Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMMD3J4DDJ94E2DVMPVNJMK

Run Details

Model:: Ministral 3B
Test:: Bad Writing Habits
Scenario:: Fantasy: entering an ancient ruin
Duration:: 3.5s
Cost:: $0.000106

Model input

System

You are an expert novelist with a gift for vivid, immersive prose. You write in tight third-person limited point of view with a strong narrative voice. Your prose is clean, precise, and engaging — you favor strong verbs, concrete details, and natural-sounding dialogue.

You will be given a story bible (codex) containing canonical details about characters, locations, items, and lore. Use these details to ground your writing in the established world. Stay consistent with the codex.

Write only the prose of the scene. Do not include titles, chapter headings, markdown formatting, or any commentary before or after the scene.

User/Human

<codex>
<character id="4412" name="Aurora Carter" aliases="Rory, Laila, Aurora, Carter, Malphora" pronouns="she/her" species="Human" storyRole="Protagonist">
  <eyeColor>bright blue</eyeColor>
  <hair>straight shoulder-length black</hair>
  <height>5'6"</height>
  <age>25</age>
  <scar>small crescent-shaped scar on her left wrist from a childhood accident</scar>
  <description>Aurora, referred to by her friends as Rory, is cool-headed, intelligent, and known for quick out-of-the-box thinking.</description>
  <backstory>Born in Cardiff to an Irish barrister father (Brendan Carter) and Welsh teacher mother (Jennifer Carter née Ellis), Rory reluctantly pursued Pre-Law at Cardiff University. She fled to London at the behest of her childhood friend Eva after leaving an abusive ex named Evan. By day, Rory works part-time as a delivery person for Yu-Fei Cheung's Golden Empress restaurant. She lives in a flat above Silas' bar.</backstory>
</character>

<character id="4418" name="Nyx" aliases="Nyx, the Shadow, Nightwhisper" pronouns="they/them" species="Shade" storyRole="Wild Card">
  <eyeColor>faintly glowing violet</eyeColor>
  <height>approximately 6'2" in solid form</height>
  <age>ageless</age>
  <form>humanoid silhouette of living shadow, can shift between solid and incorporeal</form>
  <voice>sounds like a whisper carried on the wind</voice>
  <description>A being of living shadow, existing between the mortal plane and the spaces between realms.</description>
  <backstory>Nyx was once a human sorcerer named Aldric who became trapped between realms during a failed summoning ritual in 1643. They now exist as a Shade, bound to the mortal plane but able to slip between shadows.</backstory>
</character>

<character id="4424" name="Isolde Varga" aliases="Isolde, the Seer" pronouns="she/her" species="Half-Fae" storyRole="Oracle">
  <eyeColor>pale lavender</eyeColor>
  <hair>silver, reaching her waist</hair>
  <height>5'5"</height>
  <age>300 years old</age>
  <appearance>ethereal, ageless</appearance>
  <speech>speaks in riddles</speech>
  <footprints>leaves no footprints when she walks</footprints>
  <compulsion>cannot lie (Fae compulsion) but can mislead</compulsion>
  <description>A Half-Fae seer exiled from the Fae Courts for sharing visions with mortals.</description>
  <backstory>She now lives in a hidden grove in Richmond Park, offering cryptic prophecies to those who seek her out.</backstory>
</character>

<location id="853" name="Dymas (Gluttony)" aliases="Dymas, gluttony, Dymasian" realm="Hel" sin="Gluttony">
  <ruler>Prince Belphegor</ruler>
  <skyColor>warm amber</skyColor>
  <description>A place of excess and indulgence. Sprawling vineyards, orchards, and gardens provide exotic ingredients for master chefs — often helbound souls contracted from Earth. Grand feasts and culinary competitions are common.</description>
</location>

<location id="861" name="The Fae Grove" aliases="Isolde's grove, Richmond grove, the Grove" realm="Earth (Fae-touched)">
  <parkLocation>Richmond Park</parkLocation>
  <standingStones>ancient oak standing stones mark the boundary</standingStones>
  <timeBehavior>time moves differently — an hour inside can be minutes or days outside</timeBehavior>
  <flora>wildflowers bloom year-round</flora>
  <description>A hidden clearing that exists in a pocket between Earth and the Fae realm.</description>
</location>

<item id="2001" name="Heartstone Pendant" aliases="the pendant, Heartstone" type="Artifact" origin="Dymas">
  <gemstoneColor>deep crimson</gemstoneColor>
  <chainMaterial>silver chain</chainMaterial>
  <size>roughly the size of a thumbnail</size>
  <behavior>pulses faintly with warmth when near a Hel portal</behavior>
  <glow>faint inner glow</glow>
  <description>Given to Aurora by an unknown benefactor.</description>
</item>

