Anarch

Anarch

The Movement

Predominant clan alignments:

Brujah / Gangrel / The Ministry
Tzimisce

Who are the Anarchs

Originally called the Anarch Revolt, this sect is as old as the revolution against the Camarilla itself. In recent decades it has seen vast growth as younger kindred find it increasingly difficult to understand why they must follow the laws of elders who care nothing for them, but to throw them in harms way when needed. All vampires who fall outside of the Tower's control are considered "unbound", and the Anarch movement is a small but visible subsection of the unbound who, rather than hide, have decided to fight back. They fight to claim territory from those who oppress them, as the ancient hands that held onto it are disappearing due to the Beckoning or other outside forces.

Word on the street is that the Anarchs seek revolution. With more and more elders disappearing and younger fresher kindred appearing the Anarch numbers grow. The centuries long lethargy has worn off as they remember how to fight.

Culture

Just as with Camarilla domains, each Anarch domain is different. Anarch values vary from domain to domain, with one unifying trait: Rebellion against the Tower. Princes are quick to deal out punishments not only for breach of archaic laws, but for any trace of association to the Movement. But the footing Camarilla Courts once had are slipping, especially after members of the sect were suspected for the advent of the Second Inquisition.

Most Camarilla vampires influence humankind from deep within the shadows, manipulating them from the outside. Many Anarchs, however, integrate themselves into mortal lives to a much larger degree. This guise makes them simultaneously safe and vulnerable. Their connection to mortals leaves room for mistakes, but they are also members of mortal society rather than a mansion-bound recluse.

Some Kindred have nickname to distinguish their "traitorous" political leanings from their Camarilla counterparts.

• Unchained Malkavians - called so from the belief they are disconnected to the Blood and Network.
• Red Nosferatu - Mockingly called so by the Camarilla but adopted by Anarch Nosferatu for having a "mini revolution."
• Abstract Toreador - Mockingly called so by Camarilla Toreadors, and adopted by Anarch Toreadors.
• Ipsissimus Tremere - Sometimes considered the fourth house, these Anarchs are called so because many pursue an arcane sense of self, hence the name.
• Free Ventrue - Many considers themselves free from the traditions, taboos, and hierarchy of the clan.

Structure

Some Anarch domains possess a Prince or, as the Anarchs call them, Baron. Other domains are instead controlled by gangs who each have their own turf. Below are some roles or groups that an Anarch domain may or may not have. It is also possible for Anarchs to have a combination of these roles and groups in one singular domain.

Baron is an informal title for the Anarch leader of a domain. How they have or wield the power varies by domain and groups. They may be charismatic gang leaders, brutal warlords, an elected public representative, or any other form of leadership. A particular distrusted type of Baron is the one who claim the sole seat of a whole city, like a Prince. They may keep the power to dole out hunting ground and make major decisions, depending on the domain and their base of power.   

An Anarch Revolutionary Council may also be the governing body that wields the power in a domain, or they may do it alongside a Baron. Councils are groups of Kindred that may ostensibly be "appointed" or "elected" depending on the domain, though any formal process is likely just sham. The councilors may claim the right to set hunting grounds and set up the policies of the domain.

Emissaries are diplomats who may work between gangs, cells, councils, Barons, or from Anarch domains to Camarilla domains. As a domain can have any number of factions within and outside; some domain necessitate a large amount of emissaries to push a groups agenda or deliver messages.

Sweeper is a controversial role that some domains may have that may not even be official. This role is for powerful Anarchs who have the power and gumption to remove problem Kindred from the domain. Traitorous gangs, Kindred on an Embracing spree, a Camarilla spy, etc. They deal with it one way or another. They work like the fixer of the domain who other Anarchs can appeal to for such problems. Those that take the role may find it socially isolating.

Gangs are similar to a coterie, a group of Anarchs who carve out territory or turf and they overlook it. Oftentimes may get into conflicts with others when they claim too much or clash with other gangs.

Cells are underground coteries of Anarchs who work similar to a political cabal or criminal syndicate. Cells do not usually get into as much open conflict as gangs, as they prefer working with clandestine tactics and emphasize security. They may operate in Camarilla territory making their secrecy even more important.  

