By Ada Herschel, Science and Technology

6/1/282-Big news out of Sarnwain this week as the kingdom of Djidan has claimed to have constructed the first working combustion engine. The claim comes two years after initial rumors that the Djidanni were working on such a thing.

“We have finally sorted out the process necessary for refining oil into a substance capable of powering a new form of engine, thus striking a definitive blow against the tyranny of the Blackwood industry,” said Derjaja Bosmun, credited as the lead researcher on the project.“The engine is up and running, and I can safely say that it is twenty times more powerful than the steam engines found in Triumvirate locomotives. Steam engines which are, as of the early morning hours, rendered primitive.”

Bosmun goes on to claim that the first successful test of the new fuel and its engine occurred in a closed lab, but that he and his team are currently planning a public demonstration. In the meantime, Triumvirate scientists remain skeptical.

“I think the Djidanni are getting a bit ahead of themselves,” said Lucius Carver, an engineer working at the University of Crowndon. “Assuming they’re even telling the truth about having developed this refining process, it doesn’t change anything. They talk about steam engines being primitive? Their engine is little more than a trilobite at this stage. Any gas engine is going to burn through fuel like a shallow pool evaporating in the desert; I highly doubt that whatever machine they put their engine into goes more than a few hundred meters. Blackwood remains the most efficient fuel source available, and will be for the foreseeable future.”