recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Bonfire Toffee

## Ability

### Ability

**Trot Out****(Play)** Your Warthog and Peccary Hog cards in hand gain +25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

What better way to celebrate Bonfire Night than by eating jaw-breaking candy? **Bonfire Toffee** is a centuries-old sugary treat that captures the crackling of burning wood, the cosy feeling of warming yourself by a fire in the winter and the unmistakable flavour of failed revolution when someone tries to blow up the houses of parliament but doesn’t succeed.

Okay, so that last one is a bit of a stretch – but the sticky snack is also known as Plot Toffee, because of Guy Fawkes’ plot to set the Parliament House ablaze with gunpowder. In Scotland, this brittle toffee is known as claggum, although some people just call it clack, which is easily confused with a less legal substance.

It's also known as Tom Trot in Yorkshire, which is the one we latched onto for this card's ability.
Blemmyae

## Ability

### Ability

**Don't Lose Your Head****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +19 Power. **(Return)** If you are losing the round, this card costs -3 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

Also known as the headless men, the **Blemmyae** were an African tribe native to Libya and Ethiopia. Their name translates to “chest eyes” because their faces were on their chests, doing away with the need for a head entirely!

First described 2,500 years ago in *The Histories*, written by the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus, the Blemmyae were so-called because of the Blemmy Kingdom that actually existed until roughly the 3rd Century AD.

Okay, so it’s unlikely that these headless men really existed – but in ancient times, Ethiopia was a far-away land, and all it took was one account and word to travel for these creatures to become a well-accepted legend. Sir Walter Raleigh even believed in the Blemmyae, although he failed to find any.
Anna's Eighty-Eight

## Did You Know?

Diaethria anna is also known Anna's Eighty-Eight for reasons which become obvious if you look closely at the image on the front of the card. This is the butterfly's underwing - it is a less striking brown color when viewed from above.

While we're here, the number 88 is also:
- the number of keys on a typical piano (36 black and 52 white)
- a way of saying 'bye bye' in Chinese text messages, and 'love and kisses' on amateur radio transmissions, and
- (most importantly) the speed a DeLorean needs to reach to travel in time (according to the Back to the Future movies).
Battle of Hastings (1066)

## Ability

### Ability

**False Retreat****(Draw)** This card **Lock**s this round and your Battle! cards, wherever they are, lose -50 Power this round. **(Play)** Your Battle! cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

If there’s one thing we all remember from school, it’s how King Harold II got an arrow in the eye during the **Battle of Hastings (1066)**. But could this 1,000-year-old story be fake news?!

Made in the 11th century, the Bayeux Tapestry is the clearest evidence we have of the arrow thing. However, the arrow shown in the tapestry was only added during 19th century repairs. Apparently, they unpicked a spear shaft, adjusted the angle and re-embroidered it to fit the legend.

In any case, the battle was a major turning point in British history. The victory of William the Conqueror changed the course of British culture, as French became the legal language of England for the next 300 years.
Bias

## Ability

### Ability

**Probity****(Play)** Your other Seven Sages of Ancient Greece cards in hand gain +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The Ancient Greek philosopher and historian Satyrus claims **Bias** was the wisest of all the Seven Sages of Greece. Legend has it that he paid a ransom for some women who were taken prisoner, took them in and educated them as his own daughters and then sent them back to Messina, their homeland, and to their fathers.

Bias died, as an old man, while pleading a cause for his client. After he finished speaking, he leaned back and rested his head on his grandson’s shoulder. The judges ruled in favour of Bias’ client, but when the trial was over, they found Bias had passed away doing what he loved the most – standing up for the rights of the people.
Calamity Jane

## Ability

### Ability

**I Can Do Without You****(Play)** If you have not played Wild Bill Hickok this game, your cards in hand lose -40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Separating fact from fiction when it comes to the life of Calamity Jane is an almost impossible task but why the let the truth get in the way of a good story right?!

A frontierswoman extraordinaire, Jane was born Martha Jane Canary in 1852. Sadly, her parents died young, so Jane was thrust prematurely into the seedy world of gambling and prostitution when she was only 15. The myths and legends about her life in Deadwood, South Dakota sometimes seem a little too wild to be true but the best stories are.

Martha took part in several military campaigns during the Indian Wars. During this time she was given the nickname ‘Calamity Jane’ after saving her Captain who was shot whilst trying to end an uprising of Indians. Martha/Jane saved him by catching him as he dramatically fell from his horse. Back at the fort, the Captain called her, ‘Calamity Jane…heroine of the Plains’

Some of the more gossipy of sources claim that Calamity Jane had passionate and grand affairs with some of the most famous and wanted outlaws of the west. One of the men she pursued was Wild Bill Hickok. In a tragic tale of unrequited love, Bill had zero interest in pursuing a relationship or otherwise with her. Heartbroken Martha carried a torch for him despite his rejection.

