Docs: LANTERN Phase 0 — full pivot adoption + all-doc sweep

Adopt LANTERN as the operative direction (co-op action-RPG, light-as-territory),
superseding the Awakening Engine fiction + the Co-op Hades iteration. Existing
code becomes salvage quarry; the mechanical pillars hold.

Phase 0 deliverables (doc portions):
- DR-048 adoption decision record (0.1)
- Lantern_Strip_Mothball_Inventory — system-by-system keep/rework/mothball (0.2)
- Lantern_World_Model_Spike — pocket-graph + seed-pinning BRIEF, review-first (0.3)
- Art_Direction_Lantern — style bible + material decision + A0 gate (0.4)

Docs/skills sweep: Pillars pointers + LANTERN locked decisions; superseded
banners on Identity, Iteration_CoopHades, Path_to_Fun, Milestones, Backlog,
End_Of_Month (all redirect to the LANTERN roadmap); Home MoC + current-direction
callout (and stale serena line fixed); Systems_Index era note; CLAUDE.md
core-loop line -> LANTERN direction pointer (verbose co-op-Hades invariants
archived to the gotchas archive, net-neutral under the 40 KB budget); dots-dev
validation-harness expedition-run recipe flagged era-specific.

Two Phase-0 gate items remain OPEN (not doc work): the 0.3 world-model design
review and the 0.4 in-engine style-proof scene.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Docs/Vault/01_Vision/Pillars.md

@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@ permalink: gamevault/01-vision/pillars
 
 > The few non-negotiables every system must serve. Keep this short; promote only decisions that are truly locked.
 
+> [!info] Direction: **LANTERN** (locked 2026-07-13, [[DR-048_Lantern_Adoption_Full_Pivot]]).
+> The **mechanical pillars below still hold** (Unity DOTS + Netcode, server-authoritative, 2–4 co-op,
+> skill-expression combat, persistent base, automation-as-progression). What changed is the **fiction + three
+> subsystems**: the fiction is now [[Identity_Lantern]] (not the Awakening Engine); combat sharpens to
+> **SoD-grade manual-aim skillshots** (the soft auto-target era ends); the world becomes a seed-pinned
+> **pocket-graph** where **light is territory**; the build layer becomes suit-frames + cultured Sparks + wild
+> mutations. See the LANTERN locked decisions at the bottom.
+
 ## Pillars
 
 > **Combat is the primary verb; base + automation braid around it** (locked 2026-06-08, [[DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First]]). The fusion of all three is the identity — but as ONE braided loop with a single primary verb, never three co-equal, independently-deep modes. Roadmap: [[Path_to_Fun]].
@@ -30,7 +38,27 @@ permalink: gamevault/01-vision/pillars
 - **Combat-primary + depth-before-breadth (locked 2026-06-08):** combat is the primary braided verb; **no new system until one braided loop is genuinely fun**, and every milestone ends with a play/fun-gate (not just green tests). [[DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First]] · roadmap [[Path_to_Fun]].
 - **Classes + persistent meta (locked 2026-06-17, [[DR-037_Procedural_Expedition_Spine_Two_Classes_Persistent_Meta]]):** **two classes** — **Warrior** (melee anchor) + **Ranger** (ranged, manually aimed — *not* auto-fire, which would break skill-expression). Class identity = the **primary-attack archetype**; run-acquired **meta-buffs ride the existing `StatModifier`/`TimedModifier` pipeline**. A **persistent meta-progression layer** (SaveData v6) funds permanent growth at the hub; run combat-buffs are run-scoped. **Reverses [[DR-031_Base_Mining_Loop_Cohesion]]'s expedition pause** (a real playtest — [[Scratch Notes 6152026]] — showed the single arena goes stale).
 
+## LANTERN direction — locked decisions (2026-07-13, [[DR-048_Lantern_Adoption_Full_Pivot]])
+
+These sit *on top of* the mechanical pillars above (which are unchanged). Full design: [[Identity_Lantern]];
+roadmap: [[Roadmap_Lantern_Slice]].
+
+- **The one rule:** *what the light holds, stays; what the dark holds, changes.* Applied to the world =
+  persistence; to the body = death; to the kit = builds; to the story = stakes.
+- **World = seed-pinned pocket-graph** (light is territory). Permanence is spendable: lit pockets persist,
+  dark pockets re-knot. The hardest netcode problem — [[Lantern_World_Model_Spike]] (★review-first).
+- **Combat feel = SoD-grade manual-aim skillshots** (telegraphs, dashes, cooldown kits; **soft auto-target
+  cut**). Suit-frames = chassis/class; **Sparks** (abilities-as-organs, cultured) graft into sockets; **wild
+  mutations** are the augment layer (paced thresholds, evaporate at homecoming, Tallow fix-slots).
+- **Death = the split:** flame returns cheap (kit works within minutes); cargo + fixed mutations + raw organs
+  strand with the suit — recovery runs are optional value-runs, never mandatory kit-repair.
+- **Session-only burn** (the Lamp burns only while a session runs — no offline punishment). **Hosting = Wicks
+  travel; worlds are saves** (Valheim contract). **Loss ceiling = pockets, never a shelf.**
+- **The slice's falsifiable test:** *does pinning a pocket feel like winning, and does a stranded suit feel
+  worth a second descent?* — the only gate that matters.
+
 ## Related
 
-- [[Identity]] — the **fiction** that skins these pillars: **The Awakening Engine** (Aether-colony sci-fi), evolved 2026-06-03 ([[DR-015_The_Awakening_Engine_Fiction_Adoption]]) from the original frontier-colony skin ([[DR-009_GameFeel_Identity_FirstBlood]], 2026-06-02). Skin-only — no mechanical rework; **Aether** is the one substance unifying magic + tech (cyan = ordered / orange = wild Blight), with an amnesiac-**Sleeper** / **Echo** (the guiding voice) / **THEM** spine.
+- [[Identity_Lantern]] — the **operative fiction** these pillars now skin (co-op action-RPG; light-as-territory).
+- [[Identity]] — the **prior** fiction (The Awakening Engine, Aether-colony sci-fi) — **superseded** as operative by [[DR-048_Lantern_Adoption_Full_Pivot]], kept as history/quarry. Skinned via [[DR-015_The_Awakening_Engine_Fiction_Adoption]] / [[DR-009_GameFeel_Identity_FirstBlood]] (amnesiac Sleeper / Echo / THEM · Aether cyan=ordered / orange=wild Blight).
 - Decision records: `07_Sessions/_Decisions/`