recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Iseult

## Ability

### Ability

**Big Hug****(Return)** Your History of Heartbreak cards, wherever they are, gain +23 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

One of the greatest Arthurian legends of the 12th Century is the tragic tale of **Iseult**, an Irish princess who was the intended bride of King Mark of Cornwall. After drinking a love potion that was meant for her and Mark, she fell hopelessly in love with a knight: Sir Tristan. The two had a passionate affair and could not stay away from one another. So, as any wildly jealous King would Mark banished Tristan from Cornwall. When Iseult heard of Tristan’s death, she died of a broken heart.

Iseult’s name is not Irish but derived from the ancient British Adsiltia (she who is gazed on). Tristan and Iseult are second only to Lancelot and Guinevere as the great lovers of the Arthurian legends.
Klaus Fuchs

## Ability

### Ability

**Stealing Secrets****(Draw)** An opponent's random card in hand loses -10 Power permanently and your Energy cards in hand gain +30 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

What led a German physicist who fought the Nazis to hand over America’s nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union? After helping the US to develop the first nuclear weapons, **Klaus Fuchs** felt that sharing the secrets with the Soviets would prevent its misuse by one nation alone. To Fuchs, it was the right thing to do. Of course, it’s hard to see it that way when your nuclear scientist has just handed the enemy your secrets on a silver plate.
Homer

## Ability

### Ability

**Poetry in Motion****(Play)** Your Odysseus card in hand gains +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

**Homer** is something of a mystery. He's the presumed-blind author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are the central works of ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek kingdoms. Though there is still disagreement, most people reckon that his epics were written down around 750 B.C.E.

For centuries, people have been trying to discover who was behind these timeless tales. **Homer**, the name attached to the two poems, remains a mysterious and fascinating figure. Was he a man? Was he a woman? Or was he a group of poets? Did he have yellow skin and an affection for donuts? Basically, who the heck was he?!

All we know for sure is that his (her/their) poems have served as the foundation stones of European literature. They were studied as part of Greek education, and the legends within their work went on to influence Hellenistic culture, Roman culture, and far beyond. The mystery lives on…

CRAFTING CLUE BELOW!

- Untruthful, the astronomical Lyre...
Horace

## Ability

### Ability

**Poet of Antiquity****(Draw)** If your deck has 3 or more The Write Stuff cards, your History cards in hand gain +15 Power for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

Quintus Horacius Flaccus, or just **Horace** (presumably that's what his mates called him), was a poet during the times of Augustus in Rome.

Featuring hits such as *Satires*, *Epistles and **Odes**, his expansive collections of poetry served to thrust him into the limelight during his lifetime, later becoming a spokesman for the newly formed Roman Empire (formerly republic) based on his proficiency as a wordsmith.*

*Often preoccupied with death and the lack of exemption provided to any man throughout his work, Horace reached the same expected fate at 56 years old, bequeathing his property to then-emperor Augustus (as was expected of anybody close to him).*
Jet Car

## Ability

### Ability

**Propulsion****(Play)** Your cards adjacent to this gain +80 Power this turn. **(Return)** Lose -40 Power/Turn for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

After the second world war, Americans became absolutely obsessed with putting jet engines on things. Locomotives, submarines, aeroplanes, surfboards - you name it. If it could move, it could be powered by a jet engine - that was the logic. Today, it’s well accepted that the **Jet Car** is just too dangerous and gas-guzzling to be practical - but in the mid 20th century, it was a different story.

When British car company Rover launched the first usable road vehicle powered by a gas turbine engine in 1946, people lost their minds. Inspired by the Gloster Meteor fighter jet aircraft, Rover’s jet car exceeded speeds of 150mph. More modern jet dragsters such as Robert Albertson's "Blazing Angel" are capable of reaching over 300 miles per hour in a quarter of a mile.

'Blazing Angel Jet Dragster' by Gt diesel (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Kaprekar's Constant

## Did You Know?

You might need a pen and paper for this one.

1. Take a four-digit number that uses at least two different digits.
2. Arrange the digits in descending order and then in ascending order to get two four-digit numbers, adding leading zeros if necessary.
3. Subtract the smaller number from the bigger number.
4. Go back to step 2 and repeat.

```
Eventually you will end up at 6174, which is Kaprekar's Constant. And why is that helpful? Well, it isn't really. It's just kind of cool.

```
Ida Pfeiffer

## Ability

### Ability

**Wanderlust****(Play)** If your deck has 6 or more Exciting Exploration cards, this card gains +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

One of the first female explorers, Ida Pfeiffer was an Austrian globe-trotter who regaled countless readers with her discoveries and experiences through an extensive collection of travel books. Throughout her life, she journeyed to far-off continents on shoestring budgets, covering many miles and withstanding punishing conditions en route.

