Camp

A **camp** is a site where a group of cats makes its permanent home. It is where the cats sleep, meet, bring fresh-kill, get treated for injuries or illness, receive orders, share tongues, make reports to the Clan leader or deputy and have ceremonies. Some cats, such as queens, kits and elders stay in the camp while the warriors, apprentices, deputy and leader patrol the territory and hunt. Each Clan has one camp.

## Location

Each camp is situated on the Clan's own territory. Of the many criteria for choosing a camp, here are a few examples:

* It provides some protection from the elements.
* Is difficult to attack and easy to defend.
* Is at a safe distance from Twolegs, Twoleg facilities and other dangers.
* Is large enough to accommodate all Clan cats.
* Has a source of water in the camp or nearby.
* Has places for a warrior den, apprentice den, nursery, medicine cat den, elders' den and leader's den.

## Structure

The term was first coined by Badger's group when they first settled at Four Stones. Most camps are surrounded by some means of natural protection (such as thickets, stone walls or water) that shelter them both from weather and enemy attacks. They usually have a single entrance, where only one cat can pass at a time (such as a tunnel under the thickets) along with one small entrance and exit to make dirt. However, there can sometimes be secret entrances/exits, such as in MarshClan's camp. In addition to the natural defense, warriors patrol and protect the camp day and night.

### Main clearing

All camps contain a large, open area in their middle. Cats gather here to meet each other, sun themselves, share tongues and participate in Clan meetings. The main clearing usually also contains:

* The **fresh-kill pile**, a spot where hunters drop the prey they caught and brought to the camp and where cats get their food from. Sometimes, if it has rained or is raining, they will store their prey in the ground to keep it dry.
* A **vantage point** from where the leader addresses the Clan during a meeting, such as a large rock or a branch or root of a tree.

### Dens

**Dens** are sheltered locations (such as thickets or caves) used by a cat or a group of cats to rest, sleep and recover. Beddings of moss, bracken, wool, and ferns are used to rest on. The dens are usually cleaned and tidied by the apprentices of the Clan. Most camps contain all (or several) of the following:

* **Nursery** - The den shared between the queens and kits, usually the safest and most protected and warmest.
* **Apprentices' den** - The den shared between the apprentices.
* **Warriors' den** - The den shared between the warriors and the deputy. Senior warriors usually sleep towards the center, where it is warmer, while younger cats sleep near the edge, where it is colder.
* **Medicine cat's den** - The den that belongs to the medicine cat and their apprentice, who store their herbs and other supplies here as well. Cats with severe injuries and illness also rest here until they recover and are able to return to their own dens.
* **Elders' den** - The den shared between the elders, usually the second most protected and warmest.
* **Leader's den** - The den where the Clan leader lives, usually the nicest den. They usually spend most of the day here in seclusion and undisturbed; however, they can be visited by other cats, or choose to spend the night with their mate.

### Outer facilities

The following can be encountered in the vicinity of the camp:

* **Burial place** - A location where dead Clanmates are buried.
* **Dirtplace** - A location where the cats make dirt and dump inedible food (bones, feathers, crowfood).

## Known camps

### Current camps

#### TreeClan

TreeClan's camp is a clearing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by tall trees on all sides. The camp entrance is a tunnel through the thorn wall, hard for enemies to break through. Near the center is a tall tree, known as the **Tall Oak**. Its roots are covered with moss. In a small hole within the roots is the TreeClan leader's den. There are many flat, smooth rocks or tree stumps around the edge of the clearing where cats can sun themselves or kits can play on. The earth of the clearing is covered in grass, flattened by many moons of pawsteps. The fresh-kill pile usually lies at the side of the clearing near the elders' den. At one point, the camp was burned down in a fire but the vegetation grew back eventually.

* The warriors' den is a big blackberry bush.
* The apprentice's den is a fallen, hollow sycamore log that fell just a few moons ago.
* In one corner is the nursery, a large bramble thicket reinforced with thorn.
* The elders' den, an old elderberry bush, is right next to the nursery.
* The medicine den is a fallen maple tree on the other side of camp.
* The dirtplace is behind a bramble bush next to the wall.

#### FieldClan

FieldClan's camp is on a hill, the highest in the wide meadow. The walls are made of gorse, hawthorn, and flowering heather. The entrance is a tunnel through the bushes. Kits are allowed on the slope. At the center of camp are two boulders: the **Jagged Rocks**. Formerly the Jagged Peak, a quake shattered them in two during Swipestar's reign. They are used by the leader to hold Clan meetings. The clearing is grassy, with thick soil.

* The leader sleeps in a gorse bush next to the warriors' den, which is a woven thicket of gorse and thorns.
* The apprentices den, the nursery, and the elders den are all gorse-and-thorn dens as well.
* The medicine den is under a thorn bush next to the nursery. Herb storage is located near the back of the den, under a tangle of old, dead roots.
* The dirtplace is a heather bush just outside of camp.

#### MarshClan

MarshClan's camp is an island in the lake itself, a fair distance from the shore. Two streams flow around the east and west sides of the island. The island's edges are surrounded by a thick wall of reeds and rushes. The dry path to the island is known only to MarshClan cats. The clearing is grassy, with sandy soil. There are a series of stepping stones that provide an easy path to the sandy bank on the other side of the eastern stream. These are often used by kits to play on and catch minnows. At the western edge of the camp is the **Ripple Rock**, a tall boulder with a cave at its base. It is where the Clan leader holds meetings.

