Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMN7TYGP9YHCX0XAJSYKREP

Run Details

Model:: Ministral 3B
Test:: Bad Writing Habits
Scenario:: Fantasy: entering an ancient ruin
Duration:: 3.8s
Cost:: $0.000103

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, a quiet pulse beneath the earth’s breath. Aurora Carter adjusted the strap of her delivery bag, her fingers brushing the cold edge of the Fae-forged blade tucked inside. The silver blade had been a gift from Isolde, its edge humming faintly when the wind carried whispers of the unseen. She exhaled, the scent of damp earth and wildflowers clinging to her skin like a second layer.

She had come here at Isolde’s urging, drawn by the seer’s cryptic warning: *The Veil weakens where the standing stones stand.* Now, standing at the edge of Richmond Park, the ancient oaks loomed like sentinels, their gnarled roots twisting into the earth as if trying to pull the world apart. The others—Nyx, who had slipped between shadows like a breath, and Isolde herself, silver hair catching the light like scattered stars—had followed without hesitation. Aurora hesitated only a moment before stepping forward, the soles of her boots sinking into the soft moss.

“You’re sure this is the right place?” Nyx murmured, their voice a whisper carried on the breeze. Their form flickered between solid and shadow, shifting like smoke caught in a draft.

Isolde’s fingers traced the bark of a nearby oak, her pale lavender eyes fixed on the horizon. “The Veil thins here,” she said, her voice a thread of static. “But beware. The Fae do not always welcome those who seek their secrets.”

Aurora swallowed. The standing stones loomed ahead, their surfaces carved with spirals and symbols she couldn’t read. The air grew warmer, thick with the scent of blooming flowers that didn’t exist in Cardiff. The flowers—petals the color of crushed velvet—drifted lazily, their perfume sharp and intoxicating. She reached out, her fingers brushing one, and the petal clung to her skin, warm and yielding.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

Nyx let out a sound like wind through leaves, and the ground beneath her feet rippled, revealing a hidden path. The stones were no longer solid; they were like glass, shimmering faintly underfoot. Aurora stepped onto one, and the weight of it felt different—lighter, as if she were walking on air.

“What is this place?” she asked.

Isolde’s laughter was faint, like the rustle of leaves in a whispering wind. “A pocket between worlds,” she said. “A place where time moves differently. Where the Fae and the mortal realms bleed into one.”

Aurora’s pulse quickened. The flowers pulsed with a faint glow, their centers pulsing like tiny hearts. She reached for one, her fingers trembling, and the petal responded, unfurling slightly as if inviting her to stay. The scent grew stronger, richer, and for a moment, she forgot her name, forgot where she was supposed to be.

Nyx’s form solidified before her, their silhouette sharp against the golden light filtering through the canopy. “You should move,” they said, their voice barely audible. “The Veil is thinning. The Fae here… they do not like intruders.”

Aurora’s breath hitched. She hadn’t meant to linger. But the flowers called to her, and the air hummed with something ancient and hungry. She took another step forward, the standing stones now glowing faintly under her feet, as if warmed by some unseen fire.

Isolde’s voice cut through the daze. “The Veil is a barrier, but it is also a door. And doors, Aurora, are never meant to be opened alone.”

Aurora’s heart pounded. She glanced at Nyx, whose form flickered once more, and then at Isolde, who stood motionless, her silver hair catching the light like a crown of stars. The standing stones pulsed brighter, the air thick with the scent of something sweet and rotten, like overripe fruit left too long in the sun.

She turned, her boots crunching on the moss as she retreated, the path behind her now clearer, the standing stones receding into the distance. The flowers faded, their glow dimming, and the air cooled, sharp with the scent of rain.

Nyx let out a long, slow breath. “We should go.”

Aurora didn’t argue. She had seen enough. The Fae Grove was a place of wonder and danger, a threshold between worlds where the rules of reality bent and broke. And she was only just beginning to understand how deeply it had already changed her.

Evaluation details

Result

Evaluator

Details

Meta Data

77.7778%

Adverbs in dialogue tags

Target: ≤10% dialogue tags with adverbs

totalTags

adverbTagCount

adverbTags

0	"they said, their voice barely audible [barely]"

72.2607%

AI-ism adverb frequency

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

wordCount

721

totalAiIsmAdverbs

found

adverb	"lazily"
count	1

adverb	"slightly"
count	1

highlights

0	"lazily"
1	"slightly"

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)

2.9126%

AI-ism word frequency

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

wordCount

721

totalAiIsms

found

word	"sentinels"
count	1

word	"flickered"
count	2

word	"loomed"
count	2

word	"velvet"
count	1

word	"weight"
count	1

highlights

0	"sentinels"
1	"flickered"
2	"loomed"
3	"velvet"
4	"weight"

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	44
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Filter word density

Target: ≤12% sentences with filter/hedge words

filterCount	0
hedgeCount	0
narrationSentences	44
filterMatches	(empty)
hedgeMatches	(empty)

100.0000%

Overuse of "that" (subordinate clause padding)

Target: ≤10% sentences with "that" clauses

thatCount	0
totalSentences	49
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Paragraph length variance

Target: CV ≥0.5 for paragraph word counts

totalParagraphs

mean

42.06

std

22.91

0.545

sampleLengths

0	79
1	92
2	31
3	42
4	63
5	4
6	51
7	6
8	35
9	55
10	37
11	44
12	27
13	55
14	40
15	10
16	44

100.0000%

Passive voice overuse

Target: ≤5% passive sentences

passiveCount

totalSentences

matches

0	"was supposed"

100.0000%

Past progressive (was/were + -ing) overuse

Target: ≤10% past progressive verbs

pastProgressiveCount

totalVerbs

109

matches

0	"were walking"

100.0000%

Purple prose (modifier overload)

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

wordCount	632
adjectiveStacks	0
stackExamples	(empty)
adverbCount	22
adverbRatio	0.03481012658227848
lyAdverbCount	9
lyAdverbRatio	0.014240506329113924

100.0000%

Repeated phrase echo

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

totalSentences	49
echoCount	0
echoWords	(empty)

100.0000%

Sentence length variance

Target: CV ≥0.4 for sentence word counts

totalSentences

mean

14.59

std

8.52

0.584

sampleLengths

0	20
1	21
2	21
3	17
4	50
5	24
6	18
7	17
8	14
9	17
10	12
11	13
12	2
13	15
14	16
15	13
16	17
17	4
18	20
19	13
20	18
21	6
22	13
23	6
24	16
25	3
26	13
27	19
28	20
29	16
30	9
31	12
32	3
33	5
34	15
35	21
36	6
37	21
38	3
39	27
40	25
41	24
42	16
43	7
44	3
45	3
46	4
47	22
48	15

41.8367%

Sentence opener variety

Target: ≥60% unique sentence openers

consecutiveRepeats	4
diversityRatio	0.2653061224489796
totalSentences	49
uniqueOpeners	13

50.0000%

Dialogue tag variety (said vs. fancy)

Target: ≤30% fancy dialogue tags

totalTags

fancyCount

fancyTags

0	"murmured (murmur)"
1	"she said, her voice a thread of static (say, voice)"
2	"she breathed (breathe)"

84.9875%