Between 1842 and her death in 1858, she organised two world tours that took her to Asia, Central Asia and Russia, Africa, North and South America – most of which she did alone. The more renowned she grew from her books, the further she was able to stretch her budget to cover greater distances. In all, Ida chalked up an impressive 240,000km by sea and about 32,000km by land.
Johannes Kepler

## Ability

### Ability

**Planetary Motion****(Play)** Your The Solar System cards, wherever they are, gain +13 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer.

He discovered that the planets in the solar system have oval-shaped orbits and was a key figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution. He is best known for his laws of planetary motion, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy.

Defying gravity, these works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

Kepler was one of the first to hear from Galileo about his work with the telescope and went on to invent the present-day form of the astronomical telescope. Kepler’s interest in optics led him to publish the first scientific study of light and lenses in 1611.

NASA honored Kepler by naming a mission after him. Launched on March 6 2009, the Kepler Mission involves a high-tech space telescope that is searching for other Earth-like planets.

One of Kepler's famous quotes was: “I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses,” something we perhaps can all live by…

'Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer.' by Unidentified Painter (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Jupiter

## Did You Know?

As planets in our solar system go, Jupiter is the big one - with over twice the mass of all the others combined. It is famous for its 'Red Spot' - which is actually a raging storm.

Now - imagine a storm. A huge, powerful, long-running storm.

Whatever you're imagining right now is nowhere near the magnitude of the Red Spot storm. It is the size of THREE EARTHS and has been going on for AT LEAST 350 years. That's a long time to be waiting under a bus shelter for things to settle down a bit.
Justin II

## Ability

### Ability

**Drown Out The Doubt****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card, and another random card in your hand, gains +15 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

A nephew of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, **Justin II** ascended to the throne in November 565. At first, Justin was a responsible leader, repaying overdue taxes and state debts. But as time went on, he became determined to destroy all enemies of the empire. As part of an alliance with Persian-controlled Armenia, Justin invaded Persia – and it didn’t really go to plan. In 573, the city of Dara fell to the Persians.

Not long after, Justin II started having fits of insanity that John of Ephesus described as the behaviour of a wild animal. At his request, Justin was wheeled around on a mobile throne and demanded that organ music was played all day and night. He even tried to bite anyone who came too close to him. Yikes.

'Justin II Roman Coin' by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Jiu Jitsu

## Ability

### Ability

**Grapple****(Draw)** An opponent's random card in hand loses -20 Power until played. **(Return)** An opponent's random card in hand **Lock**s next turn.

## Did You Know?

It can be a lot to grapple with (teehee) but **Jiu Jitsu** is a martial arts style which dates back to Japan in 1530. It’s a defensive style which usually involves no weapons and utilises non-violence in an attempt to grapple or pin your opponent into submission. It’s derived from the Japanese word jūjutsu, meaning yielding technique (or art).

It’s not about landing hard punches or knocking people out, but about understanding anatomy, using your opponent’s own momentum against them and understanding specific holds to incapacitate. Basically, it’s as much a skill of the mind as it is of the body.

Jiu Jitsu found its way to the West and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (which predominantly focuses on ground moves) has become particularly popular. Hollywood mumbler Tom Hardy - of *Mad Max* and *Venom* fame - is a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!
Juno

## Did You Know?

As NASA explained:
"The [Roman] god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife, the goddess Juno, was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature."

Juno - a space probe launched in 2011 - was designed to do just that - and will take measurements from the planet until 2021 when it will deliberately disintegrate in Jupiter's atmosphere.

In case you've ever wondered how far into our Universe a Lego minifigure has travelled... well, Juno has three of them on board: one of the goddess Juno, one of the god Jupiter, and one of Galileo Galilei.
Killifish

## Ability

### Ability

**Ragequit****(Return)** If you are losing the round, all remaining cards in both player's hands lose -15 Power next turn.

## Did You Know?

**Killifish** are quite the rule-breakers. There are 1270 species in all, including ones that:

- have the shortest lifespan of all vertebrates that can be bred in captivity;
- are capable of jumping out of the water by several times their own body length in order to catch prey;
- die off completely as a species once a year, leaving their entire population in egg form;
- breathe through their skin;
- can survive out of water for 66 days, waddling on their bellies to move;
- have embryos that stop growing during the dry season, and resume when rains return;
- can produce genetically identical clones by fertilising *itself*.

So they are basically the X-Men of the fish world. The only way they disappoint is that they aren’t particularly ‘Killy’ at all. No-one is sure where the name comes from, but it’s suspected to be from the Dutch word ‘kil’, meaning stream or riverbed.
Hi-Vis

## Ability

### Ability

**Safety First****(Draw)** Your Super Structures cards, wherever they are, gain +28 Power for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

**Hi-Vis** - that luminescent stuff that keeps people visible and safe in dangerous places - building sites, railways, roadsides, airport runways, out at sea. If you assumed that the first item of Hi-Vis clothing would be a vest or a jumpsuit for workers, you’d be wrong. It was a wedding dress. The inventor of Day-Glo paint, a magician in the 1930s, painted his wife’s wedding dress with the stuff and we sure hope he asked her first.

