The Summer of the Long Knives
The Summer of the Long Knives was an incident which occurred at Camp Shababadahs near Arindell on the Greater Continent of Aren. The incident made national headlines when a riot broke out at the severely over-crowded camp.
Contents
Background
Camp Shababadahs was infamous at the time for being overcrowded, under-staffed, and having extremely lax regulations. The Summer of the Long Knives happened when they inadvertently invited over twice as many campers as usual, most of them teenaged Necromancers who had never been to a summer camp before. They were bullied by the seasoned campers at the site, which eventually lead to a major riot.
The Summer of Long Knives
The camp's 12th season would forever be remembered as it's worst ever, up until the second to last season and the incident which closed the camp.
Camp Store
Like all summer camps at the time, Camp Shababadahs operated a small store on the premise where kids could buy batteries, soap, deodorant, candy, soda, and various other accoutrements. The store was given little oversite and run by the often quite young councilors.
By the 12th, the running of the camp store was a task delegated entirely to the camp councilors. The only directive they received from the owners was "make sure there's plenty of cheap soda and candy, kids love that" and no real over-site of the accounting. The directors provided a budget for the store and expected it to make that budget back. Since it dealt entirely in cash, this made running the store a very lucrative prospect for the young councilors.
Usually, the job went to an 18 year old who had been a junior councilor in the two years prior to being hired as a staffer(usually picked by the previous store runner who was on to greener pastures). It didn't take very many years of this for the store runners to figure out extra money could be made by dealing contraband out of the store. In a previous summer, a councilor attempted to smuggle some elicit substances in with the intention of selling them through the store. He was caught on the first day, ejected from the camp, and criminaly indicted. Future store-runners learned from his mistake and stuck to dealing in contraband that was officially legal but banned by camp directives.
This mostly consisted of gum, pornography, and knives. Small folding knives were not just allowed but actually required kit for any camper. Larger knives and fixed-blade knives were banned. Butterfly knives and switchblades(not technically illegal but widely believed to be in Arindell) were especially popular.
On the Summer of the Long Knives, the new store-runner brought with him about 400 various fixed and folding knives, mostly of the butterfly and switch variety. After the incidents of the summer the staffer admitted he actually hadn't known about the inflated numbers when he brought that many blades.
Necromancer Involvement
That year, the Necromancer Temple in New Arindell was hosting a particularly large deligation of pilgrims. A lot of the pilgrims were families coming in from off-world, with many traditions that revered nature. The Temple wanted to do something special, and attempted to contract with Camp Shababadahs to buy out the whole camp for the summer.
By this time, the camp was already regularly hosting 600 campers at a time, but reported a capacity of only 400(the laws regarding summer camps stipulated a certain ratio of campers to permanent flush toilets which Shababadahs was not meeting), and happily sold "all of their available capacity" to the temple. The necromancers mistakenly thought they were paying for exclusive use of the camp, and in fact intended to bring their own staffers and run their own programs; only making use of camp facilities.
The camp directors, meanwhile, did not explicitly agree to that, and planned to host the necromancer delegation in addition to their regular program of season-long campers. By this time the camp already had a cult-like following of repeat customers, who would have been very upset if they couldn't attend. The camp rented dozens of large tents intended for daytime-use at outdoor events, and had the wood shop knock up cots out of locally-sourced wood to cover the additional capacity.
Despite running less advertising that usual and limiting attendees to ages 9 and up for the season, the camp still sold many more slots than intended. As an additional problem, the necromancers(who did not need to obey Arindell's capacity laws) brought significantly more than the 400 campers they paid for(numbers are difficult to pin down but roughly 600 kids is the best estimate). Along with the campers, the necromancers brought along their own councilors(typically also in the 18-22 range) and several parents to assist.
The Season
The total population of Camp Shababadahs that summer ballooned from the usual 660 campers and staffers to over 1200, most of them being housed in very much substandard accommodations. Right from the start there were fights over the cabins, the necromancers were told they'd be getting them, while the returning Shababadah regulars believed they were entitled. The camp directors instituted a "first come, first serve" policy, which greatly angered the necromancers, who thought they had reserved the cabins.
Since so many more adults arrived than were expected, many of them ended up having to drive into town and buy regular camping tents to sleep in for the entire summer.
