recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Thales

## Ability

### Ability

**Polymath****(Play)** Your other Seven Sages of Ancient Greece cards, wherever they are, gain +6 Power permanently. **(Draw)** Your Philosophy , Mega Math and Watching the Skies cards in hand cost -4 Energy this turn.

## Did You Know?

Also known as the “Father of Science” and the first philosopher in Greek tradition, **Thales of Miletus** changed the game when he started using naturalistic theories and hypotheses to explain the world and the universe rather than mythology. Apparently, Thales predicted the solar eclipse of May 28th, 585 BC, and described the position of the “little bear” constellation Ursa Minor, which he believed could be of use in navigation at sea.

He was also the first to use deductive reasoning in geometry and the first known individual to make a mathematical discovery. Most importantly, he calculated the duration of the year and the timings of the equinoxes and solstices. Sadly, during the 58th Olympiad, Thales died of heatstroke while watching the games.
Tarantula Nebula

## Ability

### Ability

**Big Spider****(Play)** If your deck has 5 or more Bugs cards, this card gains +100 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Arachnophobic astronauts need not worry about the **Tarantula Nebula**. This cosmic spider isn’t spinning a web to trap space explorers – it is just so named because its glowing filaments of dust resemble a spider’s legs.

This giant starburst region is also known as 30 Doradus and was first observed by Nicolas-Louis Lacaille during an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in 1751. Today, we can say with some certainty that 30 Doradus is the most active starburst region known in the Local Group of galaxies.

Considering the Tarantula Nebula is about 160,000 light-years away from us, it’s clear that this non-stellar object is extremely luminous. If 30 Doradus was as close to Earth as the Orion Nebula, it would cast visible shadows.

'The Tarantula Nebula region' by ESO - https://www.eso.org/public/images/ann18006a/ (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
The Nile

## Ability

### Ability

**Denial****(Draw)** Your Ancient Egypt cards in hand gain +7 Power until played. **(Play)** Your opponent's cards in hand lose -12 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

It was by the banks of the river**Nile**, the longest river on Earth, that one of the oldest civilisations in the world began. For the Egyptians the river was a source of life – and yet, for centuries, the source of the river itself was a mystery as expeditions repeatedly failed to track it down.

From famous Greeks-whose-names-you've-heard-somewhere (like Herodotus, Eratosthenes and Ptolemy) to plucky missionaries with comedy names (like Krapf and Knoblecher - no, really) - the list of those who attempted to find the source kept growing until 1858, when John Hanning Speke discovered Lake Victoria.
The Flatwoods Monster

## Ability

### Ability

**Legacy of Fear****(Draw)** Your American Folklore cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

It looks like the neglected child of Little Red Riding Hood and a Cyberman, but what exactly the **Flatwoods Monster** (aka Braxie or the Phantom of Flatwood) is remains a mystery. It all started in 1952, when an entity was spotted after a bright object flew across the night sky.

The group who saw the monster claimed it hissed at them - but this was no cat. Descriptions varied, with one UFO writer saying the monster was 10 feet tall with a round blood-red face, eyes that shone greenish orange and a hood-like shape around its head. Sceptics say it was probably just a barn owl, and the light was likely from a meteor. Whatever it was, it certainly put the little town of Flatwoods in Braxton County on the map.
Tardigrades

## Ability

### Ability

**Impervious to the Void****(Play)** Your opponent's Space cards, wherever they are, lose -20 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

**Tardigrades** are also known as "moss piglets" or "water bears", which are just adorable names, but they bury the lede slightly on why they're so amazing - **Tardigrades** are virtually indestructible.

They're absolutely minute, about the size of a grain of sand, and they can live in basically any environment they want to. They tend to prefer living in water, but you could put them inside volcanoes, nuclear reactors, and even out in space and they'll survive for far longer than most species.

It's all to do with their cryptobiosis ability - **Tardigrades** can put themselves into a form of suspended animation. They pretty much shut their entire bodies down, reducing themselves to a husk called a 'tun' with just enough of their internal systems running to keep them alive, and that makes them impervious to almost anything.

This marvellous ability is what's allowed the species to survive through all of planet Earth's big five extinction events. It's also what's allowing them to survive on the moon right now - yes, there is life in space, but we kinda put it there so don't get too excited. The Beresheet lunar lander crashed on the Moon in April 2019 and its cargo included a colony of **Tardigrades** that are very likely to have survived the impact.
Tornado

## Did You Know?

**Tornados** occur when warm air from the ground rises and meets the cold air of thunderclouds. At this point... erm... *science happens* ...and the cloud starts to spin.

Tornados can reach up to 300 miles per hour and stretch from the clouds to the ground. They may be incredible to watch on film, but they can be devastating in reality.
Tomato Frog

## Ability

### Ability

**Call The Whole Thing Off****(Play)** Your Potto and Potoo cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

One can only assume that the person who named this frog was being a little lazy. After all, beyond the coincidence of its color, the thing has absolutely nothing in common with a tomato; the male isn't even red, it's a sort of yellowy-brown. Try as I have to track down the individual, I have failed to do so and cannot, therefore, apportion blame or scorn upon them.

