I doubt this was the puzzle, but there have been a number of religious references, mostly to the Biblical Book of Revelation, throughout the last few updates. I'm sure no one wants to turn this thread into Biblechat2011, but I appreciated them, and in case it'd increase anyone else's enjoyment of the story, here's a list:
1. The whole part with the "dragon" during Iblis's invasion is a direct reference to the dragon in Revelation 12-13. (It's an extended scene and too long to quote here, so look it up if you're interested.) Iblis, in case anyone doesn't know, was the original name of the Devil in Islam.
2. "Come and see" appears four times in Revelation 6. Every time, it's bellowed by a beast in a thunderous voice, and it breaks the first four seals on the book of judgment, and each time it unleashes one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Speaking of which:
3.
Root said:
[VD] drew his finest sword, wreathed in flame, and fastened lightning claws over his left gauntlet. Eagle’s talons. He projected a halo of light around his head and crowned himself with golden laurels. He stepped down from the Golden Throne and went forth, to conquer.
Revelation 6:2 said:
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
Depending on who you ask, the white horseman in the Bible represents either the Antichrist (sure), Christ (okay), the Holy Spirit (huh), or pestilence (what?).
4. The Credo Omnissiah at the beginning of the Machine Messiah update is a refactoring of the Nicene Creed.
5. Speaking of Nikaea, the Council of Nikaea (where Malcador met Ahriman) was the invention of Games Workshop 40K writers, not Root, but it is itself based on the historical council of Nikaea. (The 40K council's purpose was to determine whether the use of sorcery was considered harmful. The historical council's purpose was to determine whether heresy was considered harmful, and more generally what the essential beliefs of Christianity were.)
6.
Root said:
Before the Titans fired their weapons, there was silence in the heavens about the space of half a second.
Revelation 8:1 said:
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
In case anyone is wondering how that ends, here's an annotated version:
More from Revelation 8 said:
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
And another angel (Ahriman? Tzeentch? VD? The Brokeeper? The Bromaster?) came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer (Jeremiah's golden sphere? Tzeentch's vestige? VD's Transcendence protocol?); and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints (the prayers of all saints) upon the golden altar (Malcador's Machine Mind) which was before the throne (the throne).
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Bad Shit continues to go down for a while afterward; you can look it up if you like, but my general impression is that these references are for flavor and that Root's not going to alter the narrative too much to shoehorn in extra fidelity.
Edit: Also, hang on:
root said:
most of Chaos doesn't know that the Gods are dead.
How is that possible? Thousands of daemons, the entire elite forces of their crusade, died screaming, most of their sorcerers exploded, the remainder are all wielding enough psychic power to burn water, all their daemonic tools and gifts stopped working, all their daemon princes reverted to human form, and everyone just thinks, "hm, could be coincidence! Blood for the Blood God!"?