Literally putting a bullet into this non-love-story, Hickok was shot in the head during a poker game by Jack McCall, who despite not being charged for murder became Martha’s target as she became obsessed with vindicating the man she loved.
Blå Jungfrun

## Ability

### Ability

**The Witches Hideout****(Draw)** For each Horrible Halloween card in your deck, up to a maximum of 5, give your Weird World cards, wherever they are, +4 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Surrounded by the shimmering blue waves of the Baltic Sea between the mainland province of Småland and the island province of Öland is **Blå Jungfrun**, a beautiful Swedish island that you don’t want to get stranded on.

It’s enough that the island is uninhabited, but it’s also home to a Stone Age site where cave rituals may have been performed some 9,000 years ago. According to Swedish folklore, witches gather every Easter on the island to worship the devil himself.

Superstitious visitors of Blå Jungfrun have even left gloves, silk sashes and other items on the island’s shore as an act of appeasement to the Easter witches. If you don’t leave an item, at least be sure not to take a stone from the island unless you want to be cursed with bad luck.

'The labyrinth at the island of Blå Jungfrun, Sweden' by Mingusrude (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 3.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Brazilian Wandering Spider

## Ability

### Ability

**B-A-N-A-N-A-S****(Draw)** A random card in your hand costs -2 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

The **Brazilian Wandering Spider** is also known as the Banana Spider - recently, a British family's home had to be evacuated after one had smuggled itself across the ocean in a pack of bananas. A terrifying prospect for the family probably only used to seeing exotic spiders in zoos, but it probably seems like an overreaction to anyone who comes from a place where they're common.

Why is this described as a "Wandering" spider? Because it doesn't spin webs - it spends all its time on the forest floor, hunting and ambushing prey.

Make no mistake - this is among the most deadly creatures on the planet. Its bite can kill a human being, although it happens very rarely - they seldom encounter humans, living in the Amazon rainforest as they do, and when they do bite there's a low chance they want to expend the venom they need to kill.

You see, the **Brazilian Wandering Spider** has the ability to regulate its venom output. If it uses it all up, it becomes vulnerable to predators, so it's in its interest to conserve it and it will often give just enough to a human to warrant medical attention - and any human who thinks they can take more than that does so at their own risk.
Casa di Giulietta

## Ability

### Ability

**Light Through Yonder Window****(Play)** If you are losing the round, your cards, wherever they are, gain +12 Power for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

In this writer's opinion, Casa di Giulietta has a rather spurious claim to being the home of Juliet (of Romeo and Juliet fame). To give it some credit, it is a rather gorgeous 14th-century house in Verona, Italy complete with the relatively recent addition of a Juliet balcony.

The house was purchased by the Mayor of Verona in 1905 with a view to encouraging tourism in the city and he declared it Juliet's house because it was once owned by the Cappelletti family (Juliet's family were called the Capulets).

However, the main reason its claim to fame is specious is that Romeo and Juliet was, of course, made up by William Shakespeare between 1591 and 1596. But this hasn't stopped millions of people making the pilgrimage to the site.

P.S. There's also a rather distasteful tradition involving the on-site statue of 13-year-old Juliet, which you'll have to look up for yourselves.
Bullwhip

## Ability

### Ability

**Crack the Whip****(Play)** The card opposite this loses -20 Power permanently. **(Return)** Your Weapons of Choice cards, wherever they are, cost +1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

Wa-chuuuuuschhhh: that’s the sound of a **Bullwhip** creating a Sonic Boom as the noise travels faster than the speed of sound. That’s the reason for the loud whip ‘crack’, and it was the first item invented that broke the sound barrier. Despite the name, the bullwhip is rarely used to actually strike cattle - the point is the sound, which is used to drive the animals.

As for the origins of the bullwhip, the debate rages on. Some claim it began as a weapon in South America during the slave trade, while others think it arrived there from Spain. In the 20th century, the bullwhip craft was on life support, but made a stylish comeback thanks to Indiana Jones and Devo's "Whip It" video. Nowadays, <link="https:>whip cracking is a full-blown competitive sport.</link>
Carcharodontosaurus

## Ability

### Ability

**Jagged Edge****(Return)** If you lost the turn, your opponent loses -50 Power/Turn next turn.

## Did You Know?

You know how the T- Rex is seen as the biggest and scariest dinosaur to ever hunt and haunt the Earth? Well, what if we told you that there was an even bigger theropod that completely out-sized the T- Rex and had enormous shark-like teeth?! What if it had a mouthful of a name too? Apologies for the nightmares in advance - meet the **Carcharodontosaurus**.

This Cretaceous predator's fossils have been found in 100–90 million-year-old rocks in Patagonia, Argentina, and Morocco. Fossils have also been found in 115–110 million-year-old rocks from North America, where it was discovered that there's actually a whole family of these gargantuan beasts.

Question- "What could be worse than one Carcharodontosaurus?" How about a whole pack of them?!

Although cooperative hunting is difficult to prove in extinct animals, it is possible that Carcharodontosaurus hunted in terrifying mob-like groups. Their knife-like teeth with serrated and massively sharp edges could slice through the tough hide of very large dinosaurs.

And if it wasn't already a complete horror show- a bite from a Carcharodontosaurus would cause extensive bleeding and leave toxic bacteria in the wound. A pack may also have been able to attack by delivering slashing, toxic wounds which would weaken and eventually bring down even the largest sauropods.

