recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Policarpa Salavarrieta

## Ability

### Ability

**La Pola****(Draw)** An opponent's random History card in hand loses -25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

In November 1817, the council of war found **Policarpa Salavarrieta** guilty of high treason and sentenced her to death. But, even in her final moments, Columbia’s most renowned heroine did not show fear. She refused to kneel, taunted the Spanish soldiers and warned them that their days of rule over her nation were numbered.

During the Spanish Reconquista of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, Policarpa Salavarrieta (better known as ‘La Pola’) spied for the Revolutionary Forces. And her spying would have remained undetected, had guerilla leader Ambrosio Almeyda not been caught. When he was captured, he was carrying documents that linked to La Pola’s information, incriminating her as well. Today, La Pola is remembered as a figure of immense strength in the fight for Colombian independence.
Prague Astronomical Clock

## Ability

### Ability

**Dawn of the First Day****(Play)** If it's the first turn of a round, gain +1:energy/turn: this round.

## Did You Know?

The **Prague Astronomical Clock** is the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world, and the oldest clock still operating. As well as being rather beautiful, it acts as a kind of medieval planetarium, displaying the current state of the universe with high accuracy. Legend has it that the city will suffer if the clock is neglected – so we assume the city council has hired a full-time clock-watcher.
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

## Ability

### Ability

**Back to Realism****(Draw)** A random card in your hand gains +5 Power until played. **(Play)** Your and your opponent's Raphael cards, wherever they are, lose -52 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The **Pre-Raphaelites** were a seven-member “Brotherhood” of painters, poets and art critics founded in London in 1848. The group was founded on a shared (and pretty specific) opinion that the large areas of intense colour and rich detail found in Quattrocento Italian artwork (created between 1400 to 1499) was superior to the work of Raphael, an Italian Renaissance painter born in the 1400s, that the Royal Academy promoted as the ideal.

More than just artists, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (or ‘PRB’, as they signed their paintings) were campaigners; they began as a social reform rebellion and eventually published their opinions in a journal known as ‘The Germ’, allowing them to spread their ideas to society through more than one medium.
Raïs Hamidou

## Ability

### Ability

**Amir el bihar****(Draw)** If your deck has 10 or more Oceans cards, this card costs -5 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

Hamidou ben Ali, known as **Raïs Hamidou**, was a famous Algerian corsair – a term used to describe what were effectively state-sanctioned bandits in the Mediterranean Sea. Although he started training to become a tailor like his father, stories of Algerian corsairs ignited Hamidou’s thirst for adventure. At age 10, he began working aboard a pirate ship commanded by Raïs Memmou.

During his career, Raïs Hamidou became world-renowned for his exploits including the capturing of over 200 ships. He also took part in some battles and was key in the Regency’s victory against Tunis.

In 1815, he was killed in action by a carronade shot from USS Guerriere (not to be confused with gruyere, which can’t shoot cannons on account of being a cheese.)
Peter the Great

## Ability

### Ability

**Short Fuse****(Draw)** A random card in your hand **Burn**s (10) until played.

## Did You Know?

There are strong arguments that **Peter the Great** *was* pretty great - in terms of achievements at least. He established Russia as an empire and major European power, modernised the country (whether this was a good thing is debatable), and founded St Petersburg.

So how did he end up as a card in the *Unruly Rulers* collection?

It wasn’t on account of his ruthless annihilation of opponents - after all, many rulers have dabbled in torture and the public display of corpses as a political tool. But when he tortured his own son Alexei to death in 1715, he really moved into a league of his own.

*Side note:* Peter was responsible for aligning Russia with the Julian calendar. He did this in the year 7207 - a date measured from when the world was supposedly created. The year instead became 1700.

*Additional nausea-inducing side note:* Peter suffered from bladder problems for much of his life., and in 1724 underwent surgery to remove four pounds of blocked urine from his body. That’s over **three pints**.

'Portrait of Peter I (1672-1725)' by Jean-Marc Nattier (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Psychometry

## Ability

### Ability

**Energy Field****(Play)** If your deck contains Quantum Teleportation and Hysterical Strength, the card opposite this loses -50 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

In 1842, one Joseph R. Buchanan coined the term “**Psychometry**” to describe the psychic ability to sense an object's history through touch. A professor of physiology, Buchanan set up an experiment with his students to test his hypothesis: that all objects have “souls”. When his students successfully identified the drugs inside un-labelled glass vials simply by holding them, Buchanan had his Eureka moment.

In reality, their success likely came down to chance. But that didn’t stop this pseudoscience from soaring in popularity in the late 19th century, usually as part of stage acts and séances. And hey, who's to say there isn’t something to it? For example, as I place my hand over the keys on my laptop, I sense crumbs, indicating the recent presence of snacks, devoured with fervour…
Parthenon

## Ability

### Ability

**Power of the Pantheon****(Play)** If you are losing the round, your Ancient Greece cards in hand gain +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The Parthenon was constructed between 447-432 BC as a temple to honour Athena. It contained a statue of the goddess built from ivory and adorned in golden clothes. The gold parts were easily removable so they could be used in times of financial strife - so you could probably tell how well Greece was doing by how much Athena was wearing!
Reaper Cuttlefish

## Ability

### Ability

**Touch of Death****(Draw)** A random card in your hand loses -50 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

Ever felt you could use an extra pair of hands? *Sepia mestus*, known more commonly as the **Reaper Cuttlefish**, can’t relate. Unlike octopuses, this cephalopod has an additional pair of limbs known as feeding tentacles. These tentacles are found between arms three and four and can be extended quickly to seize prey.

