Camp Half-Blood (Greek)

Camp Half-Blood (the Greek camp) is a secret demigod sanctuary and training camp located on Long Island, New York. It is led by Dionysus, who calls himself "Mr. D" (he chased an off-limits wood nymph, but in his defense, he said that she was very very pretty) so as punishment, Zeus sent him down to the camp to be camp director for 100 years (now only 50 years after Zeus cut his punishment in half after the Second Olympian War ), and Chiron, the centaur, the legendary trainer of heroes and the activities director at Camp Half Blood. The camp has magical borders enforced by the Golden Fleece, which was found and discovered by the satyr Grover, the cyclops Tyson, and demigods Percy Jackson, Clarisse La Rue, and Annabeth Chase. Taken from Polyphemus's island, it was put on Thalia's pine tree, ensuring that no monsters could gain access to the camp. In earlier years it was Thalia's tree, which is a pine tree made from Thalia, Daughter of Zeus's spirit. The Fleece's magic worked too well, and it brought Thalia out of her tree and back to life as a human demigod. It stayed on her tree, guarded by a dragon (Peleus), protecting the camp, described as being the only safe haven for half-bloods, although in The Lost Hero it is revealed that there is a Roman Camp Half-Blood for the Roman demigods. The half-bloods live in cabins (one for each Olympian god and goddess, though many more cabins were added later for other minor gods and goddesses because of Percy's request), and eat in the dining pavilion. There is also an archery field, swordfighting arena, and climbing wall for training. Its cover name is Delphi Strawberry Service, a reference to the name of the Oracle of Delphi.

Address
Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141

Long Island, New York 11954

Even though it is not mentioned in the books, Camp Half-Blood is in Montauk, at the end of the Long Island. It is in Montauk because the zip code is 11954, the zip code for some areas of Montauk, Long Island. Also, Percy, Sally, and Grover drive from their cabin at the beach in Montauk and it does not take them very long to get to Camp Half-Blood. Camp Half-Blood is located on the North Shore of Long Island, referenced many times in the books. Percy also says that the part of the Long Island beach that Camp Half-Blood is on is invisible to mortals, which is why when Percy washes up on the shore when Annabeth is burning his shroud, everyone is surprised until they see it is him (while they still are suprised because he was supposed to be dead). Camp Half-Blood's entrance is through the famed Half-Blood Hill, mentioned in the Lightning Thief(book).

History
According to various camp members, Camp Half-Blood has trained some very famous figures, possibly including a couple of United States Presidents (ex. George Washington). It is a sanctuary for demigods, with borders that keep out monsters as well as mortals. Five years before Percy arrived at the camp, Thalia Grace - a daughter of Zeus - came close to dying on the border, willing to sacrifice herself to allow her friends - Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan, and Grover Underwood - to reach the safety of the camp. In her dying moments, her father took pity on her and turned her into an enormous pine tree, sustaining her lifeforce within the tree. Her tree's position on the border enabled her spirit to strengthen the borders of the camp, even as she did in her final moments. In The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover set off to the west coast to recover Zeus's main weapon (the master bolt made by the Elder Cyclops for Zeus) before the summer solstice or else Zeus and Poseidon, Percy's father, will go to battle. In the end, however, Percy returns to camp a hero and the campers celebrate. However, after awarding Percy his first camper bead, Luke Castellan betrays everyone by joining the Titan Lord of Time. The Sea of Monsters features a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece after Thalia's Tree is poisoned by Luke, who fed elder python poison from the depths of Tartarus, and the protection is fading. The Fleece, robust vitality and life-force incarnate, heals Thalia's tree from near-death within a few minutes and, by the end of the night, it restored Thalia's physical body - although she was in a dangerous physical condition upon arrival, just as she had been when she'd been transformed. Afterwards, it continues to maintain the borders at their usual strength, even without Thalia's spirit. It is also believed that the camp has a darker secret - Bunker 9. The bunker, which is discovered in The Lost Hero by one of the camp's new demigods, Leo Valdez, is shown by Leo to the other campers by the end of The Lost Hero. Chiron, once shown to the bunker, tells the other campers that the bunker was once used centuries ago during the American Civil War when the Greek and Roman demigods fought one another. Chiron also adds that demigods - centuries ago - used the bunker as a war base during the Demigod's Civil War, in which he states that it was just as disastorus for the demigods as it was for the mortals.