The most astonishing thing about it is that hasn't been in a Jurassic Park/World movie... yet.
Canada Lynx

## Ability

### Ability

**Up Lynx****(Play)** Your Cool Cats cards, wherever they are, gain +22 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

We’d love to tell you the **Canada Lynx** comes from *Vancougar*  but let’s be honest – this elusive beast is clearly no city slicker. Instead, this Lynx prefers to stick to forested areas of Canada and North America.

While it may look like a slightly bigger version of your housecat, make no mistake – these predators aren’t interested in sleeping on your laptop or knocking things off your mantelpiece. Their hobbies include hunting hare, birds and even caribou. Nice scary kitty…
Black Widow Pulsar

## Ability

### Ability

**Stuck in the Middle****(Draw)** Your Bugs and Venomous Creatures cards, wherever they are, cost -1 Energy permanently.

## Did You Know?

Arachnophobes, chill – this space oddity has nothing to do with the deadly spider it gets its name from, except for the fact that their destructive behaviours are similar in nature. Discovered in 1988, the **Black Widow Pulsar** is a millisecond pulsar that spins over 600 times per second. As the pulsar spins, it emits powerful beams of radiation from the two hotspots on its surface.

The Black Widow Pulsar’s “mate” is a cool, lightweight brown dwarf star. Because the brown dwarf is so close to the black widow, it gets blasted by these intense beams of radiation that heat it to a temperature close to that of our sun’s surface. Unlike a spider, you can’t just remove this pulsar with the ol’ cup and card technique.
Beautiful Festival of the Valley

## Ability

### Ability

**Procession****(Play)** If your deck has 3 or more Riding the Waves! cards, your Ancient Egypt and Egyptian Mythology cards, wherever they are, gain +24 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

In Ancient Egypt, the **Beautiful Festival of the Valley** was *the* cool party. A celebration of the dead, the festival kicked off in Thebes with a grand procession led by Amun, the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire, in the form of a statue which was taken by priests down the Nile in a ceremonial boat.

The procession proceeded to the Temple of the Million Years of the King, where townspeople made offerings to the flotilla of boats. Just like every great party, this one had parades, dancing, drinking and flowers - and when the sun went down, people would sleep on the tombs of the dead as a way to bless them and bring them closer to god.
Buffing Collections: Space

An important element of deck building is to include cards that buff other cards in your deck, either decreasing their energy cost or increasing their power. The strongest buffs apply to all the eligible cards wherever they are in your deck. If there are several cards buffing the same collection (or album) then the cards in that collection can be very powerful.

This table does not include cards that just buff for a turn where the buff card is played or drawn. Instead, they must apply either to all the cards in the deck (wherever they are) or at least to the five cards in hand for multiple turns or until they are played. See the separate page of album buff cards and buffs for collections in other albums.
Black Dog

## Ability

### Ability

**Bad Omen****(Draw)** If you have played **Black Dog** this game, an opponent's random card in hand loses -100 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

They’re supposed to be man’s best friend, but this one in particular is not a Good Boy Who Needs Boops and Pats. A long associated symbol of the supernatural, the **Black Dog** is usually a death omen.

While the origins of this symbol are difficult to discern, you’ll find versions of the mythical creature across Greek, Norse and Celtic folklore. In most tales, the black dog is some form of guardian of the Underworld - with a few exceptions, like the Gurt Dog in Somerset who guides lost travellers onto the right path. Meanwhile in Devon, a ghost story tells of a squire who sold his soul to the devil and rides around Dartmoor with black dogs. This tale inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles.’
Blue-footed Booby

## Ability

### Ability

**Don't You Step On My Blue Webbed Toes****(Play)** Your Oceans and Seas cards in hand gain +5 Power for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

Yes, it's got "booby" in its name. I know, ha ha ha, ooh-err missus. Are we ready to learn?

What gives those feet that brilliant blue colour? They eat a lot of fresh fish, which gives them a pigment called carotenoid that is channelled into its feet - the vibrancy of the blue indicates healthiness, which males use to attract females.

Carotenoids are important antioxidants that help stimulate the immune system. Slight problem - they don't do that if they're in your feet. Blue-footed Boobies have evolved to eschew these health benefits in favour of attracting a mate - the things we do for love, eh?

## Trivia

* The quote "Don't You Step On My Blue Webbed Toes" is a play on "don't you step on my blue suede shoes", a lyric from *Blue Suede Shoes* by Carl Perkins in 1955 and by Elvis Presley in 1956.
Bors the Younger

## Ability

### Ability

**Youth on Your Side****(Draw)** Your The Holy Grail card, wherever it is, costs -3 Energy permanently and your Brilliant Human Body cards, wherever they are, cost -1 Energy permanently.

## Did You Know?

**Bors the Younger** didn’t live in the shadow of his father, Bors the Elder (the King of Gaunnes) for too long. After he and his brother Lionel were captured by King Arthur’s opponent, Claudas, the boys were rescued by the Lady of the Lake’s servants. The two became skilled knights – in fact, Bors the Younger went on to become one of the best Knights of the Round Table. He even slew 3 vicious dragons with a slash of his sword.

