Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith - Chapter 251: Meeting new people

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

Five hundred years after his death, Orion awakens in the aristocratic Reyes family—one of the five ruling houses of the Petrosyan Confederacy. With both his experience and trauma from another life, he must carve his own path in a world shaped by power, technology, and ruthless ambition.On a mission to Cerros-7, in the heart of a bustling market, a woman draped in tattered veils appears before him, her ember-like eyes burning with eerie intensity. With a grip as cold as death, she seizes his hand and whispers a prophecy that sends a chill down his spine:“The sky must fall for your star to rise,A veil of despair shrouds crimson skies.Through ash and ember, your brilliance softly flies,A light reborn where endless darkness lies.”As he navigates treacherous politics, genetic evolution, and a destiny far greater than himself, Orion must uncover the truth, before the prophecy becomes his undoing.Tags:[Reincarnation | Fantasy | Superpowers | Survival | System | Transmigration | Evolution]

They love gold, and they love silver. Even more so, they love gems that dazzle, like stars across the skies.
Firearms, jewelleries, and precious metals; A collector’s world will not be complete without antiques.
Storage auctions, old goods trade, re-estate sales and gold-digging. But the truth is, if one wants to make money, then the supreme way is through searching for the legendary treasures.
Holding the fort, there’s an ocelot, a wolf, and an Andes condor. At the side, there’s a loyal hound, an irascible ape, and an African honey badger. Who said that you can only rely on humans when treasure hunting?!