But regardless of sloppy nomenclature, the Tomato Frog is extremely striking and rare, in part due to the scale of its natural habitat, the eastern rainforest belt of Madagascar: by day in ponds, muddy swamps and stagnant waterways and by night feasting on hapless insects found on the forest floor or even the occasional rodent.

As with many other frogs, bright colours often denote a level of toxicity or danger and the Tomato Frog is no exception. In this case, a glue-like irritant is secreted that can clog the eyes and limbs of predatory animals, including snakes. It also likes puffing up when threatened (don't we all!).
Wadi Rum

## Ability

### Ability

**Pillars of Wisdom****(Play)** If it's the first turn of a round, gain +35 Power/Turn for 2 turns. **(Return)** If you won the turn, a random card in your hand costs -7 Energy this round.

## Did You Know?

Also known as the Valley of the Moon, **Wadi Rum** is a 720-square-kilometre valley situated in the south of Jordan. With its rich red sand, natural arches, massive landslides and dramatic caverns, it’s easy to see why this UNESCO heritage site was chosen as the setting for films such as *‘The Martian’*, *‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’* and *‘Prometheus’*.

Rock carvings, inscriptions and archaeological remains suggest 12,000 years of human occupation – in fact, close analysis of inscriptions in Wadi Rum trace the evolution of human thought and the early development of alphabets. There are several high peaks in this iconic red-sand desert, the highest being Jabal Umm ad Dami, which measures around 1,830 metres tall. From the top, you can see the Red Sea and even the Saudi Arabian border.
Sphynx

## Ability

### Ability

**A Bald Strategy****(Play)** This card gains +20 Power. **(Return)** If you lost the turn, this card loses -10 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

While cats were treasured and hailed as life-saving companions in ancient Egypt, the **Sphynx** cat of today has no lineage claims to the Egyptian deities. In fact, this kitty was developed through selective breeding in the 1960s.

Since the Sphynx is hairless, it can lose body heat quickly in winter. If you’re thinking of adopting one of these bald babies, stock up on sweaters – leopard print is sooo in vogue this season.
Tiger Barb

## Ability

### Ability

**True Stripes****(Play)** Your Cool Cats cards in hand gain +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

A feisty little fish with distinct markings and a big personality, the **Tiger Barb** is one of the most popular freshwater species around. It’s also highly social, thriving in large groups of eight or more. Within these groups, tiger barb fish will develop a specific and strict pecking order, just like wolves do. If you keep Tiger Barbs in an aquarium, you’ll notice they eat in the exact same order every time.

The term “barb” is unfortunately not because they are all named Barbara. Perhaps they are, but given our inability to communicate with fish on that level, we’ll never know. It’s actually a term that applies to all members of the genus, which differ from other cyprinids in that they lack any barbels near the mouth.
The Argo

## Ability

### Ability

**Voyage Insurance****(Play)** If played next to Hera, your Oceans and Seas cards, wherever they are, gain +12 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

One does not simply walk into Colchis. To retrieve the Golden Fleece, Jason ordered the construction of a strong and magnificent vessel that could withstand the ravages of the open sea. There was only one person capable of building such a ship: his name was Argos, and luckily, he was ready and willing to help.

With the aid of the Goddess Athena, they built **The Argo **- the biggest and sturdiest ship the ancient Greeks had ever seen. Measuring over 22 metres in length, the shop had fifty oars to match the fifty heroes who would travel on board between Lolcos and Colchis. With the Argo ready to go, the crew set sail with no idea about the adventures and horrors that would come their way.****
The Chinese Room

## Ability

### Ability

**Time to Pretend****(Draw)** If your deck has 4 or more Science cards, your Science cards, wherever they are, lose -10 Power until played and your Philosophy cards, wherever they are, gain +14 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

In 1980, philosopher John Searle turned the <link="https:>Turing Test</link> on its head with an argument now known as **The Chinese Room**. It goes like this: imagine you’re locked in a room with only a computer. Chinese words are being slid under the door and you have a program that tells you how to respond. You don’t understand a word of Chinese, but you could easily fool the people outside into thinking there was a fluent Chinese speaker on the other side of the door.

The point Searle was making is that just because a computer can follow instructions and spit out appropriate responses, it doesn't mean it actually understands anything. He argued that computers can't truly understand language or have real thoughts like humans do.
The Polar Night

## Ability

### Ability

**Everlasting Night****(Start)** If you are losing the round, gain +2:energy/turn: this turn.

## Did You Know?

Any location within the Arctic and Antarctic circles have at least one summer day where the sun doesn't set, and at least one winter day where the sun doesn't rise. Why? It all comes down to our planet's tilt.

Since the Earth rotates at an axis of 23.5 degrees, there are periods of the year where the Earth completely blocks out the sun from polar regions. That one day in winter is known as the **Polar Night**: during this period of 24 hours in total darkness, the polar bears rally together and kill any humans in the area, Purge-style.

Just kidding, but maybe bring a flashlight and board up your doors and windows, just in case.
The Night Witches

## Did You Know?

What better name for an all-female squadron of bomber pilots in WWII than **The Night Witches**? For a start, in the Nazi-occupied Soviet Union, German soldiers had a very real fear of witches. This group played into that fear wholeheartedly, running thousands of air raids in rickety wooden planes under the cover of night.

