Any suggestions will be greatly Appreciated
-thanks
My only thoughts are how prominent are the interference of the gods? The way they are worshiped I think comes straight down to how the people believe the gods will effect their lives.
The Aztecs believed they had to perform certain "tasks" such as ritual sacrifice in order to prevent catastrophe. They made temples and alters and their ceremonies were taken seriously by not only the "priests" but the rest of the people as well.
Where as, you're lucky if you can find a handful of people you work with who actually practice religion in the U.S. Not because they don't believe in god, but because there isn't a fear of penalty for not appeasing a god.
The point is: I think step one is to find out how exactly the gods effect peoples lives. Say no one did any official worshiping of the gods, what would happen? Now how would that effect peoples devotion and duty to them.
I am currently working on a new setting Quilorn. One of the main things i am having problems with is Gods. In Quilorn, there are two races of gods the Valyar and the Dumner. The Valyar are a group of "light" gods where as Dumner is "dark". So, i am in need of suggestions as for how the gods will be worshipped, holy symbols, clerical domains, etc. Different races favor different gods, you can find that out in my post about Quilorn. Oh, the realm of the gods referred to as Frethur (free-THUR) and exists on another plane.
Well here's just a few thoughts off the top of my head. I guess first off you might look at how the different races might approach religion--and give each race a patron god to worship and an anathema god of the opposite type to revile. Beneath them maybe a few ranks of gods that represent a couple of key aspects of each races' culture and lifestyle.
As far as the WAY they worship, here's a couple of ideas. We'll start with the races who revere the Dumner:
Dark elfs: The dark elfs are bitter and hateful and their religion reflects that. They don't want blessings for themselves so much as curses on their enemies. Plagues and freak misfortunes are viewed with a certain awe and reverence--even when one is the victim of them. The hand of their dark gods is seen in calamity, pure hate and venomous bile made real. Contented good fortune is seen as the lack of divine intervention. Understandably, a lot of dark elf devotion is turned against the High elfs whom they hate even more than their own race and the other races they frequently encounter--though they hate everyone plenty.
Dwarves: Dwarves are all about practicality and trade, after all that's one of the great wonders of subterranian living--is how you manage to make do and live comfortably in one of the worlds most naturally bleak settings. They expect miracles for their worship, and will gladly switch religions if their current "patron" is falling behind in their blessings. On the other hand dwarves take their chosen religion seriously. Many have been known to prove their faith to a god that has proven themselves in a great many ways--from refusal to walk anywhere, travelling on their knees in humility for days or weeks; stringent adherance to ascetic dogmas, including long and brutal fasting; to self mutilation by branding or even amputation of digits in sacrifice for the honor the gods have paid them. So they expect a lot, but also give a lot.
Dragon-kind: Dragons and their ilk tend to frame religious devotion in terms of tribute, since their treasure hoards are such a central part of their existance. Dragon-kind are known to accumulate vast wealth and then ritually destroy huge amounts of it in the hopes of gaining special favor from their dark gods. Treasure is a pretty open-ended thing to dragons, for example they will often raze beautiful cities in their attempt to venerate their patrons--which is what underlies much of the lore concerning random dragon attacks upon large cities.
Demonlings: In some ways the demonlings, with the most direct communication with the gods, are the most matter-of-fact about their worship. They feel they know the gods' will concerning them. They are servants. Their prayers are reports, their worship is duty. When they worship they are almost always undertaking quests to further the agendas of their gods. These are usually pretty straightforward. The Lord of Secrets wants to know things no one else knows? His servants try to find the best, juciest secrets they can find and do what they need to do to insure as few others know them as possible. Their hope is that if they serve faithfully that they can maybe take a few days here and there for themselves without being punished for it. They worship hard for long periods of time between breaks, but if they do something they feel is particularly satisfying to their dark masters they will often reward themselves with a nice vacation during which they stop praying or worshipping for a while--until they start feeling the sword of their gods displeasure hanging over them again, at which point they scrabble back to their black temples and resume their religious toiling.
As for Humans- I am thinking they will worship gods kind of like we do, and other humans do in multiple fantasy settings. Regular citizens respect their priests and clerics because they believe they have a special connection to the gods. Depending on which god is being worshiped, different practices will show up. Maybe a city who worships the god of war will have his symbol plastered on their banners and shields and will conquer in his name, whereas worshipers of the god of secrets/silence will carry out unending period of silent prayer to their lord. The majority of practices will take place in churches or temples dedicated to single or multiple deities.
Dwarves- Going by Grimcleavers suggestion I am thinking the dwarves' practices will be somewhat similar to that of the Incas. Citizens provide lots of blood-letting and sacrifices and ritual self-inflicted pain to the gods in hopes they will provide miracles needed for life to their followers. Again, rituals and sacrifices will vary from god to god, but they will still be nasty, brutal, and messy no matter what, seeing as the dwarves worship Dumner gods.
High Elves- I can see most elves worshiping magic oriented deities, or nature gods or even gods of high standing/proudness. Possibly similar in a way to how Greeks worship they're gods. Builiding grand monuments and statues to show reverence to particular deity. Open halls or temples will be available for followers to come and speak to the gods and make offerings and prayer at their own will.
Celestials and Demonlings - Again hailing from mythical lineage these "upper" races have direct connections to the gods through the ancestors. Their practices are more exact and productive. Instead of making offerings or prayers in hopes the gods will listen and help them. They would commune with the gods and find out what it is thy want exactly and make it happen in return for services and aid only a god can bring about.
Thats about what i've sort of got figured out so far.
One of my religions in "A Wonderful World" is made up of performers who live in a "cloister" like thing. Their performances heal those in attendance. They are worshiped for what they do for people. Like a service. Its an ecstatic thing.