Native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, specifically Escape Reef off Queensland, the reaper cuttlefish is a colour-changing wizard capable of camouflaging its body to hide from predators. Considering cephalopods like the reaper cuttlefish are most likely colour-blind, this seems impossible. However, their weirdly shaped pupils send signals to the brain which communicate the particular shade to special pigment cells called chromatophores, allowing for the cuttlefish to change skin colour accordingly.
Penny for the Guy

## Ability

### Ability

**Remember, Remember****(Draw)** If your deck contains Gunpowder and The Houses of Parliament, this card **Burn**s (40) until played and your History cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

With the half-term in full swing, school children were free to make Bonfire Night a week-long celebration. And what better way to get into the holiday spirit than making your own effigy of Guy Fawkes to toss into the flames?

Before meeting their fiery end, the scarecrow-like dolls were put to work by children, who would tour them around the neighbourhood on a wheelbarrow and ask locals for a **“Penny for the Guy** *to buy sweets and sparklers on the night.*

A favourite of working class kids in the 1960s, this tradition often involved oddly-threatening songs, such as: *“If you don’t give me one, I’ll take two, the better for me, and the worse for you, Ricket-a-racket your hedges shall go.”* Because nobody wants noisy hedges, apparently.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

## Ability

### Ability

**Fantastical Overture****(Draw)** Your Once Upon A Time cards, wherever they are, gain +22 Power for 4 turns.

## Did You Know?

If you don’t recognise the name **Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky** we can guarantee that you’d recognise some of his compositions the second that you heard them. Because this Romantic Russian composer wrote some of the most famous classical music of all time.

Some of his most famous ballets include Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty - all fairy tales, funnily enough. Even if you’re not a big ballet fan, “<link="https:>Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy</link>” is such a commonly used piece of music around Christmas time that you probably hear it in your sleep. When Disney adapted the story of Sleeping Beauty, you can hear Tchaikovsky’s “<link="https:>Sleeping Beauty Waltz</link>” throughout the song “Once Upon a Dream,” where it heavily draws on the emotional impact of his music. It wasn’t all just fairy tales though, he also dabbled in Shakespeare. And, if you ever played the original Sims game, you’ve definitely heard his “<link="https:>Romeo and Juliet Love Theme.</link>”

So let’s all just say a big thank you to Tchaikovsky for making such powerful yet accessible music that is still getting big air time in pop culture today. What a guy.
Pumpkin Toadlet

## Ability

### Ability

**Little & Fierce****(Draw)** Your cards in hand with 3 or less Base Energy gain +30 Power for 2 turns. **(Play)** Your Amphibians cards in hand gain +10 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Next time you go to a rave, bring a **Pumpkin Toadlet** with you. Like little sentient glowsticks, parts of these frogs seem to shine a neon green when flashed with UV light. The reason why the Pumpkin Toadlet has evolved with this ability is still unclear, but researchers suspect it might be to help the toads find one another in the forest or to warn predators of their bad-tasting insides (this method is tried and tested – just ask glow worms.)

Found in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, the pumpkin toadlet belongs to a family called the Brachycephalus, of which there are at least 30 other known species. In size, this amphibian is no bigger than a fingernail, but it is highly poisonous, secreting the same toxin found in pufferfish.
Peony

## Ability

### Ability

**How many?****(Return)** A random Plant Life card in your hand gains +33 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

When Marco Polo discovered **Peonies**, he called them “roses as big as cabbages.” He wasn’t wrong about the size: these long-lived perennials boast bloomin’ large flowers that can grow up to 10 inches - but they aren’t roses.

A flowering plant in the genus Paeonia, the Peony has been cultivated in China for over 2,500 years and is considered a symbol of good fortune and happiness, making it ideal for wedding bouquets. Sometimes called the King of Flowers or the “imperial flower”, the Peony is used in Chinese traditional medicine as a means of blocking chemicals that cause pain and swelling. If a bunch of peonies doesn’t cure your ailments, at least you’ll be distracted by the pretty flowers.
Potoroo

## Ability

### Ability

**Roo'de Health****(Play)** If you are winning the round, this card gains +16 Power.

## Did You Know?

The **Potoroo** is yet another example of convergent evolution. If you or I (assuming we're not Australian) passed one of these critters on a walk, we'd immediately think it was some sort of rodent. But the **Potoroo**is a genus of smaller marsupials belonging to Macropodiformes which includes kangaroos and wallabies. Why so mousy? Well, that's convergent evolution for you!

