July
There is a weird vibe as you arrive at camp this year. The smell of moss is thick in the air, fog rolls off the lake, and no matter where you stand, a chill seems to follow. You feel jumpy, set on edge. Though you’re surrounded by friends and so glad to be back, you can’t help but scan the treeline. For what, you’re not totally sure.
Everything is fine, though. First day jitters are all. It’s been a whole year since this place was last occupied. Once the cobwebs are cleared and everyone decorates their bunks, the nerves will settle and things will be normal.
So get to your cabin, unpack, and meet your fellow campers around the fire pit. (Head to the Discussion Thread to view the different Cabins (Teams) available and start working on decorating your bunk.)
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After a long, exciting day, and an evening full of laughter and campfire stories, you retire to your bunk for the night. As you walk back to your cabin, the sound of a twig snapping in the woods sends your head spinning around and your hands rustling for your flashlight. You pick up the pace and are soon crossing the threshold, taking a breath as you quickly close the door behind you. That wasn’t a growl you just heard, was it? What animals even live around here? What used to be on these campgrounds? It might be interesting to find out and share the information with your fellow campers.
August
Though the first few weeks of Camp were a little unnerving, everyone settles in and the days float by, filled with fun, friendship, and creativity.
Cabin Trailblazers invites everyone on a hike in the neighboring mountains. As you make your way along the path, you can’t shake the feeling that something is nearby. And the worst part is, you think you know what it is. You catch some movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn to look, it’s just trees swaying in the wind. As you get back to the campgrounds, your friend approaches and shares that they also have some ideas about the weird vibes and want to see what else they can find out. You gather some other campers and hatch a plan to search the woods.
The next day, you clomp through the forest with your friends, looking for anything interesting. It’s a quiet walk, mostly trees and rocks. The camper out front finds a random pile of glitter, but says it’s probably from the cabin pride signs everyone made last week. A while later another camper finds a patch of fun fur. Your friend mentions their bunkmate lost a work-in-progress stuffie on the first day of camp, so it’s likely just from that.
You approach the bridge that leads across the lake to the adjacent campground, but you heard in town that it collapsed a week before camp started. You can’t go any farther. As you walk back to Camp, you stumble on, what looks to be, a rummaged-through backpack, strewn about and abandoned.
Your mind flashes back to something you saw at the Visitor’s Center.
End of August
You decide to visit the Ranger one more time to see if he’s found out anything more about the bridge collapse, and to offer the Nerds’ help in repairing it. But he’s not at his office.
Oh well. Maybe you can try again tomorrow.
Have a theory about what’s going on? PM your theory to LovelyMiss by Sunday, August 30.
What happened to the missing hiker?
Why are the cryptids in town?
Bonus: What happened to the bridge?
September
You never got to chat with the Ranger again. Regardless, you’ve got all the information you need. You and your camp-mates are going to cross the lake. Besides completely scaling a mountain, it seems like the only choice.
As you reach the other side and stow your canoes, the ground starts shaking, almost like an earthquake, and a large shadow emerges from the water. You take off running, and before you know it, you’re separated from your friends and somewhere in the woods.
You hear rattling and what sounds like the strum of a guitar in the distance. You’ve come this far, you might as well follow it.
As you approach, hoots and howls bellow, and…singing, perhaps? You should take off running again, but then you hear a clear human voice carry over the noise.
“You’re a riot. I’ll presume to join you at this camp again next year! Play my favorite next.”
You peak through the treeline.
A lone human stands amongst giants. Too…awestruck to think clearly, you inch forward and stutter, “Are…are you…are you the missing hiker?”
All their heads snap up at once, clearly not expecting someone to be watching them from the woods. You step into the clearing.
“I don’t know about missing! I’m right here!” he says in a jovial tone.
The sasquatch standing next to him squeals with what sounds like laughter.
“…we thought you got attacked. Or fell in the lake when…when…the bridge broke.”
“Oh, well that I did! But this guy helped me to shore.” The hiker juts his thumb toward a tall figure and smiles. “Thanks, again, for that, mate.”
You continue to stand, frozen, unsure of what to do.
“Mothman helped me out of the lake but flew off. But then I was stuck over here. I didn’t have anything. I stumbled upon these fellas and they’ve put me up for the summer. Turns out they’ve got their own summer camp going on here. Camp Cryptid, if you will! I was out here for a relaxing vacation, but I intercepted some weird messages and went looking for the source. The bridge was unfortunate timing. Still got to where I was going, though!” the Hiker crows with humor and delight.
As you stand, still dumbfounded, some of your fellow campers approach alongside you. “Uhhhhhh…” one says. “Uhhhhh…yeah,” you respond.
Your friend mumbles…“Are…you…….Bigfoot?”
The hiker chuckles and introduces everyone. Bigfoot, Mothman, Jersey Devil, Yeti, and Nessie over in the Lake. They all continue dancing around a campfire, Nessie grooving and making rhythmic waves that act as percussion to the guitar strummed by Mothman and Jersey Devil on the tambourine.
The hiker continues. “Oh, you are the Nerds! I saw the signs. I knew you were around here somewhere. Come on! Say hi to everyone!”
Just then, a flying saucer appears overhead and an Alien and the Ranger beam down, but no one bats an eye. “Oh here is Alien, too. They’re great. They volunteered to be Camp Chauffeur, you know, with their ship and all. Ah, and they play a mean theremin,” the hiker motions toward the little green figure nonchalantly.
You stand agape while your brain reboots.
Everyone eventually starts to mingle and the Ranger approaches you. “Ahh, so you’ve figured it out?!”
“What is that, exactly?”
“The Cryptids got in touch to book the Campsite next to yours, but they needed privacy. I said I could help them out. They’re good visitors, respectful. Mostly misunderstood.”
You just blink at him. “…Next time, maybe you can tell us? Some of us were pretty freaked out.”
“Sorry. I thought it was for both of your safety. Didn’t want the word getting out that they’re all here. It would just be easier if you stayed away. But here you are! No need in the end, afterall, I suppose.”
You remember something. “But what about all the bloody handprints? Did someone get hurt?”
“Oh, that wasn’t blood. It was paint. I was patching up the Visitor’s Center one day but then thought it could be a good way to deter anyone snooping around too much. A ha ha ha! Pretty clever, eh?”
“That’s not… What the…Why would you…Huh? Your plan might have backfired, my friend,” you respond. The Ranger laughs and you shake your head before carrying on, moving toward the group to join in the chats and songs.
By the end of the evening, everyone is friends, and there are plans forming to have the two camps join forces for the last few weeks of the Summer. Bigger parties, fewer weird vibes - the cryptids no longer have to avoid and try to hide from the Nerds, and the Nerds no longer have to be (unintentionally) freaked out by the Cryptids.
It turns out, the Cryptids (with questionable permission from the Ranger) collapsed the bridge to keep the Nerds, and everyone else, away from their secret campsite, and to make sure there was enough room for Nessie to move around while staying out of sight. They planned to fix it before leaving (it needed an update anyway), but the Nerds have slowly been working on it through their “Fix the Bridge” Event.
The Cryptids and Nerds work together on the last few pieces, and now everyone can move freely between the two Camps. You grow in friendship, teaching the Cryptids how to tap into their creativity, and the Cryptids teaching you how to live more authentically.
The Cryptids may not be back next year, but by the time Camp ends, they have a standing invitation to visit Camp Nerd Games anytime they want. No scheming or hiding necessary!