Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMPAV543K0W0KPAJQ82G9GP

Run Details

Model:: DeepSeek-V2 Chat
Test:: Bad Writing Habits
Scenario:: Fantasy: entering an ancient ruin
Duration:: 33.6s
Cost:: $0.002200
Provider:: Novita

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 Heartstone pulsed against Aurora’s collarbone, a slow, insistent rhythm like a second heartbeat. She pressed her fingers to the pendant, its crimson glow seeping between her knuckles. The warmth spread through her palm, up her wrist, chasing away the chill that had settled in her bones the moment they’d stepped through the standing stones.  

The air here tasted different—thick with the scent of crushed petals and something metallic, like old coins left on the tongue. The trees arched overhead, their branches woven so tightly they blotted out the sky, leaving only slivers of an amber glow that didn’t belong to any sun she’d ever seen.  

"Not what I expected," Rory murmured, her voice swallowed by the grove’s unnatural quiet.  

Nyx materialized beside her, their form shifting from shadow to solidity with a ripple of darkness. "Expectation is a mortal habit," they whispered, their voice carrying on the air like the brush of moth wings. "This place doesn’t bend to human rules."  

Ahead, Isolde moved soundlessly, her silver hair catching the strange light. She left no footprints in the moss, no disturbance in the carpet of wildflowers that shouldn’t have been blooming in December. The half-Fae paused beside an ancient oak, its bark etched with symbols that made Rory’s eyes water if she stared too long.  

"You feel it," Isolde said, not turning. "The weight of the Veil here. Thin as spider silk."  

Rory swallowed. She did feel it—a pressure against her skin, the sense of being watched by something vast and unseen. The Fae-forged blade at her hip hummed faintly, its cold seeping through the fabric of her jacket.  

Nyx drifted forward, their shadowy fingers trailing over the oak’s markings. "This is a threshold. Not just between worlds, but between moments." Their violet eyes flickered. "Time doesn’t move in a straight line here."  

A breeze stirred, carrying the scent of honey and damp earth. The flowers at their feet trembled, their petals unfolding wider as if in greeting. Rory crouched, brushing a fingertip over a bloom the color of fresh blood. It pulsed beneath her touch, its veins glowing faintly.  

She yanked her hand back. "They’re alive."  

Isolde’s laugh was a chime of silver bells. "Everything here is alive, Aurora Carter. Even the stones dream."  

The grove deepened around them, the trees parting to reveal a clearing where the amber light pooled like liquid gold. At its center stood a pool, its surface so still it might have been glass. But when Rory leaned closer, she saw shapes moving beneath—faces, landscapes, fragments of lives that weren’t hers.  

"Don’t," Isolde warned as Rory reached toward the water. "The pool shows what is, what was, and what may yet be. Not all truths are kind."  

Nyx tilted their head, their form flickering. "Someone’s coming."  

The undergrowth rustled. A figure emerged from between the trees—tall, clad in robes the color of ripe plums, their face obscured by a mask of gilded leaves. They moved with the deliberate grace of a predator, each step silent.  

Rory’s hand went to her blade. The metal sang against her palm, its cold biting deep.  

The masked figure halted at the pool’s edge. When they spoke, their voice was layered, as if multiple people spoke at once. "You trespass in the Grove of Echoes, mortals. And yet…" Their head tilted. "One of you is not quite mortal, are they?"  

Isolde stepped forward, her lavender eyes unreadable. "We seek passage. Only that."  

The figure laughed, the sound like dry leaves scraping stone. "Passage is never *only* anything." They extended a hand, palm up. "A trade, then. For the road ahead."  

Nyx’s shadows coiled tight. "What do you want?"  

The mask turned toward Rory. "A memory. One you won’t miss."  

The Heartstone burned suddenly against her skin. Rory’s fingers tightened around it. "No."  

The figure sighed. "Pity." They snapped their fingers.  

The grove shuddered. The trees bent like bows, their branches creaking. From the pool, the water surged upward, forming shapes—a man with hollow eyes, a door wreathed in flame, a knife slick with blood.  

Rory’s breath caught. Evan’s face flickered in the water, his smile sharp as broken glass.  

Isolde seized her arm. "Run."  

They bolted, the grove twisting around them, paths rearranging themselves like a living maze. The masked figure’s laughter chased them, echoing from every direction.  