The **Potoroo** is extremely rare, to the point it has been thought extinct on more that one occasion. Its main threats are predation from introduced species including the fox and loss of habitat. Despite conservation efforts, all **Potoroo** species are at risk of near-term extinction.
Mechanical Clock

## Ability

### Ability

**Strike Twelve****(Play)** Your opponent's cards in hand lose -12 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

First invented in the 14th century, the **Mechanical Clock** was a pretty big deal as far as game-changing inventions go. Before then, people used sundials to tell the time – a pretty restrictive method after sun-down.

The mechanism for the first mechanical clocks consisted of a series of bells, pulleys and counterweights – unfortunately, they lost around half an hour a day, which is enough to wind anyone up.
Panda Ant

## Ability

### Ability

**Panta****(Play)** For every "Ant" card in your deck, up to a maximum of 5, give your Giant Panda card in hand +25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

OMG How cute! A little fluffy ant that looks like a panda! Yeah, that’s what everyone says until they discover that the **Panda Ant** is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Or rather, a wasp in bear’s clothing.

So, why the disguise? Well, to be clear, it’s mainly the wingless females who look ant-like. The males are much more wasp-like in appearance, except they don’t have a stinger. The females, on the other hand, have a sting that packs a punch.

Scientists believe that their striking markings may act as a warning to predators. Of course, no predator is going to be actually convinced that the wasp is a panda. But they will, in theory, get the memo about their sting.

'Euspinolia militaris' by Chris Lukhaup (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
QR Code

## Ability

### Ability

**Quick Response****(Play)** Your opponent's cards in hand lose -10 Power this turn, if it's the first turn of a round, your opponent's cards in hand lose -10 Power this turn and if it's Round 1, your opponent's cards in hand lose -15 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

They may look like a random collection of black and white pixels, but **QR Codes** are an advanced tool that can hold different types of data, such as numerical, alphabetical, binary and control codes. In short, they’re basically barcodes on steroids.

Invented in 1993 by the Japanese automotive company Denso Wave, the Quick Response (QR) code was originally designed to track vehicles during manufacture via high-speed component scanning. Like snowflakes, each QR code is unique and can be decoded by QR code readers and scanners. From mobile payments to online videos and even as part of public transportation systems in smart cities, the uses of QR codes are wide-ranging. Even if a QR code gets slightly damaged, it can still be decoded thanks to an error correction feature.
Poodle Moth

## Ability

### Ability

**Like a Moth to a Flame****(Draw)** Your Dogs cards, wherever they are, cost -2 Energy until played. **(Play)** Your Anglepoise Lamp and Zippo Lighter cards in hand gain +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

With an appearance like a tiny Pokemon, it’s no surprise that the Venezuelan **Poodle Moth** is loved by the internet. Discovered in 2009 by Kyrgyzstani zoologist Dr Arthur Anker, this fluffy friend made its debut on Flickr before going viral in 2012.

As soft as it looks, the moth’s fuzz is not made of hair as we know it. Human and animal hair is made of keratin, while this moth’s coat is made from chitin – a naturally occurring polymer that helps the moth to regulate its temperature while looking beautiful in the process. Not only that, but this white fuzz even acts as a defence mechanism. Due to the consistency of chitin, it’s much harder for bats to locate them through sonar!
Ribbon Seal

## Ability

### Ability

**Striking Coloration****(Draw)** If your deck contains Black Guillemot, your Ocean Mammals cards, wherever they are, gain +32 Power for 2 turns. **(Draw)** If your deck contains Oceanic Whitetip, your Ocean Mammals cards, wherever they are, cost -1 Energy for 2 turns.

## Did You Know?

Found in the sub-Arctic and Arctic parts of the north Pacific Ocean is a seal with the most distinctive markings. Like a perfectly wrapped Christmas present, the **Ribbon Seal** is black with bands of white that encircle its body.

Judging by their friendly disposition and indifference to their surroundings, it’s thought that Ribbon Seals live a fairly blessed existence without much threat from predators or humans. Male ribbon seals have a unique air sac that connects to the trachea and extends over their ribs. When inflated, biologists believe that this organ is used by the males to produce <link="https:>a noise like a creaky door in a spooky film</link> – a sound that acts as a breeding call to the local lady ribbon seals.

'Male Ribbon Sea Ozernoy Gulf Russia' by Michael Cameron (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Psephoderma

## Ability

### Ability

**Pebble Skin Protection****(Play)** If played in the middle slot and adjacent to two cards, your Monsters of the Deep cards, wherever they are, gain +15 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

About 210 million years ago, an adorable flat-skulled turtle type creature could be found swimming around in some parts of England and around the Alps. Its name, **Psephoderma**, means ‘pebbly skin’ in Ancient Greek - but despite its tortoise-like shell, this marine reptile is no relation to the turtle. It is actually a placodont - one of the last to live.

Although its beak was perfect for crunching its favourite prey, scientists say its physiology was probably responsible for its extinction towards the end of the Triassic Period. Simply put, it probably wasn’t the best swimmer, especially as we entered into the age of the aquatic dinosaur. Competing with the likes of plesiosaurs and mosasaurs would have been like going up against Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe in their prime.

