Prologue
In the depths of one of Skyrim's many dungeons, an Altmer mage was gathering his possessions in a great hurry. Several months ago he never imagined that he would be forced to run for his life from a bunch of armed thugs. Damn these Companions and their monster-chasing crusade!
However, the armed brutes that were rampaging in the upper levels of the delve and slaughtering his test subjects were not his main concern. Months ago a woman approached him and offered to work for her, promising both gold and magic insights unheard of before.
Now, as the warriors above were destroying all his work he had no illusions what the Mistress (as she introduced herself) would think of his excuses. He wasted a pile of gold and test subjects without any tangible results, and she was not of the forgiving type, that is for sure.
But he definitely was onto something! The last batch of trolls showed excellent reactions to the lifeforce-transferring enchantments. This research was too important to let it in the hands of this glowing tattooed bitch. He will raise more money and finish this work. The perspectives of this magicka source were astonishing!
The research logs and what remained of the gold were now in his bag. He will travel to Hammerfell and from there to Summerset. There are plenty of patrons of the magic arts in the high elf land.
While slipping into a secret passage he looked last time at the cave that was his home for the last months. Hopefully, the Companions will thrash this place to bits and Mistress will think him dead. A shame that no way any of the promising subjects can survive their assault.
The village of Dragon Bridge, a day later
A young woman is walking a forest trail, humming to herself. Her name is Lana and now is the time for her regular tour in the nearby forest. She enjoyed being away from all the housework and village folk, just alone with nature. It was no coincidence that she usually ventured on her walk during her fiancΓ©'s lunch break. He would find hot food on the table, the only thing he needed from her. Well, not actually the only one, she remembered with a grimace. But his other wishes were improper and would have to wait until they are married.
She never went too far from the village, afraid of wolves and other dangers. Lana followed a familiar trail, sometimes wandering away to gather berries or see what flowers this spring brought. Gardening flowers was her passion, and her house -- not, her fiancΓ©'s house -- was now looking much livelier both inside and outside, with all the beauty she managed to find and carefully re-plant.
The trail ended on the bank of the nearby creek, one of the inflows on the mighty Karth river. By the time she reached it, she had already gathered a basket full of early raspberries. That was where the scent wafted to her. Sweet and musky, but not exactly either of them. Lana walked to the edge of the bank to see a bunch of pinkish flowers on the other side of the creek.
"Is this a weird breed of dragonthorn? I haven't smelled anything like it in my life, that is for sure."
She tentatively stood on the edge of the bank for a minute, smelling more and more of the aroma, trying to determine what it actually felt like.
"Okay, I am not THAT far away from the village. The other side is not dangerous; I should go for it and see what these flowers are."
She left the basket and her boots on the ground and pulled her dress above her knees to cross the creek. After a couple of yikes caused by the cold water, she was standing right next to the mysterious flowers.
Lana took a deep breath and realized that they smelled exactly like dragonthorn. In fact, they look a lot like it too, although pinker than normal.
"Wait, if it is not the flowers then what..." Lana's thoughts were disrupted as an almost palpable wave of the scent washed over her. Suddenly nauseous she awkwardly stumbled backward, falling on her ample ass. As she tried to regain her wits, a loud thumping noise, as well as the crackling of branches, announced that she was not alone.
On the other side of the glade, a large body broke from the forest. The creature looked like a human, although a deformed one. Short legs and unproportionally long arms, as well as a three-eyed snout, clearly indicated a troll. As soon as the eyes locked on the woman, the creature started to limp toward her.
Lana's heart missed a few beats. She tried to jump from the ground, but her long skirt made it into an awkward half-roll. Having dealt with the skirt, Lana finally straightened and tried to dart away. However, the scent, which became almost suffocating, made her head spin. Lana rushed headlong into the dragonthorn shrub and fell again.
"No, no, no.... Help!" Lana cried weekly, already knowing that the chance of someone hearing her that far from the village was low. She almost managed to disentangle from the shrubbery when a strong grip snatched her from behind.
The creature lifted Lana, holding both of her arms in one massive paw. As she was hanging in front of the troll, Lana had the first good opportunity to look at her captor.
And it was not a charming sight. Hideous bloodied muzzle looked at her and exhaled, coating Lana in the concentrated scent. This close it was so sweet that it was bordering on sour. Speaking of blood, one of the creature's eyes was out and a long and bloody gash stretched from the empty socket across the skull. As Lana dropped her sight from the ugly picture, she noticed that the whole troll is covered in fresh wounds. An arrow was also sticking from its back.
Lana's head became more than a bit dizzy as she started to pray to all gods. If this was her final moment, she will not embarrass her ancestors, at least. The beast meanwhile poked its muzzle in her midsection, and then lifted the woman higher.
Lana's hands started to become numb when the troll cupped her lower half in its other arm. She felt its head poking in her lower abdomen this time.
"Is it trying to decide which the tastiest part to eat first is?" she was confused, and not only from the all-permeating scent. The troll's attitude didn't seem aggressive.
"Eeek!" she screamed when the beast tore her skirt and underwear in one swing.
"I didn't even notice when he grabbed my clothes! What in the Oblivion is he doing?" her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of something rough but slimy on her inner thigh. And again, on another one. And again, closer to her...