Food
Food was also an issue. Camp Shababadahs did typically to provide generous portions of decent-quality(one of the reasons the necromancers chose it), and made a token effort to continue this trend. The camp, which only had enough toilets for 400 people, made provisions to feed 800. When more than 1200 showed up, this proved to be a problem.
No one actually went hungry. The camp received it's food shipments every two weeks and was all stocked up at the start of the season, so there was plenty to eat on hand. An emergency shipment did need to be brought in early, and later meals saw the diet heavily supplemented with lima beans. The issue came from the kitchen staff. Generally a surely bunch, they were very vocal about having to prepare twice as many meals as usual. They made several disparaging comments regarding "running out of food", which fanned the flames of an already tense situation. Not helping matters, several of the senior campers began spreading rumors that they would have to resort to cannibalism(note that necromancers are especially averse to even survival cannibalism as they both believe they continue to live after their body dies, but if their body is consumed it destroys their soul).
All of this happened before the staffer running the camp store started to sell knives to anyone with the cash.
Tensions Mount, Store Stokes Flames
Due to the lowered quality of food, many campers turned to the snacks at the camp store to supplement their diets. This was a fairly usual thing for the long-time campers as, while regular food was plentiful, if you turn a bunch of teenagers loose in a candy store and don't tell them not to, they will eat mostly that.
The long-time campers tended to bring what(for a child) is a very large amount of money with them to camp. Most of the more experienced campers usually had enough to buy a soda with every dinner and a snack every day; and still be able to afford souvenirs and t-shirts. The necromancers, by contrast, were told they were going to a nature camp and not aware there would even be a store. Since many were from off-world what little cash they did have was typically in money they couldn't spend on Aren. This created quite a serious division, especially since many of the necromancers did come from wealthy temples or families and would have been well-supplied if informed.
To further complicate matters, the adults accompanying the necromancer campers(about 100 in total including parents and chaperones) were mostly relegated to the least-developed campsites and thus had to rely on the store for amenities. The store runners in turn raised prices on everything but candy and soda(the cost of which was set by the camp directors).
The councilor running the camp store was among the few staffers allowed to keep a personal vehicle on site(most of the staffers couldn't afford a car anyway and were required to be bussed in for the summer). The reasoning being that whoever ran the camp store might occasionally have to drive into town(about a 3 hour run each way) to pick up extra supplies. The staffer used this position to get anything requested, albeit for a price.
Another serious issue was crowding of the camps few available activities. In normal seasons, "Go and play unsupervised in the woods" was the most popular pastime, so the other available activities were never in high demand. Many of the necromancers expected to be doing structured activities, and their councilors tried to guide them in this. The only real response from the directors was to hastily mow a disused clearing to create an additional sports court. Though it was meant to be used for any activity, the seasoned campers claimed this very sub-standard play area was "the foot kort and told the necromancer children they were only allowed to play there(Of note: foot kort is effectively the only sport necromancers play, so even just the camp's three existing sports fields were not going to be enough for the roughly 600 necromancer children in attendance).
To combat the issue(and without the knowledge or approval of management), the camp store began making up and selling "activity passes" allowing the holder to cut in line. As the seasoned campers typically had more money, they could afford more; though many of the adult necromancers(unware it was a scam) began to pay for them for the kids as well. Because of the extremely insular nature of the camp's councilor organization, nobody working for the camp did anything to stop it(indeed, most of the activities directors either turned a blind eye or actively participated for a cut of the profits. This is as good a time as any to mention that this year, the staffers figured out they were working for considerably less than minimum wage).
The buying and selling of activity passes got even worse when rival factions within the staff started to print and sell them, and kids learned how to forge their own. It got to the point where bathroom and mess hall passes were being made, though these were difficult to enforce.
Black Market
The camp store handled most of the black market activities directly, buying supplies in a nearby town and selling them at considerable markup. The youths also engaged in a black market of their own, selling and trading contraband to each other. The seasoned campers were eager to get Ke'tcha from the necromancer campers, incorrectly believing it to be a narcotic.
Allegations of Sexual Misconduct
By about the middle of the season, the camp was awash with rumors that most of the young necromancers, particularly the girls, were trading sexual favors for sodas and candy. These rumors were heavily investigated after the fact and found to be completely baseless; having been spread by vindictive seasoned campers. The rumors were widely repeated owing to the common belief that younger necromancers are especially promiscuous. In point of fact, about half the necromancers in attendance belonged to an orthodox sect which practiced "ritualized abstinence". The others were normal enough teenagers some of whom happened to be able to raise the dead.