'Psephoderma' by Nobu Tamura (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Purgatorius

## Ability

### Ability

**Primate Progenitor****(Play)** Your Primates cards in hand gain +23 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Being a small mammal in the late Cretaceous period couldn’t have been easy. Most spent their lives high up in trees, cowering from terrifying dinosaurs and other ancient predators. But not all prehistoric mammals were the same. Often regarded as the earliest example of a primate, **Purgatorius** had the body of a rodent but the teeth of a primate, leading to speculation that this tiny, agile animal was the ancestor of modern day chimps, rhesus monkeys and humans.

The first remains of this squirrel-like creature were found in 1965, at what is now Montana's Tullock Formation at a site known as Purgatory hill - hence the name. The deposits at this site are thought to be about 63 million years old!
Microvenator

## Ability

### Ability

**Dental Plan****(Play)** Your Teeth and Deinonychus cards, wherever they are, gain +24 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The **Microvenator** (meaning “small hunter”) was a bizarre bird-like Oviraptorosaurian that is thought to have looked like a cross between a two-legged dinosaur, a chicken and a parrot. Its feathered body would probably have reached around 3 metres long in adulthood, and it likely had a large beak – although little of the skull is known.

Although this therapod only stood two and a half feet tall, it was blessed with a roadrunner-like speed that allowed the creature to catch fast-moving prey like small rodents, reptiles and insects. Oviraptorosaurians were typically model parents, creating large nests with eggs laid around the edge. The Microvenator would have sat in the centre of the nest and used its wings to keep the eggs warm.

'Microvenator celer in brooding position.' by FunkMonk (Michael B. H.) (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Permafrost Thaw

## Ability

### Ability

**In the Ground****(Draw)** Your opponent's Life on Land cards, wherever they are, cost +2 Energy this round.

## Did You Know?

Permafrost is the thick layer of frozen soil that has sat underneath the Arctic tundra for millennia. It covers approximately 24 per cent of the surface of landmasses in the northern hemisphere of our planet and accounts for nearly half of all organic carbon stored within Earth’s soil. When permafrost is frozen, the organic material in the soil can’t decompose.

However, as permafrost thaws from global warming, tiny microbes start decomposing the plant matter, releasing greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is what’s known as **Permafrost Thaw** – a process that can have a dramatic effect on our planet. Even a 3-degree rise in global temperature could melt between 30 – 85 per cent of the top permafrost layers across the Arctic region!
Pantomime

## Ability

### Ability

**Audience Participation****(Draw)** For every Arts & Culture card in your hand, your Arts & Culture cards in hand gain +7 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Easy slapstick for the kids, not-so subtle innuendos for the adults, a grown man dressed as a milkmaid and B-list celebrities leading the show. For the very British affair of **Pantomime**, we have ‘Commedia dell’Arte’ to thank, a 16th century Italian entertainment that combined music, dance, tumbling, acrobatics from a cast of costume-clad stock characters. By the 17th century, this act had been embraced by England and adapted into an early pantomime called a “harlequinade,” featuring the mischievous ‘harlequin’ character.

In 1843, a law was passed which permitted spoken dialogue in previously unlicensed theatres, which gave way for the Golden Age of Pantomimes in Victorian Britain. Blending fairytale plots with British humour, burlesque and audience participation, the panto became a staple of family-friendly entertainment. (“Oh no it didn’t…”)
Pepper's Ghost

## Ability

### Ability

**Smoke and Mirrors****(Draw)** A random The Occult card in your hand gains +35 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

What does Tupac have in common with the ghosts at Disney’s Haunted Mansion? Both have been brought to life by an illusory stage effect known as **Pepper’s Ghost**. This is no ground-breaking hologram technology - it’s an optical illusion that relies on the law of reflection to create a scarily realistic image.

Although it’s named after the scientist who popularised it, John Henry Pepper didn’t actually invent anything. Years prior, engineer Henry Dircks devised a method of projecting an actor on stage using a sheet of glass and clever lighting that he called "Dircksian Phantasmagoria". Pepper saw the concept and replicated it on a larger scale for his production of the Charles Dickens play ‘The Haunted Man’, wowing audiences and sparking a craze for a ghostly trick still used today.
Pocket Watch

## Ability

### Ability

**I'm Late! I'm Late!****(Play)** For every round completed this game, your Wellington Top Hat card in hand gains +25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Do you tend to find that you’re late, you’re late? For a very important date? No time to say hello, goodbye, you’re late! You’re late! YOU’RE LATE! If this sounds like you, you might be in need of a **Pocket Watch.**

They might not be as popular now (curse you, smartphones and smartwatches!) but between the 1500s and the end of World War I, they were THE way to tell the time for the gentleman on the go. When they were first developed in the 16th Century though, they were usually worn around the neck and they only had an hour hand. This means you always had to say “I’ll be there sometime after 3” because you were never exactly sure.

It wasn’t until the late 1600s that the Pocket Watch became both pocket-sized and more sensibly shaped for your pockets, because King Charles II made waistcoats cool and he wanted to keep his watch in his pocket. Women, however, kept theirs around their necks until the early 20th Century, and to be honest, we think it’s a look we should bring back!
Porpita Porpita

## Did You Know?

Ah, **Porpita porpita**; the colony of hydroids so good, they named it twice.

