Basileia Rhomaion

> ***"Present your shield, swords, arrows, and spears to them, imagining that you are a hunting party after wild boars, so that the impious may learn that they are dealing not with dumb animals but with their lords and masters, the descendants of the Greeks and the Romans" - Konstatinos XI***
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## Country

### Technology Group

Eastern

This is the first event you see upon starting the game. Representing the complete focus on the expedition to the new world, the Roman Flight government modifier is added to Basileia Rhomaion, resulting in the following being applied:

* National Unrest: +6.00
* Stability Cost Modifier: +500.0%
* Morale of Armies: -50.0%
* Fort Maintenance: -100.0%
* Fort Defense: -50.0%
* Diplomatic Relations: -3
* While preparations for the flight are in full swing, Ioannes VIII is no longer able to focus on his duties as a ruler.
* Ioannes VIII Lose 5 admin
* Ioannes VIII Lose 5 diplo
* Ioannes VIII Lose 5 mil
* Release Athens from being our vassal

While not outright stated, the player is also locked out of the Declare War, Threaten War, Offer Vassalisation and Sell Province diplomatic interactions for the duration of the flight. The Roman Flight ends at roughly march 1445 and comes with a tag change from BYZ to NHS. This means that as it's effectively a nation switch, anything not given by events (Such as Ducats or Manpower) is not going to transfer over to Basileia Rhomaion in the new world.

A series of events will appear as you prepare the flight:

We will see…

The Books and Fire events enables the **Greek Eastern Orthodox Artist** **Georgios Sphrantzes (Skill 2, Stability Cost Modifier: -10.0%)** and the **The Austrian Catholic Military Engineer, Johannes Grandt (Skill 2, Fort Defense: 20%)** as advisors.

Johannes Grandt starts as a Byzantine advisor and may be recruited, although he won't come discounted, only until the Roman Flight is over with, do you get his 75% discount and Georgios Sphrantzes won't be made available to Basileia Rhomaion. Both advisors are 75% cheaper for the country to employ.

Add it to the list

This event causes Theophilos Palailogos (5/4/3) with a strong claim to become Konstantinos Palaiologos’ heir. However, this is in fact just a tooltip, there are no stats for Theophilos himself and if Konstantinos is made to abdicate during the flight he won't take over, this event only warns that he will become heir after the A great catastrophe has occurred! event further down the line.

We’ll have to consider their plan, at least.

The tooltip notes that if the Venetian Captains are taken, the **Venetian Catholic Naval Reformer, Gabriele Trevisano (Skill 2, Morale of Navies: +10.0%)** is made available once the flight is over with, being 75% cheaper for you to employ.

This event is a the first real choice you'll have to make during the flight. Three options are offered: The first one is to sell the province to the Venetians, who will give you one additional light ship and 1 base tax and base manpower. The second one is to sell it to the Genoans, granting you [extra troops and arms]. The third one is to make Morea independent, which gives 75.00 ducats that transfer to the New World and 1 stability, which will transfer over to the New World, All options will result in the creation of a Morean tag, which is led by Theodoros (3/3/3), this tag will then either be vassalized by Genoa or Venice.

If Morea is made independent, then they get Athens as a vassal as well, who will get the following event:

Business as usual then.

The only effect of this event is that it makes Athens a Morean vassal, which is already done by the Morean despotate. This presumably serves as an indication to Athens that they're being vassalized.

This is where you make the final choice, determining what secrets you will bring and your total supply status. You are given four choices in what to take: The Venetian Captains, the Books of Knowledge, the Greek Fire and the Silk Production.

If you take no secrets, or plentiful supplies, you get the following:

* +3 Development of each type (Base Tax, Base Production and Base Manpower)
* 6 starting regiments, 6000 Starting Manpower
* Unlocks Development Idea Group and the first 3 ideas (A new start, Population Boom, Planned Metropolis)t
* Eager Settlers (+500 Global Settler increase, reduces to 250 after 2 colonies)
* Administrative Burden starts at 20

If you take one secret, or generous supplies, you get the following:

* +2 Development of each type (Base Tax, Base Production and Base Manpower)
* 5 starting regiments, 3000 Starting Starting Manpower
* Unlocks Development Idea Group and the first idea on it (A new start)
* Eager Settlers (+500 Global Settler increase, reduces to 250 after 2 colonies)
* Administrative Burden starts at 20

If you take two secrets, or sufficient supplies, you get the following:

* +1 Development of each type (Base Tax, Base Production and Base Manpower)
* 4 Starting Regiments, 2000 Starting Manpower
* Migrant Nation Government Modifier (-15.0% Trade Efficiency, -10.0% Land Limit Modifier, -50.0% Naval Force Limit Modifier, +10.0% Technology Cost, +10.0% Fort Defense, +10.0% Idea Cost, -1 Diplomatic Relations) until 1465
* Eager Settlers (+500 Global Settler increase, reduces to 250 after 2 colonies)
* Administrative Burden starts at 20

If you take three secrets, or scarce supplies, you get the following:

* +1 starting Base Tax
* 3 Starting Regiments, 2000 Starting Manpower
* Lack of Supplies modifier (-30.0% Trade Efficiency, -15.0% Production Efficiency, -10.0% National Tax Efficiency, +10.0% Stability Cost Modifier, -10.0% Morale of Armies, -10.0% National Manpower Modifier, -10.0% National Sailors Modifier, -10.0% Land Limit Modifier, -50.0% Naval Force Limit Modifier, +40.0% Technology Cost, -10.0% Fort Defense, -15.0% Improve Relations, +20.0% Idea Cost, -1 Diplomatic Relations, -0.20 Infantry Shock) until 1475
* Brave New World (+250 Global Settler Increase, reduces to 125 after 2 colonies)
* Admnistrative Burden starts at 30

If you are a true Elysian gamer and take all the secrets, resulting in Abysmal supplies, you get the following:

* No additional development at the start.
* 3 Starting Regiments, 2000 Starting Manpower
* You begin with the same modifiers as three secrets for a while, however, in winter, the Winter Marsh event will come, killing your current ruler and reducing stability by 2.
* This event also increases the administrative burden by 20, effectively giving you a starting value of 50
* Winter Marsh will turn the Lack of Supplies modifier into Breakdown of Society (-80.0% Trade Efficiency, -30.0% Production Efficiency, -30.0% National Tax Efficiency, +50.0% Stability Cost Modifier, -30.0% Morale of Armies, -20.0% National Manpower Modifier, -20.0% National Sailors Modifier, -10.0% Land Limit Modifier, -70.0% Naval Force Limit Modifier, +50.0% Technology Cost, -5.0% Discipline, -30.0% Fort Defense, -15.0% Improve Relations, +10.0% All Power Costs, +50.0% Idea Cost, -1 Diplomatic Relations, -0.20 Infantry Shock, +0.05 Monthly Administrative Burden)
* Brave New World is replaced with Trials of Elysia (+125 Global Settler increase, reduces to 60 after 2 colonies)
* Colonial Collapse modifier is added as well, giving you +300.0% Stability Cost Modifier and +100.0% All Power Costs.

The values listed here do not account for bonuses from other events during the flight, such as Morea or the Granadan Pirates. Each secret you take also reduces your starting Ducats by 75. Once you have made your choice, you can finally set sail to the New World!

...Or maybe not. Before you can set sail, you are approached by two different Turkish opponents, and you must make a choice between them.

The choice between Skanderberg and Orhan is effectively free,

Taking Skanderberg will enable a 5/5/5/0 general and result in the creation of the Albanian Quarter province modifier in Elysia (+10% local construction cost and +3.00 local unrest) and give 1 additional development of each type. Moreover, you'll have an event further down the line where Skanderberg leaves your service to establish a home for his people, allowing you to either give them a province which will have the Albanian Majority modifier, or to create an Arbenia vassal, or to send them to be independent down in Cuba. All those ways will result in events that allow the Albanians to expand without a need for a colonist, and they'll begin colonizing as soon as they get one.

Taking Orhan enables a bunch of new options in the Granadan Pirates event, but otherwise gives no immediate benefits. however, after you finish your first colony and whilst working on your second, an event will pop up where Orhan both removes a large amount of native population and gives you a bunch of population in that colony, allowing you to make him either into an advisor (Skill 2, +5.0% Discipline) or into a Conquistador (3/3/2/1), this event also creates two janissary units in the affected province, both at 0.1k, and grants you 2k manpower to get them into full strength.

Another event will then come further down the line, where Orhan proposes the creation of an Elysian Janissary corps, if you go with this idea you will gain access to the Janissary Government Mechanic, if you don't go with his proposal, you get some army tradition and prestige.

Orhan also comes with an early army reform you can undertake, mixing some bonuses from both of the other two reforms, and making the janissary units a bit stronger.

After making your choice, now armed with a new ally, you can finally set sail to the New World!