Fast forward 30 years to the 1960s and everyone realised that this technology, first invented by 2 magicians in the 1930s, might be useful for workers working in dangerous places. First trialled with workers on the railways in Glasgow, Scotland, it led to drivers reporting that workers in the Hi-Vis orange jumpsuits could be seen up to half a mile away. The trial was a success and was eventually rolled out to the whole of the UK.

If you’re curious as to how it works, the reflective coating on the clothing reflects UV light from the sun or other sources such as vehicle headlights, and means the wearer is more visible. On top of that, the colour of the material is also dependent on the environment it’s used in. While yellow is a common option, orange is used by lifeboat rescue teams because it contrasts better with the blue of the sea!
Ingenuity

## Ability

### Ability

**Remote Flight****(Return)** Gain +50 Power/Turn next turn and your Space cards, wherever they are, gain +13 Power next turn.

## Did You Know?

Is there life on Mars\*? Here to answer David Bowie’s unanswered question is **Ingenuity**, a small robotic solar helicopter operating on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. The little space helicopter who could made history with its flight on April 19 2021, which marked the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.

In a tribute to flight-based innovation of the past, Ingenuity carries a piece of fabric from the wing of the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Wright Brothers’ airplane, which was humanity’s first controlled powered heavier-than-air flight on Earth. Together with Nasa’s Perseverance Rover, the helicopter will investigate Jezero Crater, a region of Mars that was once a lake, and hunt for signs of life on the Red Planet.

* (aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhaaahhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrssssssssssss)
Jin Chan

## Ability

### Ability

**Good Omen****(Play)** If you are winning the round, this card gains +10 Power.

## Did You Know?

Did you see a three-legged golden toad during the full moon? You’re either tripping, or you have been visited by **Jin Chan**, a legendary, celestial and mythical creature that shines above any homes or businesses that are about to receive good news. The exact origin story of the Jin Chan is a little cloudy but is usually linked to the Doaist God Liu Hai, who ascended to heaven with the golden toad.

Today, it’s not so much the story of the Jin Chan but the symbolism of the frog that is celebrated. Many Chinese households have figurines of Jin Chan as they are said to bring good fortune, long life and great wealth.
Jet Stream

## Ability

### Ability

**Frontin'****(Play)** Your Forces of Nature cards gain +11 Power this turn and if it's the first turn of a round, they gain an additional+22 Power this turn

## Did You Know?

The **Jet Stream** is a core of strong, flowing winds that blow eastward at altitudes of around 8 - 15 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. These currents of air form where large differences in temperature exist in the atmosphere, and typically have a meandering shape.

The existence of jet streams was first discovered in the 1800s by American professor Elias Loomis, who proposed that a powerful air current blowing west to east across the United States could explain the behaviour of major storms in the country. But it wasn’t until World War II, when pilots flying between the UK and the US picked up on westerly tailwinds of 160 km/h, that we started to really understand what jet streams are and how they affect both weather and transport.

'200+ mph jet stream screams over Pacific Northwest' by Peter Stevens (Source: Flickr) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Ivan the Terrible

## Ability

### Ability

**Tsar Wars****(Play)** Your Unruly Rulers cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Ivan IV Vasilyevich is more commonly known as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome. He was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and reigned as the “Tsar of all the Russias” from 1547 until he died in 1584. It is widely reported that the Tsar got angry when he saw his daughter-in-law – the wife of his son, the Tsarevich, Elena - wearing 'immodest clothing'. He then physically attacked the pregnant Elena. When the Tsarevich heard of his father’s assault on his wife, he confronted his father who then struck him with a pointed sceptre and fatally wounded him. Moral of the story - make sure your in-laws approve of your outfit choices.
Julius Plücker

## Ability

### Ability

**Cathodic Investigation****(Draw)** A random Science and a random Arts & Culture card in your hand gains +14 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Julius Plücker, known to his homies as J.Plück\*, was a pioneer of modern physics. If not for the studies of this German mathematician and physicist on cathode rays, we may never have discovered electrons.

In 1858, J.Plück tried an experiment in which he embedded metal plates into either end of an evacuated glass tube before placing a high voltage across the plates. Perhaps, Plücker had thought, electricity is some kind of fluid, and he hoped to force out this fluid through this experiment.

That’s not what happened, but the tube did glow an eerie green, and Plücker found that the green light pattern could be shifted with a magnet. In fact, Plücker was sending electrons through space between the two metal plates. Tubular!

* no evidence for said nickname has been found
Ionic Column

## Ability

### Ability

**Isn't It Ionic?****(Return)** Your Ancient Greece cards, wherever they are, gain +10 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The iconic **Ionic Column** is one of the most recognisable pieces of classical architecture. The style can still be seen in architecture today, at the entrances of buildings like the US Capitol and the British Museum. The spiral adornments at the top are called "volutes", which comes from the Latin word "voluta", meaning "scroll".

CRAFTING CLUE BELOW!

- Feline reverential.