Despite exhaustive investigation, only one such incidence was uncovered. A 15 year old girl admitted to trading a brief kiss to a 13 year old boy in exchange for a candy bar. Neither of them were necromancers.
More Weapons
After the staffer running the store sold out of his four hundred knives, he went back to civilization to buy more. The knives, for which he paid about a wingbeat each wholesale, and which were meant to be sold for 8-10 wingbeats, were going for as high as 40. Though actual altercations were few, many campers told him they were buying a knife "to protect themselves from the body-snatchers"(a derisive term for necromancers).
Seeing the high profit margin, the staffer bought another 400 knives, as well as brass knuckles, ninja stars, and pepper spray. All to be sold at exorbitant prices from the camp store. By this time, many of the necromancers, fearing for their own safety, were starting to buy or trade for weapons. Others fashioned their own out of whatever they could find.
Camp Sanitation Issues
As previously noted, the camp had barely adequate toilets for about 400 campers, and 3 times that many were on site for the season. The shower situation was even worse, the camp had been cited multiple times for having only one shower house with heated water, and insufficient space in the cold showers provided in the outlying toilet blocks. Many necromancers in the satellite camps were forced to resort to washing in streams, which quickly became contaminated with human waste. Portable camping showers were sold(at a grievous markup) from the camp store and used by some of the adults. The outlying camps that did have toilet blocks also started to construct makeshift shower stations using water from the taps and whatever they could scrounge up.
Aside from showers and toilets, the actual camp staff became increasingly apathetic about cleaning. The kitchen was always immaculate, but the mess hall was rarely swept or mopped, and the toilet blocks in the necromancer camps(if there were any) were hardly ever cleaned. Normally the junior staffers were expected to clean bathrooms as part of their usual duties, or to organize junior councilors to do the work. That summer, this did not happen. Some of the adult necromancers in attendance(many of whom were older than the camp directors) eventually took it upon themselves to do the cleaning, but found supplies severely lacking.
Owing primarily to mismanagement, the camp's cleaning supplies were exhausted within the first month of the season. In previous seasons the camp was kept quite clean, with sweeping, dusting, and mopping done regularly. Every cabin was supplied with the necessary tools, and a huge delivery of supplies came in at the start of the season. This summer, owing to issues with the supplier, the camp only received about half of the supplies they ordered. The money was refunded and the directors intended to order more from a new supplier before what they had ran out, but this was never done. What cleaning products did make it the camp were looted, re-sold on the black market, or miss-used. One oft-cited example: the temporary tents in the outer camps had huge insect problems. The type of hand soap meant for the bathrooms was found to work as a very effective ant repellent, but only if used in very large quantities. Liquid hand soap therefore "went extinct" after about two weeks.
Payment Issues
To most of Camp Shababadahs employees, the job looked pretty good. Minimum wage in the New Arindell Greater Metropolitan Area sat at about 7 wingbeats, fifty talons an hour(in practice most low-level jobs paid 8 or 9). The camp offered a highly competitive 11 wingbeats an hour and, unlike most summer camps at the time, did not charge staffers for room and board. The councilors even got the benefit of a co-ed cabin a good ways away from the children's cabins, which had its own bathrooms with hot showers, internet access(albeit very slow and metered), and a TV to which they were encouraged to pack in game consoles. Because of the complete lack of oversight by the camp directors, the staffers cabin was treated like a clubhouse.
However, the 11 wingbeats an hour proved to be based on a 40-hour, Monday-Friday work-week. Staffers were not paid overtime, were not paid for working on weekends, and were regularly expected to put in 12-hour days. A half a day off every other week was the most they would be officially granted. Some of the more junior staffers were expected to work from dawn until dusk, 7 days a week, for the entirety of summer. A privileged few, such as Cook's Assistant Loganoff and the camp nurse, were able to negotiate reasonable salaries. The lifeguards were also paid separately for any time they spent on duty at the lake.
Unfortunately, this left the bulk of the staffers(about 35 people total), making between 3 wingbeats 19 talons and 5 wingbeats 2 talons an hour.
