Undercreek Tribune - Wednesday, 25th of May, 1884 - 1884 Summit Meetings End With Unresolved Questions

On the cover of this newspaper is a photo of a big outside gathering of important-looking people. Politicians, emperors, kings, and queens are all sitting in a circle. It looks like they're arguing about something. In the background is a large castle surrounded by a lush forest. This picture must have been taken a long way away from here. You've never seen this many trees in your life. Only an occasional dried out stick of bark the vultures use as a gathering place. The article reads:

1884 Summit Meetings End with Unresolved Questions

The organization of leaders and royals forming the World Coalition held a couple of weeks ago a summit in the kingdom of Septland. While the full list of topics that were discussed is unknown, one of the major points of debate was around the Manifest Belt, and what to do with the only part of the world that is not part of a nation.

Originally a part of the coastal country and only landlocked neighbor Drimga, a vast collection of cities sought and achieved independence in a united liberation movement before quickly dissolving into individual rule of city-wide areas in 1748. Since then, there has been much political unrest about the existence of The Manifest Belt. Many attempts of uniting the cities into one nation or conquering the cities for their own kingdoms have ended in failure, as the citizens of The Manifest Belt are notoriously anti-nation, and it's hard to conquer the very inhospitable climate of the desert lands.

However, any organized effort between the nations have yielded no results as the nations are in disagreement of what the proper solution is.

"It is truly a shame." says King Malthe den Høflige from the Kingdom of Goldhammer: "We were hoping to settle this debate once and for all. We don't particularly care about owning the land, but trade deals of the unique spices and meat would certainly be easier and cheaper if the area was unified."

Empress Emiko from The Lands of the Moonlight Stages share this sentiment: "It is a sorrowful affair indeed. We were looking forward to see what those beautiful desert dunes could do for our great nation."

However, despite all the disappointed faces, one person smiles happily at the result. Presidente Emmanuel Álvarez, the current president of Drimga, is joyful over the result: "It is truly a heartening experience to see our good neighbors to the north being granted another day to live as they see fit. The land is theirs and it has been for a hundred years now, and only they should decide what happens to it. What a joyous day it is today!"

For more coverage of the 1884 summit, keep reading The Undercreek Tribune, as we will let you know, when more details are revealed.

Written by Freya Ringheart, Photography by The World Coalition

You put the newspaper down. Reading this article would probably be easier if you knew anything about the world. You do know that every other nation having opinions about the place you live could make life here tumultuous.