Quote:CEREMONIAL MASKS

Aztecs wore masks for every important religious and civic ceremony. Priests used masks to connect to the deities and ask for favors or draw attention to auspicious sacrifices. The year was organized around agriculture and great feasts and sacrifices took place to appease and importune Cinteotl, the corn god; Tlaloc, god of rain, corn and fertility; Tonatiah, a sun god; and major omnipotent gods like Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli. For fire ceremonies, priests wore costumes that resembled Tlaloc and added masks to symbolize putting on the god's power before their ritual distribution of sacred fire. Rulers were invested with their earthly powers, which included divine status and the ability to intercede directly with deities, by putting on the ceremonial masks of the gods and "becoming" them in an elaborate rite.


DEATH MASKS

Death masks typically have closed eyes and open mouths, but the mouth may also be solid as the mask will not be worn by a living person. Only high-ranking Aztecs were given the privilege of wearing ornamental death masks made of precious materials. The mask was believed to animate whatever or whomever wore it, so a royal or important corpse would be dressed in the clothing of a particular god, the face covered with the mask of the god's face. After the ruler was cremated, the mask might be used to "animate" an effigy of the former king so it could receive valuable tribute from neighboring allies who came to honor the passing of power. Some funerary masks were buried with a corpse or ashes; others were offered to the gods or preserved in memory of the deceased by heirs.


SKIN DEEP

Aztec warriors who killed in battle literally wore the face of their enemy. The dead warrior's facial skin was flayed off and made into a mask that could be offered to the gods or worn by the victor. The masks were treated to resemble soft leather hide and could also be "enlivened" with the addition of eyeballs, tongues and noses made from shell or stone. These reanimated faces with filled-in orifices could not be worn in post-battle celebrations -- they were left at temple altars or buried in ceremonial offerings.

Bolded and underlined by me. Bolded what I consider of key-value to the story's interpretation. Underlined what I consider to require more research (on the intepreter's side).

"The New Fire ceremony (in Nahuatl xiuhmolpilli—the Binding of the Years) was an Aztec ceremony performed once every 52 years — a full cycle of the Aztec calendar— in order to stave off the end of the world."

Nope. According to researches, 1899 wouldn't be the year of the ritual. (Last ceremony was held in 1507 and adding 52 years doesn't pinpoint 1899). However, not being the end of the Aztec's cycle doesn't mean it wouldn't be Mandus'. It was said, that during the last 5 days before commencing the ceremony, the unstable world would tend to shift. That'd explain, why some areas of the game seem to re-shape.

The Machine (imo influenced by an Aztec... something) also needed the ritual to continue (killing all those people of London) and had many times warned Mandus' of the future instability of world, it promised to stop the world from ending, from all the wars etc. Mandus destroyed the Machine, simultaneously destroying the mean to held the Fire Ceremony. All the wars happended - a symbolic end of the world wouldn't stop.

Tlaloc - a god. "He is known for having demanded child sacrifices".

Now, many gods had such demands, but there's something else about that one. One of the Tlaloc rites:

"The Atlcahualo was celebrated from the 12th of February until the 3rd of March. Dedicated to the Tlaloque, this veintena involved the sacrifice of many children on sacred mountaintops. The children were beautifully adorned, dressed in the style of Tlaloc and the Tlaloque. On litters strewn with flowers and feathers; surrounded by dancers, they were transported to a shrine and their hearts would be pulled out by priests".

12.02-03.03 - The Mexico trip, anyone? Days correct?
Sacrifice of many children? - checked.
Pulling out hearts? - checked.

Mandus performed Atlcahualo on his children in Mexico.

"Afterwards their doughy chests were opened, their "hearts" taken out and, finally, their bodies cut up and eaten. The ornaments with which they had been adorned were taken and burned in peoples’ patios. On the final day of the "veintena" people celebrated and held banquets".

Burned in peoples' patios... Mandus' garden and children's skulls? Well, it depends on what he considered to be... ornaments, with which his children were to be adorned.

So, it is all around Tlaloc. Oh, and he fancied feathers. Not sure about jaguars' skins though.