In previous seasons complaints were few, and most staffers didn't even do the math to work out what they were actually being paid. The camp was so lackadaisical that while they might be assigned tasks during most daylight hours, unless made to run a specific station like the craft center or the wood shop, they could take breaks whenever they pleased. For a lot of the returning junior staffers, they treated camp like a paid vacation. Many of them even used the opportunity to undergo lifeguard training(for which there was always one or two certified instructors) to make extra income in the off season. The training didn't cost anything, and was just another perk of the job.
That all changed in the Summer of the Long Knives. The huge extra influx of campers coupled with the presence of responsible adult necromancers constantly hounding the staffers to get to work led many of them to feel dissatisfied with their job. This in turn caused them to work out what they were being paid, and caused additional tensions. Many who would otherwise not have participated in the camp's black market activities happily joined in or at least condoned the practices.
Management Responses
The camp was owned by the four original founders, who also served as the camp directors(none of whom had any sort of formal training in running a summer camp, indeed 3 of the 4 did not even have college educations). At the start of the season, the two older directors decided to leave, putting the entire 3-month camp in the hands of the younger two and telling them "Just try not to burn the place down. Everybody paid in advance."
Those two directors then proceeded to lock themselves in the camp office(which included a small apartment) for practically the duration of the summer, delegating the day-to-day running to the over-worked, under-paid, and often quite immature staffers. Cook's Assistant Loganoff became the defacto leader of the camp, being the most senior staffer. He was too busy trying feed the camp to do much more than dispense summary judgements or bark orders. The actual directors mostly worked on organizing shipments of supplies and bringing in extra equipment to deal with shortages.
The only serious responses from the camp directors was to hastily create an additional athletic field and to formalize the then-unofficial "KP for any infraction" punishment. To try and help with the chaos, they also deputized the junior-councilors to met out punishment. Since most of the junior councilors were really just campers themselves, they mostly used this privilege to dismiss each other from punishment and to bully other kids. Note that only non-necromancer campers were signed up as junior councilors, none of the necromancers had been offered this opportunity. Even so the process was wildly disorganized. Cook's Assistant Loganoff later commented later commented that one night over 100 kids, almost all of them necromancers, showed up for KP(the job required at the absolute most about 15).
Riot
Near the end of the season the situation became especially grim. Much of Camp Shababadahs' staff walked off the job two weeks before the end of the season when a clerical error caused their already miniscule paychecks to bounce. Believing they were not to be paid for the last two weeks, they quit in disgust. The camp store-runner used this opportunity to "quit" as well(as he was also only being officially paid 440 wingbeats a week). He absconded with the remaining money in the store as well as having his car stuffed with high-value goods he's traded for(including all of the remaining laundry detergent in the camp). That staffer would later admit he made enough in the one summer to pay for his college education. Ironically, he became a civil defense attorney.
Once the bulk of the paid staffers were gone, the junior councilors broke into and looted the camp store, making off with all the remaining good inside and spiriting them away to various cabins and caches around the camp. A group of older necromancers found out about the looting and broke in a second time, but when they saw how thoroughly the first wave had cleaned out the store, they trashed the place in retribution.
So began the imaginatively-named Night of Broken Glass, which actually took place over the course of an afternoon and saw nearly every class window in the camp shattered. Only the windows in the infirmery(which had shutters) and those of the kitchen survived. Reportedly, Cook's Assistant Loganoff stoff outside the kitchen throughout the entire ordeal, smoking a cigarette and saying "Just you fucking try it," to every kid who approached with a rock.
The window-breaking spree was accompanied by a full-on riot. Fortunately most of the kids did not happen to have their knives or brass knuckles on them when the fighting broke out, and the lions share of it just involved a lot of chasing and shouting. The major hot-spots were around the woodshop, the camp store, and the councilor's cabin.
In a cruel twist of irony, it was the store-runner's decision to bring some 200 cans of pepper spray for his elicit sales that kept anyone from getting too badly injured. The pepper spray was horded mostly by the girl campers and many of the younger, smaller necromancers, all of whom showed no hesitation to use it once the fighting started. A few blasts to the face was enough to put down most attackers.
Full scale brawls did erupt, especially between factions of older necromancers and the junior councilors. Once things got heated, however, most of the fighters were willing to engage with anyone not armed with pepper spray. A lot of the injuries ended up being inflicted on non-necromancers by non-necromancers, despite initial reports to the contrary.