Hydroids, you ask? They're an early life stage of creatures from the genus Hydrozoa - tiny underwater predators that you probably don't even notice when you're swimming in the sea. But vicious little pests, nonetheless

The **Porpita porpita** is, essentially, a breeding ground for them. It's also known as the Blue Button, a name that's much nicer, and they measure only 3 centimetres across.

That brown bit in the middle is called the "float", because it's responsible for keeping the whole organism on the surface of the water. It also contains pores which it uses to communicate with other Blue Buttons.
Rainbow Serpent

## Ability

### Ability

**Spectrum Snakes****(Play)** If played between [[Rainbow Snake]] and Rainbow Boa, a random card from each Album, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

It’s known as both a benevolent protector and as a punisher of law breakers. Some say it replenishes water stores, others say it stops rainfall. It creates land and diversity for the Aboriginal people, but causes chaos if disturbed.

The **Rainbow Serpent** is one of the most common and well-known Aboriginal myths, with the earliest drawings of the creature dating back over 6,000 years ago. Even today, the Rainbow Serpent has an annual music festival held in its honour in Victoria.

In some Aboriginal funeral ceremonies, the bones of the deceased are placed in a hollow log coffin to represent the Rainbow Serpent, who then ‘swallows’ the spirits of the dead, releasing them during initiation ceremonies in which young boys are transformed into men.
Printing Press

## Ability

### Ability

**Stop the Presses!****(Draw)** Your Paper card, wherever it is, gains +30 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

What have the Germans ever done for us? As it turns out arguably provided us with the most culturally significant thing ever invented! Long before their 2 other great inventions (the Accordion and Gummy Bears) Goldsmith Johann Gutenberg developed the printing press, an innovation that impacted upon all parts of society, immeasurably shaping the world in which we live today.

Before Gutenberg (no relation of Steve) created the printing press in 1439 the duplication of volumes, literature and information had to be arduously hand-copied. This basically meant the majority of people simply didn't have access to the written word.

As with a lot of inventions, he improved dramatically on an existing system, which consisted of carving wooden blocks and dipping them in ink to reproduce the texts. By casting the letters out of metal, making them movable and reusable (for different texts) the Gutenberg press sped up the printing process significantly reducing costs and paving the way for mass communication and literacy.

The first book printed with this system was, of course, the Bible. A Gutenberg Bible is an incredibly valuable, treasured item for its historical legacy. The last sale of a complete Gutenberg Bible happened in 1978 where it sold for a cool $2.2 million. Beeindruckend!
Red-spotted Box Crab

## Ability

### Ability

**In a Pinch****(Draw)** If you are losing the round, this card costs -2 Energy this turn.

## Did You Know?

Box crabs are named because of the way they can tuck their legs into their bodies, giving the appearance of an extremely neat box. Signed, sealed, delivered, they’re yours!

They are also referred to as ‘Shame-faced crabs’ because of the way their claws fold in front of their face as if hiding it in shame…

Box crabs are specialised for cracking open snail shells. The snail is gripped in the left pincer, which has pointed claws. With the right pincer, which is much stronger, the crab cuts pieces of the shell from the shell opening - extremely useful to have as a companion in a French restaurant.
Pygmy Shrew

## Ability

### Ability

**Speedy Metabolism****(Play)** For every Life on Land card you have played this game, this card gains +3 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Looks can be deceiving. Take the **Pygmy Shrew**, for example. On the surface, it’s just a miniature mammal with a markedly pointed nose. But despite its small size, the pygmy shrew is a tiny terror that has an insatiable appetite and a knack for turning innocent insects into shrew fuel.

Due to their high metabolic rate, the pygmy shrew eats around 1.25 of its body weight every day. A period as little as two hours without food can therefore lead to starvation. Neither spiders, woodlice or beetles are safe when this voracious predator is around.

Active day and night, these shrews are highly territorial and will not hesitate to fight any unwanted intruders, their high-pitched squeaks particularly noticeable in the summer.
Red Swamp Crawfish

## Ability

### Ability

**Invasive Species****(Draw)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Right, before you start with *"iT's CraYFiSH cUe, nOt CrAWfiSh"* - crawfish, crayfish and crawdad are all names for the same creature. Crawfish happens to be used in the southern United States, which is where you find the **Red Swamp Crawfish** most abundantly.

Although, because of its invasive nature, you'll probably find it throughout the United States and Mexico - this species is always on the move, invading ponds and rivers and quickly taking its place on top of the food chain.

Aside from just being bullies, they're also known to carry a lot of diseases that can have long-lasting effects on ecosystems they move into. They're distinguishable by their dark red colouring, which makes them look far angrier than they probably are.
Phonograph

## Ability

### Ability

**Oh, How The Tables Have Turned****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +42 Power.

## Did You Know?

When Thomas Edison invented the **Phonograph** in 1877, it changed the game for music lovers. But giving people a means to listen to music in their homes wasn’t the original plan – in fact, the phonograph was developed as a result of Edison’s work on two other inventions: the telephone and the telegraph.