History

The Age of Carthage

Carthage is sometimes called the "Third City" in Anarch circles, said to be a major hub for vampires and mortals coexisting like in the First and Second city of Kindred lore. While much debate over the city’s nature still rages, especially with the Camarilla and Anarch account, it still stands as an inspiration to many. The North African city is said to have lacked any need for vampires to hide.. Kindred were in leadership roles, but the degree is uncertain. Troile, the supposed Brujah Antediluvian, is claimed to have led the city with Brujah and Banu Haqim vampires as the undead majority. The city was eventually destroyed by a Ventrue and Malkavian backed Rome and Troile buried under the earth. Though the city fell, it remained in many Kindred’s mind as a symbol of defiance to the old ways, for better or worse.

First Inquisition

With the First Inquisition in full swing the flames of the Inquisition hit Kindred hard. During the 15th Century elders used their childer as pawns to sacrifice to save themselves from the Inquisition, but not all of the young Kindred died. Some modern Camarilla vampires blame Kindred arrogance and their mingling with mortal for the hunting and destruction of Kindred.  Whatever the case, Europe found itself in the First Anarch Revolt.

The First Anarch Revolt

Young Kindred were tired of being seen as toys and properties of their sires, who often emplyed a more draconian system where loyalty was ensured with Blood Bonds and enforced expectations of servility to older monsters. The Anarch ideas challenged the status quo. A Brujah vampire, Tyler, rose to prominence as “the First Anarch”. A rebel English peasant in life, she spread the ideals and revolutionary violence that would later become the movement. To fight the Blood Bond it is said warbands of kindred discovered Blood Sorcery that broke their Bonds and instead tied them to their comrades. This allowed Anarchs to strike out against their old masters.

Major events that highlighted the movement was the apparent destruction of the Tzimisce and Lasombra clans' progenitors. These rumors gave the Anarchs a sense of legitimacy and galvanized younger Kindred. Many leaders of the movement were of the Brujah, Banu Haqim, and Lasombra clans, though most clans experienced their fledglings and neonates revolting against the old ways to some extent.

Convention of Thorns

Even with the Revolt in full swing Kindred society was still plagued by the Inquisition. It is rumored that the elders began luring the Inquisition towards the Anarchs, though elders claim that it was the audacious attacks of the Anarchs that attracted the inquisitors. Either way, all Kindred were being worn down by the onslaught. A peace summit was proposed --- the Convention of Thorns --- and the formation of a Kindred alliance by Hardestadt the Elder and his associates. In 1493, the deal was offered with mixed reactions. The Lasombra and Minister representatives refused, more extremists like Tyler led a walk out, but the majority of Anarch leaders signed the alliance and acknowledged the Camarilla and its traditions as law for all Kindred.

The immediate consequence of the Camarilla formation was a vicious attack by Anarch extremists, who loathed the deal their leaders struck. Silchester was at the center of a mass Masquerade violation and the supposed destruction of Hardestadt the Elder by Tyler. To her regret, this faction of Anarchs soon turned into kindred supremacists, eventually becoming the Sabbat.

For the years after, the Anarchs worked more so as a political ideology or wing under the Camarilla umbrella,  even fighting in the Sect Wars in the 90s against Sabbat incursion on New World cities. That said, there were locations where more hardliners pushed to differentiate themselves, such as the Anarch Free States.

Various Revolts over the Years

With the Anarchs not having one solid doctrine, domains have risen and fallen over the years. Some enduring, others fleeting.

Paris

Paris is considered along with London and Berlin to be the three Camarilla jewels of the Old World, strongholds since its founding.  This stronghold was lost twice to Anarchs, during the French Revolution and May 68. The Revolution was bloody and led to many elders destroyed by both mortal mobs and Anarch groups. Prince Francois Villon was forced to flee the city. In the end kine got new ideals to spread in Europe, but Kindred saw Francois return and return to the status quo. May 68 had a seemingly similar start for Kindred, but was prevented from becoming a full uprising.