So, it made sense that Bors would join Galahad and Percival in the quest to witness the wonders of the Holy Grail. In Arthurian legend, Bors is synonymous with loyalty, often risking his life to save Arthur’s.
Brown Recluse

## Ability

### Ability

**Necrotic Venom****(Return)** If you lost the turn, Steal 2 Energy from your opponent.

## Did You Know?

In a Venomous Creatures collection we know you want the really terrifying stuff, but I'm afraid this one might disappoint.

The truth is the Brown Recluse has a much worse reputation than it deserves - only 10% of bites need any kind of medical attention. Of these, the worst cases result in a necrotizing ulcer that is painful, can grow as large as 10 inches (in exceptional cases) and may leave a deep scar. But if it is deadly (and no Brown Recluse deaths have been officially validated) then this would be in exceptional circumstances only.

However, the Brown Recluse gets the blame for a whole host of other conditions. Patients and doctors alike have misdiagnosed all of the following as a 'Brown Recluse bite': bacterial or fungal infections, chemical burns, herpes, various forms of dermatitis, squamous cell carcinoma, Lyme disease and diabetic ulcers. It's a wonder the spider hasn't sued for libel.

The Brown Recluse is most prevalent in Arkansas and Missouri, though you'll also find them in neighbouring states.
Battle of Englefield (870)

## Ability

### Ability

**Saxon Victory****(Draw)** For each Vicious Vikings card in your deck, up to a maximum of 5, your Vicious Vikings cards, wherever they are, gain +4 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Nothing says “Happy New Year!” like taking to the battlefield. Or at least, that’s what the West Saxons and the Vikings thought on 31 December 870. Now that’s not exactly how we’d want to spend Hogmanay but to each their own.

On 28 December, a Danish Viking army arrived in Reading, ready to try and take Wessex. The Vikings had already taken Northumbria and East Anglia and if you’ve ever played the Crusader Kings video game series, you know how silly it is to get greedy and try to claim more territories.

A few days later, a New Year’s Eve skirmish is what kicked off an bitter ongoing struggle between the West Saxons and the Danes. While the West Saxons won the initial Battle of Englefield, their victory was bittersweet because only a few days later, the Vikings had the upper hand and claimed victory for their own. The initial skirmish resulted in a year long series of battles between the two sides and is a good reminder why you should just opt to stay in on New Year’s Eve instead and enjoy the festivities from home!
Adolphe Sax

## Ability

### Ability

**Rough Start****(Draw)** Your Arts & Culture cards, wherever they are, lose -8 Power permanently. **(Return)** Your Instrumental and Musically Minded cards, wherever they are, gain +22 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

To cheat death once is impressive, but **Adolphe Sax** had so many brushes with the Grim Reaper that he earned himself the nickname “the little ghost.” The child of two instrument designers, Adolphe Sax almost died several times after drowning, falling down the stairs and contracting a bad case of the measles.

Amazingly, he survived - but death just kept knocking at his door. After completing his studies, Adolphe invented a new instrument that combined the properties of both woodwind and brass: the Saxophone.

After patenting the Saxophone in the 1840s, Sax faced fierce competition from rival instrument makers who bribed his staff, torched his workplace and tried to assassinate him. Against all odds, the little ghost lived to the grand old age of 80, dying of old age.
Blanet

## Ability

### Ability

**Orbit****(Play)** If played next to Black Hole, your Space Oddities cards, wherever they are, gain +24 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Could a habitable planet orbit a black hole? According to scientists, it’s possible - but it would make for a weird place to live. If you ever saw the movie Interstellar, you might already be familiar with the concept.

If not, here’s the general idea: instead of the sun, a **Blanet** (black hole planet) would orbit a black hole within a safe zone that some scientists say could harbour thousands of planets. Unlike a planet forming around a star, a blanet would have to form at a much greater distance - we’re talking 100 trillion kilometres away, at least.

As a result, blanets would have an extremely long orbital period, taking around one million years to complete an orbit around its host black hole.
Buff-Tip Moth

## Ability

### Ability

**Looking Buff****(Play)** Your Bodybuilding card in hand gains +25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

You know you love birch twigs when you evolve over time to look exactly like them. A master of disguise, the **Buff-Tip Moth** hides in plain sight from predatory birds and mammals. Not the most bold of outfits, sure - but one that helps it to stay alive.

They may be one of the most common moths of the British isles, but this camouflage means they’re easily missed. As an exclusively nocturnal species, you’ll rarely see the Buff-Tip Moth flapping its wood-patterned wings in direct sunlight - but if you’re a keen moth-gazer, you might spot one out on a night flight between May and July. The caterpillars are big, hairy and yellow with a black head, and they often gather in big groups.
British Shorthair

## Ability

### Ability

**Rule Britannia****(Play)** If your deck has 6 or more Arthurian Legends cards, this card gains +28 Power.

## Did You Know?

Are they polite, great at queuing, always commenting on the weather and sipping cups of tea? Probably not. However, the **British Shorthair** does have quiet intelligence and a calm personality. Plus, it featured in the first-ever cat show in 1871 at the Crystal Palace, London – it really doesn’t get more British than that.