The inventor was trying to transcribe telegraphic messages through indentations on paper tape, which led him to speculate that a telephone message could be recorded in the same way. Then came the lightbulb moment: using a special cylindrical tinfoil sheet, Edison’s phonograph could record and reproduce sound. These cylinders were used on phonographs until the early 1900s when the popularity of the disc took over.
Prometheus

## Ability

### Ability

**Stolen Fire****(Play)** If your deck contains Fire and if your deck has 3 or fewer Arts & Culture cards, your Fire card, wherever it is, loses -70 Power and a random card in your hand gains +100 Power this turn, revealed before scoring.

## Did You Know?

Can you imagine life without fire? What ever would we sing songs around and toast marshmallows over?! It doesn’t bear thinking about. Thankfully, the Titan god of fire **Prometheus** defied the gods and stole fire from them to give to humanity. Prometheus had given humans fire in the first place, so he knew it was essential to our survival (and camping routines).

Of course, Zeus wasn’t best pleased. Ever a fan of creative torture, he tied Prometheus to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver, which was seen as the seat of human emotions in ancient Greece. Every night, his liver would grow back, only to be devoured by the same eagle the next day in a horrifying ongoing cycle.
Praying Mantis

## Ability

### Ability

**Pray for Mercy****(Draw)** If you are losing the round, two opponent's random cards in hand **Lock** this round.

## Did You Know?

Guess we’d better start with the obvious…

Yes, the female **Praying Mantis** *does* indeed rip off her mate’s head during copulation, and eats him afterwards. But before you get all judgy about that, let’s be clear that she only does this *sometimes*. In around 75% of sexual encounters, the male has a lovely time of it and gets to carry on living. Barely worth complaining about.

The **Praying Mantis** lives life in mono, not stereo, as it only has one ear… and that ear is on its belly. On the upside, it can use this ear to pick up ultrasound, which helps it to evade attacks from bats.

Lastly - If you’re planning a budget remake of *The Exorcist*, look no further than the Praying Mantis to play Regan - it can swivel its head 180 degrees, no special effects required.
Pliosaurus

## Ability

### Ability

**Pli Your Trade****(Draw)** A random card in your hand gains +15 Power until played and another random card in hand costs -2 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

What’s that you say? You want *more* lizard? You got it: the **Pliosaurus**’ name literally translates to ‘more lizard’ – but it wasn’t until 2012 that the beast got its official name.

Six years prior, scientists unearthed two gigantic pliosaur skeletons in Svalbard, Norway. One of the two giant creatures was dubbed Predator X and looked different to other pliosaurs that had been discovered before. After years of painstaking analysis, the researchers concluded that Predator X was a new species.

The marine animal, now named Pliosaurus funkei, spanned about 12 metres and had a massive 2-metre-long skull with a bite four times as powerful as Tyrannosaurus rex. That’s definitely more lizard than any of us can handle.
Quetzalcoatlus

## Ability

### Ability

**Power of the Serpent God****(Play)** Your Bushmaster and Quetzalcoatl cards in hand gain +50 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Quetzalcoatlus northropi is named after the Aztec Serpent god Quetzalcoatl and was found in a small area of Texas in the early 1970s. Everything's bigger in Texas, and this is no exception - Quetzalcoatlus is the largest pterosaur ever discovered.

The northropi part of the name is a tribute to the Northrop aviation company, who made planes such as the B-2 Bomber, which you can safely ignore if you're not too keen on military hardware.
Peridot

## Ability

### Ability

**Assume the Mantle****(Draw)** This card loses -40 Power permanently and a random card in your hand gains +40 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Sometimes called chrysolite or “Evening Emerald”, **Peridot** is a gem-quality olivine that you might wear to celebrate your 16th wedding anniversary. In ancient Egypt, Cleopatra loved peridot for its beauty. She also believed it could keep dark, evil spirits away.

In Hawaiian folklore, the volcanic goddess Pele (not the footballer) is the creator of the islands. Having fought many battles and suffered a lot of jealousy, it is believed by some that peridot stones are Pele’s tears. Legend has it that the peridot is also known to diminish obsession, decrease envy and eliminate the feeling of guilt.

Mythology aside, peridot was originally only mined from one place: Zabargad Island. Miners would often wait until night to search for the stones as they shone in the moonlight.
Personal Computer

## Ability

### Ability

**Overclock****(Draw)** Your Alan Turing, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace cards, wherever they are, gain +15 Power permanently and if you are winning the round, gain +2:energy/turn: permanently.

## Did You Know?

It walked so your laptop could run: the **Personal Computer** is one of the most innovative and revolutionary inventions in human history.

John Blankenbaker is credited for the design and invention of the world’s first personal computer in 1971. Named the Kenbak-1, this machine looked nothing like modern computers – but in the 70s, a machine offering 256 bytes of memory, a wide variety of operations and a speed equivalent to nearly 1MHz was ground-breaking. Couldn’t run Crysis yet though.