Oh, and congratulations on taking the hint! Click through for a surprise...
Kamaitachi

## Ability

### Ability

**Sickle Nails****(Play)** Your opponent's cards in hand lose -10 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

It has spines like a hedgehog, a cry like a dog and limbs like a sickle: the Kamaitachi is a Japanese yokai you don’t want to meet. Instead of a bus, train or bike, **Kamaitachi** travels by whirlwind, moving fast enough to be rendered functionally invisible to the human eye.

Also known as sickle weasels, Kamaitachi attack in groups of three. The first one will go for your legs, causing you to fall. The second one will rip out chunks of your flesh with its claws before sucking out the blood. Finally, the third Kamaitachi will heal you with a magical salve that keeps you alive and pain-free. All of this happens in a fraction of a second, leaving you confused, disoriented and with scars you can’t explain.
Horsfield's Tortoise

## Ability

### Ability

**Four-Claw****(Draw)** If your deck has exactly 4 Reptiles cards, your Reptiles cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Who were the first living creatures to fly to the Moon? If you said the guys from the Apollo 11 mission, you’re wrong. Because that honor belongs solely to the brave two tortoises who were sent to circumnavigate the Moon in Russia’s Zond 5 spacecraft in 1968.

In case you wondered, they were **Horsefield’s Tortoises**, a species native to Central Asia including the Russian Steppes, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Iran and some parts of China. They aren’t very large in size, measuring 5-10 inches on average, but they boast impressive lifespans of around 60 years.

They can also survive extreme temperatures - but don’t worry, that theory wasn’t tested in space. Thankfully, the two brave tortoises survived the journey and returned to Earth in good health.
Jinmenju

## Ability

### Ability

**Barrage!****(Play)** Three random cards with "Egg" in the name, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

They say nature speaks to those who listen… in the case of **Jinmenju**, (coincidentally the inspiration behind the Exeggutor Pokemon - no real eggs involved) there’s no talking - just incessant laughing. Said to be found in the mountain valleys of southern Japan, Jinmenju is a tree with fruit that looks like human heads.

Although the legend has its roots in Chinese folklore, Jinmenju was passed onto Japan where it was considered to be a ‘yokai’ (a supernatural entity). The story goes that if the fruit laughs too heartily, it falls from the tree (literally <link="https:>ROFL</link>).

Jinmenju ripen in the fall, and have a sweet but sour taste. However, as hungry as you may be, the human features might put you off. If you are going to take a bite, we recommend drying the fruit, as this is said to cease the laughter.
Jolly Roger

## Ability

### Ability

**Pirates Ahoy****(Draw)** Your Plundering Pirates cards in hand cost -2 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

Whilst there wasn't much to be jolly about in the life of a pirate, apart from all the rum and potential loot, and seemingly no famous pirate Captains going by the name Roger, the **Jolly Roger** has become one of the most romanticized and famous terms of the pirate era.

The **Jolly Roger** flag is mostly known today as the human skull above two crossbones, but this was only used by a few pirates in the early 1700s, alongside many other designs. However, the skull and crossbones was used by the infamous **Blackbeard**, and so its notoriety has lasted.

These flags were used during raids and battles to showcase to their enemy, and probably their mothers, that they were in fact pirates - and about to attack.
Josephine Baker

## Ability

### Ability

**Singer, Dancer, Activist, Spy****(Return)** Your Shake Up The System cards, wherever they are, cost -2 Energy for 4 turns.

## Did You Know?

Born in Missouri in 1906, **Josephine Baker** became an overnight sensation after she performed her exotic style of dance in a vaudeville show in Paris. Back in the US, Josephine wasn’t allowed to perform to mixed audiences due to racial segregation. She quickly found a different life in France and went on to make a name for herself as one of the greatest entertainment stars of the 20th century - but Josephine Baker didn’t stop there.

When war broke out in Europe, Baker went on to become a spy for the French Resistance, using her fame to gather intelligence and carry sensitive documents to neutral countries and allied occupied areas. After the war, Baker adopted orphans from around the world whom she called her “Rainbow Tribe.”
Kakapo

## Ability

### Ability

**Party Parrot****(Draw)** 3 of your random Birds cards, wherever they are, gain +18 Power for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

Life’s tough for the **Kakapo**: at 3.3 kilograms, it's too heavy and short-winged to fly. Nevertheless, it perseveres, climbing trees to reach its favourite food: the seeds of the Rimu tree. Native to New Zealand, this tree provides a tasty snack and reproductive fuel for the Kakapo.

Of course, relying on a species of tree for breeding isn’t a great strategy. Since it only produces a bumper crop every two to three years, the Kakapo population is prone to fluctuations. It doesn’t help that predators like stoats were introduced to their habitat, given that they can’t fly away from danger. Still, if it does survive, the Kakapo can go on to live for a long time - we’re talking up to 100 years!
Jellyfish Nebula

## Ability

### Ability

**Throw a Wobbly****(Return)** If you lost the turn, your opponent loses -20 Power/Turn next turn

## Did You Know?

Like nearly every other nebula featured in CUE Cards, the Jellyfish Nebula has a really cool name. It also takes a high degree of imagination to think it looks that much like a Jellyfish. In this writer's opinion, it looks more like a brightly coloured Darth Vader helmet.