But where did they come from? According to experts, this breed of feline is descended from cats imported to Rome from ancient Egypt. When the Romans invaded Great Britain in 43 CE, they took these cats with them.

Although they come in a huge range of colours, the most prominent is the British Blue who has a grey-blue coat, orange eyes and a medium-sized tail.
Black-Backed Jackal

## Ability

### Ability

**Old Dog New Tricks****(Play)** If played next to any Paleontology card, your Dogs cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and that’s particularly true for the **Black-Backed Jackal** which has stayed almost the same as it was back in the Pleistocene era (as much as 2.5 million years ago). This ancient jackal is found in eastern and southern Africa and you can recognise it by the thick black stripe down its back and its bushy black tail.

Black-Backed Jackals are monogamous and pair for life. In their little family groups, one of the jackals forgoes its own chance of mating and instead opts to ultimately become a babysitter for the pack, like a wolfy version of Steve from *Stranger Things*. This practice means that Black-Backed Jackal pups have the best survival rates of all jackal breeds.

While this all sounds super nice, they do have mortal enemies - the side-striped jackal. But, don’t worry, even though the Black-Backed Jackal is smaller than the side-striped, like a David and Goliath situation, the Black-Backed is known for driving the side-striped out of its territory with its tail tucked between its legs!
Borscht

## Ability

### Ability

**Beat Root****(Play)** Your Tremendous Trees and Plant Life cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

If you love the taste of fermented beetroot (who doesn’t?!), you’ll love **Borscht**: a hearty soup that uses beetroot to give it that distinctive red colour. While it is most commonly associated with the Ukraine, there’s no such thing as a ‘standard Borscht’, since there are so many variations on the recipe. In Russia, green Borscht is made with sorrel; in Poland, white Borscht is made from oatmeal. However, on appearance alone, the bright red Borscht just can’t be beet.

Beet? Get it? Ok, I’ll get my coat. While I'm doing that, here's a great recipe for it.

300g peeled and diced beetroot (you'll want gloves for this, trust us)
50g butter
Onion, diced
Carrot, diced
Celery, diced
Leek, diced
2 grains allspice
1/2 bay leaf
1.5l beef stock
2 peeled+ diced potatoes
1/2 small cabbage, shredded
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp cider
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Sour cream to serve

Melt the butter in a large pan, and soften the onion over a gentle heat for 5 minutes. Add the leek, carrot, celery, allspice, bay leaf and 3/4 of the beetroot and stir in well. Cook for ten minutes, and grate the rest of the beetroot while you're waiting.

Pour in the stock and potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage, garlic and grated beetroot, and cook for another 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Add the vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt to taste, and serve with sour cream.
Carbonari

## Ability

### Ability

**Secret Network****(Draw)** Your Secret Societies cards, wherever they are, gain +15 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The **Carbonari** (‘Charcoal Burners’) was not so much a secret society, as a whole network of secret societies. They were united by their liberal ideals, in opposition to the conservative regime established in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon. While they suffered many defeats, they were instrumental in the ‘Risorgimento’ (or ‘resurgence’) that led to the unification of Italy, with Rome as the capital, in 1871.

Famous alumni include everyone’s favourite scoundrel Lord Byron, and fast-rapping star of *Hamilton*, the Marquis de Lafayette.

The founder of the Carbonari - Gabriele Rossetti - eventually emigrated to England, where he fathered four over-achievers with Frances Polidori. These included **Dante Gabriel Rossetti** (founder of the Pre-Raphaelites) and **Christina Georgina Rossetti**, the poet who wrote the sublime *Goblin Market* as well as the meteorologically-suspect *In the Bleak Midwinter*.

Lastly - to answer the obvious question - yes, it is possible that Spaghetti Carbonara (the egg/cheese/pancetta dish) was named in tribute to the Carbonari. However, it’s more likely that the name was taken from a restaurant in Rome.

CRAFTING CLUE BELOW!

- Two cops and a drunk walk into cell...
Apollodorus

## Ability

### Ability

**Mercury's Spider****(Play)** If played next to Mercury, your Planetside cards, wherever they are, gain +18 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

It’s been nicknamed “The Spider” due to its arachnid-like shape, but you’ll need a cup and cardboard the size of a planet to catch **Apollodorus**. Located on Mercury, this 41-kilometre-wide impact crater features long grooved valleys radiating from the centre.

It sits in the region Pantheon Fossae; “Fossae” meaning “trenches”, which, in this case, resemble the inside of the dome in a Roman temple - hence the name. For that same reason, the name Apollodorus was given to the central crater, after the Pantheon’s architect.

Since the robotic spacecraft MESSENGER mapped Mercury in detail in 2008, this gigantic cosmic spider has been a head-scratcher for scientists. In fact, the debate about what exactly caused this distinctive pattern still rages on, with some astronomers arguing that it’s simply a matter of coincidence.
Blood Circulation

## Ability

### Ability

**You're So Vein****(Return)** If you lost the turn, this card gains +15 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

**Blood Circulation** - or, more grammatically accurately, the human circulatory system - carries oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to cells around the body, and removes carbon dioxide and other waste products which the liver, the kidneys, intestine etc then dispose of.

