Here's a WIP for a weird-concept project I'm working on called Homeworld-1. Inspiration mostly came from my recent binge-watch of Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, especially the Atlantis episode "The Game."
Basic backstory: I somehow managed to travel back to the dawn of civilization, probably around 3000 or 4000 BC (again, it's a work in progress). My time machine breaks, but with the help of some alien technology, I'm able to make myself immortal in the Captain America or Wolverine sense. Permanently stuck in my mid-20s, I come before the rest of humanity to share my bountiful knowledge. For the next several thousand years, I serve as a kind of Oracle or Prophet or Most Wise Human to the people of the Earth. I try to convince them that I'm not a god, and it take a while before they accept that. At this point, I should point out that my knowledge of laws, technology, how to build civilizations, engineering, architecture, etc., are all merely above-average, not spectacular or superhuman. This story is based on my actual self, so there's a lot more Wizard of Oz going on than Apophis. If there's an answer I just don't have, I'll say something like "that's for you to figure out. I can only teach you so much" or some other such nonsense.
This also gives me the opportunity to be the adult in the room for many of the world's conflicts and disagreements. A lot of wars haven't happened under my guidance, and genocide isn't a thing in this world. I sent explorers out to the Americas much earlier than they had any business going, and helped keep things like smallpox and bubonic plague from killing too many people. "Colonization" is a lot different here, too. The Europeans still ended up ahead, technologically, so their colonies in Africa were under very strict orders: you are there to HELP them set things up. You do not kill them or enslave them. Be nice. Keep a portion of the diamonds or whatever but you behave yourselves or you're in deep shit.
The current era is the early-modern period. Technology hasn't advanced as quickly as I'd like, but it's coming along. Right now it kind of looks "clockpunk," with airships and Da Vinci-style machines. Steam engines are becoming more common, but I've made it clear that too much fire will trap more heat in the atmosphere and eventually melt the ice caps. Well, not in those exact terms, but they got the point. I even wrote a book of laws and guiding principles, full of knowledge that I shamelessly stole like Nick Webber in Hot Tub Time Machine.
Here are some general notes:
- Without telling them that I was a member of the tribe, I helped the Israelites stick around into the modern era
- I managed to keep the Muslims from massacring each other and made Mecca and Medina their own independent state
- My bias for the West Coast should be obvious. That's where I spend most of my time
- That little blip in Colorado is Cheyenne Mountain, where my main "palace" is. I have several, but not in a Saddam kind of way
- Most people speak my modern English as a lingua franca. Modern slang like cool, bro, awesome, buddy, and dickwad have wormed their way into wide usage. I'm kind of not sorry
- As the official border-drawer for new colonies and disputed areas, it was really easy to shape the world to my liking. As the "adult in the room," I've made it work
- I managed to let the Christians split into Catholic and Protestant without too much violence. Christianity is also a lot less anti-pagan than IOTL
- The Europeans were allowed to settle in North and South America so long as they didn't displace/murder all the natives. Most cultures in the New World are syncretic as a result, though unmixed groups are still prevalent
- I may have a personal army, but I also serve as a one-man UN, and any genocidal or megalomaniacal lunatic gets put down pretty quick once a coalition forms
- That red country in the Deep South is a syndicalist/socialist experiment. People have to consult me before making big changes like that. Usually I give them the go-ahead, but I try to let them fail when they need to
- I've actually done a pretty good job of hammering home the concept of racial and cultural equality. (They don't wear very much clothing because it's really hot, not because they're "savage," Mark. Shut up)
- Tricks like phosphorous fertilizer and crop rotation have helped keep people from starving, but it helps that I taught them proper nutrition and the dangers of obesity
If any of this seems unrealistic, please let me know. One concept I'm toying with is an HG Wells approach to time travel. That is to say, you can muck around all you want, but things aren't going to change all that much. The amount of convergence in the backstory and on the map demonstrates this. So if that was one of your gripes, I've got it covered. Again, feedback welcome. I tried to go for something different this time, so if the wax on my wings is melting, please say so. Thank you.