IC 443 is, in fact, the remnants of a supernova (powerful and bright stellar explosion) that took place between 3,000 - 30,000 years ago. Day trips and weekend getaways are out of the question as it's around 45,000 trillion kilometres away from Earth.
Janus

## Ability

### Ability

**Beginning and End****(Draw)** If it's the first turn of a round, your The Roman Empire cards in hand gain +25 Power this turn and if it's the last turn of a round, your The Roman Empire cards in hand cost -1 Energy permanently.

## Did You Know?

**Janus** was a distinctively Roman god with no parallel in ancient Greek culture, acting as a supervisor to all things beginning and end. This included, but was not limited to, war and peace, passages, doorways and duality, hence his depiction as the man of two faces.

He was so closely related to the idea of change and the transition of times and states, that the Romans, in all of their creative naming might, decided to name the month of January in his honour. Quite the CV!
Jewel Wasp

## Ability

### Ability

**Enthrall Roach****(Play)** Your Cockroach card in hand gains +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Ready for another game of ‘How strong is your stomach?’

The **Jewel Wasp** is a pretty cool-looking, small wasp that lives in the tropics and doesn’t cause much trouble to humans. But OMG you do *not* want to be a cockroach around these things.

Quite how this set-up evolved is beyond me… but the Jewel Wasp attacks its victim from the air, with a venom that quickly paralyzes the cockroach *so that* the *next* sting can be targeted more accurately - into a specific region of the cockroach’s brain.

The effect of this second sting is (literally) mind-blowing. The cockroach obsessively grooms itself for about 30 minutes, after which time it is unable to flee *despite being perfectly capable of movement*. The wasp then breaks off one of its antennae and uses it to lead the cockroach to a burrow, where she lays an egg on the roach’s leg.

The last effect of the venom now kicks in, which is to slow down the roach’s metabolism so that, when the wasp larva hatches, it is able to eat the still-living cockroach. Mmm… fresh.
Irrawaddy Dolphin

## Ability

### Ability

**River Guardian****(Play)** Your Raging Rivers cards, wherever they are, gain +6 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

In Laos and Cambodia, **Irrawaddy Dolphins** are commonly believed to be reincarnations of ancestors - and as such have been credited with saving villagers from drowning and crocodile attacks.

While the dolphins are now officially protected in both countries, this was only after populations reduced significantly in the 1970s - as they were slaughtered for oil, or killed as a by-product of fishing with explosives. So much for respecting ancestors.

Sadly, only 92 Irrawaddy Dolphins are now thought to live in the Mekong River. And if you can put an exact number on it, that’s never a good sign.
Knight of Wands

## Did You Know?

When the **Knight of Wands** appears in a Tarot reading, take it as your cue to pack up and get ready for an adventure. Just don’t forget to pay the fortune teller before you leave - they don’t sit around giving Tarot readings for nothing, you know.

When this card appears upright, it means you’re charged up and feeling full of life. Whether you’re about to travel, move house or take on a new job, the Knight of Wands is telling you to strike while you’ve got the energy and enthusiasm. If it’s accompanied by the Eight of Wands, then you should expect a lot of changes in your life.

If you’re afraid of change, stay in your house, switch your phone off and don’t answer the door.
Japanese Snow Monkey

## Ability

### Ability

**Hot Springs Eternal****(Play)** Your Geothermal Energy card in hand gains +35 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

**Japanese Snow Monkeys** can be found in the mountains of Japan. Their thick fur allows them to deal with temperatures as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit (the fact that they look like they're wearing Parkas is a happy accident of evolution). They do love a dip in a hot spring though!

They are considered one of the most intelligent species of monkey, in part due to their ability to form unique cultures. One female was observed washing her sweet potatoes in water before she ate them, and the behaviour filtered down through her family - years after her death, the group continued to wash its food. Mother knows best.

They also have a distinct class system - their social status is decided at birth, where they take on the status of their family. An alpha male and female sit at the top, usually appointed by seniority, and others climb up the ladder when their positions become available or others above them die out. Shows of strength or contribution to the troop also help.
Identity Theft

## Ability

### Ability

**Big Fraud****(Play)** For every Legendary card in your opponent's deck, up to a maximum of 10, your cards in hand gain +4 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

There’s nothing scarier than seeing a charge on your bank statement that you don’t recognise. Did you go onto Amazon after a couple of wines on Friday night or are you the victim of **Identity Theft?**

Identity Theft covers the use of someone’s personal details - this could be your bank details, your passport, or anything else that is unique to you - for nefarious purposes. This could be using your credit card to buy things or using your passport to open accounts or even pretending to be you in order to gain access to somewhere (even online). While it’s easy to imagine Identity Theft as something that could never happen to you, it’s more common than you think and almost a third of all Americans have been a victim of identity theft at some point.