The East and the West
According to Chiron, the Greek desecration of Troy was what split demigods apart in the first place. Aeneas, the first Roman demigod, son of Venus/Aphrodite, was the last surviving prince of Troy. He fled to Italy, where the Latins (the ancestors of the Romans) lived. Aeneas was the first Roman demigod, and he was soon followed by many others. These Romans later lived in the West of North America, reputedly in the Bay Area of California. Later on, during the 1860's, the Romans, living in the Bay Area, fought with the Greeks, who were, even then, living at Camp Half-Blood. This was the most horrible of the wars fought between the Greeks and the Romans.

Unification
A few months after the events of The Last Olympian, new demigods shows up at the Greek Camp. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, goes on a quest to go save Hera, Queen of Olympus. After this quest, in The Lost Hero, the Romans' existence is discovered by the Greeks because of Jason, and these two camps will have to unite to fight the Giants, Gaea's most terrible children, who threaten the very roots of Western Civilization itself.

Cabins
There were originaly twelve cabins, one for each Olympian god, but after the Second Titan War, Percy made the gods promise to claim all thier children and for the minor gods to be respected, so now there are twenty cabins in total, one honoring each god or goddess. Some of the cabins include Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, Hermes, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Artemis, Hecate, Iris, Hypnos, Hades, Morpheus, Hebe, Janus, and Nemesis; the cabins of Hecate, Iris, Hypnos, Hades, Morpheus, Hebe, Janus, and Nemesis being the latest additions (see the article The Last Olympian).

Hera's cabin is a courtesy because she's the goddess of marriage and doesn't have demigod offspring. Artemis's cabin is also honorary because she is one of the virgin goddesses, but does sometimes play host to her Huntresses. The cabins honoring Zeus and Poseidon are supposed to be empty, but Percy Jackson and his cyclops half brother Tyson (occasionally) occupy Poseidon's cabin, and Thalia Grace used to occupy Zeus' cabin, before she joined Artemis's Huntresses to prevent her from being the child of the prophecy, and Jason Grace now occupies the cabin until he gets back to his rightful home. After The Last Olympian, the layout of the cabins changed dramatically, due to the deal Percy made with the gods. Now, each minor god and Hades (fortunate for Nico di Angelo) have their own cabins which means that the amount of campers will double or triple, to Mr. D.'s dismay. (Luckily, by this time, Zeus cut his remaining time to 50 years instead of 100.) Also, now the gods are obligated to claim their demigod children, by age 13. This will make for a much less crowded Hermes cabin. It is presumed that they are still making cabins. The cabins are now placed in the shape of a Greek omega (the last letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet).

Big House
The Big House, is where the Oracle of Delphi used to live in the attic, before Rachel Elizabeth Dare took the Oracle into her own body. It also is a main meeting place for the leaders of the cabins for major problems and ideas before any quests. Dionysus and Chiron enjoy playing pinochle on the front porch, the only true game (along with Pac-Man and gladiator fighting) according to Dionysus.

Climbing Wall
The lava wall, a climbing wall, is said to pour lava out for an “extra challenge”. If the camper does not get to the top quickly the walls clash together and the camper's clothes are soaked with lava (actually torn to only threads).

Camp Borders
The camp borders are designed to keep mortals, monsters, bad weather and many other things out of the camp. Only campers, gods, monsters, and some mortals (such as May Castellan and Rachel Elizabeth Dare in The Last Olympian) who were given the permission by a camper (as Annabeth Chase did to Tyson) may enter through the border (as Grover once told Percy people let monsters in as 'practical jokes' much to Percy's shock). Once, the border was protected by many things, the most notable being a strong copper dragon. In modern times, it is passively - but effectively - defended by the magical barrier generated by Thalia's tree, created from her dad, Zeus, in her dying moments.