However, it was MITS co-founder Ed Roberts who coined the term “personal computer” in 1974 with his invention of the Altair 8800. By 1977, the PC industry had taken off, with the introduction of three mass-produced models: The Apple II, the Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 and the Commodore Business Machines Personal Electronic Transactor.
Percheron

## Did You Know?

Hailing from the Perche province of France, the **Percheron** is a draft horse known for its powerful proud posture, large size and muscular physique. In fact, two of the top 5 biggest horses of history (Goliath and Dr LeGear) were Percheron horses. The latter boasted a height of 21 hands (roughly 2.1 metres) and weighed a whopping 1,359 kilograms. Granted, that’s only half of the weight of a Blue Whale’s tongue, but it’s also twice the weight of a grizzly bear.

Unlike the grizzly bear, the Percheron is a gentle giant, famous for its calm temperament. And that’s not all it's got going for it! This literal dark horse is rated for its stamina, and can supposedly cover nearly 40 miles a day at a trot!
Peregrine Falcon

## Did You Know?

The **Peregrine Falcon** is probably the most terrifying and efficient bird of prey in the skies. It has populations on every continent except Antarctica, and is well known for its diving speed - so aerodynamic is their diving, they can reach speeds higher to 186 mph.

That makes them not only the fastest bird in the world but the fastest animal. Period.

"**Peregrine**" comes for the Latin *Peregrinus*, which means "one from abroad" - fitting for a bird that migrates, and which is estimated to travel nearly 15,000 miles per year! They're also highly adaptable, able to thrive in the wilderness and urban areas.

## Trivia

* The quote "FALCON PUNCH!" refers to the neutral special move of Captain Falcon in the Super Smash Bros. series.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

## Ability

### Ability

**40 Years of Mourning****(Draw)** Four opponent's random cards in hand cost +1 Energy for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

**Queen Victoria and Prince Albert** fell in love at a time that it wasn’t that weird to marry your cousin. In fact, it was encouraged as a means of keeping your family line pure.

After Albert tragically died of typhoid, Victoria succumbed to grief. Not only did she wear black for the rest of her life, but she ordered servants to bring hot water to his room for his morning shave. Ghosts can’t grow beards, but it’s the thought that counts.

'Victoria's family in 1846' by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Phayre's Leaf Monkey

## Ability

### Ability

**Langur Languish****(Draw)** If you are losing the round, your Primates cards in hand gain +15 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

Meet your new favourite folivore: the **Phayre’s Leaf Monkey**, who - as its name suggests - feeds on leaves, shoots, seeds, flowers and fruit. However, as its habitat has changed, so too has the diet of this goggle-eyed primate.

Since the 1960s, vast acres of rubber trees have replaced the forests in Tripura, India, where many of these monkeys live. So, the Phayre’s Leaf Monkey adapted, developing a taste for rubber twigs. Today, it’s thought that the rubber plant accounts for 67% of its diet.

Although it’s also known as the Spectacled Leaf Monkey for the white patches that surround its eyes, this monkey isn’t hard of seeing. Still, the infants being orange in hue does make it easier for parents to keep track of them.
Red Wolf

## Ability

### Ability

**Midnight Howl****(Play)** Your Wolf Moon card, wherever it is, gains +29 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Meet the **Red Wolf** - the world’s most endangered member of the dog family. Native to the United States, this rare all-American wolf was once common in the Southeast. Sadly, intensive predator control programs and loss of habitat caused such a drastic drop in red wolf numbers that they were declared extinct in the wild in 1980.

And yet, hundreds of years ago, this species of wolf was a huge part of Cherokee culture. In their tradition, the red wolf is known as wa’ya and is said to be the companion of Kana’ti - the hunter and father of the Aniwaya or Wolf Clan. To the Cherokee people, killing a red wolf was out of the question, as it would spark vengeance of the killed animal’s pack-mates.
Richard III of England

## Ability

### Ability

**Some Of You May Die...****(Draw)** A random card in your hand loses -25 Power permanently, two of your opponent's cards in hand lose -25 Power permanently and your Unruly Rulers cards, wherever they are, gain +16 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The physical resemblance between **Richard III of England** and Lord Farquaad cannot be denied. The haircut, the eyebrows, the piercing blue eyes. Plus, both had a thirst for power and both were willing to do pretty much anything they could to win the throne.

Of course, Richard III never had a cynical ogre and his pesky donkey to contend with. And, unlike Farquaad, Richard was actually considered a “good lord” with a “good heart” who “punished the oppressors of commons”. If anything, he was the opposite of the Shrek villain.

He was also the last English king to die on the battlefield. And he went down swinging, too: as well as unhorsing a jousting champion, he killed Henry Tudor’s standard bearer Sir William Brandon.
Phi2 Orionis

## Ability

### Ability

**Luminous Mass****(Return)** Your The Sun card, wherever it is, gains +7 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Jedward. Phi1 and Phi2. The list of twin stars goes on – but let’s focus on that last pair for a moment. Phi1 and **Phi2 Orionis** together form an optical double - a pair of stars that appear close together in the sky due entirely to their alignment relative to Earth.

