The First Week of LARP Summer Camp

If I had started this blog on Monday, it would probably be more coherent and complete. But alas, Prue Sarn didn’t enter the story until today, Thursday, the final day of the first week of LARP Summer Camp 2024. Prue Sarn is integral because she is the destroyer of worlds—a poor creature with an afflicted childhood who grew up to spread her pain by killing everything in her path with a mysterious poison that contaminates the waters and oceans. The only safe place is an island called Nunavut. It’s up to nine fearless creatures/humans who managed to find their way to the island, along with hundreds of other hapless humans, to push back the veil of darkness that has covered the Earth and shine their lights so life can spread anew.

Did I captivate you with the story? Well, it doesn’t matter because Michael Afton and Stick Man both thought it was kind of dumb. I could tell by the roll of their eyes. We are allowed to call Michael Afton "Michael" for short. He doesn’t have any organs because they were all scooped out when he was killed in 1971, a year after I was born. He’s now just a walking corpse who can’t eat because everything falls right through him. Stick Man is 2-D and can turn his body to be the width of light. We might need someone with that superpower at some point.

Prue Sarn will be mentioned again, regardless of the eye rolls, because she has important things to teach. She has the potential for greatness and redemption. Through her, I hope to teach these kids about goodness, truth, beauty, and strength in the next 12 hours I have with them. Everyone has something good they can do with their life, even Prue Sarn.

Here’s a rundown of the week:

Monday:

Parents dropped off their kids at a park in the canyon. Only four showed up. Several parents messaged either the day before or that morning that their kid couldn’t attend until the second day of camp. One parent asked if their daughter’s cousin could join the camp late and come the next day. I wanted 10 kids, and on the first day, I only had four with the promise of a possible seven the next day. I said, “Sure! Tell them to come!” (I figured I would integrate the new kids somehow—it would be easier with double the number.)

We spent the day playing games. My goal was to acclimate them to each other and to me. I don’t think it’s possible to teach much if the students don’t know you or, worse, have no respect for you. As a teacher, I’ve found the best way to gain trust is to play games. So, we played games again the next day too. I couldn’t throw the new kids into a developing story. They had to have some history with the people around them first. However, I started developing the story at the end of the second day.

On the first day, I didn’t know their characters yet. For privacy, I will call them by their character names. I had Locke, Gordon Ramsay, Gordon’s sister (she only came the first day and then left for the rest of the week to go to a girl’s camp; she will start back on Monday), and Michael Afton, the aforementioned eye-roller. After the first day, I wasn’t sure things would work out between Michael and me, but I saw glimmers of hope even then.

The highlight of the first day was playing Charades on an outdoor stage. Good times were had by all.

Tuesday:

We met at the same park. More games were played, this time with a few more campers. I split them into two groups and gave each group a random box of items I found around the house. They were to use this box to create four clues the other team could decipher to open the lock that contained the prize. We also played several games of Werewolf, a role-playing game. It was at this point I introduced them to creating their own characters. They worked on this for the rest of our time together.

Wednesday:

We met at my house. I needed something to bond us better—cooking would be just the thing. I made an elaborate meal plan and headed to the grocery store at 9 pm. We started cooking and learning how to use kitchen tools. Meanwhile, we talked about our characters. They began to introduce themselves. We played a game where each person introduced all others who had already spoken, and then introduced themselves. At one point, the boys (most of them) needed to let off some steam, so I sent them to run around the block. It helped a little.

Here are the characters:

- Michael Afton, who we’ve met before.

- Gordon Ramsay (dressed in a baker’s hat, white shirt, and black pants). He was very helpful during the cooking portion of our day.

- Stick Man (we’ve met).

- Locke: A philosopher who can solve any riddle. He also wears a Fortnite helmet that lights up. He might play the ukulele; he isn’t sure yet.

- Dagger: Also known as War Machine. He was made by a machine right before WWII in 1935. He can defeat any foe.

- Death Stalker: Death for short. He was born at the dawn of time. He can kill one creature in any encounter—just one.

- Alex: We don’t know much about Alex yet except that he’s part wolf.

When it was my turn, I realized I hadn’t thought of a character yet, so I asked the kids what I should be called. I told them my role was different from theirs—I was a creator and facilitator. Someone said, “Let’s just call you Mom!” So we tried that for a while as we finished our meal.

We sat down at a large table set with the finest china. We ate grilled chicken tacos with all the trimmings, Mexican corn, and Brazilian lemonade. For dessert, we had cut-up fruit (cantaloupe, raspberries, and grapes) as well as some Mexican cheese (Queso Fresco). It was delicious. The only casualty was the beautiful blackberries. They were sitting in a colander in the sink being washed when someone washed their raw chicken juice hands all over them. Into the trash they went. It was painful for all involved.

But being called “Mom” didn’t fit for me. I told them I didn’t want that role. So, Michael spoke up and said, “I think we should call you Sensei.” Everyone agreed. We decided to call each other by our character names. Any mistakes or misnaming were punished by having to give the misnamed person a dime. I found all the dimes I had in my house, and they were exchanged frequently for the rest of the day (me paying out the most).

Thursday:

We met at our local thrift store. The racks were scoured for costume pieces. I brought a large rainbow umbrella I held up every few minutes in the store so the kids could find me. Some items were ordered on Amazon Wednesday night. After trying things on and wearing what we could, we headed up another canyon to continue our quest.

It must have been quite a scene as my little ducks followed me in their costumes up a trail and into the forest by a stream—some with capes, some with animal ears. I, Sensei, was in a bathrobe I found that morning at the thrift store. It was light blue, silky, and long. After sitting by the stream for a while trying to keep the bugs off our blanket, we decided to move operations for our bracelet-making activity to a table near the trailhead. Several families were already taking advantage of the cool canyon. We marched past them to a vacant spot with many heads turning our way.

The bracelets were needed to defeat our foe (this activity was beneath most of them). Maybe I picked the wrong beads. There were also insects involved and some screaming. With the rest of our time on Thursday, we played more Werewolf.

The in-depth quest and game start Monday at a local park!