Pretty soon, rumours began to fly that the Soviets were giving the women pills that gave them the night vision of a cat. In response Nadezha Popova, one of the Witches who flew 852 bombing raids during the war, crushed these rumours with a simple explanation: “This was nonsense, of course. What we did have were clever, educated, very talented girls.” Boom.

'Polikarpov Po-2' by Alan Wilson (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered) Darkened, light effect applied, blur added
Spider-Tailed Horned Viper

## Ability

### Ability

**Deadly Surprise****(Play)** Your cards with "Spider" in the name and your Venomous Creatures cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn. If played opposite a Birds or [[:Category:Sea Birds |Sea Birds ]] card, the card opposite this loses -40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Behold, the **Spider-Tailed Horned Viper** - potentially the second worst combination of words after ‘aggressive radioactive flying roaches’. When she made this creature, Mother Nature really just said “how can I make a snake even scarier?” and added a spider-like attachment to its tail.

Native to western Iran, the spider-tailed horned viper has rough skin with corrugated scales that resemble the limestone hills where it is often found. They use their tails to create the illusion of a fast-moving spider (apparently a tasty treat to some animals.) Lured in by the promise of food, the snake’s prey (usually a hungry bird) falls right into its elaborate trap and becomes lunch to the viper. If it’s any consolation, radioactive flying roaches aren’t actually a real thing. Yet.
Talos

## Ability

### Ability

**Circle the Shores****(Play)** If your deck has 9 or more Oceans cards, your non- Oceans cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

When Zeus asks you to build a contraption to protect Crete, you don’t cut corners. So, at Zeus’ behest, legendary blacksmith Hephaestus built **Talos** - a giant bronze automaton who would serve as a bouncer for the island.

Standing 30 metres tall, Talos had just one vein sealed with a bronze nail. Every day, Talos patrolled the shores of Crete like a diligent guardian. When the Argo (carrying Jason and the Argonauts) approached Crete, Talos hurled giant boulders to keep them at bay.

But even with all his bronze brawn, Talos met his match in Medea. Some stories claim she used drugs to drive him mad, others say she tricked him into removing that one precious nail from his vein. We can only hope he wasn’t programmed <link="https:>to feel pain</link>.
Taj Mahal

## Ability

### Ability

**Near-Perfect Symmetry****(Draw)** A random card in your hand gains +25 Power and another random card in your hand gains +30 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Built in honour of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the **Taj Mahal** was Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s way of keeping the memory of his true love alive. To this day, the world-famous mausoleum houses the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan and is one of the new seven wonders of the world. The white marble monument, with its gorgeous gardens, took over 15 years and about 20,000 workers to build.

Remarkably, the entire structure is almost perfectly symmetrical with one tiny exception - in the central chamber of the mausoleum, Mumtaz Mahal’s cenotaph sits in the centre while Shah Jahan’s is off to the left of it. This has led many to believe that he was never actually meant to be buried there.

Every year, the Taj Mahal welcomes between 7-8 million visitors. Legend has it that Emperor Shah Jahan intended to build another Taj Mahal in black marble across the river, but a war with his sons interrupted these plans.
Spirit of St. Louis

## Ability

### Ability

**Cross the Oceans****(Play)** All Oceans and Seas cards in both player's hands lose -15 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The Spirit of St. Louis is a high-wing monoplane that is currently hanging from the ceiling of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. But that's not its only claim to fame - it was also the first aircraft to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean!

Charles Lindbergh was the pilot on its historic flight. He took off from Roosevelt Airfield in New York on May 20th 1927 and landed at Aéroport Le Bourget in France. The flight took nearly 34 hours, and this was a time before in-flight movies and airline food to distract you.

Including his pre-flight prep, Lindbergh went 55 hours without sleep through the attempt and reported experiencing hallucinations and mirages during the flight. He tried flying close to the surface of the ocean, just so the spray of the water would keep him awake!
Sweat

## Ability

### Ability

**Blood, Sweat and Tears****(Draw)** If your deck contains Blood and Tears, your cards in hand cost -1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

What does a stressed person smell like? It sounds absurd, but the answer is grounded in science. Specifically, the science of **Sweat**. While regular sweat is made up of water, salt and potassium, and helps the body cool down as it evaporates, stress sweat is a different beast.

This type of sweat comes from a different gland and is made up of fatty acids and proteins. Since it doesn’t evaporate as quickly, it can combine with bacteria on the skin and create a nasty smell. Of course, knowing that might only add to your stress. Remember, like a fingerprint, sweat is unique to everyone. So, if you’re planning on committing a crime, try not to get stressed and sweat on the crime scene.
Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr

## Ability

### Ability

**To The Teeth****(Draw)** If your deck contains Teeth, a random Sharks! and a random Paleontology card in your hand cost -2 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

You probably know the names of the reindeer who pull Santa’s sleigh, but what about the goats who pull Thor’s chariot in Norse Mythology? Allow us to enlighten you: there’s **Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr**, and – well, that’s it.

