The last day of the July session of the Dagorhir Fantasy Camp was Friday, July 17, and there were many campers ready for a full day of role play and fantasy-based games.

Andrew Mangold has been running the camp for the past seven years. Each month, there is a one-week camp, with sessions running from 10 am to 1 pm for 24 campers.

“I did this with my friends for fun in high school,” said Mr Mangold. “After playing in the parks we started organizing it; it was everything the kids were already doing.”

On the first day of the session, campers were able to pick one of three “tribes” that they thought best described them. The three tribes are the Anima, the Outskrats, and the Humans.

After picking their tribe, the campers go on to pick their weapon. All of the weapons are handmade by the counselors and are created from foam. Each weapon’s power and mode of use is determined by the color of a band near the handle. The blue weapons are used with a slashing motion, the red weapons can “break” through shields, and the green weapons are used with a stabbing motion, according to Gabbi Arguello, 9, and RJ Eller, 11, two of the campers.

The tribes remain active throughout the full session of the camp.

“This is my first year coming, and it’s really fun, but a little bit rough,” said Gabbi, a member of the Anima tribe. “Most of the games are team games, where we are split into two teams when we get here, and the role play games are set up by the tribes. My favorite activity is the role play with the tribes because you can get special abilities.”

Another camper, Oscar Roberts, 10, said that he was having a lot of fun at his first session.

“It’s fun but exhausting,” said Oscar, also a member of the Anima tribe. “If I was an adult I’d say it’s a great way to get out your energy.”

After a game of capture the flag, the campers played a quick game of “Kill-Your-Killer,” which Oscar said was one of his favorites.

The objective of “Kill-Your-Killer” is to use your weapon to get out other players. But, if the person who “kills” you is “killed,” you automatically get back into the game, according to Oscar, Gabbi, and RJ.

“This game has something called a ‘gravity bomb,’” said Oscar.

“If someone throws the gravity bomb, you have to drop your weapon and fall to the ground,” RJ added.

Once campers tagged Mr Mangold out from the “Kill-Your-Killer” game, it was time to start the role playing for the day. Because this was the third and final day of the role play, there was a special quest and set of instructions.

Mr Mangold explained to the campers and the counselors that a magical being had left him a letter and gifts for each of the tribes. The letter explained that the gifts were books that had special instructions for each tribe. After a set amount of time, each tribe had to present what they had learned from their quest.

Mr Mangold then surprised the campers with ice cream.

The other two counselors for the camp are Nick Werden, a returning camper, and Kyle “Gustave” Mangold; both have been counselors and have been working with the camp for about five years.

“The ultimate goal is to save up enough profit from my other projects to hopefully get a permanent space for the camp,” said Mr Mangold. “Use this space to make a lifelong space for the camp where the castles would be permanent, where there’s orchards and gardens and everything that these campers could want to live in these worlds is there for them. There could be sleepaway, and we wouldn’t have to imagine castles, we could be inside of them.”

Another Dagorhir camp session is set for August 17-21, for ages 8-15. Cost is $150-$165; contact Parks & Recreation at 203-270-4340. For more information about Newtown Parks & Recreation programs visit its website at newtown-ct.gov.