As host I was able to pick first.
So I picked the Holy Roman Empire and, as usual, renamed it into Straland.
One of my first two techs was Mysticism. And I have a gem resource at a river there, which generates two commerce already. So I'm going for Meditation. Hard to imagine I won't be the first to get it and pick a religion.
The river flows northwards, so I guess I should go there if I want to find water. But I'd rather jump from hill to hill first.