Deep in the mountains, nestled in a sheltered valley, there is a village that has maintained its old ways. Hidden away from the encroachment of modern society or the meddling of missionaries, this village continues to worship its old gods and practice its ancient rite of spring.
As the sun sets on the day of the spring equinox, a girl is making her way through the village, accompanied by several priestesses of the temple of Fainna, goddess of the harvest, of fertility and new life. Soon she will be the focus of the village's most sacred tradition: the Spring Tribute, said to be the secret to the valley's longstanding richness and fertility.
Aged nineteen, with long dark hair and delicate features, the flower of her youth is in full bloom. She wear a plain shift dress of drab beige and simple rope sandals, typical of the plain dress of the chosen maidens. She has been selected for her beauty, her devotion to Fainna, but most importantly, her purity. As with all other chosen maidens, she has never been corrupted by knowledge of carnal matters, never exchanged so much as a flirtatious glance with a village boy, and never experienced sexual touch, not even by her own hand. Since her selection she has lived in seclusion in her family home, sheltered from the temptations and corrupting influences of the outside world. But tonight, she will shed her carefully protected innocence as she fulfills her role as the temple's offering unto Fainna.
Now, as the sun continues to sink below the horizon, our little party reaches the edge of the village, and continues along the dirt track that winds its way up the mountain to the temple. Normally dark, tonight the path is lined with torches, flickering against the fading light. Excitement and apprehension swell simultaneously in the girl's chest as she starts up the narrow path. She knows nothing of what is to come, but her intuition engenders within her a certain foreboding. However, her steps neither slow nor waver, such is her determination to serve her village.
The temple of Fainna is a plain structure of simple wooden beams built on the mountainside, nestled among the scrubby trees and jagged rocks. Modest in size and scope, it consists of little more than the priestess quarters and a single main hall. The girl approaches this hall now. It is a rectangular room, open at the front, with a large, low altar located against the back wall, and several sizable ceremonial drums arranged in a semicircle. Incense smolders in holders throughout the room, while imposing braziers located outside the hall blaze with flame. Tonight, a metal tub has been placed before the altar, filled with steaming water.
More priestesses emerge from the wings of the main hall as the girl and her companions approach. They remove her clothes, exposing the soft curves of her body. She steps into the tub, where she is bathed by many pairs of hands. She has never been touched like this, and the unfamiliar sensations cause her heartbeat to quicken, but it is only a small taste of what is to come. The priestesses' hands are deft and light as they wash, dry and anoint her supple skin with perfumed oils. Her hair is combed smooth and a crown of flowers placed upon her head. She is dressed in a long flowing skirt of pure white, leaving her upper body bare and her soft, full breasts wholly exposed. Although it is spring, the winter chill lingers in the evening air, and she is grateful for the warmth of the braziers burning all around her.
A bronze cup is lifted to her lips, and she willingly swallows. It is ceremonial wine laced with a potent aphrodisiac, invaluable for inducing the mental state required for a successful offering. Finally, she is led outside to a small wooden platform located just before the main hall. At the rear of the platform is a vertical wooden beam, to which a sturdy brass ring has been affixed just above head height. Before the platform, the dirt path from the village forms a tidy loop before rejoining the path back down the mountain.
The girl is led by the priestesses onto this platform, where she is blindfolded and her hands bound with rope and secured to the brass ring above her head. Robbed of her sight, and so vulnerably exposed, the girl begins to tremble in nervous anticipation. Behind her, from the main hall, the steady beat of ceremonial drums begins to sound, signalling the start of the ceremony.
The girl knows some of what is about to happen. She has seen it enough times from the village. Slowly, in single file, the men of the village have begun to proceed up the mountain path. What she doesn't know, however, what she has never been allowed to witness, is what happens once they reach the temple, and her heart pounds as her mind races with possibilities. The chill evening air prickles her skin and causes her nipples to harden into stiff peaks.
After a seemingly interminable wait, the girl cries out in shock as a rough hand closes over her breast. The hand is shortly followed by a mouth, sucking greedily. She feels another man latch onto her other breast, licking and teasing her nipple with his tongue. The first man releases her breast and another immediately takes his place, nibbling at her tender flesh as if she were a ripe peach. Never before has she been touched this way, and this barrage of new, intense sensations causes small whimpers to escape her lips. Her head swims, and she wonders if the wine is taking effect. The ceremonial drums continue to beat.
She knows who these men are. They are her father's friends, her friends' sweethearts, the baker and his apprentice with the shy smile. The farmers, the merchants, the young, the old. But tonight she is not their friend, acquaintance or neighbor, merely a faceless,tribute offered up to Fainna, and they descend hungrily upon her, steadily stripping away her innocence with each lick and touch and suckle.
She clenches her teeth and tries her best to endure the sensory assault on her sensitive virgin body. She feels two mouths close simultaneously over her breasts, sucking strongly and steadily, and moans in response to the firm, rhythmic motion of the men's tongues against her delicate nipples. Although unfamiliar, the sensations trigger some dormant instinct deep inside her. She can feel an ache building deep within her core, and a growing wetness between her legs.