In The Sea of Monsters, Thalia's Tree was poisoned by Luke Castellan with elder python venom from the pit of Tartarus. As the tree weakened, so did the strength of the borders. Percy managed to rescue Grover as well as steal the Fleece from Polyphemus the cyclops. The Fleece healed Thalia's tree and restored Thalia to her original body while leaving the tree in place.The Fleece is guarded by a dragon.

During the Demigod Files, which took place about a few weeks after the Battle of the Labyrinth took place, where Percy, Annabeth, Charles Beckendorf, and Silena Beauregard found the Myrmekes - ancient Greek ants the size of a terrier carrying the head of mechanical bronze dragon. The marks of the head digging on the ground revealed a massive crater with the neck of the bronze dragon. Annabeth reattached the dragon's head and led the dragon to help rescue Beckendorf, who was captured by the ants. The dragon then went berzerk and Beckendorf worked with Percy to shut it down. Then it was fixed by Leo Valdez in The Lost Hero and used on the quest to rescue Hera from Porphyrion, although it was destroyed at the home of King Midas and the remaining parts were taken back to Bunker 9.

Dining Pavilion
The dining pavilion is where the campers eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food served is a diet primary of grapes, cheese, bread, and extra lean, nymph-cut barbecue. Each cabin has their own tables and campers are not allowed to sit at a table that is not their cabin's (Annabeth Chase broke this rule to speak with Percy in The Battle of the Labyrinth only while talking about stuff). The tables are covered with a white tablecloth fringed with purple. At the center of the Pavilion is the bonfire. It is lit during the dinners and how brightly it is lit is dependent on the moods of the campers at the pavilion (ex. very happy or screaming the flame gets about 20 ft in the air and bright purple, so hot that the front row's marshmallows burst into flames, as stated by Percy; if the campers are not happy or cheerful, like the disaster of the monsters invading the camp in The Sea of Monsters, the mood goes low and the fire is about 5 ft tall in the air and the color of lint. It is not heating the cold air very much). At the beginning of each meal, each cabin takes turns going up to the fire and dropping in a share of their best food as an offering for the gods (because the gods like the smell). Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, gets a portion of each offering.

Stables
This is where they store the pegasi, like Blackjack Percy's black pegasus.and Percy can read the pegasi mind since his father created the pegasi. The Demeter cabin is in charge of the lessons but Aphrodite's cabin helps every now and then. Every few times, some demigod(s) would take pegasi lessons from one of the other demigods from Aphrodite's cabin. It is also shown that Chiron does not like them very much.

Armory
This is where camp Half-Blood gets all their weapons. Hephaestus' cabin is in charge and are seen there most of their day, working the forges. Also where Tyson (Percy's half brother, cyclops) learned to craft magic weapons first.

Camp Traditions
The camp has several traditions derived from its Greek roots. Winners and victors are given laurel wreaths and paraded around camp. More poignantly, anytime a camper goes on a quest, their siblings/cabin mates weave them a funeral shroud in case their sibling does not survive - if the camper has no siblings, another cabin may volunteer to do it. Should they return victorious, they get to burn the shroud.

But the most prominent tradition is the camp beads. At the end of every summer session, the senior counselors vote on the biggest event of the summer and paint it on the bead.


 * The Lightning Thief - A black bead with a green trident. Percy's first year.


 * The Sea of Monsters - A bead symbolizing a little image of The Golden Fleece. Percy's second year


 * The Titan's Curse - There was no bead. The events of this book took place in the same year as the Sea of Monsters, during the winter.


 * The Battle of the Labyrinth - An intricately designed maze to represent the Labyrinth. Percy's third year.


 * The Last Olympian - The Empire State Building with the names of the deceased in tiny Greek letters around it in a miniature border. Percy's fourth year.


 * The Lost Hero - There is no bead. The book took place the same year of The Last Olympian, during the winter.

There are five beads on Annabeth's necklace at the start of The Lightning Thief, from years taking place prior to the books. The ones described are Thalia's tree, a centaur in a prom dress - ("...now that was a weird summer...), and a Greek trireme on fire. Percy interrupts Annabeth in her explanation so the last two beads are not described. Because Luke arrived the same year as Annabeth, it can be assumed he had the same set.

