Wanderers (Homo Erectus) (Earth-616)

## History

### The Wanderers

The species known as Homo erectus evolved in this timeframe. A godlike being known as Sise-Neg created a safe haven known as the Garden of Eden for two members of the Homo erectus, and from these two an entire tribe would be descended. Every year, as the tribe migrated the leader of the tribe and his mate would make a pilgrimage to Eden. These two Wanderers made it to Eden where they saw that a new tribe was inhabiting it. This new tribe appeared to not suffer strife and was happy. The leader of this new tribe used telepathy to speak to the wanderers, informing them that they were the Tribe of Set and that Set wanted the wanderers to join the tribe. The leader extolled the virtues of the Tribe of Set, including not needing to migrate or hunt, having warmth provided to them, and immortality.

The wanderers agreed to join the tribe and asked how they could. The leader explained that beings from the sky would arrive to give gifts to the tribe of the Wanderers and to join the Tribe of Set, the Wanderers needed to sacrifice their tribe to Set and the Tribe of Set must be brought to the beings from the sky. The Wanderers did not fully understand the leader but knew that they felt evil coming from him and his tribe. The Wanderers fought the leader and discovered that he and his tribe were actually Serpent-Men, the shape-shifting spawn of Set that were made to prey on mammals. The Tribe of Set then resumed their true forms and attacked the pair, who escaped back to their tribe. The Tribe of Wanderers arrived and battled the Serpent-Men, driving them out of Eden.

### The First Host

Just then a massive starship carrying the First Host of the Celestials appeared and was preparing to land in Eden. Gaea appeared to the Wanderers and convinced them to come forward and accept the gifts the Celestials would bring. Ten Celestials emerged from the ship and the Celestial known as Gammenon the Gatherer grabbed the Wanderers and carried them to the starship, and though the tribe was initially terrified they grew calm and accepting. The Serpent-Men approached the Celestials, hoping to receive gifts too as they felt they were further developed than Homo erectus, however the Celestial Arishem the Judge deemed them unworthy and attacked them, driving the Serpent-Men away.

In the ship, Gammenon placed each of the Wanderers in incubation tubes. The Celestial named Ziran the Tester experimented on the Wanderers, picking them at random, analyzing their DNA, and altering their DNA to bring out adaptability. The result was the Deviants, whose genetics were in a constant flux causing them to evolve in hours would normally take eons. Ziran set these subjects free, where the new species subsequently start a civilization underground. The Deviants then began creating war machines.

Nezzar the Calculator then took over the experiments and genetically engineered the second group for durability and longevity. The result was the Eternals, a group of highly evolved and powerful immortal beings who could tap into cosmic power and fly. The Eternals would take shelter in the mountains and build a city there, where they would perform their own experiments.

Oneg the Prober then took over the experiments, however, he did not mutate the last group, but rather implanted a special gene in them which would one day create superhuman and then allowed the rest of the Wanderers to evolve naturally. With their mission complete, the Celestials flew off.

Eventually, the Wanderers evolved into humans, and though the Serpent-Men and other demonic creatures preyed on them, the humans fought back and drove them to near extinction.