Civilization

A new morning. Waking up to the roaring sound of the waterfall and the golden ray of light. A big smile on my face as I breathe in the fresh air. Standing at the top of the path looking over the canyon, seeing the wolves taking a morning walk. With the only adult wolf in the lead, the young wolves follow behind her closely as they around in circles. I stand next to Ariel's Statue looking at it being bathed in the morning glow.

Old man Hus walks up to me enjoying the early morning as well as giving me a slight nod before looking at Ariel's Statue as well. He closes his eyes and straightens his back in front of the statue. He brings his hands together, intertwining them and slowly breathes in and out rhythmically.

I assume it was his method of praying to Ariel and while it is different from other prayers I have seen before I didn't say anything but instead I copied it. I give my own prayer to the first NPC of the game and wish for an enjoyable time. After a moment of silence, I open my eyes and what I saw wasn't Ariel's face but instead…

[ You have acquired 100 Faith ]

[ You are able to pick a Pantheon ]

[ Please select a Pantheon 

Goddess of Fertility

God of Crafts

God of Healing

God of the Forge

God of the Sky

God of the Sea

God of War

.

.

.

Goddess of the Hunt

Monument to the Gods

God King

Goddess of Luck

] 

A list longer than any research paper was shown to me. Like an endless sea of different gods and goddesses each with their own unique trait. I click on some of the names which interested me like:

Goddess of Fertility - Your Settlement growth rate will be 10% higher

God of War - When you or your troops kill an enemy Faith equal to 10% of their HP will be rewarded

Monument to the Gods - When constructing a wonder, the effect will be increased by 10%

God King -  +1 Strength, +1 Vitality, +1 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity, +1 Agility, +1 Luck, +1 Faith, +1 Culture

Goddess of Luck - Anything with a randomness element to it will always be slightly more favorable to you

With so many options I couldn't even think of what to choose. I stood there staring at blank space as I click on random names and read their trait definition. Some had caught my eye but the one that stood out to me the most was the Goddess of Luck. I already had a high luck stat but what if I could increase it even further?

Acquiring the Pantheon for the Goddess of Luck would make it whenever I open an ancient ruin the reward will always be better than average. While it might not be the best or most needed reward it will never be negative. If I had this trait in the real world I would immediately go to the casino. 

I said my goodbye to old man Hus telling him that we can get started on the construction of the shield after some breakfast and a small rest. Most of the time I would be looking through the long list trying to compare different gods and goddesses for each situation. 

The Goddess of Fertility was a very long-term investment, since increasing the rate at which my settlement grows will always be better in the long run. An increase in population would eventually lead to a baby boom, increasing the amount of work and jobs needed to accommodate everyone's needs and wants. 

However, looking on the short term even the God of War sounded reasonable. Going into a battle soon knowing that there will be killing would serve as a motivation to gather more Faith. Having more Faith will eventually lead to more benefits whether it would be short or long-term benefits. 

By the time it was almost time to log out of the game I had only just made a decision. I am choosing Goddess of Luck! Why? Because lady luck will always shine on me if I pick Goddess of Luck as my Pantheon.

[ You have selected Goddess of Luck as your Pantheon ] 

[ Congratulations for being the first player to acquire a Pantheon. As a reward, you will be given a gift]

[ 1 x Goddess of Luck Fortuna's Statue ]

Much like the time I acquire Ariel's Statue the same small stone figure appeared before me. A woman dressed in a simple elegant tight-fitting dress, accompanied by a necklace of the sun as well as wings made up of feathers standing on a pile of coins with her back slightly arched backward. She raises her right hand over her head pointing her elbow outwards and looking in the opposite direction with her eyes focused on a large woven bag in a shape of a bukkehorn. Overflowing from the bag are the same coins she is standing on.

Since I was standing next to Ariel's Statue I placed down Fortuna's Statue on the other side of Ariel and an enlarged version of Fortuna's Statue appears making it look like two angelic gatekeepers watching over the path to the canyon.

I look at the description of Fortuna's Statue.

[ Goddess of Luck Fortuna's Statue

Faith + 5 per day

Luck + 1 Permanently 

The goddess of luck smiles upon her subjects, watching over the growth of their fortunes ]

Happy with the new addition of Fortuna I head towards old man Hus to construction the shield, checking my stats as I move along.

Name: Ian

Race: Human

Faith: 0/10,000 ( Reach 10,000 to pick a Religion )

Happiness: 2 ( Happy )

Health Points (HP): 10/10 

Mana Points (MP): 0/0

Strength: 5

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 5

Luck: 11

I notice the next hurdle for Faith is 10,000 Faith. A massive jump from the previous 100 as what can picking a religion mean? Picking an already known religion like Buddhism or Christianity? Or is it like how I picked a Pantheon? Choosing a trait or multiple traits to construct a religion for my Settlement. A lot of questions pop into my head but one of them was what is culture?

I encountered it during the selection screen for the Pantheon. Some of them increased my culture either by a percentage or by 1 but there was no description of what was culture.. Much like Faith, it is a hidden stat that is most likely going to be unlocked once I complete a certain task but until then I'll push it to the back of my mind and focus on what I need to do now and that is making HavenFall stronger.