A game of capture the flag is played whenever the Hunters visit on Artemis's decisions to send them as shown in The Titan's Curse, or every Friday from 6:00 to 9:00. It was stated in The Titan's Curse that they Campers never won a game against the Hunters.

Notable Campers

 * Percy Jackson - Demigod son of Poseidon
 * Annabeth Chase - Demigod daughter of Athena
 * Grover Underwood - Satyr and member of the Council of Cloven Elders
 * Thalia Grace - Demigod daughter of Zeus; became a Huntress of Artemis when she was offered the Huntresship by Artemis by the end of The Titan's Curse during the Winter Solstice Olympian Council while Percy, Annabeth, and her were at the Winter solstice council of the Gods
 * Rachel Elizabeth Dare - An ordinary human who became the new Oracle due to her ability to see through the Mist by the end of The Last Olympian after the Battle of Manhattan, going through the orientation of being the new Oracle overseen by Apollo, God of music, sun, archery, and prophecy; also, she destroyed Hades's curse over the Oracle
 * Clarisse La Rue - Demigod daughter of Ares.
 * Chris Rodriguez - Demigod Son of Hermes. Clarisse's boyfriend
 * Nico di Angelo - Demigod son of Hades; younger brother of Bianca di Angelo
 * Charles Beckendorf - Demigod son of Hephaestus (deceased in middle of Second Titan War after explosion on Luke's "cruise" ship Princess Andromeda)
 * Silena Beauregard - Demigod daughter of Aphrodite (deceased after being spat in the face by one of Kronos' drakons); camp traitor due to sharing information with Luke through a miniature copy of Kronos' scythe sculptured on a coin attached to a charm bracelet.
 * Jason Grace - Demigod son of Jupiter (Roman name for Zeus); Thalia's younger sibling and brother
 * Piper McLean - Demigod daughter of Aphrodite. Has the ability to charmspeak. Becomes head of Aphrodite cabin at the end of The Lost Hero.
 * Leo Valdez - Demigod son of Hephaestus; can create fire through power on the hand (one of the fortunate fireusers in Hephaestus's cabin). At the end of The Lost Hero becomes the head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin which Jake Mason happily handed over.
 * Connor Stoll- Demigod son of Hermes; brother of Travis. Cohead of the Hermes cabin with his brother after Luke's betrayal.
 * Travis Stoll - Demigod son of Hermes; brother of Connor. Cohead of Hermes cabin with his brother after Luke's betrayal.
 * Katie Gardner - Demigod daughter of Demeter
 * Clovis - Demigod son of Hypnos. He's always sleeping.
 * Butch - Demigod son of Iris. He is Camp Half-Bloods best equestrian.
 * Lou Ellen - Demigod daughter of Hecate
 * Miranda Gardiner - Demigod daughter of Demeter
 * Tyson - Percy's younger brother and Cyclops son of Poseidon; friends with Annabeth, Percy (even though they're brothers), and anyone else except Percy's demigod enemies
 * Will Solace - Demigod son of Apollo; current head counselor of the Apollo cabin.
 * Michael Yew - Demigod son of Apollo; former head counselor of the Apollo cabin. (deceased in the middle of the Second Titan War.
 * Jake Mason - Demigod son of Hephaestus; former head counselor of Hephaestus cabin; gaves councilorship of Hephaestus cabin to Leo Valdez at the end of The Lost Hero.
 * Drew - Demigod daughter of Aphrodite; has the ability to charmspeak; second conselor of Aphrodite cabin after The Lost Hero loosing the head councilorship to Piper since Piper overbeat her by taking a quest with Jason Grace.
 * Nyssa - Demigod daughter of Hephaestus.
 * Pollux - Demigod son of Dionysus.
 * Castor - Demigod son of Dionysus (deceased in the Battle of the Labyrinth)
 * Lacy - Demigod daughter of Aphrodite
 * Holister - Demigod son of Hephaestus
 * Mitchell - Demigod son of Aphrodite
 * Harley - Demigod son of Hephaestus
 * Luke Castellan - Demigod son of Hermes; Luke was head of Hermes cabin until he deserted camp to try to revive Kronos by the end of The Lightning Thief; Percy's major archenemy and tried to kill him; sacrifices himself to rid Kronos's attempt on destroying Olympus in The Last Olympian by stabbing his Achilles' Heel with Annabeth's knife which became cursed when he betrayed her, Percy, and the others by the end of The Lightning Thief.