The circulatory system is made up of five types of blood vessels: arteries, that carry blood away from the heart; arterioles that extend from the arteries to the capillaries (which is where the exchange of chemicals and water takes place); venules, where deoxygenated blood is carried to veins; then on to the heart and pulmonary artery to be oxygenated in the lungs before returning to the heart where it starts its journey again.

Amazingly the system contains 95km of blood vessels (almost 60 miles!) which is enough to go around the earth more than twice.

To entirely paraphrase William Harvey, the pioneering scientist who first described the system in his work Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus,\* It's pretty neat!

* Latin for "An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Living Beings."
Blood

## Ability

### Ability

**Blood, Sweat and Tears****(Play)** If you have played Sweat and Tears this game, your opponent loses -75 Power/Turn this turn.

## Did You Know?

In the next one second, 4,000 stars will be formed, 16,000,000 litres of water will evaporate from the oceans and 3 sharks will be killed. All the while, your body will make 17 million red **Blood** cells.

Unlike other types of cells, red blood cells don’t contain a nucleus, mitochondria or ribosomes. That’s a good thing, because it leaves room for millions of haemoglobin molecules that transport oxygen to your organs. As well as red blood cells, your blood is made up of plasma, platelets and white blood cells. It also contains trace amounts of gold - about 0.2 milligrams, to be exact. Together, these elements make up the blood that keeps you alive - unlike those 3 sharks... RIP.
Bilby

## Ability

### Ability

**Why The Long Face?****(Play)** If you are losing the round, your Life on Land cards in hand gain +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Although they’re also known as ‘rabbit bandicoots’, you won’t find the **Bilby** bounding between cartoon platforms a video game. Instead, this marsupial calls the deserts of Australia home. Strangely, the Bilby benefits from bush fires in its habitat: the fast-growing plants that grow after a fire are one of its favourite snacks.

Although they are in the same order as bandicoots, Bilbies come from a family of their own known as the Thylacomyidae. What the Bilby lacks in eyesight, it makes up for with excellent hearing, which helps them to stay out of trouble. Like other marsupials, female bilbies have a pouch to protect their young – however, the Bilby’s pouch opens backwards, which helps to prevent soil from entering the pouch when they burrow underground.
Bride of Frankenstein

## Ability

### Ability

**Monster Marriage****(Play)** If played next to Frankenstein's Monster, your cards in hand gain +45 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

With a crack of lightning and a scream of “she’s alive”, the **Bride of Frankenstein** rose to popularity in James Whales’ 1935 follow-up to the Universal film, *Frankenstein*. While you might be thinking that naming a female version of a monster after her male counterpart is a bit sexist and derivative, the Bride smashes both the patriarchy and movie-goers’ expectations by immediately rejecting the monster she’s been (literally) made to love, as soon as she comes to life.

The image of actress Elsa Lanchester as the Bride of Frankenstein has permeated pop culture and you can see the impact her black and white frightwig has had. Whether that’s in Lily Munster’s white streaks or parodied in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The look is iconic and Elsa made it even cooler when you see pictures of her casually reapplying her lipstick in behind the scenes photos. The stitches, the wig, the bandages running up her arm…it’s a look that horror fans the world over have fallen in love with for nearly a hundred years.

Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s going to love you back. She’ll break your heart and take the whole castle down with you.
Blue Shark

## Ability

### Ability

**Full To Bursting****(Return)** This card costs +1 Energy and gains +20 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

The Blue Shark is extremely elegant and gets its name from its beautiful metallic blue back. This sleek, rarely spotted shark can grow up to 13 feet and lives deep in the ocean. Blue Sharks have a real wanderlust and are listed as having their habitats in the waters of over 150 countries.

Unfortunately, that's where the glamour ends. Because of how far and how quickly the Blue Shark travels they tend to feed a little over-enthusiastically, often regurgitating their meals and having to start from scratch. Carry some snacks next time guys.
Battle of Stirling Bridge

## Ability

### Ability

**Scottish Power****(Play)** If your deck has at least 1 other card with "Bridge" in the name, your cards in hand gain +12 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

If you’re picturing Mel Gibson covered in blue facepaint holding a claymore in the air and yelling victoriously, you’re right: the **Battle of Stirling Bridge** did feature in Braveheart. The main problem with this depiction? There’s no bridge. And that’s a pretty big thing to miss out, given that it was pivotal to the Scots’ victory over the combined English forces.

With the English and Scottish armies on opposite sides of the River Forth, the English had no choice but to cross a narrow bridge. So, the Scots let some of the English cross the bridge before attacking, separating their cavalry from the rest of their army on the other side of the river. Cut off and unable to retreat, 5,000 English soldiers were killed.
Brittle Stars

## Ability

### Ability

**Whip It****(Draw)** Five random cards in either players hand lose -6 Power until played. **(Draw)** If your deck has 4 or more Deep Ocean cards, all cards in your opponent's hand lose -6 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

In the upper deep-sea regions near the equator dwells an ancient creature who has been around for 500 million years. A common member of reef communities, **Brittle Stars** have been called the “garbage collectors of the sea” since their diet consists of mostly dead materials – but this amazing sea creature shared the planet with the dinosaurs.