No, Thor didn’t have a special goat with a red nose. According to Prose Edda, Thor actually cooked the goats and shared their meat amongst some peasant farmers he was staying with. After the family was finished feasting on them, Thor resurrected Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr with his hammer.

But it seemed one of the farmers’ children had broken part of a goat’s leg bones to suck out the marrow, so one of the goats had trouble walking after the resurrection. There’s always one, isn’t there?
The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword

## Ability

### Ability

**Words Hurt****(Play)** If your deck has 1 or more Battle! cards and 1 or more Weapons of Choice cards, your The Write Stuff and Documented cards, wherever they are, gain +23 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

You wouldn’t think a disposable Bic could rival a high carbon steel Claymore, but according to English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, **The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword**. While the line itself is world-famous, the play it’s from (Richelieu) isn’t so well-known nowadays.

The line is spoken by Cardinal Richelieu himself, chief minister to King Louis XIII, after he discovers a plot to kill him, but as a priest, he is unable to take up arms against his enemies.

However mighty these words may be, Bulwer-Lytton wasn’t technically the first to write them. The first known version of this popular phrase was coined in the early 7th century BC by Assyrian sage, Ahiqar. It read, “The word is mightier than the sword”, which arguably has a better ring to it.
The Devil (XV)

## Ability

### Ability

**Freedom from Restraint****(Draw)** This card **Lock**s permanently, 4 random cards in your hand cost -2 Energy permanently, and 4 random cards in your hand gain +20 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Don’t worry, getting **The Devil (XV)** card in your Tarot reading doesn’t signal imminent demon possession (that’s good!). However, it does mean your darker side is holding you back from being the best version of yourself (that’s bad.) On the plus side, at least it’s not The Tower, which signifies total chaos and destruction.

Getting The Devil in your reading is more of a wake-up call, alerting you to feelings of entrapment so you can free yourself from their hold (that’s good!) It can also mean you’re a slave to materialism and will always want more luxurious things in life (that’s bad.) However, if you get an upside-down Devil card in a reading, there’s a good chance you’re about to break those chains and start living your best life.
The Great Attractor

## Ability

### Ability

**Pulling Power****(Draw)** Your cards in hand lose -5 Power this round and this card gains +80 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

So, everything in the universe has a gravitational pull, right? The bigger the thing, the bigger the pull. Suns are big enough that the movement of planets are constrained by their gravitational field.

But the galaxies are moving too. So what's pulling them?

Enter **The Great Attractor**, which is a... *something*.

Scientists aren't sure what it is, but it's a thing that has a gravitational pull so utterly colossal that it's responsible for the movements of pretty much everything that we can see from Earth.

The most mind-blowing thing about it though? There's probably something *even bigger* and *even something-er* pulling the Great Attractor around...
Squirrelfish

## Ability

### Ability

**Defensive Staccato****(Return)** For every Musically Minded card that has been played this game, up to a maximum of 10, this card gains +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Don’t worry, they aren’t after your nuts. In fact, the meaning behind their name is all in the eyes. Like squirrels, these fish have large black eyes that help them to see at night. As a nocturnal predator, night-vision comes in handy for the longspine **Squirrelfish**, allowing it to source yummy crustacean larvae after a long day of guarding its territory.

Talking of which, squirrelfish usually live in the shallow coral reefs and deeper waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Like other reef fish, the squirrelfish does not take kindly to nosey neighbours and will make aggressive grunting sounds to defend their homes and intimidate predators such as the Moray eel.
Themes and Quips

The shop has Theme packs that include some backgrounds and additional quips to use in game.

## Classic (free)

* Hello!
* Good game!
* OH \*?%$&!
* Hmmm...
* Ouch.
* I've been practicing...
* En Garde!.
* Great Deck!
* Thanks!
* So close.
* Good luck!
* Well played!
* So lucky...
* Genius!
* Sorry.
* I have a plan (I think).

## Vikings (500 gems)

* The gods foretell of victory.
* The gods are watching.
* We live to fight another day
* Skildir Klofnir!
* Winning is what we do.
* I wish I'd never left the farm.
* By Thor!
* I go to Valhalla!
* Revenge at last!
* Loki taunts me.
* We live for the fight.
* Skål!
* Power is always dangerous
* Do not give the gods credit.
* Be calm. It is not Ragnarok.

## The Aztecs! (400 gems)

* For the glory of Tenochtitlan!
* Are you cowards or warriors?
* A worthy sacrifice.
* I saw your attack coming...
* The calendar foretold it.
* You must pay tribute.
* Bow to the empire!
* What is this?!
* Let us celebrate!
* The Aztecs will rule again!
* This is an honour.
* Did you bring a gift?
* Not today!
* Another victory for Montezuma...
* We admire your civilization.
Spiny Dogfish

## Ability

### Ability

**Spurdog****(Play)** Your Legends of the Old West cards in hand gain +15 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

According to our research, the **Spiny Dogfish** (which *is* a type of Shark, before you go to check up on us) is often consumed as food - primarily in… hang on… *England*?!

This is news to us, and we are royal subjects of ‘er Majesty.