So how do you stay safe? Keep your passwords secret, change them if you’ve been part of a data breach on any websites you use and don’t reply to weird emails or give personal information to cold callers!
Hercules

## Ability

### Ability

**Greece Lightning****(Play)** All Ancient Greece cards in both player's hands gain +15 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The Hercules Constellation contains 12 stars - one for each of the 12 labors that the eponymous Greek Hero was tasked with.

We tend to think of heroes who got their own Disney movie as having a 'Happily Ever After' kind of life. Well, that's not the case with Hercules.

For reasons totally beyond his control, he was despised by Zeus' wife Hera, who made him go crazy and kill his own wife and children. And then while he was trying to atone for that with the 12 labors, she kept distracting him so that he would fail.

But it's ok! Hercules survived all of that, and eventually found happiness with another wife.

Aww.

And then his wife killed him by accident.

Still, at least after all that Hercules got his own constellation - the fifth largest in the night sky.
Hermippus Redivivus

## Ability

### Ability

**Vigour of Man****(Draw)** Your Brilliant Human Body cards in hand cost -1 Energy for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

We know all good things must end, death is part of life etc etc. But that doesn’t mean we’re happy about it. And if there was a way to prolong our lives, most of us would at least be curious to know how… right?

That was the thinking behind **Hermippus redivivus**, a treatise penned by 18th-century physician Johann Heinrich Cohausen. Within his works, Cohausen claimed that life could actually be extended by taking an elixir. Great! So, where do we get a hold of the elixir? Simple: just bottle up the breath of young women.

It’s hard to imagine, but many people actually believed this complete con - even though Cohausen actually admitted in the last few pages that the treatise was satire.
International Orange

## Ability

### Ability

**Aerospace Engineering****(Return)** Your Amazing Astronauts and Super Structures cards, wherever they are, gain +18 Power and cost -1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

It’s bright, deep and could be seen from space. And that’s no accident: in fact, **International Orange** was deliberately created to be eye-popping for practical reasons.

Notice the colour of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the way it juts out in contrast to the blue sky in the background. You’d have to be a really poor-sighted bird to bump into that. In fact, the paint used on said bridge also protects the structure from rust from salt spray off the sea, and from the fog that rolls in from the Pacific ocean.

Meanwhile, the military and aerospace industry have frequently adopted international orange to make planes and personnel distinct from their surroundings - hence why NASA astronauts are often seen in orange pressure suits.
Immunotherapy

## Ability

### Ability

**Strengthen Immunity****(Return)** This card loses -6 Power permanently and gain +6 Power/Turn permanently.

## Did You Know?

**Immunotherapy** is a form of cancer treatment that teaches the body’s immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Once the immune system knows what they look like, it can target and eliminate cancer cells if they return in the future.

Delivered in many forms including anti-bodies, vaccines and adoptive cell transfer, this approach is a smart way to treat cancer, since it can exclusively target cancer cells and spare the healthy ones.
Jaguarundi

## Ability

### Ability

**Land On Your Feet****(Play)** If you are losing the round, or if it's the first turn of a round, this card gains +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

These funny looking critters arguably look more like a member of the weasel family than a cat. With sleek long-bodies, flattened heads and short legs and with a tail that would look more at home on an otter.

They live across Central and South America as far south as Argentina, hunting by day and feeding on a varied diet including fish, small reptiles, opossums and even arthropods.

Around twice as large as the domestic cat, the **Jaguarundi** has two distinct colour morphs; dark brown and red with litters often containing a mixture.
Icelandic Yule Cat

## Did You Know?

In the regrettably immortal song *Last Christmas*, George Michael uses the lyric *'Once bitten and twice shy'.*

We may never know what George was thinking when he wrote that, but I like to think he was reflecting on the **Icelandic Yule Cat** - essentially an oversized tabby that preys on Icelanders who don't wear their woollies.

That's right, while many lucky children across the globe look upon the season as a joyful time, with the expectation of gifts and maybe a plump goose thigh to gnaw on, the children of Iceland live in fear of a giant cat, that eats the lazy, badly behaved and most importantly, those who don't wrap up warm.

To ensure that friends and family remain safe from random cat attacks, Icelanders make sure they gift warm clothes to one another at Christmas.
Jacqueline Cochran

## Ability

### Ability

**Breaking Barriers****(Play)** If it's the first turn of a round and if your deck contains Sonic Boom, your Dizzying Discoveries cards, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

When **Jacqueline Cochran** slid into the cockpit of a F-86 Sabre Mk on 18 May 1953, she had one goal in mind: hold the plane in a banked position of 30 degrees for a 63-mile circular flight and beat Colonel Ascani's mark of 1,023.04 km/h. Reader, she didn’t just beat Ascani's record by 27 km/h - Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier.

