Worldbuilding A to Z: H is for History

Even Secondary Worlds need a history. If you want your readers to feel like the world is genuine, if you want to inspire, as Tolkien called it, Secodary Belief, then nothing is quite so effective as the impression that thousands of years of history precedes your story. Make your readers feel the weight of it, pressing on the present, even if you don't divulge the details.

Akhet, like Egypt, is an ancient land, though the story of my current WIP happens relatively early in their history. I would equate it with Egypt's Old Kingdom period. I plan on writing further stories that take place both before and after this one. Like Egypt, Akhet's stable climate and government make them ideal for preserving historical knowledge. Akhet will be a sort of repository of all the world's knowledge. They will remember things that other lands do not.

Once, long ago, it was uninhabited. But a group of people, fleeing from an evil presence, made the almost impossible journey across the desert between the eastern mountain ranges and the river they would later take as their home. The leader of that expedition became the first King of Akhet. His dynasty was long and successful, lasting until the time of my WIP. The events of my WIP and the chaos that they bring can be associated with Egypt's First Intermediate Period, when the government broke down for the first time. In reality, it wasn't that bad, but the literature of the time stylizes its horrors and provides plenty of fodder for the imagination. In my story it IS that bad, even worse. Civilization will pretty much break down and when it's all over, Akhet will need a new start. Thus Akhet's version of the Middle Kingdom will begin.

Other lands will have their history as well. Though only the land of origin will be more ancient and only Akhet will remember and have records of all the world's history. There is potential, in this world of mine, for stories in many times and places. Developing a rich history will help me to find them. At the center of it all will always be Akhet.