Kromine

Kromine is the administrative capital and largest city of District IX (Decelska) in the southern Divine Republic of Kresimiria.

Historically known as the “Spiritual Capital” of the Republic due to its deep ties to the Sons of Kresimir movement, Kromine has undergone a radical transformation in the 21st century. Under the influence of local billionaire-turned-politician Ari Stov, the city has reinvented itself as the nation’s technology hub. Today, it is characterized by a stark architectural and cultural divide between the ancient, religious “Old City” and the futuristic, corporate “New East,” anchored by the headquarters of YakaSys. It is often compared with its neighbour city in Decelska, Karlovac.

The historic political identity of the city was permanently shattered during the 2016 mayoral election. Following the retirement of the entrenched SoK incumbent, Blue Dawn ran corporate lawyer Jana Tomljanovic. Heavily backed by Ari Stov, Tomljanovic mobilized the massive, newly arrived demographic of secular tech workers in the “New East” to capture the mayoralty with 52.2% of the vote. Her subsequent 2024 landslide victory officially confirmed the end of the religious establishment’s monopoly over their own historic capital, transitioning the city fully into a technocratic stronghold.

History

The Theological Stronghold (1885–1990)

During the Vosti era, Kromine was the center of Kresimirian intellectual nationalism.

Following the Unification War, the city became the political base of Kresimir Basic, the Divine Founder and leader of the hardline religious right. For decades, Kromine was the ideological engine of the Republic, producing the vast majority of the nation’s Diviners and conservative politicians.

The city was scarred by violence in the mid-20th century.

• 1954: Kresimir Basic was assassinated by BRC-21 terrorists while riding a tram in the city center.

During the late 20th century, the city’s politics were dominated by the husband-and-wife activist team Ivan and Marta Stov. Operating a formidable grassroots machine, they maintained Kromine as a fortress for the Sons of Kresimir party, resisting the liberalizing trends of the capital.

The Silicon Transformation (1995–Present)

The city’s trajectory shifted in 1995 when Ivan and Marta’s son, Ari Stov, founded Stov Systems (later YakaSys) in a small warehouse near the river. As the company grew into a state-contracted tech giant, it began to reshape the city’s economy.

The explosive growth of Kromine’s tech sector in the late 1990s was heavily subsidized by a mass exodus of foreign capital. Fleeing the corrupt extortion of the Luppino administration in Kaskiv, dozens of venture capitalists abandoned the wealthy incubator town of Finicoli and migrated to Kromine. This “brain drain” provided the crucial seed money for District IX’s earliest coding academies, directly accelerating Ari Stov’s development of the KresiX operating system.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, massive investment flowed into Kromine. Old textile mills were converted into server farms for the KresiX infrastructure, and the skyline was pierced by the construction of the Silicon Spire. This rapid modernization created a new demographic of secular technocrats, leading to political tension with the traditional religious population.

In 2010, DecelChip was founded by a former YakaSys manager. While Kromine was already established as the software capital of Nastavak due to YakaSys, the introduction of DecelChip’s massive semiconductor foundries transformed the city into a comprehensive hardware manufacturing hub. The sprawling, sterile fabrication plants built by CEO Nino Arh now employ thousands of skilled technicians, firmly establishing District IX as the undisputed, vertically integrated Silicon Spire of the Republic.

In 2013, the city was the site of the high-profile assassination of director Zarko Zaki by AFIM, an event that Ari Stov used to justify the implementation of the Digital Vigilance Act.

Geography and Cityscape

Kromine is bisected by the Decel River, creating two distinct urban zones often referred to as “The Robe and the Chip.”

The West Bank (Old City)

The historic core of Kromine. It is a maze of narrow cobblestone streets, Neoclassical buildings, and religious monuments.

• The University District: Dominated by the campus of the Kromine Innovation Centre.
• Martyr’s Square: The site of Kresimir Basic’s assassination, now a somber memorial plaza dominated by the Church of the Founder.
• Atmosphere: Quiet, conservative, and traditional. Alcohol sales are restricted in this district on holy days.

The East Bank (New East)

The modern commercial district, developed largely by GradnjaMC in the 2000s.

• The Silicon Spire: The headquarters of YakaSys. At 60 stories, it is the tallest building in central Kresimiria. Its glass façade is illuminated at night with the blue and white colors of the corporate logo.
• Tech Park: A zone of startups, luxury apartments, and digital infrastructure hubs.
• Atmosphere: Cosmopolitan, secular, and fast-paced. This area is the stronghold of the modernizing wing of Blue Dawn.

Economy

Kromine has the highest GDP per capita of any city outside of Sinj. Its economy rests on two pillars:

1. Technology: YakaSys is the city’s largest employer. The “Kromine Corridor” hosts dozens of subsidiary firms that manage the KresCom data centers and maintain the Guardian Daemon surveillance network.
2. Education: KIC remains a massive economic driver, employing thousands of academics and support staff.

Politics

Kromine is the bellwether for the internal conflict within the Kresimirian right-wing.

