Day 15, Fall of 511 AV
Close to Midnight
The Library, Stumble Alley
Close to Midnight
The Library, Stumble Alley
It was night time, and Eri found himself hidden in the dark corners of the library, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. He had arrived in the place since the third day of Fall, and decided to make this repository of knowledge his base of operations most of the time instead of camping it out in the tent city with the rest. The majority of the populace did not show any interest in this place which made it more or less quiet, with the exception of the librarian and a few regular members (unbeknownst to him, they were members of the Sunberth Vigilantes).
His constant appearance in the old building along with his considerate and helpful behaviour endeared him to the librarian, and this allowed him certain privileges such as not being harried by the woman as long as he made sure to tidy up after he was done. Books and knowledge was rare, and his upbringing in Sahova impressed upon him the importance of acquiring information. This made him quite the book-worm, for the ethaefal required little sleep compared to the rest of the mortal races, allowing him to have more time at night to devour the knowledge waiting in the numerous tomes aligned on the shelves.
Tonight, he had picked out a small but thick book on assessing landscapes in order to map out its geography. It was a journal-sized book and though he had not opened it, it lay in front of him as he proceeded with his frequent ritual to put himself in a suitable frame of mind for study.
The ethaefal slowly calmed his body, consciously slowing down his breathing. First focusing on his breathing, he slowly ignored other thoughts and sensations from the rest of his body bit by bit, his mind only on the sound of his slow and calm breathing and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Next, he directed his attention to his thoughts, for once the body was settled the mind was next.
Peeling away all other thoughts one by one, he endeavoured to keep his mind free and calm, and he imagined himself as an empty sponge. The frame of mind played a great deal in helping one to absorb new knowledge, and so he did not want unnecessary clutter in his mind. Like a multi-layered onion, he calmly and slowly peeled away the layers of thought firmly and methodically, steeling his focus so as not to re-introduce distracting thoughts as he proceeded.
He continued doing so until the only thought he had was of trying to peel away more thoughts, and he knew that his mind was almost empty. Next, he unhurriedly directed his thoughts to nothing in particular, recalling the intensive meditation sessions he had while learning Voiding in Zeltiva where he had to literally think and visualize nothing. He was trying to achieve a similar thing, for he often felt well-rested and at ease whenever he entered one of those trances, and he began to mentally look deep within himself, focusing on his image of what his soul would look like, or his astral body that resided within his physical shell.
His constant appearance in the old building along with his considerate and helpful behaviour endeared him to the librarian, and this allowed him certain privileges such as not being harried by the woman as long as he made sure to tidy up after he was done. Books and knowledge was rare, and his upbringing in Sahova impressed upon him the importance of acquiring information. This made him quite the book-worm, for the ethaefal required little sleep compared to the rest of the mortal races, allowing him to have more time at night to devour the knowledge waiting in the numerous tomes aligned on the shelves.
Tonight, he had picked out a small but thick book on assessing landscapes in order to map out its geography. It was a journal-sized book and though he had not opened it, it lay in front of him as he proceeded with his frequent ritual to put himself in a suitable frame of mind for study.
The ethaefal slowly calmed his body, consciously slowing down his breathing. First focusing on his breathing, he slowly ignored other thoughts and sensations from the rest of his body bit by bit, his mind only on the sound of his slow and calm breathing and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Next, he directed his attention to his thoughts, for once the body was settled the mind was next.
Peeling away all other thoughts one by one, he endeavoured to keep his mind free and calm, and he imagined himself as an empty sponge. The frame of mind played a great deal in helping one to absorb new knowledge, and so he did not want unnecessary clutter in his mind. Like a multi-layered onion, he calmly and slowly peeled away the layers of thought firmly and methodically, steeling his focus so as not to re-introduce distracting thoughts as he proceeded.
He continued doing so until the only thought he had was of trying to peel away more thoughts, and he knew that his mind was almost empty. Next, he unhurriedly directed his thoughts to nothing in particular, recalling the intensive meditation sessions he had while learning Voiding in Zeltiva where he had to literally think and visualize nothing. He was trying to achieve a similar thing, for he often felt well-rested and at ease whenever he entered one of those trances, and he began to mentally look deep within himself, focusing on his image of what his soul would look like, or his astral body that resided within his physical shell.