<item id="2006" name="Fae-Forged Blade" aliases="the Fae blade, Isolde's gift" type="Weapon" origin="The Fae Courts">
  <material>moonsilver</material>
  <shape>slender, leaf-shaped dagger</shape>
  <temperature>always cold to the touch</temperature>
  <glow>faintly luminescent in moonlight</glow>
  <power>can cut through magical wards; particularly effective against demons</power>
  <givenTo>given to Aurora by Isolde as a gift</givenTo>
  <description>A weapon of the Fae Courts, rare and highly coveted.</description>
</item>

<lore id="7001" name="The Veil" aliases="the Veil, the Barrier, the Boundary" category="Cosmology">
  <solsticeEffect>weakens during the winter solstice, strengthens during the summer solstice</solsticeEffect>
  <appearance>faint shimmering distortion visible only to those with supernatural sight</appearance>
  <monitoring>rift points (tears in the Veil) are monitored by the Wardens</monitoring>
  <description>The Veil is the metaphysical barrier separating Earth from Hel and the Fae Realms.</description>
</lore>
</codex>

Write a fully fleshed out scene of at least 1000 words in the fantasy genre.

A small group enters an ancient, otherworldly place for the first time. The environment is alien and wondrous. Describe their exploration — what they see, hear, and feel as they move deeper. Include moments of discovery, unease, and wonder. Let the world-building emerge through the characters' experience rather than exposition.

Use the codex entries above as your world reference for characters, setting, and lore.
Only include the prose of the scene without any markdown or commentary.

Model response

The air in the Fae Grove hummed with something older than the trees, something that coiled beneath their boots like a living thread. Aurora Carter stepped forward, the silver chain of her Heartstone Pendant catching the pale light filtering through the canopy. Her breath came shallow, her fingers tightening around the dagger Isolde had given her—a Fae-forged blade, cold as winter’s breath—before she’d vanished into the mist. The moment she crossed the boundary of the standing stones, the world tilted.

The grove wasn’t just Richmond Park. It was a pocket of the world where time had forgotten its rhythm, where the earth itself seemed to hold its breath. The wildflowers bloomed in hues that shouldn’t exist—lavender that shifted from violet to rose, petals that whispered when the wind stirred them. Aurora’s scar on her wrist prickled, as if the scar tissue itself remembered something she hadn’t. She glanced down, then back at the grove, where the air smelled of damp earth and something sweeter, like honeyed wine left too long in sunlight.

Nyx was already here, their form a shifting silhouette between the trees, their voice a whisper that slithered into her mind before she could react. *"You should not have come,"* they murmured, though their lips didn’t move. Aurora didn’t flinch. She’d spent too long listening to lies to be fooled by empty words. Instead, she turned to the others—Isolde stood before a circle of standing stones, her silver hair catching the light like broken glass, her hands pressed to her sides as if bracing against something unseen. The Seer’s eyes were pale lavender, but they were not empty. They held the weight of centuries.

"Isolde," Aurora said, her voice steady despite the creeping dread in her chest. "What is this place?"

The Seer didn’t answer right away. Instead, she stepped forward, her feet leaving no prints as she moved, and reached into the air. Her fingers closed around something—no, *someone*—a flicker of light, a whisper of a soul. Aurora’s pulse jumped. She’d seen enough of the supernatural to know when something wasn’t quite right. The Seer’s voice was a riddle now, a thread of truth tangled with something darker.

*"You seek the Veil,"* Isolde said, her voice like wind through dead leaves. *"But the Veil does not give. It takes."*

A cold draft slithered between them, carrying the scent of old blood and something metallic. Aurora’s fingers tightened around the dagger, its edge sharp even in the dim light. She glanced at Nyx, who stood motionless, their form flickering between solid and shadow. *"What do you mean?"*

Nyx’s voice was a sigh. *"The Veil weakens here. It’s a rift. And rifts…"* They trailed off, leaving the implication hanging between them like a ghost.

Isolde’s gaze locked onto Aurora. *"You are bound by something. By a promise. By a hunger."* She turned her head toward the grove’s center, where the trees grew denser, their bark etched with symbols Aurora couldn’t quite make out. *"The Heartstone. It pulses when you’re near Hel. But Hel is not just a place. It is a hunger. And this place…"* She gestured to the grove, *"…is a window. And windows do not stay open forever."*

Aurora’s stomach twisted. She’d felt the pendant’s warmth before—when she’d been near Dymas, when she’d thought she’d seen glimpses of the realm’s excess. But now, standing in the Fae Grove, the pulse wasn’t just warmth. It was a whisper, a pull, something that made her skin crawl. She turned to Nyx. *"What do you know?"*

The Shade’s form rippled, their voice a whisper that slithered into her ears like smoke. *"You should not have followed me here. You should not have taken the blade. You should not have—"* Their breath hitched. *"You should not have looked."*

Aurora’s breath caught. She hadn’t looked. She hadn’t *seen*. But the air had changed. The flowers had shifted, their colors bleeding into each other like a stain. And then she saw it—the Veil. Not as a shimmering barrier, but as a tear, a jagged rip in the fabric of reality. It pulsed, like a heartbeat, and it was *hungry*.

