Notes

This story is one of the first ones I ever planned when I made the original timeline for the Saga of Life. I simply liked the title. And I liked the idea of some Chef who travels through Somnia, in the possession of some magical recipe book, baking bread for anyone without asking payment in return.

I also try to include one or two “travel stories” in each cycle. That doesn’t necessarily mean a traveler is the main character, but it should allow the story to reach diverse places in our world, or have the end goal of reaching a unique location. This allows me to naturally reveal and cover a lot of the interesting geography of Somnia.

(That’s why, if you go to the extra information on the main page of this story, you’ll see a long list of places and locations referenced in the story.)

It also means the story isn’t really based on anything from our history. It mostly takes the next step on our “Chain of Food”: by now, creatures get most of their food out of the plants they grow themselves. After selecting only the best seeds, for centuries, they now have plants that produce more food (and are less likely to shrivel or die). The animals have also figured out how to modify nature to make the ground as fertile as possible, which led to inventions such as bread and more complex recipes.

And so the notes for this story are very short :)

The real biology

The only “true” aspect of the story is the explanation of photosynthesis. At first, I wanted to do one story that was aaaall about photosynthesis, explaining it from start to finish and then telling myself I was “done” with this topic. Because photosynthesis is a kind of magical process that makes all life on earth possible. If plants hadn’t been able to create food out of sunlight and water—elements that are easy to get in many places—we certainly wouldn’t have been here.

But … if it’s so important, writing a single story about photosynthesis and then dropping the subject forever just isn’t enough! Eventually, I decided to not make stories all about one big thing (and then drop it), but simply spread those big topics across many stories wherever relevant. It leads to better stories, and it fits the way humans actually learn new information much better.

The “Innica” are my version of the “Incas”. They, indeed, talked about “bread from the sky” (something they invented roughly around this time period, because that’s the only time period they existed). They discovered how you could grow plants on ground that had previously been infertile. Namely, by using particles present inside bird poop. (This idea will be explored further in a later story …)

The Karma that Chef repeatedly mentions is still a part of modern day Buddhism and Hinduism. Once the Saga of Life receives a cycle situated on Garda (the continent where these religions originated), more stories about this will appear.

Characters

• Chef (Chimpanzee): thinks in terms of smell and taste. Constantly wants to tell stories about places she’s been and recipes to try. Has a very strong sense that she wants to help everyone, with both good and bad consequences.
• Minneka (Desert Fox; Fennec): very serieus, impatient, and quick to anger. Talk quite formally and presents herself royally. Often says “let me guess” or “sorry, that was improper”. She’s a half goddess with Feria as her mother, but never discovered her own special kind of magic.
• Perzwa (Swine; Pekari): young, brown-black fur, very tiny tusks. Often says “My, my”. Loves stealing plants. Is a good swindler/crook who can easily play a happy and innocent little swine.
• Sulliwe (King of Lions): the last surviving lion of the royal family (in Traferia). Anniwe has “disappeared”, the others died, and he’s getting old.