In reality, Phi1 Orionis is actually nine times further away from Earth than Phi2 Orionis at a distance of 1087.21 light-years. You don’t need a telescope to see Phi2 Orionis in the night sky, either. Based on the spectral type (G8III-IV) of this hyper-giant star, the Phi2 Orionis colour is white to yellow. Not only is it 6.95 times the size of the sun, but it’s also 34.8 times brighter!

'Yellow φ2 Orionis with nebulosity east of φ1 Orionis and south-east of λ Orionis' by Lithopsian (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Pygmy Rabbit

## Did You Know?

500 grams. That is the weight of both an average loaf of bread and a **Pygmy Rabbit**. The latter is the world's smallest leporid and the only native rabbit species in North America to dig its own burrow. As well as their size, these bunnies are distinguishable by their short, rounded ears, small hind legs and fuzzy grey fur.

Pygmy rabbits aren’t just partial to sagebrush – it serves as their living quarters and makes up 99 per cent of their diet during the cold winter months. Native only to a single area of Washington State, this tiny rabbit captured attention in previous years when it was placed on the endangered species list, and a captive breeding program was launched to help restore the population.
Phoebe

## Did You Know?

In Greek mythology, **Phoebe** is a Titaness who made her debut in around 700 BCE in Homer's: The Iliad. One of the twelve Titan children of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia, (Earth), Phoebe is often associated with the moon and her relationship with Coeus, with whom she had two daughters: Leto (mother of Artemis and Apollo) and Asteria, a star-goddess mother of Hecate.

Unlike her brothers, Phoebe was said to be one of the calmer Titans, choosing not to get involved in the battle between the Olympian Gods and the other Titans. Phoebe, whose name is pronounced ‘Feévee’ in Greek, had the gift of prophecy and eventually became a prophet at the Oracle of Delphi, the most important shrine in all of Greece.
Persephone

## Ability

### Ability

**Queen of the Underworld****(Play)** Your Hades card in hand gains +35 Power (and if you are losing the round, it gains an extra +20 Power) this turn.

## Did You Know?

Queen of the Underworld is one hell (sorry) of a title on its own, but **Persephone** was also Goddess of the Spring. This odd combination came about because **Persephone** committed the cardinal sin of eating fruit. What’s the deal with religions and fruit? Why does no-one get punished for eating a Twinkie or a bucket of ice cream?

The fruit in question was a pomegranate, and because Hades got her to eat 6 pomegranate seeds (just go with it), she had to spend 6 months of the year in Hell - i.e. Autumn/Winter - but she could vacation over Spring and Summer with her mum, Demeter.

One assumes the creators of these myths never visited Australia in January, otherwise, the logic falls apart somewhat.
Reynisdrangar

## Ability

### Ability

**Dragged Up****(Draw)** If your deck has 3 or more Norse Mythology cards, your Natural Monuments cards, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Situated near the shore of Reynisfjara beach by the coastal village Vík on the South Coast of Iceland is **Reynisdrangar**, a series of breath-taking rock formations that rose over the ocean 18 million years ago. Also known as the “organ pipes”, the basalt sea stacks rise from the ocean 66 m into the sky.

Legend has it that two giant trolls once dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully. When daylight struck, the trolls were out of time and were turned into stone as a result and some locals swear that their cries and laments can still be heard from the shore. So, if you’re a troll and happen to be reading this, let that be a lesson to you.
Pennsylvania Station (1910 - 1963)

## Ability

### Ability

**Demolition****(Start)** Your Super Structures cards in hand gain +6 Power until played. **(Play)** Your Super Structures cards, wherever they are, lose -15 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

At the time of its opening in 1910, **Pennsylvania Station** was the largest train station on Earth, covering an area of 8 acres and boasting 21 tracks. Even the main waiting room of the station was one of the largest public spaces in the world.

Beyond its size, the Beaux-Arts inspired station was considered one of the architectural jewels of New York City, and was often referred to as a “temple of transportation.”

But despite its grandeur, Pennsylvania Station faced financial difficulties and struggled to attract passengers, leading to its closure in 1963. The current facility is the remodelled underground remnant of the original Pennsylvania Station, and it’s been called everything from “<link="http:>the worst transit experience in the US,</link>” and “<link="http:>the worst place on Earth</link>”.
Red Deer

## Ability

### Ability

**In the Headlights****(Play)** If played opposite any card, this card loses -40 Power.

## Did You Know?

What’s got red hair, comes from Scotland and runs at a speed of 40 m/ph? If you said “Braveheart on Steroids”, you’re probably not wrong, but we’re actually talking about **Red Deer**.

The UK’s largest land mammal, an adult male may stand around four feet tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 200kg. Typically found in the woodlands, moorlands and mountainsides of the Scottish Highlands, the red deer has dark russet-brown fur and a pale tail.

In the last century, this species has bounced back from the brink of extinction after industrial demands for wood saw red deer numbers drop drastically. Oddly, it was the rise of deer hunting that helped their population grow as large tracts of land became dedicated to deer in the 19th century.