Camp

**Camps** are sites that serve as the permanent home of a Clan, although this term is occasionally used for other groups of cats as well. Cats sleep, meet, bring fresh-kill, get treated for injuries or illnesses, receive orders, share tongues, make reports to the Clan leader or deputy, and have ceremonies. Although most members of a Clan, notably the warriors, apprentices, deputy, and leader, are out of the camp for most of the day to hunt, patrol the border, and renew scent markers, other members, such as elders, queens, and kits, stay in the camp for the entire day, as they have either retired from Clan life, must take care of kits, or are too young to begin training.

## Location

A camp cannot be located in an area chosen at random, and new camps are carefully selected after being examined carefully and considered to follow a certain list of criteria. An ideal camp provides some protection from the elements, is difficult to attack and easy to defend, is at a safe distance from predators and other dangers, is large enough to accommodate all members of a Clan, has a source of water in the camp or nearby, and includes places for a warrior's den, apprentice's den, nursery, medicine cat's den, elder's den, and leader's den.

## Structure

Most camps are surrounded by some means of natural protection, such as bramble thickets, stone walls, or water, that shelter them from whether and enemy attacks. Most have a single entrance, where only one cat can pass through at a time, as well as a small entrance and exit to make dirt, although some have secret entrances or exits. To accommodate the natural defense and provide further protection to the camp, warriors patrol the camp during the day, and some sit vigil to watch over the Clan during the night.

All camps consist of a large, open clearing in the middle, known as the main clearing or central clearing. Cats gather in this clearing to meet each other, sun themselves, share tongues, and participate in Clan meetings. The main clearing also includes a vantage point, where the Clan leader addresses the Clan during a Clan meeting, and the fresh-kill pile, where hunting patrols drop their prey they caught and where cats get their food from, although prey is stored underground if it has rained or is raining.

The main clearing contains simple access to the nearby dens, which are sheltered locations, such as thickets and caves, used by a cat or group of cats to rest. Inside each den is a nest or multiple nests, made of beddings of moss, bracken, heather, ferns, and other materials, which are replaced by the apprentices every few days. Most camps contain a nursery, which is the safest and warmest area shared by the kits and queens, an apprentice's den, which is shared by the apprentices, a warrior's den, which is shared by the warriors and deputy.

There is also a medicine cat's den, which includes herbs and other supplies and is shared by the medicine cat and their apprentice, an elder's den, which is shared by the elders, and a leader's den, where the leader rests for most of the day and may be visited by other cats. The vicinity of the camp may also contain a burial place, where dead Clanmates are buried, and a dirtplace, where cats make dirt and dump inedible food.

## Known Camps

### BlueClan

* The medicine cat's den is small and shafty, location in a small palm tree, where the base is cushioned with soft moss.