* The leader's den is a small cave in the base of the Ripple Rock.
* The warrior and apprentice dens are large clumps of sedge grass.
* The nursery and the elders' den are made of tightly woven reeds, though ever since the Crimson Guild War the nursery has been reinforced by brambles.
* The medicine den is a tumble of boulders opposite the Ripple Rock with a grassy, sandy clearing and a small pool in the back that connects to the eastern river.
* The dirtplace is concealed by thick rushes.

#### CaveClan (modern, new cave)

CaveClan's camp is a cave at the feet of the mountains, hidden well by boulders and stones. The entrance is a crevice in the rock, where a stunted spruce tree grows. On the back wall of the cave is a ledge of rock, where the leader makes their announcements. The leader, warriors, apprentices, queens, kits, elders and the medicine cat all sleep in various side caves, the largest being the warriors' den.

* The nursery cave has a floor of soft sand and walls of smooth stone.
* The medicine cat's cave has many small nooks and ledges for herb storage.
* The dirtplace is just outside the cave.

#### SeaClan (modern, the island)

SeaClan's territory is an island far to the northwest of Raven's Wing Lake. The camp is a hollow near the center of the island, sheltered by steep hills on three sides and a wall of holly and boxwood on the fourth. It is easily defended and cats can escape up paths in the hills if they must. The Clan leader makes announcements from a pine stump on the edge of the clearing.

* Beneath the roots of the stump is a small hollow where the leader sleeps.
* The warriors and apprentices sleep beneath juniper bushes.
* The nursery is next to the elder's den, beneath a thicket of pine shrubs.
* The medicine den is it's own clearing sheltered between the shoulders of two of the hills, surrounded by boxwood bushes to shelter it from the wind.
* The elder's den is a daphne bush.

### Other camps

#### DarkClan (off-territory caves)

DarkClan camp was a large cave network in off-territory, similar in many ways to CaveClan's camp. The leader stood on a stump beneath a ledge in the rock, which served as the leader's den. The warriors, apprentices, medicine cat, queens, and elders all slept in various side caves.

#### SeaClan (old, cliff-side meadow)

The original SeaClan camp was a dip in the meadow near the drop. The wall of camp was tussock and gorse; the entrance tunnel was made of the same material.

* The leader's den and meeting place was a tree trunk sunken deep into the soil.
* The elder's den was a hawthorn bush on the other side of camp, next to the warriors den.
* The warriors den was two tree trunks crossed over each other like an X and were sunken into the ground. The entrance was covered with lichen and moss.
* The apprentice den was a clump of nettles.
* The nursery was a thorn bush.

#### The Crimson Guild (western forest)

The Crimson Guild camp was located in the far western edge of TreeClan's forest. It was a clearing surrounded by thorn bushes and was laid out like an ordinary Clan camp; there were dens for the leader, soldiers, apprentices, queens, kits and elders.

#### The Wolf-Pack (twolegplace)

The Wolf-Pack camp was located on the outskirts of the Twolegplace, two days away from TreeClan's forest. The camp was an abandoned stretch of black stone surrounded by crumbling buildings on all sides.

#### Red Fangs pack (off-territory forest)

The Red Fangs pack settled in an open forest. Their camp was a clearing with a few trees and they used shallow dips in the ground as their dens.

#### TreeClan emergency cave (old, temporary refuge)

During the Crimson Guild War, a wildfire destroyed TreeClan's camp and most of the territory. They were forced to take shelter in a medium-sized cave off-territory, located by the warrior Brackenheart. The Clan stayed in this camp for presumably an entire year while the forest healed.

#### FieldClan secondary camp (old, exile camp)

A cluster of trees that was used as a makeshift camp after FieldClan's main camp was burned down moons ago. It was also used as a camp by the exiles that Swipestar tossed out of FieldClan. The dens are mostly worn away from disuse but there is the ability to pick out where each one might have been located.

## Life in the camp

* At dawn, the deputy appoints the daily patrols.
* Border patrols leave at dawn and sunset.
* Several hunting patrols leave daily. Some Clans (like DarkClan) preferred to hunt at night; the others generally hunt during daytime.
* Some warriors always remain in the camp to guard it in case of an attack.
* Mentors train their apprentices at a designated place (like the training beach in SeaClan) or take them on patrols.
* Apprentices do chores such as: tidying up dens, changing used bedding and tending to queens and elders. The elders usually tell them stories while they give them moss balls soaked in water, fresh kill or get rid of their ticks and fleas.
* New medicine cat apprentices learn the different herbs while more experienced medicine cat apprentices help with minor sicknesses, kitting and injuries. The medicine cat treats and tends to injured or ill cats, trains their apprentice if they have one and leaves to gather herbs when supplies are running low.
* The leader oversees what happens in the Clan, consults with warriors and calls a meeting if needed. (e.g. a kit becoming an apprentice).
* Cats who stay in the camp usually rest, sunbathe in the clearing, eat prey or share tongues. Cats are most active during the morning and late afternoon; they often rest during the night and at noon.
* At night, one or more warriors stay awake to guard the camp while the others sleep.

## Gallery

The den of the Red Fangs pack.DarkClan's camp, now abandoned.