Isolde’s fingers twitched. *"The Veil is not just a barrier,"* she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. *"It is a door. And doors do not stay open for long."*

Aurora’s hands clenched around the dagger. She’d come here for answers. She’d come here to understand. But now, standing in the heart of the Fae Grove, she realized something else: she’d come here to be *changed*. And the Veil was already reaching for her.

Evaluation details

Result

Evaluator

Details

Meta Data

100.0000%

Adverbs in dialogue tags

Target: ≤10% dialogue tags with adverbs

totalTags	5
adverbTagCount	0
adverbTags	(empty)

100.0000%

AI-ism adverb frequency

Target: <1% AI-ism adverbs (57 tracked)

wordCount	768
totalAiIsmAdverbs	0
found	(empty)
highlights	(empty)

100.0000%

AI-ism character names

Target: 0 AI-default names (17 tracked, −20% each)

codexExemptions	(empty)
found	(empty)

100.0000%

AI-ism location names

Target: 0 AI-default location names (33 tracked, −20% each)

codexExemptions	(empty)
found	(empty)

60.9375%

AI-ism word frequency

Target: <1% AI-ism words (140 tracked)

wordCount

768

totalAiIsms

found

word	"flicker"
count	1

word	"weight"
count	1

word	"etched"
count	1

highlights

0	"flicker"
1	"weight"
2	"etched"

100.0000%

Cliche density

Target: ≤1 cliche(s) per 800-word window

totalCliches	0
maxInWindow	0
found	(empty)
highlights	(empty)

100.0000%

Emotion telling (show vs. tell)

Target: ≤3% sentences with emotion telling

emotionTells	0
narrationSentences	59
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Filter word density

Target: ≤12% sentences with filter/hedge words

filterCount

hedgeCount

narrationSentences

filterMatches

(empty)

hedgeMatches

0	"seemed to"

100.0000%

Overuse of "that" (subordinate clause padding)

Target: ≤10% sentences with "that" clauses

thatCount	0
totalSentences	60
matches	(empty)

93.9622%

Paragraph length variance

Target: CV ≥0.5 for paragraph word counts

totalParagraphs

mean

54.29

std

0.479

sampleLengths

0	80
1	92
2	104
3	17
4	68
5	21
6	47
7	26
8	76
9	55
10	41
11	59
12	30
13	44

100.0000%

Passive voice overuse

Target: ≤5% passive sentences

passiveCount	0
totalSentences	59
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Past progressive (was/were + -ing) overuse

Target: ≤10% past progressive verbs

pastProgressiveCount	0
totalVerbs	116
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Purple prose (modifier overload)

Target: <4% adverbs, <2% -ly adverbs, no adj stacking

wordCount	657
adjectiveStacks	0
stackExamples	(empty)
adverbCount	19
adverbRatio	0.0289193302891933
lyAdverbCount	0
lyAdverbRatio	0

100.0000%

Repeated phrase echo

Target: ≤20% sentences with echoes (window: 2)

totalSentences	60
echoCount	0
echoWords	(empty)

100.0000%

Sentence length variance

Target: CV ≥0.4 for sentence word counts

totalSentences

mean

12.67

std

8.39

0.662

sampleLengths

0	23
1	19
2	25
3	13
4	6
5	22
6	22
7	16
8	26
9	25
10	12
11	3
12	13
13	34
14	11
15	6
16	13
17	4
18	6
19	17
20	14
21	3
22	13
23	15
24	13
25	8
26	15
27	14
28	14
29	4
30	5
31	21
32	5
33	34
34	37
35	3
36	20
37	12
38	12
39	4
40	4
41	15
42	21
43	5
44	3
45	3
46	3
47	5
48	13
49	6

43.3333%

Sentence opener variety

Target: ≥60% unique sentence openers

consecutiveRepeats	4
diversityRatio	0.25
totalSentences	60
uniqueOpeners	15

25.0000%

Dialogue tag variety (said vs. fancy)

Target: ≤30% fancy dialogue tags

totalTags

fancyCount

fancyTags

0	"they murmured, though their lips didn’t move (murmur, do not move)"
1	"She gestured to the grove (gesture)"
2	"she said, her voice dropping to a whisper (say, drop)"

89.6019%