I've met the Calabim, a race of vampires clustered along the flood plains of a desert river far to the east. I've also heard from the Elohim, the super-good do-gooder magician/priest/warrior forces of Good Goodness. Since I'm evil, we probably won't be getting along. However, I have no idea where these Elohim are. I haven't seen any scouts, boats, or Elohim borders. They're just talking to me out of thin air, which is a little disconcerting. Are they watching me?

Fortunately, based on the score, both the Calabim and Elohim are much weaker than I am. And I've got elbow room to spare, which has afforded me the luxury of focusing on a boom economy. But now I must make a very important decision: which religion I will pick.

If you've played Civilization IV, you know that the different religions are all interchangeable. God Allah Yahweh Whoever forbid that actual gameplay be associated with an actual religion! But in the fantasy world of Fall from Heaven, religions can be different and even unique because no one from the Fellowship of Leaves is going to picket the offices of the developer. Besides, everyone knows the Fellowship of Leaves are a bunch of do-nothing homebodies.

So what religion will the Belseraphs choose?

That's me in the corner, after the jump.

There are seven religions in the game, each founded by the first civilization to research the associated technology. Two of the religions are buried pretty deep in the tech tree, so they won't make an appearance in the early game. The other five are freely available from the start. However, the techs for these five religions are all dedicated specifically to the religion. It's not like a regular game of Civilization IV where a religion can just happen in the course of advancing up the tech tree: "Oh, look, I was on my way to discovering Philosophy and I became the founder of Buddhism! Nam myoho renge kyo, y'all!" Instead, you have to go out of your way to get a religion in Fall from Heaven, putting other types of research on hold. And this is an especially tricky thing early in the game, when you need to research more practical technologies to get your civilization underway.

Each religion unlocks unique units, buildings, and abilities, as well as at least one badass hero. Since any civilization can adopt any religion, there's a lot of mixing and matching to be done here. In fact, I'd call the myriad combinations of religions and civilizations one of Fall from Heaven's most seductive features. That said, some combinations make more sense than others. For instance, some religions are evil, some are good, and some are neutral. A civilization that adopts a religion of another alignment might have to abandon its original alignment. Since alignment is a huge determinant of diplomatic relations, particularly as the game goes on and Armageddon starts breaking out, religions are more than just a toybox to be chosen at whim; they're likely to determine how and where you fit when the apocalypse hits the fan.

But I can't take this larger picture into account yet, since I've only met one very evil race and one very good race. Neither is pressing in on my borders, and neither is seriously contesting my lead. So it's like I can have whatever I want off the menu. And here's the menu:

Three of the five religions initially available are relatively inexpensive. The Fellowship of Leaves, Runes of Kilmorph, and Octopus Overlords are the most convenient early on. The Fellowship of Leaves is a bunch of nature stuff, generally what you'd expect for elves: healing, treants, summoned tigers, that sort of thing. The Runes of Kilmorph are for the earthier types, like the low-to-the-ground dwarves: an earthquake, a bonus to mines, extra coin, that sort of thing. The Octopus Overlords worship the Cthulhu-inspired gods of insanity, mind stapling, and shallow-water zombie fish-people. Frankly, my Balseraphs aren't interested in these penny-ante religions.

Then there are the two expensive early religions, which are diametrically opposed. The Ashen Veil are intent on ringing in the apocalypse and the Order are the crusaders who will try to stop them. The Ashen Veil gets one of Fall from Heaven's most interesting twists: by researching a tech called Infernal Pact, a new faction of powerful demons is added to the game. The Ashen Veil player can take control of this new faction, essentially swapping civilizations mid-game. However, my Belseraphs aren't inclined towards absolutes of good or evil in this game. We may be evil, but our evil is a more an enlightened evil of self-interest than a destructive let's-feed-the-world-to-demons evil. We'll pass on the Ashen Veil cults and we're certainly not de-evilling ourselves by going for the goodie-two-shoes Order.

Then there are two religions buried deeper in the tech tree. These are another diametrically opposed pair, one representing law, the other representing crime. The first player to research Honor becomes the founder of the Empyreans, who are all about justice and exposing invisible units like assassins. The first player to research Deception becomes the founder of the Council of Esus, who are all about invisibility and poison and stealing powerful magic items out of cities. I like the sound of that!

On turn 211, the Balseraphs become the founders of the Council of Esus. The Council's holy city is established in Coombe Winery, my financial and research center surrounded by vineyards. In the next five turns, I've converted all my cities and declared Council of Esus my state religion.

At this stage of the game, I get two things from converting to the Council of Esus. The first thing is Nox Noctis, the shrine I build on turn 295 by using a Great Merchant. This turns all the units in my territory invisible. Now this is a tricky thing, because another player can just walk right through my invisible units (there's apparently a thin line between invisible and incorporeal). This means defending my territory will be a matter of offense more than the usual fortified Maginot Lines of defenders. If I'm invaded, it's up to me entirely when and how to attack any invaders, who will prance about and pillage freely until I decide to intercept them. Some players have complained about this dramatic change to the dynamics of homeland defense when you control Nox Noctis. It's a whole new ballgame. But frankly, I don't plan to let myself get invaded (I tell myself that in most strategy games, including pretty much every game where I get invaded and lose).

The second thing I get from the Council of Esus are the Nightwatch. These moderately powerful units have the trait "hidden nationality", which means they can attack whomever they please without the defender knowing it was me, meaning I don't have to declare war. "What's that you say, neighbor? Your farms were pillaged and your workers killed? How terrible. No, I don't know who those guys are who did it. Never seen them before in my life."

Oh, and a third thing I get from the Council of Esus at this stage of the game is actually something I don't get. The Council has no priests or temples. This religion is unique for not having happiness-boosting buildings or units that can use the divine magics. It isn't clear yet whether this will help me or come back to haunt me, but it is a little bit less to manage at this point.

Tomorrow: Hello, rest of the world!
(Click here for the previous Fall from Heaven game diary.)