...Or maybe not. The expedition is stopped over by the Gates of Herakles, this event gives you a ton of ways to deal around it depending on what you take.

* The first option allows you to pay a toll of 80.00 ducats to pass.
* The second option allows you to decide to fight, losing two starting regiments of soldiers and gaining 15.0 Navy Tradition
* If you took the Venetians, experienced in dealing with the moors, the first option is improved as they negotiate a price of 50.00 ducats instead of the total of 80.00
* If you took in Orhan, the second option is improved, as you can have his Janissaries board them, giving you 5 prestige, 15.0 Navy Tradition, an additional light ship but losing one regiment of soldiers.
* If you took in Greek Fire, you are given an option to use part of the cache on the moors, thus forcing you to deal with the possibility of depletion earlier, but otherwise allowing you safe passage.
* If you took in Orhan and Greek Fire, you get a new option that allows you to raid Garnatah, giving the province 33 devastation, giving you 50.00 Ducats but losing one starting regiment of soldiers.
* If you took in Orhan, Greek Fire and Venetians, the first, second and greek fire options are removed and you instead get "We are more than prepared for a sea battle!" which gives you 15 Prestige, 5 Legitimacy, 20.0 Navy Tradition and an additional light ship, for no loss at all.

With the moors dealt with in whichever way you want to, now you can finally set sail past the Gate of Herakles to the New World!

...Or maybe not. Not taking the new ship is not a choice, and you will get a nice neat boon of 30.00 Ducats. However, you can still decide what kind of message you will send back.

If you send a fraudulent message, then Portugal gets the following event:

This adds the Byzantine Demise triggered modifier to every nation in the continent of Europe, and cannot be removed until Colonialism is embraced. It causes the following:

* Navigator and Colonial Governor advisors cannot be recruited.
* Disables Portuguese Navigators flagship modification.
* Exploration ideas cannot be taken until Colonialism Institution is enabled.
* The penalty scales with our base colonial range and other colonial range modifiers.

What this means is that with the Byzantine Demise modifier, it's quite literally impossible for any European nation to make their way to the New World until a certain event occurs in the 1520s...

If you don't lie, and instead tell the truth, then Portugal gets the following event:

This event doesn't triggers the Byzantine Demise modifier, but will almost certainly lead to Portugal eventually arriving at the New World...

Now that you have dealt with Portugal, you can finally set sail to the New World! Sea provinces are discovered as the days tick by, representing the Byzantine fleet path through the flight.

Not all - or most, or even many - were accepting of the logic of bowing to the Latins to avoid destruction by the Turks. It was not accepted in Russia, or by the general populace, and was only very reluctantly accepted by the Romans themselves. As Loukas Notaras, commander of the fleet, said it: ‘Better the Turkish Turban than the Latin Mitre’
Now, however, there is no more cause for pretense, as the Romans have passed beyond the power of those in the east and west, Basileus Ioannes VIII has, the minute the Portuguese coastline was out of sight, publicly repudiated the Council of Florence.

All this event does is make your Monarch and Heir both eastern orthodox, after they started as Catholics, in reference to the Council of Florence.

You are given two choices here. The first one is to say that it took one of the royal ships, which will reduce Konstantinos diplomatic and admin skills by 1 and kill the Georgios Sphrantzes advisor, the second one is to say it took one of the supply ships, reducing your starting base tax and base manpower by one each, the same value as the development Venice gives you.

But that's not all that results from the storm:

Konstantinos, aged 40, starts with the Expansionist trait (+15.00 Global Settler Increase), and his stats are determined by whether the royal ship fell (5/2/5) or not (6/3/5). Theophilos is a 5/4/3 eastern orthodox Greek ruler that starts with a strong 80.00 claim, aged 24, he starts with the Scholar trait (-5.0% Tech cost). The 1 stability from ruler death is immediately regained, so no long term effects from Ioannes VIII death will remain.

Strange barbarian men on the beach have fled at our approach, but we have bigger concerns than finding a few men that evidently have no plans to attack us. We must acquire good fields to set up farms in, iron mines to forge weapons from, quarries to mine stone from, and land to expand our dominion over. We must build here, in Elysium, something greater than we could have built in prostration to the Sultan

And so, you finally have arrived, Elysium, your new home. This event grants you the Elysia province and changes your tag from BYZ to NHS, your country turns into Rhomania instead of Basileia Rhomaion, and the new tag's starting Admin/Dip/Mil power will always be 212/184/226.