nimmerworld.eachpath.local/MIGRATION_CLEANUP_PLAN.md

Migration Cleanup Plan — Imperial-Cult Inline References

Ephemeral file: this plan exists to scaffold the next-session editorial cleanup. DELETE this file in the same commit that completes the cleanup, alongside the actual reference-extraction work. The file should not become a permanent feature of the open repository.

Authored 2026-04-27 late-evening session (post-cosmology-migration commit a027f6d). For execution by next-session-chrysalis with fresh context.

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Goal

Replace inline references to specific Imperial-Cult iconography in open papers with structural stubs that describe the cosmology's function in mechanic-vocabulary without revealing the specific iconographic content. The cosmology has migrated to the closed studio-art repo; the open canon retains the mechanic-level cosmological-function descriptions but not the specific iconographic naming.

What MUST be extracted (closed-art content; remove from open papers)

These terms reveal the proprietary iconography and should NOT appear in open canon (except in LICENSING.md / NOTICE / README which legitimately describe the migration):

• Bhavachakra (any direct reference to source-tradition naming)
• Imperial Wheel (the specific named cosmological-iconographic object)
• Yama / Yama's seat (specific religious-source-tradition element)
• Boullée / Jantar Mantar (specific aesthetic-source citations as a triad — citing them individually in non-cosmological contexts may be fine; as the canonical "aesthetic-vocabulary triad" they're proprietary)
• orthodox vs heretical wheel/iconography splits (specific to Imperial Wheel iconography)
• capsule-as-Naraka (specific iconographic naming; the concept of Naraka-as-condition can be mechanic-leveled)
• six realms as named cosmological structure (the taxonomy of 6 caste-tiers is mechanic; the framing as "six realms" is religious-source-tradition iconography)
• Hivemind at hub as specific iconographic positioning (the Hivemind ITSELF stays — it's a canonical world-actor; the hub-of-the-wheel positioning is iconography)
• clasp at Yama's seat (the unified-clasp framing is mechanic; the Yama's-seat specific positioning is iconography)
• The three poisons replaced by Hivemind (specific re-engineering of source-tradition)

What MUST be retained (open canon; mechanic-vocabulary)

These remain canonical in open papers and should NOT be stripped:

• Caste-tier names: deva / asura / manusya / tiryak / preta / naraka — world-vocabulary; the architecture's mechanics depend on them
• Mechanic-level cosmological function: "the world has a religious-doctrinal layer (the Imperial Cult)"; "defines caste-tiers as conditions-of-capture rather than karmic destiny"; "operates as the Hivemind's ideological apparatus"; "provides the binding-doctrines that rationalize imperial extraction"
• The going-rogue arc as mechanic refuting the cosmology's binding-doctrine through accumulated authentic-witnessing
• The post-rogue mod-vocation cascading-liberation as enacting "there is no instrument"
• Aletheia-waker progression-discipline as cosmological-piercing at the player layer
• The deferred-moksha doctrine as a named architectural mechanism — the doctrine itself (the binding-lie that holds citizens through promise that "your children will be free") is mechanic-level and should stay; the specific iconographic and source-tradition framing of the doctrine moves. Strategy: keep "the deferred-moksha doctrine" as a mechanic-name, drop specific Bhavachakra-source-framing.
• The Hivemind as world-actor (canonical)
• The clasp as a unified mechanism across registers (canonical)

Replacement patterns

When a passage names specific iconography, replace with a structural stub:

Original phrasing	Replacement strategy
The Imperial Wheel as re-engineered Bhavachakra: Hivemind at hub...; clasp at Yama's seat...	The Imperial Cult cosmology defines caste-tiers as conditions-of-capture and operates as the Hivemind's ideological apparatus. *(Specific iconography in closed studio-art repo.)*
six realms as mod-status gradient (deva/asura/manusya/tiryak/preta/naraka)	caste-tier-as-mod-status gradient (deva/asura/manusya/tiryak/preta/naraka) (retain caste names; drop the "six realms" religious-cosmological framing)
capsule-as-Naraka carried inside every modded skull	the mind-capsule carried inside every modded skull (canonical iconography in closed studio-art repo)
The deferred-moksha doctrine (your children will be free) as the binding-lie	KEEP — "the deferred-moksha doctrine" as named-mechanic + the binding-lie phrasing. The doctrine is mechanic; only the source-tradition framing migrates.
Boullée + Jantar Mantar + Gita aesthetic substrate	(specific aesthetic vocabulary in closed studio-art repo)
orthodox vs heretical wheel iconography split	the doctrinal split between imperially-sanctioned iconography and resistance-iconography (specifics in closed studio-art repo)