The Soviet Union

Young Kindred used the October Revolution as a means to rage war against the elders. They succeeded in the uprising and now they wanted a new country, ruled by the Congress of the Revolutionary Council, or the Brujah Council. Their aim was to make an egalitarian society from the Blood of Princes and elders.  like Carthage, though for Kindred but not necessarily mortals. That proved to be a major issue for Kindred in the USSR: whether mortals deserve to be treated equal to Kindred. This motion was eventually brought to a vote and lost, with the Council officially seeing mortals as just tools and food, forever changing the course of the Soviet Anarchs. Kindred with mortal sympathies were purged, Masquerade breaches harshly punished, and mortals manipulated to easily give blood. It all fell apart as the mortal nation dissolved and Princes started to stake out individual domains. Some Anarchs still hold enmity to those of the old Brujah Council.

The Anarch Free States

Los Angeles, California in the United States was host to a revolution in 1943. Camarilla Prince Don Sebastian’s rule was challenged, and revolution was underway. Jeremy MacNeil rallied the Kindred of the domain to stand up to the cruelty of the Prince. In 1944, Don Sebastian supposedly met final death at the hands of Salvador Garcia. Making MacNeil and Garcia Anarch icons, and the Camarilla considered the area a lost cause for years to come. The Anarch States survived Sabbat invasions, Camarilla incursions, and others trying to impose their rule. The area is largely many smaller domains in the San Fernando Valley; ruled by gangs, cells, Barons, etc. who only come together during times of crisis.

Defection from the Camarilla

As the turn of the millennium came to pass, so began the War on Terror and the so-called Second Inquisition. By unearthing old bank accounts and vampire communications thought encrypted, agents in different levels of the government began noticing Kindred activity. Camarilla vampires began to leak information on Anarchs to the FBI and NSA to divert attention. The Red Question, a divisive Anarch hacktivist group, disappeared around this time just a few years after causing a major financial loss to many Camarilla vampires through the crash of 2008. Other problem Anarch groups saw more attention from mortal governments. Such disruptions to Courts and factions soon lead to a call for a Conclave to discuss the future of Camarilla domains.

While it is technically the Conclave of Prague, the Anarchs have taken to calling it the Convention of Prague, paralleling it to the importance of the Convention of Thorns. There, Camarilla Courts' new secret policy of directing Second Inquisition operations to not just Sabbat, but also Anarch domains, came to light. This alienated many Brujah and Anarchs. Theo Bell decapitated Hardestadt and galvanized other malcontents to attack Camarilla officials and defected. A ripple effect from this spread quickly, cities flipped, Anarch domains swelled, and political lines were drawn. The Anarchs had officially broken off from the Camarilla for their betrayal.

War of Ages

Anarch activity received aid in secret from Gangrel sympathizers. Now with aid, numbers, and motivation, the Anarch could capitalize on Camarilla domains bereft of elders from the Beckoning. Anarchs advanced on weak Camarilla domains, and even abandoned Sabbat domains, spreading the revolution and inspiring others to rise up. This was most famously seen with the fall of the Camarilla stronghold Berlin where an infamously cruel Camarilla Prince was overthrown by a mob of Kindred slaying him in the open.

The turn of events has led to a number of things. The first is the Camarilla shutting its doors to anyone not pledging their allegiance, as well as no longer welcoming anyone of 14th generation or weaker. They also instituted limits on technology, banning the use of networked computers and phones in fear of the now rampant Second Inquisition. Anarchs, typically more adept at using tech, plan to leverage this to their advantage. The Anarchs were soon joined by the Ministry. A clan that was recently spurned by the Camarilla, as they tested the waters joining the Tower and investing, their meeting was blown up and their enemies, the Banu Haqim, invited instead. The Ministers aided the Anarchs in spreading the Movement in places not once thought accessible.   Many young Tzimisce have gone Anarch as well, finding their elders’ and sires’ greed hampers their own growth.

Prominent Kindred

Agata Starek - An Anarch of unknown clan. The Polish-born Kindred has taken on many monikers, all inspired for her appetite for Camarilla Princes. A serial diablerist and Bahari sympthaizer, she engages in more brutal methods against the Tower.

Theo Bell

Salvador Garcia

Rudi

Jeremy MacNeil

Maldavis

Anita Wainwright

Game concepts

Antagonists

Second Inquisition • Sabbat