Notes

A lot happened before the gods were banished. (As the story also mentions several times.) This is not “the beginning of everything”. It is not the “big bang” of my world.

But this is the beginning of the planet they later call Somnia. The planet where 99% of the Life Saga takes place.

In the same way, this is also not the first story I wrote for this project. It was the fifth. I slowly realized it might be handy to start at the beginning :p

After that, this story was rewritten over and over. I wrote the first version when I was 14. Back then I couldn’t write well yet and had no idea what this project entailed. Each version, the story was better written, better scientifically substantiated, and a better beginning for this ambitious project.

That’s why the notes are so long as well. This story is crucial and has had by far the most versions.

I kept looking for ways to explain the science in a concrete, physical way. Like the splitting of the tectonic plates that ALSO gives the idea for the splitting and doubling of DNA. Like the godchildren flying apart—the lighter ones go farther—which mirrors how lighter particles in planets end up farther away.

About the science

This story stays close to the knowledge we have now about how life began.

Our water really does come from rocks, which came from other planets with MORE water (further from the sun).
The earth was a giant fireball that whole time. A hot hell full of lava.
We are a planet with hard solid ground. Because by chance these particles floated around earth when it was formed. (And by “particles” we almost always mean “stardust blown away by the sun”.)
That blanket of carbon dioxide around the planet. How (hydrogen from rocks) + (oxygen in the ground) eventually provided water vapor in the atmosphere. (In this story there is still no pure oxygen, that came later.)
Carbon is indeed an important building block of life. Because it can and wants to bond with literally everything, so it’s flexible and multifunctional.
Water is just as important. On earth we have exactly the temperature where it can be solid (ice), liquid and gas. All particles can dissolve in it. Hydrogen is the lightest element. It simply has all advantages and no disadvantages.
There are theories that life did not originate here, but came to earth from the outside: Panspermia. (Just like the gods came from outside and got things going on this planet.)
Life began with DNA + Enzymes. Molecules randomly fused together into DNA. This randomly had the property that it could duplicate itself. With the help of exactly the right enzymes and particles that happened to be in the environment.

But as always, knowledge can change when new information comes in. There are reasons to think life began earlier. There are reasons to think life got here by chance from Mars. We still have no idea where those enzymes came from and why they perfectly sped up this process.

While you read the Saga of LIfe, I hope you always keep asking questions. Could this be true? Is this logical? Why would this be true? Is this based on science, or did that crazy Tiamo make this up? Because asking questions and looking for the answers is the only way to better understand life.

(For example, I wondered if alien beings would ALSO work through DNA. After much research I learned our system is practically optimal. Science cannot find any other molecules that can store and reproduce information as well as DNA. Ones that are as stable and made of particles present everywhere. So if alien life uses another system, they are likely much less efficient or diverse than us.)

About enzymes

Enzymes are not living beings; they are particles. Yet they evolve almost like living beings.

An enzyme is a protein. Proteins are made based on DNA. So the DNA in your body says: “Hey, I want you to make this enzyme with these properties.”

So if their owner dies, because the enzymes don’t do their job, the enzymes are no longer made either. This way, over time, no one can make the “poorly working” enzymes anymore. The enzymes have now “evolved”: only the best and most efficient ones remain. That’s how the formation of new DNA was sped up more and more, which allowed life to blossom. (At least, a few billion years earlier than it otherwise would have.)

Really everything started with RNA. This is the precursor of DNA. This encodes to proteins (including enzymes).

But there was absolutely no room in this story for that. So this will get a later story that purely tries to explain this in an exciting and concrete way.

About the fictional elements

This story did not actually happen, of course. There are no banished godchildren. (Or they are VERY well hidden!)

The origin happened over billions of years. In that time, gravity, chemical reactions, meteorite impacts, and more disasters slowly and coincidentally made earth as it is now.

But even after that, much still changed. For the dinosaurs, for example, the continents looked VERY different. They were all stuck together in one supercontinent called “Pangea”: whole world. We know so many unique dinos because they evolved right before the world broke apart. Suddenly all those dinos were separated from each other on very different islands, which made them evolve into other species.

The problem is, of course, that there was no life that whole time. That doesn’t fit with the Saga of Life. It also makes it very difficult to write fun, exciting stories about it.

“Oh no! We have no water!”
“Yeah, just wait a couple billion years and it’ll come on its own. I have full confidence in that.”
“Ah yes, that’s right.”
“I’ll go sunbathe and relax some more now, because there’s nothing else on this planet.”

So this story tells the sped up version with only the highlights. And as if this happened with intention, instead of it being a coincidental fusion (according to the laws of nature).

Here are examples of information I left out …

The theory of life originating through hot air currents (“hydrothermal vents”) is the best we have. But it’s far from proven. There are also many other theories that ARE proven, but not how they worked together with the rest (to originate life).
I keep calling them specks and particles, whereas I’m talking about atoms and molecules. There was a scene earlier that explained what atoms were. And the difference between water and hydrogen. But that made the story too long and complicated. All pace and tension disappeared for a scientific explanation. So I tried to talk around that for now.
The water molecules in the rocks (from other planets) were likely changed by the sun’s radiation on their way to earth. That makes researching where our water came from even more difficult. Because hydrogen has different versions or “isotopes”.

So from now on we can tell stories full of living beings :)

Characters

Ardex (Sabretooth Tiger): God of fire and destruction. Oldest child. Quick to anger, wants to take action, but not the smartest. Cares a lot about his family, had a good bond with father. (Often thinks/speaks in one word or very short sentences.)
Bella (Raccoon): Goddess of wisdom, intelligence and beauty. Often speaks in a long meter (three syllables). More passive, wants to think more about things or wait.
Cosmo (Great Bustard): God of air and space. Often speaks in a short meter (two syllables). Knows a huge amount and also likes to tell the others about it. Is very calm and prefers to think first before doing anything. (Often starts a sentence with “Pardon!”)
Darus (Labrador Wolf): God of stardust. On this planet, therefore, god of rock, earth and particles. Loose, playful, funny, doesn’t take things too seriously. Understands the Zyme idea the best. (Often starts sentences with “you know” or “shush shush”. Often can’t find the exact word he wants and calls something a “thingy”.)
Eeris (Giraffe): Goddess of nature. A bit hyperactive and bouncy. Doesn’t feel like a goddess. Feels more “one with nature” and tries not to stand above others.
Feria (Fox): Goddess of animals. Very graceful, clever and energetic. Takes her duties much more seriously than the others and therefore has very strong powers. But can therefore also go too far and speak/act rather harshly when there are problems. Great love for life and physical contact. (Always tried to be the “perfect daughter” for Father.)
Gulvi (Dolphin): God of water. Very young, insecure, inexperienced. Speaks hesitantly and squeakily. Usually doesn’t understand what’s going on or what’s expected of him, but has a good heart.
Hanah (Red Panda): Goddess of the invisible forces. Calls herself goddess of the life forces, others see her as goddess of arts and love. Knows the gods must not rush life. That they must not place themselves above the other animals as gods, but invisibly help and live together. And that is what she does. (Also claims they were banished because of something she did.)

Bella and Cosmo are the most intelligent and eloquent gods. So they speak in meter. That means the stresses of the syllables they speak follow a precise pattern. That gives them that special rhythmic way of speaking—and it gives me headaches from having to keep thinking about it. (I don’t always apply this, only once in a while on longer parts.)