khan.
The inheritance of the Khagnate, as the Mongol Empire came to be known, was a complex and messy affair. Any member of the Royal Family could rise to become Gurkhan, but they had to be elected by a convened council of the Noyan of the Khagnates, and thereafter served for life.The inheritor of each small Khanate had to be a descendant of the previous Khan, but was chosen by the Khan before death on the basis of their ability. Under this system, the central Khanate of the Khagnate could change position, meaning that the Khagnate could never become centralised and decadent. Genghis encouraged wars of expansion, but decreed that the Khagnate should never be split by internal strife.
In the rest of the world, the Holy Roman Empire was hit hard in the early thirteenth century, with the Five Successions, the Aragonese annexation of Marseille and the Papal Wars.
In 1228, after being excommunicated, Emperor Frederick declared war on the Pope, sparking off a series of rebellion in his empire. Most of these were defeated, but the five largest, Venice, Holland, Milan, Burgundy, and Marseille were ignored when a large Papal army, made p of the forces of several Italian states, plus Marseille and Burgundy, entered Imperial lands from the south. The Imperial Army marched south to meet it, but was defeated several miles north of Milan, breaking the Emperor's power to defend his realm. He was quickly called back to deal with a number of other small disturbances, and, without a large army, he was forced to grant concessions to the rulers of many small statelets, weakening the Empire, and all but destroying the Emperor's personal power. Aragon, which contributed to the Papal army, then, instead of returning home, annexed the new state of Marseille, and quickly moved to defend the small Burgundian attack into the region.
The French contribution to the Imperial Army left it in dire straits, and when the English invaded in 1231, they were unable to resist, quickly losing Calais to the invaders, who even reached and sacked Paris in the spring of 1232. Following this, the King of France, then Loius IX, fled to Narbonne, where he set up a rump Kingdom of France. It was at this time that the Eastern Baronies became independent.


So? Comments?
 
And a map so I don't have to explain as much.

Genghisdeath.PNG
 
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