Seven Seals - Setting Spiel

Trench Shrine, Mike Franchina

This is a setting I've been rolling in my mind for some time. It was sparked by the work of Mike Franchina and his "Trench Crusade" project. Go check him out! The basic premise is that in the first year of the Great War, the Apocalypse breaks out resulting in an Occult "Weird War" scenario as you mix dark mysticism, fanaticism,  and technological advancement. I want to draw on cool things like weird war tech, gnostic and antiquated cosmology, and apocalyptic themes. When the Great War turns into the Final Battle, what terrible weapons would be forged? What life look like as things end? Why is it even happening in the first place?

The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea - William Blake

Riders of Doom, Mikhail Borulko

Shock Troops, Mikhail Borulko

We were warned to repent. We did not listen. Our Great War could have ended before it truly started. We did not cease. Our works were not perfect before the eyes of the DEMIURGE on His celestial throne. As brother killed brother and waded through tides of crimson, we could only preserve what little strength we had in the face of the opening of the Seals. When the ANOINTED LAMB opened the seals, the End began. The first four Seals heralded terrible riders who made our Great War eternal. With the fifth seal, the slain arose in terrible spite. The sixth seal ended the light of day as the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, the moon became like blood, the stars of the sky fell to the earth, the sky was split apart, and every mountain and island was moved out of their places. We hid in our fortresses, trenches, and caves acknowledging the presence of Him who sits on the throne and the wrath of his LAMB. Then the servants of the DEMIURGE were revealed to us.

With the sounding of the trumpets of heaven, hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, burning a third of the earth's flora, scorching all green grass. Something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood, killing a third of everything in the ocean, even ships. And a great star, Wormwood, fell from heaven poisoning the water from rivers and water springs. The sun, the moons, and stars were struck, so that a third of their light diminished to the point of complete darkness for a third of the day, even during the night. The bottomless pit was opened and smoke arose, darkening the air and sunlight. Then war broke out in heaven itself.

Now that celestial war has fallen to us. The Dragon of Chaos, the ADVERSARY, went to war with we who keep the commandments of the DEMIURGE and honor his LAMB. When the It drew the BEAST  from the sea, the ADVERSARY gave it authority to rule the world. The fools marveled at is might and worshiped it as legions of heretics. The BEAST then went to war with our Saints. Then the second beast, THE FALSE LAMB who speaks as a dragon, arose from the earth and gave all who didn't wear the Mark of the Demiurge, the Mark of the Beast. 

We now fight and kill amongst the ruin, waiting for the time when the earth is finally harvested. We answer the call of the Trench Crusade.

Now I better get some of these ideas down and clear before I forget: 

• ~1918-1920, this all started a year into WW1. The war would have been forgotten if the power of the Seals hadn't whipped everyone into a frenzy (thanks War and Conquest). After war broke out in heaven and fell to the ruined world, the fighting was then augmented by occult magic, heavenly and infernal knowledge, and terrifying beings beyond mortal understanding
• The political alliances have long given way to three major groups: the heretic legions, the servants of the demiurge, and the lost (who really just want to survive the shit show in some way)
• The "front" would be a trench hexcrawl with the shells of cities, bunkers, and temples being the "dungeons" 
• The aether is real. Quintessence is potent dark energy harnessed to fuel and feed the terrible war machines. It is not good for the environment or your lungs, but most don't care about either of those things
• If you couldn't tell by the above, the earth is absolutely ruined. Most places are burnt, destroyed, echoes where terrible things crawl and squirm. Literally pits to Hell are open. Don't fall in and beware what comes out. 
• Because of the seals, the dead are around and quite angry. I can seen some organizing (a skeletal brigade still waging organized war) while others are just creatures who hunt people for their tasty flesh. Understandably, flamethrowers and cremation are quite popular.
• The Demiurge is not God. He is a flawed creator who never knew the actual supreme being but instead styles Himself as the Lord of Creation. The Adversary is an agent of the actual creator being, seeking to liberate humanity from the tyranny of the Demiurge and to test them on whether they can pierce His deceit.Think about it, the Demiurge starting all the terrible things that ruined the world, the Adversary waged its war in heaven as retaliation. 
• The tides of the chaotic cosmic ocean, the Great Deep, which long ago confronted the Demiurge, again encroach on the world, bringing all manner of terrors. 
• You can climb down to Hell if you have the time. A few Hell pores are heavily contested battlefields, with airships, flying things, and climbers waging war inside of them
• Bred from the genes of the LAMB, paladins descend into Hell itself to slay the Dragon's minions in their places of power
• Oh yeah, I want war machines. Flying battleships, crawling tanks that spew hellfire, planes that skirt the firmaments of the heavens themselves
• Chemical and biological warfare is the worst it could possibly be. Angels of cancer and blessed lepers spread rot amongst the heretic legion with their holy blight