Ah - but hang on, maybe we’ve just been tricked all this time. Because it turns out that fish served in chippies (the affectionate British term for Fish and Chip shops) - under names like ‘huss’, ’flake’ or ‘rock salmon’ - is often the Spiny Dogfish.

An endangered shark. In batter. At your local chippy.

We have the tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror to thank for exposing this - which they did by running DNA tests on fish bought from various coastal towns.
Synthetoceras

## Ability

### Ability

**Y so Serious?****(Play)** Your opponent's Paleontology cards in hand lose -25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The existence of unicorns may be up for debate, but once upon a time, there really was a horned horse that roamed the Earth. Known as the **Synthetoceras**, this ancient beast looked a lot like modern deer, except it had a long, forked horn at the end of its snout.

Measuring around 2 metres in length, Synthetoceras was the largest member of its family. It first appeared in the Miocene epoch, around 10 million years ago, and it survived for at least 5 million years!

```
Sure, it didn’t have the ethereal beauty of a unicorn, but this was the era of superpredators - the Synthetoceras needed to look somewhat threatening if it was going to have a chance at survival.

```
Stellar Parallax

## Ability

### Ability

**Shift of Position****(Draw)** If your deck has 6 or more Space cards, your Space cards, wherever they are, lose -10 Power permanently. **(Play)** If your deck has 6 or more Space cards, your non- Space cards, wherever they are, gain +10 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

**Stellar parallax** is like a cosmic game of "Where's Wally", but instead of finding a man in a striped shirt, we're trying to find the true location of a star.

See, as you probably know by now, the Earth is constantly moving around the sun. And from our spinning vantage point, it looks like the stars are slightly moving too. But don't worry, it's nothing to be dizzy about. The effect is small, so it is usually measured in arcseconds (1/3600th of a degree). The closer a star is, the larger its parallax angle will be, while very distant stars will have a parallax angle of a few thousands of an arcsecond, which is like trying to spot a firefly while on a rollercoaster.

'Hubble precision stellar distance measurement has been extended 10 times further into the Milky Way.' by ESA/Hubble (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Thunderstorms

## Did You Know?

The lightning in Thunderstorms is caused by electrostatic buildup between clouds and the ground when ice crystals, raindrops and hailstones move around in a storm. This causes the energy to be released in flashes of lightning.

Lightning is hotter than the surface of the Sun, and heats air up so fast that the sonic boom that we know as thunder is formed. Very, very frightening.
The Hermit (IX)

## Ability

### Ability

**Withdraw****(Start)** Your cards in hand lose -10 Power this turn. **(Play)** Your cards adjacent to this lose -50 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Drawing **The Hermit (IX)** Tarot card can only mean one thing: time to lockdown again! Just kidding. Or are we? Honestly we can’t say for sure, but getting this card is less about worldly events and more about looking inwards.

When drawn upright, The Hermit represents spiritual mastery, growth and accomplishment. By choosing to embark on a path of self-discovery, you will soon reach a state of heightened awareness.

If you’ve been rushing around keeping busy with work, the Hermit card is a sign that you need to slow down and reconnect with your spiritual self. Simply put, getting this card in your reading represents your inner desire to “reject humanity and return to monke” - so, what are you waiting for? Quit your job and go live in the wild!
Telomerase

## Ability

### Ability

**Cell Immortal****(Start)** Your opponent's Brilliant Human Body cards in hand lose -15 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

🎵 Forever young / I want to be forever young / Do you really want to live forever?🎵
While it’s unlikely that Alphaville were singing about the potential of **Telomerase**, that’s what some researchers believe it can do. Also called terminal transferase, Telomerase is an enzyme that plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity of DNA during cell division. To put it simply, this naturally occurring enzyme can make DNA using RNA as a template.

For starters, testing for the presence of Telomerase could help doctors diagnose cancer in patients much faster. But there’s more. Recently, scientists figured out how to extract it and synthesise it. If active Telomerase is added to normal adult cells, there’s a chance they’ll continue replicating long beyond their Hayflick Limit, allowing us to live longer (<link="https:>maniacal laugh...</link>)
The Crown Jewels

## Ability

### Ability

**Crowning Glory****(Return)** If you won the turn, your History cards, wherever they are, gain +30 Power and cost +3 Energy for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

Since around 1660, **the Crown Jewels** have formed the centrepiece of the royal coronation. Given that the total value of the collection is said to be worth over £5 billion, it’s understandable that they’re kept under tight security in the Tower of London. But they weren’t always stored here: in fact, during WWII, the British Crown Jewels were kept in a biscuit tin and hidden in a chamber under Windsor Castle.

During construction, they covered it at night with a tarp to stop German planes from sneaking a peak from the sky. It was so secretive that even then-Princess Elizabeth wasn’t told. Of the collection, the crown itself contains some of the most famous jewels, including the Black Prince’s Ruby, the Stuart Sapphire and the Cillinan II diamond.
Stegosaurus

## Ability

### Ability

**Step Up to the Plate****(Play)** All Herbivores cards in both player's hands gain +10 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The Stegosaurus may be the easiest herbivore to recognise -

Plates on its back? Check.

Spikes on its tail? Check.

