the step ladder — z-image-base

the same subjects at 16, 24, 32 and 40 steps — what the extra denoising buys, with the seconds that pay for it.

every render in this bench was painted on keel, the 96G VRAM workstation — provably: the bench harness renders only through keel's own queue, and every receipt's render-seconds are that queue's own execution timestamps.

every cell opens its own specimen sheet: the render full size, its prompt verbatim, and every setting behind it.

COASTAL · Sorrowmoor Cove — The First Run

painted storybook realism, soft brushwork, warm amber glow, gentle folk-tale wistfulness, a scene composition, unsigned, no text, no letters, no signature, no watermark. REGION VIGNETTE: the whole fleet hauled up nose-to-sea on the shingle before dawn, forty boats in a line, one berth mid-row left empty with its chocks still set. salt-light on wet stone, sea-fog greys, a gull-grey sky, rope and tar

source: region.sorrowmoor_cove art image “The First Run”, subject verbatim; terrain: coastal → art.place_style[coastal]. Composed as ArtService.attachRegionArt (ArtService.java:2064) → assembleArtPrompt(region_style, art_prompt_seed=absent, subject, “REGION VIGNETTE”, place_style). Source: ~/signalborne/backend-spring/src/main/resources/content/sorrowmoor-cove/campaign.yml at master tip (v0.875.1); style clauses from the `art` block (R2a / COPY-LIVING-COVE §A, style + region_style + location_style + item_style + place_style). Assembled by hand from the campaign source, not captured from a running engine. | REUSED by the phase-2 family builder — NOT re-rendered: this is the same render diffusion-bench-0823_steps_z-image-base shows, copied here with its own row (same model, prompt, size, seed and steps).

the step count	16 steps	24 steps	32 steps	40 steps
	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 16 steps · 768×768 · seed 1101 · 10.25s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 24 steps · 768×768 · seed 1101 · 5.80s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 32 steps · 768×768 · seed 1101 · 7.91s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 40 steps · 768×768 · seed 1101 · 9.61s

INLAND · The Fold — The Failing Dyke

painted storybook realism, soft brushwork, warm amber glow, gentle folk-tale wistfulness, a scene composition, unsigned, no text, no letters, no signature, no watermark. REGION VIGNETTE: a long turf dyke-bank under a grey sky, one dark seep weeping down its seaward face, a single worn path along the crest. hearth-smoke and wet earth, willow-green against flint, low cloud, cart-ruts

source: region.the_fold art image “The Failing Dyke”, subject verbatim; terrain: inland → art.place_style[inland]. Composed as ArtService.attachRegionArt (ArtService.java:2064) → assembleArtPrompt(region_style, art_prompt_seed=absent, subject, “REGION VIGNETTE”, place_style). Source: ~/signalborne/backend-spring/src/main/resources/content/sorrowmoor-cove/campaign.yml at master tip (v0.875.1); style clauses from the `art` block (R2a / COPY-LIVING-COVE §A, style + region_style + location_style + item_style + place_style). Assembled by hand from the campaign source, not captured from a running engine. | REUSED by the phase-2 family builder — NOT re-rendered: this is the same render diffusion-bench-0823_steps_z-image-base shows, copied here with its own row (same model, prompt, size, seed and steps).

the step count	16 steps	24 steps	32 steps	40 steps
	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 16 steps · 768×768 · seed 1105 · 4.08s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 24 steps · 768×768 · seed 1105 · 5.91s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 32 steps · 768×768 · seed 1105 · 7.94s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 40 steps · 768×768 · seed 1105 · 9.74s

FOE · the Drowned-Hand

painted storybook realism, soft brushwork, warm amber glow, gentle folk-tale wistfulness, unsigned, no text, no letters, no signature, no watermark. a swollen grey waterlogged hand and forearm reaching up through black water in a flooded sea-cave, skin split at the knuckles, a frayed oilskin cuff at the wrist

source: foe.drowned_hand art.prompt_seed from foes.yml, verbatim. Composed as ArtService.portraitAsk's foe authored-seed leg (ArtService.java:2256) → assembleArtPrompt(style, trailMask(subject, maskClause), null) with NO mask clause — an unmasked foe, which is byte-identical to assembleArtPrompt(style, subject, null). Source: ~/signalborne/backend-spring/src/main/resources/content/sorrowmoor-cove/campaign.yml at master tip (v0.875.1); style clauses from the `art` block (R2a / COPY-LIVING-COVE §A, style + region_style + location_style + item_style + place_style). | REUSED by the phase-2 family builder — NOT re-rendered: this is the same render diffusion-bench-0823_steps_z-image-base shows, copied here with its own row (same model, prompt, size, seed and steps).

the step count	16 steps	24 steps	32 steps	40 steps
	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 16 steps · 768×768 · seed 1301 · 4.11s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 24 steps · 768×768 · seed 1301 · 5.94s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 32 steps · 768×768 · seed 1301 · 7.88s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 40 steps · 768×768 · seed 1301 · 9.77s

AVATAR · the newcomer (axis roll A)

painted storybook realism, soft brushwork, warm amber glow, gentle folk-tale wistfulness, unsigned, no text, no letters, no signature, no watermark. close-up head-and-shoulders portrait of a wary newcomer to the cove, oilskin collar turned up against the fog, curious eyes. appearance: young, black hair, stocky, empty-handed

source: art.avatar_seed verbatim + one FROZEN roll of the authored art.avatar_axes (option 0 of each axis), so the avatar row is as fixed as every other. Composed as the avatar/pet door (ArtService.java:2315) → assembleArtPrompt(style, frame, appearance, “appearance”). Source: ~/signalborne/backend-spring/src/main/resources/content/sorrowmoor-cove/campaign.yml at master tip (v0.875.1); style clauses from the `art` block (R2a / COPY-LIVING-COVE §A, style + region_style + location_style + item_style + place_style). | REUSED by the phase-2 family builder — NOT re-rendered: this is the same render diffusion-bench-0823_steps_z-image-base shows, copied here with its own row (same model, prompt, size, seed and steps).

the step count	16 steps	24 steps	32 steps	40 steps
	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 16 steps · 768×768 · seed 1205 · 4.09s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 24 steps · 768×768 · seed 1205 · 5.91s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 32 steps · 768×768 · seed 1205 · 7.87s	z_image_bf16 · res_multistep/simple · 40 steps · 768×768 · seed 1205 · 9.73s

↓ receipts.json — every image on this page with its full provenance, machine-readable.