Like all starfish, they don’t have a brain – but who needs a brain when one can simply \*exist\* with a central nervous system that works instinctively to feed and protect you? Ignorance is bliss, after all. And Brittle Stars have been living the good life for a very, very long time – which is impressive for what is effectively a trash-eating zombie.
Cassini

## Ability

### Ability

**Lost Around Saturn****(Draw)** This card loses -25 Power permanently and your Saturn card in hand gains +60 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Launched aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur on October 15, 1997, **Cassini** was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit. For over a decade, the Cassini spacecraft helped us Earthlings to map out the wonders of Saturn’s icy moons, revealing astounding jets of ice and gas blasting material into space from a liquid water ocean that could harbour the ingredients for life.

In total, Cassini travelled 7.9 billion km in space, completed 294 orbits of Saturn and took 453,048 images. But, after 20 years, Cassini finally ran out of fuel. To protect the moons of Saturn, the un-manned spacecraft made one final daring dive between the planet and its rings right into Saturn’s atmosphere, returning valuable data to the very end.
Calypso

## Ability

### Ability

**Detention****(Draw)** An opponent's random card in hand **Lock**s this turn. **(Return)** An opponent's random card in hand **Lock**s next turn.

## Did You Know?

According to Homer’s Odyssey, **Calypso** was a nymph who lived on the mythical island of Ogygia. When Odysseus washed up on the shores, Calypso took Odysseus prisoner and refused to let him leave for seven years. Despite the beauty of the island and his companion, Odysseus longed to leave. Even Calypso’s offer of immortality wasn’t enough to keep a good man down. At least, that’s the version he told his wife Penelope…
Carcinos

## Ability

### Ability

**Sending Aid****(Play)** If played between Lernaean Hydra and Hydra Constellation, give 6 random Crustaceans, 6 random Constellations and 6 random Reptiles cards, wherever they are, +26 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Are you ready for a crab battle? Because in Greek Mythology, the Hydra of Lerna brought a **Carcinos** to a knife fight when fighting the hero Heracles (or Hercules, to his pals). On Heracles’ second trial, he was only supposed to fight the hydra but it wound up a bit of a tag team situation.

Our mighty hero took a Carcinos claw to the foot and killed the crab for its efforts. Hera then took pity on the poor dead crab and in a parallel to the “Is it time to go” webcomic, she told Carcinos he’d been the best boy and rewarded the giant crustacean by sending it to the skies to become the constellation of Cancer.

So if your star sign is Cancer, you’re definitely Team Carcinos and we’re sure you’re known for being loyal to your hydra friends when they get into fights with heroes of myth and legend.
Bougainvillea

## Ability

### Ability

**Evergreen Climber****(Play)** If played between two Plant Life cards, this card gains +30 Power.

## Did You Know?

**Bougainvillea**, native to eastern South America, is a thorny genus of ornamental vines, bushes, and trees in the Nyctaginaceae family (AKA the ‘four o’ clock family’). As the name suggests, these papery pink wonders bloom as the sun sets, adding a touch of magic to any garden.

Looks aside, they’ve got a blooming good backstory. Philibert Commerçon, a botanist accompanying Admiral Bougainville on his circumnavigation voyage, was the first European to describe these plants. However, it's possible that Jeanne Baret, Commerçon's lover and assistant, also had a front-row seat to these colourful wonders.

Although she was also an expert in botany, Baret was not allowed on ship as a woman, so disguised herself as a man in order to make the journey and thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.
African Lion

## Ability

### Ability

**Everything the Light Touches****(Play)** Your Sunshine card in hand gains +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Drumroll please! Behold! The MANE event; the King of the Pridelands; the Messiah of the big cat world; The namesake of the Disney film that had us all sobbing into our popcorn - don't pretend you didnt; the **African Lion**!

African Lions are fierce and majestic but in reality spend a huge portion of their lives sleeping (16-20 hours a day to be precise). When they're not in the land of nod, African Lions spend a significant amount of time hunting for food. A female African Lion needs around 11 pounds of meat per day, whilst a male needs over 15 pounds.

Despite being known as the King of the Jungle, most Lions live in grasslands. Pride members keep track of one another by roaring LOUDLY; both males and females have a very powerful roar that can be heard up 5 miles (8km) away, and presumably that goes for the snoring too...
Blue-Ringed Octopus

## Ability

### Ability

**Villainous Pets****(Play)** Your Persian card, wherever it is, gains +30 Power permanently. **(Play)** If this card matches the Arena, your Oceans and Seas cards in hand gain +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

In terms of terror per square inch, the **Blue-Ringed Octopus** is the most horrifying creature on the planet. They are only about 8-10 inches from the tips of opposite tentacles, but they can deliver a shot of venom so potent that is can kill 26 humans within minutes. It's 1000 times stronger than cyanide!

