If you want to go down a rabbit hole, Papal elections is as crazy as anything.
But realistically, Francis was ill for a while, and in 2025 the participants have full access to each other. They’d probably been discussing it for months before the actual conclave.
Two intersecting stories. A group of knights is travelling to Mongolia to assassinate the Great Khan. If the Khan dies all the Mongols in Europe will have to return home to elect a new leader. Meanwhile there’s a Papal enclave that’s been deadlocked for far too long.
Neil Stephenson is one of the writers, and it’s as deep a rabbithole as any of his novels.
The first million rounds have already taken place before the 2 day clock starts.
All the remaining viable candidates are all present in the same room and not allowed to leave the building until a result is achieved.
Before the 2 day clock starts, everyone has already decided who they will support. The only thing they need to do is to acknowledge which candidates can not achieve majority support and re-allocate their votes accordingly.
They save a whole bundle of time on contract negotiations because this Pope is still on a lifelong vow of poverty. No golden parachute payments! That’s all handled upstairs.
That just sounds like it should take more time, not less.
If you want to go down a rabbit hole, Papal elections is as crazy as anything.
But realistically, Francis was ill for a while, and in 2025 the participants have full access to each other. They’d probably been discussing it for months before the actual conclave.
Oh I loves me a good Pope War
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-mongoliad-book-one-greg-bear/8059232?ean=9781612182360&next=t
The Mongoliad. Book One of Three.
Two intersecting stories. A group of knights is travelling to Mongolia to assassinate the Great Khan. If the Khan dies all the Mongols in Europe will have to return home to elect a new leader. Meanwhile there’s a Papal enclave that’s been deadlocked for far too long.
Neil Stephenson is one of the writers, and it’s as deep a rabbithole as any of his novels.
No it doesn’t.
The first million rounds have already taken place before the 2 day clock starts.
All the remaining viable candidates are all present in the same room and not allowed to leave the building until a result is achieved.
Before the 2 day clock starts, everyone has already decided who they will support. The only thing they need to do is to acknowledge which candidates can not achieve majority support and re-allocate their votes accordingly.
They save a whole bundle of time on contract negotiations because this Pope is still on a lifelong vow of poverty. No golden parachute payments! That’s all handled upstairs.