But did you know that the four bony spikes on its tail are called a ‘Thagomizer’? Even if you did, you might not have known that this originated in a Far Side cartoon from 1982. In the cartoon (by the brilliant Gary Larson) a caveman points to the tail and says "Now, this end is called the Thagomizer... after the late Thag Simmons.“ Paleontologists laughed... and duly adopted the name as an official term.
Spotted Handfish

## Ability

### Ability

**Sea Floor Stroll****(Play)** For every round completed this game, your Common and Rare Deep Ocean and Fabulous Fish cards, wherever they are, gain +10 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Found in only one location along the Great Southern Reef near the Derwent River estuary in Tasmania is a unique and unusual fish. Like all handfish, the spotted variety have hand-shaped pectoral fins that are <link="https:>used for walking on the sea floor,</link> hence the name. Yes, it’s mildly creepy, but don’t worry: they aren’t making a charge to take over land. Their walking fins just evolved this way to help them avoid predators and scavenge the seafloor for food.

One of the rarest fish in the world, numbers of **Spotted Handfish** are in the low hundreds. As if habitat loss and degradation from human activities wasn’t enough to contend with, the Spotted Handfish is also threatened by attempts from its mortal enemy, the North Pacific seastar, to prey on its eggs.

'Female spotted handfish with her eggs' by CSIRO (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 3.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Takamagahara

## Ability

### Ability

**Plain of High Heaven****(Play)** If your deck has 4 or more Space cards, your Japanese Folklore cards in hand gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Welcome aboard your flight! Refreshments are on their way - but in the meantime, keep an eye out for **Takamagahara** - (高天原, "Plain of High Heaven") the home of the heavenly gods in Japanese mythology.

Said to be located in the clouds above the sea, Takamagahara is often depicted as a spiritual world of pure light full of paddy fields and a place for weaving (a must for celestial beings and humans alike.) Takamagahara is ruled by Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess and daughter of creator deities Izanagi and Izanami.

Any passengers wishing to visit Takamagahara will have to make their own arrangements, as we do not currently have access to the bridge Ama-no-uki-hashi (the "Floating Bridge of Heaven") which connects Takamagahara to Earth.
Tartarus

## Ability

### Ability

**Torment for Titans****(Return)** Both player's cards, wherever they are, with 8 or more Base Energy cost +4 Energy for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

If you find yourself in **Tartarus**, you must have done something really *really* bad. Because this place is the opposite of Elysium, where good and happy souls go after death. In Homer’s ‘The Iliad’, Zeus describes Tartarus as being "as far beneath Hades as heaven is above earth." So that gives you a good idea of how awful a time you would have had there.

In other words, if Tartarus had a TripAdvisor list of 10 activities to tick off, they would all be ‘get tortured’. As well as a deep abyss used as a dungeon of torment for wrongdoers and a prison for the Titans, Tartarus was a deity - and not just any deity, but the third of the primordial deities, following after Chaos and Gaia.
Surtr

## Ability

### Ability

**Big Monster****(Draw)** Your cards gain +10 Power this turn. If you are losing the round, gain an additional +10 Power for the rest of the round.

## Did You Know?

**Surtr** is the first fire giant and the second being in existence to be born. He mostly hangs out in his realm, Muspelheim, where he trains for Ragnarok, the apocalyptic event where Surtr and his fellow giants will fight against the gods. The training comes good, as Surtr is destined to destroy Asgard, but it’s not good *enough* – in the process, he dies at the hands of Thor and Odin. RIP sweet scary fire giant.
The Flamboyant Tree

## Did You Know?

It goes by many names: Royal Poinciana, Delonix Regia, flame tree and the **Flamboyant Tree**. Often dubbed the most beautiful flowering tree in the world, the Royal Poinciana boasts a bright display of orange flowers in the summer months. Determined to be the centre of attention, the Flamboyant Tree doesn’t do group performance. In fact, if planted too close to others, it is strong enough to uproot competitors and wreak havoc on nearby homes.
The Great Annihilator

## Ability

### Ability

**Annihilation!****(Play)** All cards in both player's hands with 3 or less Base Energy lose -30 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

It’s mysterious, it’s massive and it spews out the brightest gamma-rays in the galaxy: this Milky Way monster known as**The Great Annihilator** certainly lives up to its name. As gas falls into the black hole, it is compressed, creating positrons (one form of antimatter) in the process. As the positrons are blasted into space, they collide with interstellar clouds. The result? A positively humungous explosion.
The Pyramids

## Ability

### Ability

**Pyramid Scheme****(Play)** Your Louvre Pyramid card in hand gains +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

"While there are over 130 pyramids in Egypt, the most famous are the three Pyramids of Giza - and the most famous of these is the Great Pyramid known by the Ancient Greeks as 'Cheops'. Built for the Pharaoh Khufu, this is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and was for around 3,800 years the tallest man-made structure.

Historians are divided as to whether the Pyramids were built by slaves or not. Whatever the case, they put in a lot of effort: the Great Pyramid is made of around 2,300,000 blocks of stone, averaging 2.5 tons each!

