This question, I feel, misses the point religion as a flavorful, setting enhancing tool. In my view this sort of take on fantasy religion is the result of years of poorly written entries about religion. We have never been given a religion that functions anything like what it is supposed to, nor have we been given gods that function as anything but a political affiliation. The pantheons that we have been given do not reflect different ways of viewing the world, different sorts of ritual or magic, importantly different sources of power or importantly mark you as anything in your broader society. "Are the gods real" is a secondary question, for me, to "Do the gods affect society and social institutions? How? Why?" Once those questions have been answered, the mechanic by which the gods grant power doesn't mean much because it is completely meta-game information. It doesn't (necessarily) effect how the spells work on a mechanical level. For this reason I propose that entries on religion be given the attention that they deserve. This is the template that I have come up with. It follows Kieth Yandel's Diagnoses Cure model of religion, which may be a bit contentions (or not).
Name: The name of the religion
Diagnoses: What does the religion seek to deal with?
Cure: How does it do that?
Beliefs: What are the tenets of the religion. What are the folk beliefs and what are the elite beliefs?
Ritual: What are some major rituals of the religion?
Experience: What mental states are considered special or numinous?
Holidays: What are some major holidays?
Culture: What is the religious culture like?
Organization: How is the religion organized?
Domains: What domains do the religion or deity grant?
If this is a little confusing I filled it out with a silly dwarven religion that we might all have some familiarity with because it is based in part on messianic Judaism.
The Kazameri Desert Dwarves- Ltekrism
Diagnoses: Disorder, misuse of words and a lack of understanding of the Grand Clockwork separate man (dwarf) from lasting happiness.
Cure: By observing the books of Ltekr and contemplating the Grand Clockwork man (dwarf) can free himself from earthly constraints and create lasting happiness.
Beliefs: Lterkists believe that the universe is a vast clockwork, functioning properly only when everything is in its proper place.
Folk: The savior Ltekr, meaning literally ‘one without a name’, was sent by the Grand Clockwork to give words with which to understand the world. Ltekr was born without blood or pain and matured to an adult within two days of his birth. He was born without a caste or a name and lived outside of the standard social hierarchy preaching the truth about the Grand Clockwork and the need for order. Ltekr, being casteless, eventually exiled himself into the desert to not contradict the social order and was never seen again.
Elite: The Grand Clockwork is understood to be ultimate reality and without sentience or a will, although events are still attributed to it. The direct causal nature of ultimate reality, in the Ltekrian perspective, means that everything is predestined. Likewise, all social ills are a direct result of social disorder, which can be attributed to systemic disorder within individuals. By understanding a line of causality one can know the future and cure all earthly ills.
Ritual: There are short daily services for each day of the Dwarven week (traditionally a five day solar calendar). Each service covers one of the books of the Ltekr canon (The book of rites, the book of names, the book of seasons, the book of conduct, and the book of observances) and is rigidly formulaic, with the same passages being read every week. When the service for the book of names is performed there is a ceremony called ‘the recession of deeds’ where in congregation members air grievances or praise deeds of charity. The recession of deeds are transcribed by the high priest into local parish manuscripts making for a very handy local history (although this is not the primary motivator for the ceremony). There are also high rituals associated with each stage of life: the naming ritual, the adulthood trial, the homestead blessing, the marriage ceremony and the death rites, the most important of these being the naming ritual and the adulthood trial. Ltekrists believe that names are almost magically bound to their owner and each dwarf, therefore, must have a unique and fitting name. For this reason they wait twenty years before naming a child officially and consecrating it by adding it to the local ledger of names, a book believed to be supernaturally powerful in its ability to bind a dwarf to his or her clan, caste and community. The ritual is usually accompanied by a sermon.
Experience: Ltekrist religious experience is exceptionally mundane. There is, with the exception of overtly religious ritual practice, no clear delineation between religion and daily life although some dwarves set aside time each day to consider the Grand Clockwork in an almost meditative state of contemplation. There is also a strain of ascetic Rnihf (the religious caste) who follow Ltekr to the desert to contemplate the Grand Clockwork whose experience is considered quasi-Gnostic and sublime.
Holidays: Most Ltekrist holidays are associated with specific events in the life of Ltekr. The most important holiday, Exile day, celebrated on the 15th day of the 5th lunar month, commemorates the sacrifice that Ltekr made for the dwarves by exiling himself. Traditionally Exile day is celebrated by a 24 hour fast followed by a meat heavy feast. Dwarves are not allowed to leave the house on Exile day and so it has become associated with family togetherness, although this is not an important religious function of the holiday.
Culture: Ltekrist culture is very community based. The need for order in Ltekrist belief is rivaled only by the need for community harmony in Ltekrist culture and many of their rituals and much of their canon supports this notion. Dwarven society is caste based and Ltekrism reinforces this cultural model. It is common for dwarves to have large elaborate clockwork mechanisms displayed prominently in their home to encourage thought about the Grand Clockwork and to mark the dwarf as a Ltekrist.
