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Morning, 44th Brightening of Kalendryas, Winter, Era XIII (pf)
Nyd awoke early in the morning and was more than ready to make another trip to the bathhouse. As was his normal routine, he packed up his tent and the rest of his gear and left the Markus District destined for the inner city. The last time he had visited the baths, he noted that there were steam rooms as well. The steam rooms he felt would give him the opportunity to further his practice at meditation in order to find that balance within.
The more he read from Gri'Tai's journal, the more he learned about the practice of meditation and how once adept at it, one could reach amazing levels of self-awareness and control. He also learned from his reading that breathing and posture were essential to the beginning stages of meditation. He had already practiced both but knew that he still needed much more to put the anger and rage of his blood in check. His efforts so far had proven quite successful although he knew that he just hadn't encountered the proper stimulus yet to set him off where he would potentially lose control.
At the bathhouse, Nyd moved through the changing room where he undressed and wrapped a towel around his waist. From there he made his way to the steam rooms. He particularly enjoyed the early mornings as the facilities were more or less empty with most patrons taking advantage of the baths in the evenings.
Arriving at one of the small, secluded steam rooms, Nyd opened the door and entered. He was greeted by a thick cloud of steam. Picking up a pail sitting just inside the door, Nyd walked over to the glowing hot stones. Pouring the water over the stones, Nyd stepped back as the steam increased. He tossed his towel to the side and went over to one of the few benches in the room. He sat down, his legs crossed, feet tucked inward, and breathed as deeply as he could, the steam allowing him to take in only so much.
Growing up in the icy peaks of the mountains left Nyd feeling rather taken aback by the steam at first but after a short time he found that he very much enjoyed it. Closing his eyes, Nyd leaned back against the wall. As he breathed, he found that the thick steam forced him to focus on his breathing even more. The heat seeped into every inch of his flesh and his muscles relaxed almost instantly. Sweat dripped slowly at first but after a short time feel freely from his greenish skin.
His breaths were slow, smooth, and timed. Nyd focused all of his thoughts on his breathing. After a while, he no longer had to think about his breathing as the rhythm came naturally. His eyes were lightly closed and his posture was steady and relaxed. He broke this state only a couple times to pour water on the stones.
Although he was able to stay in the steam room for nearly a candlemark, far longer than the average human could withstand, the heat started to take its toll on Nyd and he was no longer feeling relaxed. Finally he stood up and wrapped his now wet towel around him. When he stepped outside of the room, the moist air of the rest of the bathhouse washed over him. Although warm, it felt cool and refreshing after being in the steam room for so long. He made his way back to the changing room where he dressed and stepped back out into the cold streets of Nexus Prime.
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