Meanwhile, in Math news (you are here for the Math news, right?), the ratio of the perimeter of the pyramid to the height is almost exactly 2π - leading many to speculate that the Egyptians were way ahead on the geometric curve."
Tears

## Ability

### Ability

**Blood, Sweat and Tears****(Play)** If played between Blood and Sweat, gain +60 Power/Turn this turn.

## Did You Know?

Onions do it, movie endings do it, reading the break-up letter from your high-school girlfriend that you’re still not over will also do it. To cry is human: but why do our eyes leak salty water in these situations? The reason is threefold.

We cry basal **Tears** to protect our eyes from debris and keep them lubricated. We cry reflex tears when we’re exposed to irritants like smoke or fresh onion fumes. And, when we’re sad, we shed emotional tears that release oxytocin and endorphins. That’s why everything feels better after a good cry.

But when Ariana Grandé says she “Ain't got no tears left to cry”, she’s wrong. Tears don’t run out - unless, of course, you’re severely dehydrated. In which case, someone get Ari some water.
The Donation of Constantine

## Ability

### Ability

**Fraudulent Transaction****(Draw)** If your deck has 3 or more The Roman Empire cards, your cards with Alexandria in their name, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

One of the greatest forgeries in European history, the **Donation of Constantine** went unchallenged for centuries. This medieval document was said to be given to Pope Sylvester I by the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, when Constantine relocated his capital in Constantinople.

The document granted the pope (and therefore, the church) total control over all of Italy, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Alexandria. As time went on, this forged document gave the pope huge political clout and grew to be heavily influential.

We don’t know for sure who forged the Donation, but in the 15th century, Nicholas of Cusa (a German cardinal and scholar) realised it was #FakeNews forged in the 8th or 9th century, possibly by the Church of Rome as a bid to overcome an ongoing power struggle.
The Cretaceous Period

## Ability

### Ability

**Carnivore Carnival****(Play)** Your Carnivores cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

**The Cretaceous Period** is the most recent of the Mesozoic Era, spanning 77 million years, from 142 million to 65 million years ago, and was a time of massive change. Continents were literally on the move during this time, busy remodelling the shape and tone of all life on Earth.

At the start of the period, dinosaurs ruled the roost, with sauropods, tyrannosaurs, duck-billed and horned dinosaurs being the most prominent. Toothed birds and Pterosaurs flew through the skies, and mosasaurs swam in the seas.

At the end of the period, about 80 million years later, oceans filled the gaps between isolated continents and flowering plants were spreading across the landscape. Mammals waited in the wings to fill the void that would soon be left by the vanished dinosaurs - oh yeah, this period of history doesn't end well for them.

Two important groups of modern mammals evolved during the cretaceous period: marsupials, whose members that we know and love include kangaroos, koalas, and opossums; and placental mammals, which include most modern mammals, such as rodents, cats, and primates.

The Cretaceous Period ended with one of the greatest mass extinctions in the history of Earth. It exterminated the dinosaurs, marine and flying reptiles, and many marine invertebrates. Approximately 80 percent of all species of animals across the globe were rendered extinct.

The nature of that extinction event? That's a story for another card...
Telemachus

## Ability

### Ability

**In The Name Of The Father****(Draw)** Your Odysseus card, wherever it is, costs -2 Energy until played and this card gains +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Early on in The Odyssey, we learn of Odysseus’ son, **Telemachus**, who spends the first four books of the poem searching for news about his father. As an infant, Telemachus fell into the ocean but was fortunate enough to be rescued by dolphins. That’s why, when Odysseus leaves for combat in Troy, he wears the emblem of dolphins as a symbol on his shield.

Twenty years later, Telemachus has reached adulthood and visits Pylos and Sparta in search of his father. Upon his return, he finds Odysseus has gotten home before him – but is in disguise. His home is filled with his mother Penelope’s many suitors, and the two men hatch a cunning plan to bring about their downfall.
The Eye

## Ability

### Ability

**Wonder Vision****(Play)** Your Brilliant Human Body cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Blink and you’ll miss it: **The Eye** is the fastest muscle on the human body. In fact, if you had a penny for every time you blinked (approximately 4,200,000 times a year), you’d have a respectable salary of £42,000 a year. Made up of over 2 million working parts, the eyes in your skull are like tiny, complex cameras that capture images and transform them into electrical impulses.
The Gingko Tree

## Did You Know?

If you’re looking for a tree that stands the test of time, look no further: **The Gingko Tree** is literally a living fossil. One of the oldest living tree species (they were around 250 million years ago), the Gignko tree produces nuts and fruit - but we wouldn’t recommend these as one of your 5-a-day. Apparently, these fruits emit a smell that can be compared to rancid butter or baby vomit. So not something you’d want in a smoothie.
The Empress (III)

## Ability

### Ability

**Crown of 12 Stars****(Play)** If your deck has exactly 6 Life on Land cards, your Life on Land cards, wherever they are, gain +12 Power until played. Repeat for Space.

## Did You Know?

Considering how foreboding some Tarot cards can be, getting **The Empress (III)** in a reading should come as a relief. The lush green forests and winding stream that surround the Empress signifies a connection with Mother Earth and the healing power of nature.

When was the last time you stopped to appreciate the beauty in life? Even if you don’t believe in divination, this card is a good excuse to reconnect with your senses and treat yourself to a spa day, a massage or a delicious meal.