Organization: The Rnihf caste are religious leaders by definition. Some are community leaders that serve as religious advisors, some are monks or ascetics, and some become priests or other religious practitioners but all Rnihf serve in some religious capacity. Of the Rnihf, only a few become priests. Ecclesiastical hierarchy is strictly delineated based on seniority and accompanying titles. Ecclesiastical authority is tied to specific temples and specific communities – a high priest in one village would not have authority over a book boy (the lowest ecclesiastical rank in the Ltekrist hierarchy) in a neighboring village except for on a social level where his advanced age and wisdom would delineate some degree of none religious authority over the youth. Temples and ecclesiastics are supported by donations and through unskilled labor (usually ecclesiastics are paid much more than their unskilled labor is worth as a form of charitable donation). Temple archives are also a major source of revenue.
Domains: Law, Knowledge, Community
Diagnoses: Disorder, misuse of words and a lack of understanding of the Grand Clockwork separate man (dwarf) from lasting happiness.
Cure: By observing the books of Ltekr and contemplating the Grand Clockwork man (dwarf) can free himself from earthly constraints and create lasting happiness.
Beliefs: Lterkists believe that the universe is a vast clockwork, functioning properly only when everything is in its proper place.
Folk: The savior Ltekr, meaning literally ‘one without a name’, was sent by the Grand Clockwork to give words with which to understand the world. Ltekr was born without blood or pain and matured to an adult within two days of his birth. He was born without a caste or a name and lived outside of the standard social hierarchy preaching the truth about the Grand Clockwork and the need for order. Ltekr, being casteless, eventually exiled himself into the desert to not contradict the social order and was never seen again.
Elite: The Grand Clockwork is understood to be ultimate reality and without sentience or a will, although events are still attributed to it. The direct causal nature of ultimate reality, in the Ltekrian perspective, means that everything is predestined. Likewise, all social ills are a direct result of social disorder, which can be attributed to systemic disorder within individuals. By understanding a line of causality one can know the future and cure all earthly ills.
Ritual: There are short daily services for each day of the Dwarven week (traditionally a five day solar calendar). Each service covers one of the books of the Ltekr canon (The book of rites, the book of names, the book of seasons, the book of conduct, and the book of observances) and is rigidly formulaic, with the same passages being read every week. When the service for the book of names is performed there is a ceremony called ‘the recession of deeds’ where in congregation members air grievances or praise deeds of charity. The recession of deeds are transcribed by the high priest into local parish manuscripts making for a very handy local history (although this is not the primary motivator for the ceremony). There are also high rituals associated with each stage of life: the naming ritual, the adulthood trial, the homestead blessing, the marriage ceremony and the death rites, the most important of these being the naming ritual and the adulthood trial. Ltekrists believe that names are almost magically bound to their owner and each dwarf, therefore, must have a unique and fitting name. For this reason they wait twenty years before naming a child officially and consecrating it by adding it to the local ledger of names, a book believed to be supernaturally powerful in its ability to bind a dwarf to his or her clan, caste and community. The ritual is usually accompanied by a sermon.
Experience: Ltekrist religious experience is exceptionally mundane. There is, with the exception of overtly religious ritual practice, no clear delineation between religion and daily life although some dwarves set aside time each day to consider the Grand Clockwork in an almost meditative state of contemplation. There is also a strain of ascetic Rnihf (the religious caste) who follow Ltekr to the desert to contemplate the Grand Clockwork whose experience is considered quasi-Gnostic and sublime.
Holidays: Most Ltekrist holidays are associated with specific events in the life of Ltekr. The most important holiday, Exile day, celebrated on the 15th day of the 5th lunar month, commemorates the sacrifice that Ltekr made for the dwarves by exiling himself. Traditionally Exile day is celebrated by a 24 hour fast followed by a meat heavy feast. Dwarves are not allowed to leave the house on Exile day and so it has become associated with family togetherness, although this is not an important religious function of the holiday.
Culture: Ltekrist culture is very community based. The need for order in Ltekrist belief is rivaled only by the need for community harmony in Ltekrist culture and many of their rituals and much of their canon supports this notion. Dwarven society is caste based and Ltekrism reinforces this cultural model. It is common for dwarves to have large elaborate clockwork mechanisms displayed prominently in their home to encourage thought about the Grand Clockwork and to mark the dwarf as a Ltekrist.
Organization: The Rnihf caste are religious leaders by definition. Some are community leaders that serve as religious advisors, some are monks or ascetics, and some become priests or other religious practitioners but all Rnihf serve in some religious capacity. Of the Rnihf, only a few become priests. Ecclesiastical hierarchy is strictly delineated based on seniority and accompanying titles. Ecclesiastical authority is tied to specific temples and specific communities – a high priest in one village would not have authority over a book boy (the lowest ecclesiastical rank in the Ltekrist hierarchy) in a neighboring village except for on a social level where his advanced age and wisdom would delineate some degree of none religious authority over the youth. Temples and ecclesiastics are supported by donations and through unskilled labor (usually ecclesiastics are paid much more than their unskilled labor is worth as a form of charitable donation). Temple archives are also a major source of revenue.
Domains: Law, Knowledge, Community