Staff Members

 * Dionysus - The Camp Director who is also known as Mr. D. by the campers. He was punished by Zeus (his father) to operate the camp for 100 years because tried to woo an "off limits" wood nymph. Dionysus was also barred from growing his own grapes. It was cut down to 50 years following the Second Olympian War.
 * Chiron - Activity Director and centaur. He is also the healer (just like a human doctor).
 * Argus - the Security guard at Camp. He was created by Hera, as mentioned in The Lost Hero. He is covered with eyes from head to foot. He never speaks, as it is said he has an eye on his tongue. He is the beginning step of every quest as he is the initial driver.
 * Harpies - Three Harpies serve as "Cleaner Harpies" who would eat any camper that lingers around after noon on the last day of camp. The Harpies also cleaned the dishes with super-hot lava and are also good in mid-town traffic.
 * Tantalus - An ex-staff member of Camp Half-Blood and Percy's most hated person in "The Sea of Monsters." He was put in the Fields of Punishment for killing his son Pelops and serving him as food to the gods. His punishment in the Fields of Punishment was to stand under a fruit tree with low branches in the middle of a lake. When he tried to grab the fruit, the branches pulled away. When he bent down for a drink, the waters receded. He was put in Camp Half-Blood in place of Chiron (who Zeus suspected of being the culprit in the poisoning of Thalia's tree which protects the valley where Camp Half-Blood resides in). When outside of the Fields of Punishment when called to cover for Chiron, the food and drink would always avoid him so he cannot eat or drink. Tantalus was very strict and even restarted the Chariot Races. Tantalus stated that anyone who accidentally killed another camper will not get dessert for a week. His curse of not being able to touch food or drink eventually wore off, but Tantalus was still sent back to the Fields of Punishment (because it was revealed that Luke had poisoned Thalia's tree, not Chiron). No one was sad to see him go.
 * Quintus (Daedalus) - Ex-staff member of Camp Half-Blood. Also one of the most genius men ever. He is also a demigod son of Athena who realized what Annabeth said afterwards and came to help fight the Titan army in the Battle of the Labyrinth. He sacrificed his life to deactivate the Labyrinth.
 * Peleus - A dragon that guards Thalia's tree after The Golden Fleece had freed Thalia from it.

Trivia

 * The road address, Farm Road 3.141, is the first four digits of pi (π).
 * Due to the magical barrier protecting the camp, precipitation and weather in the camp such as snow, rain, etc. do not fall on the camp unless desired so by Mr. D. It also keeps out mortals if unneeded or for protection.
 * The cover name for camp is Delphi Strawberry Co.
 * To pay their expenses, the camp grows strawberries with the help of Mr D, who has an effect on fruit bearing vines (the only reason they don't grow grapes is because he is not allowed to by the order of his father as punishment).
 * There is a Roman version of Camp Half-Blood located somewhere in the California area, however its name and exact location remain unknown (although Annabeth believes it is near San Francisco).
 * The only mortal allowed in Camp Half-Blood is Rachel Elizabeth Dare who is the camp's host for the Oracle of Delphi. Percy once mentioned that there was once a pizza delivery guy who has entered Camp Half Blood by just being "really lost".
 * Each Cabin has sign held outside the Cabin or on the Door, such as a Trident on Cabin Three.
 * Percy states that the camp fire always reflects the mood of the camp. When Charles Beckendorf died, it turned black. When deciding Jason Grace's quest, it changed colors every few minutes.

Camp Schedule
There is no known exact schedule, but according to The Ultimate Guide, this is Percy's ( which might be different for other campers) camp schedule: