I agree that a 1500 character narrative isn't too bad. However, the real issue that the OP brought to light is the MSC advertised the shop as a NO Narrative shop when in reality there was a narrative required...no matter how small.
As ICs, we should all frown upon misleading advertising with these job postings. At the least this is a case of false advertising and at the worst could be a breach of contract. We accept jobs based on the information we are provided by the companies we contract with. If they are misleading us intentionally, how can we make good business decisions regarding jobs we accept?
Fortunately, most of the deceptions I have experienced have been contained to misleading email subject lines. But, there have been a few cases where the job was significantly different than advertised.
I wonder what would happen if the OP refused to write the narrative as it was outside the scope of work s/he agreed to initially?
"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."