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Morning, 47th Brightening of Kalendryas, Winter, Era XIII (pf)
It had been a quiet night for Nyd. He hadn't had a dream that he remembered since the nightmare that had occupied his thoughts as of late. He was very sore after his exercises the previous day. He had found it rather difficult to keep mental focus and exercise at the same time and thus vowed to hold off on doing both at the same time until he was able to get a better hold on the mental aspect of meditation.
The morning found Nyd pretty much as any other morning. He awoke to the bustle of the caravans moving through the Markus District; the sound all too familiar after having spent a full cycle there. It was cold and the tent he called home was barely enough to keep the wind and moisture out. After getting dressed and taking a few bites from his travel rations, Nyd packed up his gear, took down his tent, and made his way into the city; his daily routine.
As he walked toward the gardens, his entire body ached. His lack of exercise and practice left him sore and in a foul mood. Realizing that he was going to have difficulty with his morning meditation, Nyd turned from the gardens and went for the public baths. Between the two locations, he had been able to better focus and progress through the beginning stages of his meditations. Arriving at the baths after a short, cold walk, Nyd entered the changing room and undressed. He grabbed a nearby towel and walked toward the steam rooms.
Nyd found an unoccupied steam room, hung his towel next to the door and entered. Stopping first to pour water on the hot stones, he made his way to one of the wooden benches to sit while thick steam filled the room. Folding his legs, tucking his feet inward and letting his arms hang at his sides with is hands resting on the bench, Nyd prepared to ender his meditation. He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath; the steam filling his lungs. He focused on his breaths, each one several seconds slow as he inhaled and just as slow when he exhaled. His foul mood and sore muscles made it more difficult to relax thus it took a bit longer to finally reach the point where he could clear his mind.
Instead of trying to remember and ponder the meaning of his dream or trying to focus his anger into something else, Nyd concentrated on completely clearing his mind of everything distracting; both positive and negative. The only thing he thought of was his breathing. For many moments he did this as the sweat poured freely and flowed in trails down his flesh. Slowly he began to feel more relaxed than he had ever felt before. His muscles loosened and each breath became more and more pleasant. Then, just as he was about to reach a state of complete calm and relaxation unlike anything he had felt before, he heard someone enter the room. His eyes flew open as he saw a couple men talking to each other as they opened the door and walked in. Nyd nodded at them as they entered and stood up. The men stopped talking as Nyd walked toward the door. They took a step to the side, still saying nothing to him as he left.
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