If that don’t impress you much, get this: Cochran was also the first woman to land and take off from an aircraft carrier, the first woman to pilot a bomber across the North Atlantic and the first woman to make a blind landing. To this day, Cochran still holds more distance and speed records than any pilot.
Jaguar

## Did You Know?

The Jaguar is the third-largest cat in the world, local to the Americas.

They're known for their incredibly powerful jaws, which are strong enough to pierce a skull! If only the Jacksonville Jaguars could show that much bite in December...

Watch your back as well as your skull, because Jaguars like to climb trees - not to admire the sprawling view below, but to allow them to pounce on wandering prey. RUN!
Henry II, Count of Champagne

## Ability

### Ability

**A Fatal Trip****(Draw)** All cards in both player's hands with 3 or less Base Energy cost +2 Energy this turn. **(Return)** For every card in your opponent's deck with 3 or less Base Energy , your opponent's remaining cards in hand lose -2 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

* Record scratch\*

Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here. See, just a matter of minutes before, I was living my best life. It was September 1197 and I, **Henry II, Count of Champagne**, had just been crowned the king of Jerusalem after the previous monarch was murdered. I’d also picked up a gorgeous wife in the process (Queen Isabella, the dead monarch’s widow - sorry not sorry.)

One day, we’re just chilling in my castle. I was watching this parade from the window when my servant, a dwarf called Scarlet, came in. I turned to greet him, but the lattice on the window gave way and I fell back. Scarlet did try to save me, but unfortunately got pulled down by gravity… and we both fell out the window and died.
Hyperion Proto-Supercluster

## Ability

### Ability

**Solar Mass****(Return)** For every Space card in your deck, this card gains +5 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Picture this: it's the early Universe, just 2.3 billion years after the Big Bang, and galaxies are starting to assemble from immense gas clouds. Fast forward a few years to 2018: a team of scientists stumble upon the largest and earliest known proto-supercluster.

Dubbed Hyperion, this colossal structure boasts a mass 5,000 times that of the Milky Way and more than one million billion times that of the Sun. Sure, this mass is similar to that of the largest structures observed in the Universe today, but astronomers were surprised to find such a massive object in the early formation of the Universe.

Located in the constellation of Sextans, **Hyperion Proto-Supercluster** was found to contain at least 7 high-density regions connected by filaments of galaxies.

'An international team of astronomers using the VIMOS instrument of ESO’s Very Large Telescope have uncovered a colossal structure in the early Universe. ' by ESO/L. Calçada & Olga Cucciati et al. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Hooded Pitohui

## Ability

### Ability

**Under the Hood****(Play)** Your Life on Land cards in hand lose -30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

In 1990, scientists were preparing samples of the Hooded Pitohui for a museum when they started to experience numbness and burning. They thus discovered something that natives of New Guinea had been aware of for some time - that the Hooded Pitohui contains a neurotoxin. This made the species the first documented poisonous bird. (Whether the toxin is for deterring predators, killing off parasites, or some other function, scientists are still unsure.)
Iron

## Ability

### Ability

**Forged in Flame****(Play)** Your Jewel Beetle card in hand gains +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Iron (Fe) is a shiny grey metal which makes up around 90% of refined metal. Most of it is used to manufacture steel which is used in... well, take a look around. Pretty much every modern building has a steel skeleton of some sort, be it as giant girders forming the structure of a skyscraper, or as Rebar that gives rigidity to concrete.

Iron is also essential for most living things - an average human contains around 4 grams of Iron. It's a main ingredient of hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen around your body. You might also say it's pretty helpful if you're Magneto and you're trying to break out of Plastic Prison.
Hippopotamus

## Ability

### Ability

**Unwarranted Aggression****(Draw)** Your opponent loses -15 Power/Turn this round.

## Did You Know?

The name **Hippopotamus** comes from the Ancient Greek, ‘river horse.' Think about that.

Let's start by putting a big Hippo myth to bed. Contrary to rumour, the Hippo does NOT sweat blood - it secretes an oily red substance, but the liquid is a skin moistener and sunblock that may also protect against germs.

It is *not* a myth, however, that the Hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. However, if threatened on land it will often run for its safe place - water.

On which topic - did you know that an adult Hippo only needs to resurface every 3 – 5mins to breathe? It's a completely automatic process and even a Hippo sleeping underwater will rise to the surface and breathe without waking.

Reproduction and birth also occur underwater. Soon after birth, mother and young join schools that provide safety in numbers and protection against crocodiles, lions, and hyenas.

The IUCN classified the Hippo as having vulnerable status in 2008. The population is in decline; most dramatically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Holocene Extinction

## Ability

### Ability

**Human Activity****(Play)** If you have played any Oceans and Seas card this game, your Science cards, wherever they are, gain +13 Power this round and your Oceans and Seas cards, wherever they are, lose -5 Power permanently. If you have played any Life on Land card this game, your Science cards, wherever they are, gain +13 Power this round and your Life on Land cards, wherever they are, lose -5 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Looking for an excuse to call in sick? Tell your boss you’re overwhelmed from the ongoing **Holocene Extinction**. After all, coughs and colds usually pass, but the destruction of the Earth’s flora and fauna due to human activities is proving pretty terminal.