The Empress also represents motherhood, so you might feel a strong urge to nurture and care for others - whether that’s a child, a sibling or that scabby stray cat with the missing ear.
The Colosseum

## Ability

### Ability

**Are You Not Entertained?****(Play)** Your Theatre of Epidaurus card in hand gains +45 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

The Colosseum in Rome is the largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. Originally constructed between 70 and 80 AD, it had a capacity of around 50,000 people - which sounds impressive, but bear in mind the seats were only 14 inches across so everyone would have been packed in like sardines.

Events held there included gladiatorial duels, wild animal hunts and naval battles. There was also a... hang on, naval battles?

Yeah, that's right - they would flood the amphitheatre, bring in some boats and re-enact great naval battles from Rome's history. Kind of like when they have NFL games at Wembley Stadium in London, except it needs far more drainage.

## Trivia

* The quote "Are You Not Entertained?" is derived from *Gladiator*, a movie set in the Roman Empire.
Star-nosed Mole

## Ability

### Ability

**Devour****(Return)** Your opponent's remaining cards in hand lose -9 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

We know you’re wondering how we got a preview card for Stranger Things Season 4, but it turns out this particular demogorgon is both distressingly real, and reassuringly small. The **Star-Nosed Mole** is about the size of a hamster.

It is certainly a strange thing though - and it holds a mammalian record for fast eating that even a ten-year-old boy would gawp at. Using 25,000 sensors (known as *Elmer’s Organs*) on the 22 appendages that make up the ‘star nose’, this mole can detect whether a prey is edible within 8 milliseconds, and then consume said prey in another 120 milliseconds.

This is helped by the fact that the star organ is the most sensitive touch organ on any mammal - so sensitive in fact, that scientists haven’t been able to establish the low threshold for its sensitivity!

And as if that weren’t enough, they can even smell underwater.
Sunflower Galaxy

## Ability

### Ability

**Galactic Sunflower****(Play)** If your deck has 4 or more Plant Life cards, your Space cards in hand gain +22 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Even if we could travel at light speed, it would take us 27 million years to reach Messier-63, also known as M63, NGC 5055 or the **Sunflower Galaxy**, a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. Whether there is life in this galaxy will remain a mystery, but we do know that it contains approximately 400 billion stars. First discovered in 1779 by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain, the sunflower galaxy was the first of 24 objects that Méchain contributed to Charles Messier’s catalogue.

It may be a spiral galaxy, but a closer look at pictures of M63 reveal that it only has two spiral arms that are wound tightly around the core, giving the impression of many arms.

'A Galactic Sunflower' by ESA/Hubble (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
The Painter on the Road to Tarascon

## Ability

### Ability

**Destroyed Masterpiece****(Play)** If played next to Vincent van Gogh, this card gains +60 Power. **(Return)** Your Lost Treasures cards, wherever they are, cost -1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

In 1888, Van Gogh created a self portrait (yeah, another one), which captured his walk to Tarascon. He sent it, along with some other studies, to his younger brother, Theo. The small figure in the frame is carrying painting materials and looks like he’s searching for a spot to paint. It’s bright, serene (unless you’re worried about him dropping any of his art supplies) and a little whimsical. However, this painting just kept on walking and it’s now…gone.

In fact, it’s even worse than that because rather than just going missing, it’s one of 6 of Van Gogh’s works that have been destroyed. **The Painter on the Road to Tarascon** was kept in the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum and is believed to have been destroyed during Allied bombing in World War II.

There is still some hope though as the Monuments Men (or the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program) listed on their “Most Wanted: Works of Art” and noted that it is “missing from the Stassfurt salt mines art repository … on April 12, 1945.” So, you never know. Maybe one day, this lost piece will be discovered and we can all enjoy Van Gogh’s walk to work again.
The Round Table

## Ability

### Ability

**Assemble the Knights****(Play)** Your Knights of the Round Table cards gain +20 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Forerunner to the modern-day boardroom, **The Round Table** was intended to demonstrate that the Knights who sat around it were all equals. But, as per Orwell, some Knights were more equal than others. I only count one, for example, who got to call himself ‘King’.

It was a noble idea anyway, and caught the popular imagination during the Middle Ages, when Round Table tournaments were often held to celebrate weddings, battle victories, bar mitzvahs and so on with jousts, feasts, Arthurian Knight cosplay, and dancing.

Depending on your source, you may find there were a traditional dozen Knights of the Round Table, or over a thousand (presumably they had multiple sittings, or the table was the size of Wembley Stadium).

One particular seat deserves a mention, and that is the empty one. Legend has it that Merlin reserved a seat for the knight who would go on to find the Holy Grail. Anyone who sat in it who wasn’t basically perfect would **die**, and so it was known as the *Siege Perilous*. Then Sir Galahad\* comes along and sits in it (either an impressively immodest act, or he just never got the memo) and duly goes on to find the Holy Grail.

* (Perceval in earlier versions of the legend.)

'King Arthur's knights, gathered at the Round Table, see a vision of the Holy Grail. From a manuscript of Lancelot and the Holy Grail' by Maître des cleres femmes (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)