• Historical: For most of the 20th century, it was the safest seat in the country for the Sons of Kresimir (SoK).
• Current: Since 2002, the district has been represented by Ari Stov of Blue Dawn. Stov has successfully built a coalition of old-guard nationalists (loyal to his family name) and new-money technocrats (loyal to his business success).

Before the city transformed into a global tech hub in the 2000s, its local politics were dominated by a fierce religious conservatism. From 1978 to 1992, the city was governed by Mayor Ivic Davor Kovrekovic, a former Blue Dawn Senator turned independent hardliner. Kovrekovic aligned the city hall closely with the Sons of Kresimir, funding theological infrastructure and enforcing strict municipal morality codes, while simultaneously building the pro-business logistics networks that later attracted tech startups.

However, tension remains. Malik Kondratiev (current SoK leader) frequently holds rallies in the Old City, accusing the “New East” of moral degeneracy, while the Civic Renewal Front has gained ground in the university district among students.

Transport

Kromine is a major hub for Republic Rail. The Decelska Connector line links the city to Sinj in under two hours. The city also possesses an extensive tram network, modernized in 2010, though the specific line where Kresimir Basic was killed was permanently retired and turned into a pedestrian memorial walk.

Mayoral Elections

2024

Jana Tomljanović secured a decisive re-election, solidifying the dominance of the “New East” over the historic quarters. The election saw the complete mobilization of the YakaSys workforce and KIC student body, who voted overwhelmingly for the Blue Dawn’s “Digital Acceleration” platform. The Sons of Kresimir (SoK), attempting to rebrand under a new, younger cleric, failed to expand beyond their shrinking demographic in the Old City, while the Nationalist (VJ) vote collapsed into the Blue Dawn’s coalition.

2016

This election marked the beginning of the “Tomljanović Era” and the end of SoK hegemony. Handpicked by Ari Stov, corporate lawyer Jana Tomljanović promised to integrate Kromine into the KresiX smart-grid. With the retirement of the formidable SoK incumbent Father Andrej Buk, the religious vote fractured between hardliners and pragmatists, allowing the Blue Dawn to capture the mayoralty and the city council for the first time in history.

2008

Known as “The Silicon Flip,” this was the most expensive municipal election in the Republic’s history. Ari Stov, then a Senator, poured immense resources into the Blue Dawn campaign to support Filip Jorić. However, the “Old City” machine of Diviner Andrej Buk mobilized effectively, painting Jorić as a puppet of foreign investors. Buk won a narrow victory, but the margins showed that the demographic tide was turning irreversibly against the church.

2000

Andrej Buk, a hardline traditionalist backed by the powerful local organizers Ivan and Marta Stov (Ari Stov’s parents), retained the city. The election was a “Culture War,” with Buk promising to ban “secular vice” from the university district to protect the city’s soul. Blue Dawn, recovering from the 90s, fielded a technocrat who failed to connect with the working-class believers.

1992

In an election defined by the national collapse of Blue Dawn, Kromine stood as the impregnable fortress of the Sons of Kresimir. Andrej Buk was elected with the highest vote share in the country. The city served as a refuge for voters disgusted by the Blue Dawn’s corruption scandals (Mlada Wrba) but unwilling to support the secular liberals of the CRF or the socialists of Northern Power. Outgoing independent Mayor, Ivic Davor Kovrekovic, endorsed the SoK candidate Andrej Buk.

1978

Former Decelska Senator Ivic Davor Kovrekovic was elected in a landslide. The city was firmly under the influence of the Karlovac University Faculty of Divinity. The local SoK machine, managed by the Stov family patriarchs, endorsed Kovrekovic, after the retirement of former Mayor Father Teo Kadetic. Kovrekovic had left Blue Dawn in 1976, and ran as an independent, but SoK-affiliated candidate.

1964

Held in the shadow of the Treaty of Brod Moravice, this election was a plebiscite on the peace deal. The citizens of Kromine, furious at what they perceived as the government’s surrender to “Bosken terrorism,” voted overwhelmingly for Father Teo Kadetić, rejecting the Blue Dawn candidate endorsed by Leon Rukavin.

1950

Diviner Jakov Bašić, a direct relative of the Divine Founder Kresimir Bašić, was elected Mayor. Running during the “Iron Era,” Bašić ran on a platform of “Spiritual Fortification,” supporting the government’s security crackdown while maintaining Kromine’s distinct religious identity against the growing secularism of the RPP/Blue Dawn central leadership.

1936

Diviner Petar Kremić won re-election comfortably. By this time, the city had solidified into the headquarters of the Sons of Kresimir following the 1924 split from the RPP. The National Security Act was highly popular here, as the city viewed itself as the primary target of Bosken aggression.

1922

In the first municipal election of the Republic, Diviner Petar Kremić ran under the banner of the RPP, though he was a key ally of the religious faction. Following the 1924 schism, he defected to the newly formed Sons of Kresimir, taking the municipal administration with him.