Nyx dissolved into shadow, wrapping around Rory and Isolde like a cloak. "Hold on," they murmured, and the world lurched—  

—then stilled.  

They stood at the edge of the grove, the standing stones looming behind them. The Heartstone’s glow faded to a dull ember. Rory’s hands shook.  

Isolde exhaled, her silver hair tangled with leaves. "Next time," she said, "let’s not announce ourselves."  

Nyx solidified, their violet gaze lingering on the trees. "They knew we were coming."  

Rory touched the pendant again. It was cold now. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I think they’ve been waiting."  

The grove rustled, though there was no wind. Somewhere deep within its heart, something laughed.

Evaluation details

Result

Evaluator

Details

Meta Data

91.6667%

Adverbs in dialogue tags

Target: ≤10% dialogue tags with adverbs

totalTags

adverbTagCount

adverbTags

0	"she said quietly [quietly]"

76.1051%

AI-ism adverb frequency

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

wordCount

837

totalAiIsmAdverbs

found

adverb	"suddenly"
count	1

adverb	"tightly"
count	1

highlights

0	"suddenly"
1	"tightly"

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)

0.0000%

AI-ism word frequency

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

wordCount

837

totalAiIsms

found

word	"lurched"
count	1

word	"flickered"
count	2

word	"trembled"
count	1

word	"looming"
count	1

word	"silk"
count	1

word	"unreadable"
count	1

word	"weight"
count	1

word	"echoes"
count	1

word	"echoing"
count	1

word	"etched"
count	1

highlights

0	"lurched"
1	"flickered"
2	"trembled"
3	"looming"
4	"silk"
5	"unreadable"
6	"weight"
7	"echoes"
8	"echoing"
9	"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	67
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Filter word density

Target: ≤12% sentences with filter/hedge words

filterCount	0
hedgeCount	0
narrationSentences	67
filterMatches	(empty)
hedgeMatches	(empty)

100.0000%

Overuse of "that" (subordinate clause padding)

Target: ≤10% sentences with "that" clauses

thatCount	0
totalSentences	83
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Paragraph length variance

Target: CV ≥0.5 for paragraph word counts

totalParagraphs

mean

24.41

std

15.5

0.635

sampleLengths

0	55
1	51
2	14
3	42
4	54
5	17
6	37
7	34
8	47
9	7
10	18
11	52
12	26
13	9
14	39
15	16
16	44
17	12
18	28
19	8
20	11
21	13
22	8
23	34
24	15
25	5
26	24
27	20
28	2
29	25
30	16
31	14
32	18
33	15

100.0000%

Passive voice overuse

Target: ≤5% passive sentences

passiveCount

totalSentences

matches

0	"being watched"
1	"was layered"

100.0000%

Past progressive (was/were + -ing) overuse

Target: ≤10% past progressive verbs

pastProgressiveCount	0
totalVerbs	127
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Purple prose (modifier overload)

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

wordCount	689
adjectiveStacks	0
stackExamples	(empty)
adverbCount	21
adverbRatio	0.030478955007256895
lyAdverbCount	7
lyAdverbRatio	0.010159651669085631

100.0000%

Repeated phrase echo

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

totalSentences	83
echoCount	0
echoWords	(empty)

100.0000%

Sentence length variance

Target: CV ≥0.4 for sentence word counts

totalSentences

mean

std

6.25

0.625

sampleLengths

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

65.4618%

Sentence opener variety

Target: ≥60% unique sentence openers

consecutiveRepeats	4
diversityRatio	0.42168674698795183
totalSentences	83
uniqueOpeners	35

0.0000%

Dialogue tag variety (said vs. fancy)

Target: ≤30% fancy dialogue tags

totalTags

fancyCount

fancyTags

0	"Rory murmured, her voice swallowed by the grove’s unnatural quiet (murmur, swallow be)"
1	"they whispered, their voice carrying on the air like the brush of moth wings (whisper, carry on like)"
2	"Isolde said, not turning (say, does not turn)"
3	"Isolde warned as Rory reached toward the water (warn reach)"
4	"snapped (snap)"
5	"they murmured, and the world lurched (murmur, lurch)"
6	"she said quietly (say quietly)"

84.3079%