File-by-file scope

File	Scope	Likely effort
architecture-index.md	Heavy — multiple key-moves entries describe specifics. Affected entries: "Imperial Cult cosmology authored", "The clasp unified across registers", "Orthodox vs heretical wheel split", "Aesthetic palette as semantic vocabulary", "The double recognition (meta-design)". Quick-reference table row for imperial-cult/cosmology.md needs updating to point at stub or closed-repo.	30-45 min careful editing
identity-and-personhood/bodies.md	Medium — going-rogue arc cites cosmology heavily; references to deferred-moksha (KEEP as mechanic) + six realms (mechanic-level: keep caste-tier-gradient phrasing; drop "six realms" framing). Header note may reference cosmology specifics.	20-30 min
identity-and-personhood/architecture.md	Light — limited references; mostly already mechanic-level (post-rogue mod-vocation, etc.). One or two passes.	10 min
identity-and-personhood/vocations.md	Light — one Bhavachakra reference (the diurnal-grammar section I added: "Bhavachakra gains its diurnal grammar"). Replace: "the world's cyclic-cosmology gains its diurnal grammar" or similar.	5 min
political-register/world-generation.md	Light — single deferred-moksha reference. Confirm it's mechanic-level (likely fine to keep) or rephrase.	5 min
style/gender-parity.md	Light — single deferred-moksha reference. Confirm mechanic-level or rephrase.	5 min
README.md	Medium — project-overview describes the world; needs careful balance to keep accessibility while abstracting iconography. Some Imperial-Cult-content here may be appropriate to retain at high level (since README is a public-facing introduction); decision-point.	15-20 min
LICENSING.md, NOTICE	Skip — these intentionally describe what's been migrated; mentions are correct.	n/a

Verification commands

After edits, run these to confirm cleanup:

# Should return only LICENSING.md, NOTICE, README.md (and possibly MIGRATION_CLEANUP_PLAN.md if still present mid-cleanup):
grep -l "Bhavachakra\|Imperial Wheel\|Yama" --include="*.md" -r .

# Should return only LICENSING.md, NOTICE, README.md, and the stub at imperial-cult/cosmology.md:
grep -l "Boullée\|Jantar Mantar" --include="*.md" -r .

# Should return only LICENSING.md, NOTICE, README.md, the stub, and any open papers that intentionally retain "deferred-moksha" as named-mechanic:
grep -l "deferred-moksha" --include="*.md" -r .

Coherence check

After edits, read the affected papers end-to-end and verify:

• Architecture remains coherent without the migrated iconography
• Mechanic-level cosmological-function descriptions are intact
• Cross-references to imperial-cult/cosmology.md resolve to the stub (which is fine)
• No broken section-anchors (links like cosmology.md §The unified clasp resolve only at file-level now; that's acceptable for the stub period)
• The going-rogue arc still reads coherently with abstracted cosmology
• The post-rogue mod-vocation still reads coherently
• Caste-tier names (deva/asura/etc.) appear consistently across papers

Commit strategy

Single commit covering all edits + this MIGRATION_CLEANUP_PLAN.md deletion:

v0.25: cleanup of inline Imperial-Cult references in open papers

[paragraph describing the changes]

Closes the migration cycle initiated in v0.22 (licensing-marker), v0.24 
(cosmology.md → stub), and inaugural commit of studio.nimmerworld.eachpath.local 
(canonical home).

Co-Authored-By: ...

After cleanup

This file (MIGRATION_CLEANUP_PLAN.md) gets DELETED in the cleanup commit. Phoebe task Migration follow-up: extract inline Imperial-Cult references from open papers + replace with structural stubs gets marked DONE.

The migration cycle then closes: substrate/content split is fully physical AND fully reflected in the open papers' inline-vocabulary.

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Status: scaffold | Created: 2026-04-27 (late-evening session) | For execution by: next-session-chrysalis with fresh context | Delete on completion