Okay, so it’s not exactly news-worthy, as this event has been occurring for the last 10,000 years, starting at the end of the last ice age. But a rapidly rising human population hasn’t helped. In fact, the current species extinction rate is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than natural extinction rates—the rate of species extinctions that would occur if we humans were not around.
Howler Monkey

## Did You Know?

The clue is in the name for these yobbish guys; aptly named for their, shall we say, abrasive cries.

When a number of Howlers let loose often at dawn or dusk, the din can be heard over three miles away. Male Howler Monkeys have larger throats that help to turn up the volume on their distinctive call.

The noise sends a message to other monkeys: STAY AWAY. This is our lair.
Jaguar Round Crab

## Ability

### Ability

**Berried the Lede****(Return)** A random card in your hand gains +29 Power until played and this card loses -29 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Meet Xantho, the **Jaguar Round Crab** who can be found in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and some warmer parts of the Atlantic. Belonging to the subfamily Xanthinae, the larvae of the Jaguar Round Crab take around 23 days to grow into juvenile crabs.

Like human children outgrow their clothes, crabs need to shed their hard outer layers to grow to adult size. This process is called moulting. Only after the last moult do young Xantho crabs migrate from the Posidonia meadows to the nearest rocky area, where they join the adult crab gang. Adults are usually dark grey in colour, although their limbs often have dark brown or black bands alternating with white or translucent spots.
Invisible Man

## Ability

### Ability

**You Can't See Me!****(Start)** Another random card in your hand gains +10 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Apparently, being invisible isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That’s what we learn in H.G. Wells novel ‘**The Invisible Man**’ that tells the tale of Griffin, a scientist who has devoted his life to researching optics.

Early on, Griffin discovers a way to change the body’s refractive index so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light. In simple terms, the protagonist finds a way to make the body invisible. After giving his invisibility chemicals a whirl on a cat, he tries them on himself.

This would have been a great super-power, were it reversible. But Griffin cannot change back, and the cost of his invisibility power is his sanity. Although Griffin meets his end in the story, the Invisible Man lives on as an icon of pop culture.
Horsehead Nebula

## Ability

### Ability

**The Last Woltz****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +50 Power.

## Did You Know?

FINALLY, a nebula that looks like the thing it's named after! Or, at least close enough - one member of the CUE team (who we have collectively shunned) thinks it resembles a sea horse.

The **Horsehead Nebula** can be found over 1400 Light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Orion. It was discovered by Williamina Fleming in 1888, who is also credited with the discovery of the first White Dwarf.

It's often voted as a favourite among astronomers, and it's not difficult to see why. As well as the nebula itself being a black cloud of gas 4 light-years tall, it's set on a backdrop of red - that's IC 434, a bright emission nebula.

While we're on the subject of red; Woltz is the name of the producer who wakes up to find a horse's head in his bed in The Godfather (in case you were wondering where we got the ability name from on the front of this card).

## Trivia

* The quote "The Last Woltz" is a play on the 1978 documentary/concert "*The Last Waltz*".
John Steinbeck

## Ability

### Ability

**Citizen Spy****(Draw)** Your Espionage and The Write Stuff cards, wherever they are, gain +22 Power until this is returned to your deck.

## Did You Know?

No one really believes you when you say your dog ate your homework, but for legendary American author **John Steinbeck**, it actually happened. We’ll never know what the early draft of his novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ was like because it was chewed up and digested by his pet dog.

What we do know is that his seminal novel, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, earned Steinbeck the Nobel Prize in Literature 1962, which they awarded to him for being “realistic and imaginative, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception." The rumour that this novel was poorly translated into Japanese as ‘The Angry Raisins’ proved not to be true, but makes for a funny story, nonetheless.

Also in the realms of “potentially true” were the rumours the Steinbeck spied for the CIA; he’s alleged to have passed information to them during trips to the Soviet Union in 1947 and 1962...
King Penguin

## Ability

### Ability

**Extended Gestation****(Draw)** Your Common and Rare Sea Birds cards, wherever they are, gain +5 Power until played. **(Play)** Repeat above. **(Return)** Repeat above.

## Did You Know?

The **King Penguin** is the second largest species of penguin, standing 35 inches tall – that’s about the size of two bowling pins stacked up and about one-hundredth as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Next time you see the statue, imagine 100 king penguins stacked in its place. This species of penguin lives in colonies on islands off the coast of Antarctica – however, some non-breeding king penguins have been found in Chile, the Falkland Islands and Argentina.

Some have even been reported to be living in Brazil and South Africa. These hot climates aren’t ideal, considering the 4-layer plumage that king penguins have to insulate against the cold. If you see one and you aren’t in Antarctica, a cold drink and a handheld fan wouldn’t go amiss.