It's fortunate then that they're not particularly aggressive - every case of human death caused by it was provoked, and the last of those was in the 1960s. So just do not mess with them at all, no matter how awesome they look!
C&TSRR Locomotive 484

## Ability

### Ability

**Rough Rider****(Play)** Your cards with "Snake" in the name, wherever they are, gain +18 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Welcome aboard **Locomotive 484**, the narrow gauge steam train that holds a place in both railway and cinema history. Its unforgettable appearance in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade showcased its star power, hauling a circus train complete with giraffes, a lion, a rhino, magicians, alligators, and of course, a car filled with snakes.

Movies aside, 484 represented the pinnacle of steam power, boasting a versatile wheel arrangement, a spacious firebox, and a stunning exterior. Affectionately known as the Northern, it made its debut on the Northern Pacific Railway in 1926, blazing speeds over 100 miles per hour.

While the era of steam trains was later overshadowed by electric and diesel locomotives, Locomotive 484 left its mark with memorable adventures. Remember, it’s not the years, honey, <link="https:>it’s the mileage.</link>

'Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad excursion train headed by locomotive 484' by Drew Jacksich (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Burj Khalifa

## Did You Know?

Currently the tallest building in the world at 2,722 feet tall, the Burj Khalifa took more than 110,000 tons of concrete and 55,000 tons of steel rebar to construct. Many of its 163 floors are residential, but there are also several dedicated to corporate space and hotel suites (as seen in whichever Mission: Impossible film it was where Tom Cruise climbs up the side of the building, I forget which one).
Billy the Kid

## Ability

### Ability

**Billy Idle****(Draw)** Gain +10 Power/Turn until this is returned to your deck.

## Did You Know?

As far as notorious and murderous ne'er-do-well's go, Henry McCarty AKA **Billy the Kid** has done pretty well for himself, posthumously speaking.

Immortalised in at least 22 movies, he ran amok in the latter half of the 19th century, starting with relatively minor crimes. But it wasn't long before he murdered blacksmith Francis P. "Windy" Cahill, whereupon he fled to join a group of cattle rustlers in New Mexico. After joining the Regulators (a deputized posse) **Billy** and 2 others were charged with killing 3 people including Sheriff William J. Brady and one of his deputies.

Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett - Pat Garrett to you and me - eventually captured the Kid. In April of 1881, **Billy** was tried and convicted of murder. Plans were made to hang him in May of that year - plans which **Billy**, understandably, was not totally on board with. He escaped from jail, killing 2 deputies in the process, and managed to evade capture for more than two months until Garrett shot him on July 14, 1881.

**Billy the Kid** killed at least 9 people but it was likely more as at this time deaths often went undocumented. Among the actors who have portrayed him in films are Paul Newman, Richard Gere and, er... Emilio Estevez.
Bitcoin

## Ability

### Ability

**Buy the Dip****(Start)** If you are winning the round, a random card in your hand gains +19 Power but if you are losing, it loses -11 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

At the time of writing this, one **Bitcoin** is worth 45,823.67 pounds sterling. Tomorrow, an unprecedented event could cause the cryptocurrency to lose all value.

Since its creation in 2009, this revolutionary coin and the technology it was developed on has proven that it is possible to have a digital currency that doesn’t rely on banks or governments.

The creator of Bitcoin goes by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. However, while several people have claimed to be Satoshi, the true identity has never been revealed. Some (admittedly not many) believe Satoshi is an alien who gifted Bitcoin to Earthlings as a means of advancing our society. Assuming that Satoshi is not an alien but a human, they would certainly be a billionaire given the price of BTC today.
Belsnickel

## Ability

### Ability

**Gift Bringer****(Draw)** If it's the third turn of a round, your cards in hand gain +25 Power until played. **(Play)** Your Festive Traditions cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

If a creepy dude dressed in furs carrying a bundle of <link="https:>birch switches</link> appears in your garden a week before Christmas, call the police. Because this is **Belsnickel** - a character from festive folklore hailing from the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany.

Since this guy is a blend of Krampus and Saint Nikolas, it’s hard to know what you’ll get. For the good kids, he brings sweet treats - but just one misstep could get you lashes, and Belsnickel has his own sadistic way of knowing. According to tradition, Belsnickel will rap on your window with a stick and you’ll either have to answer a question or sing him a song. In exchange, he’ll toss candies onto the floor. But if you grab them too quickly, you’ll get whipped.
Ace of Swords

## Ability

### Ability

**Potential for Power****(Play)** If played in the left slot, your cards in hand gain +25 Power until played and if played in the right slot, your opponent's cards in hand lose -25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Congratulations, brave warrior: you have defeated enemies, won battles and overcome hardships to get here. The **Ace of Swords** is symbolic of your feats; the upright sword represents the mind and the intellect, while the wreath at the tip reflects your victory. But don’t get too comfortable. See those jagged mountains in the background? They suggest that things are going to be a little rocky for some time to come, so stay strong and focus on your goal.

Just like all Sword cards in the Tarot, this one is double-edged. To quote one Uncle Ben, with <link="https:>great power</link> comes great responsibility. It’s up to you to wield your metaphorical sword for the right reasons (i.e. to help people, not to kill people / take over the world.)