The Anarch Movement
Structure
The Anarchs themselves are not a sect, per se; in most areas, they were regarded as merely a faction on the fringes of the dominant Camarilla hierarchy. However, when the loosely-organized Anarch Movement has emerged over the course of the past century, they have begun to establish their own traditions, power blocs, territories, and all the other trappings of a full-fledged sect.
On a functional level, the more moderate members of the Anarch Movement has kindred fulfilling most official functions recognized by the Camarilla proper. That is, barons have their advisors and enforcers, they’re often guided by a council of their peers, some of them even have a standing coterie of bruisers and investigators for police and military duty. None of these offices and positions appear in the list of titles below, however.
The Anarch leaders may have such offices, and a large portion of the subsect may recognize the need for them, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to admit to the rest of the vampiric world — or even to their own population — that they exist.
Baron - By its simplest definition, a baron is simply the Anarch Movement’s equivalent of a prince. However, they are not quite the same, for it’s not uncommon for a given city to have two recognized barons, each claiming a different jurisdiction of the city - sometimes the two are rivals, but more often, however, barons work cooperatively.
Emissary - These are anarchs that must carry the olive branch to the other sects, must negotiate and haggle and play the games of prestation and diplomacy if the movement is to survive. They are also called ambassadors, heralds and, by more cynical members of the sect, expendables.
Sweeper - A sweeper’s duty is simple: he walks around and observes other vampires in the anarch territory, recording names and faces and, where possible, attitudes, abilities, clan ancestry and anything else he can discover. The barons themselves prefer to call a vampire who holds this position a counter or even census taker, but most anarchs use the terms sweeper, proctor, Sherlock or even, on occasion, abacus.
Chameleon - An informal title, also known as a Bond (after James), mole, submarine or sub. A chameleon, quite simply, is a spy or any anarch who holds a position of some authority in one of the other sects.
Culture
The word on the street is revolution. No more compromises, no more politics, no more trying to make deals with the Camarilla. The Movement has finally escaped the centuries-long lethargy it fell into after the Convention of Thorns and the formation of the Sabbat, but that time is now over. The Anarchs have remembered how to fight, galvanized by the Camarilla’s great betrayal in being at fault for the Second Inquisition. The root causes of Anarch discontent are not hard to find. Many Camarilla princes like to style themselves as enlightened and just rulers who benevolently look after the welfare of all Kindred. The experience of the neonate-turnedAnarch is very different. Once you’ve been told you can only feed in the warehouse district, your sire has been executed for obscure violations of Camarilla law, and the Sheriff has murdered your mortal mother because she was a “threat to the Masquerade,” princely rhetoric starts to ring hollow.
The Movement is different in each city. Sometimes an Anarch city has a ruler called a baron. More commonly, it is led by gangs who each have their own territories. Some cities are currently divided between the Anarchs and the Camarilla – both sides itching to take over. Where the Camarilla influences human society from the outside, the Anarchs have burrowed deep nside. Many maintain mortal identities, perhaps even families and jobs. This makes them simultaneously more vulnerable and more secure. Vulnerable because they are in contact with their surroundings every night, and sure to make mistakes. Secure because the Anarch is never the vampire lord in a mansion on the hill. They’re the DJ in the nightclub, the terrifying cop from internal affairs, the junkie creeping outside your window. What motivates the Anarch Movement most of all is the scent of victory. For the first time in centuries, it feels as if it might be possible to topple the Princes. If the old order can collapse in Berlin, it can collapse anywhere!
Public Agenda
The revolution against the Camarilla is as old as the sect itself. Originally known as the Anarch Revolt, in recent decades it has grown vastly, as younger Kindred find it hard to understand why they should follow the dictates of elders who seem perfectly happy to throw them to the Second Inquisition if need be.
The unbound are all those vampires who fall outside the Camarilla. The Anarch Movement in its various forms is a subset of the unbound and also their most visible manifestation. Many seek to escape from the Camarilla’s control by hiding. But the Anarchs have decided to fight back, attempting to conquer and control domains originally held by those who would claim themselves their masters. And why not? The Camarilla’s elders are being called to the Middle East by the Beckoning, and the Second Inquisition has destroyed princes and primogen all over the world. The time for change is now.
History
The Anarch's historical origins lie in the Anarch Revolt that birthed the Sabbat—as well as the older Promethean and Furore movements—but in recent nights, they are mostly an unorganized rabble of younger vampires and Caitiff. "Anarch" was originally a name imposed upon them by Camarilla elders, since they sought to overthrow the leadership structures of Cainite society, but while many Anarchs are indeed anarchists, the more traditional desire has been the bringing equality and democracy (or at least meritocracy) to Kindred society.
In modern nights, the Anarchs that have been sidelined to the fringes of Kindred society have gathered together under the banner of the "Anarch Movement". This organized movement made their single largest coup against the tyranny of the elders and the sects during the Second Anarch Revolt. During this revolution, the Anarchs liberated Los Angeles in 1944; within a year, they established an Anarch Free State across southern and central California, overthrowing the Princes of the liberated cities and establishing in their places the Anarch Barons - which were given a much more tolerant degree of authority over their fellow Anarchs.
The establishment and continued existence of the Free State has put a greater strain on Anarch-Camarilla relations than at any point since the original Revolt. During the second half of the 20th century, the Free State withstood constant incursions from Camarilla and Sabbat alike. However, the Kuei-jin staged a concentrated incursion into the region in the late 1990s with the assistance of a few highly-placed ex-Anarchs who sought to preserve the region's independence from both Camarilla and Sabbat.
The Kuei-jin managed to oust Jeremy MacNeill, the Baron of Los Angeles, only to lose the city to a Camarilla counter-offensive. Now, the region holds a fragile détente between four factions: the Anarchs in what remains of the Free State, the Kuei-jin in the New Promise Mandarinate centered around San Francisco, the Camarilla with footholds in Los Angeles and San Diego, and the Sabbat to the south, in Mexico.
Break From The Caramilla
Although facing significant losses at the beginning of the century, the Anarch Movement has been seeing a reappraisal in their relevance due to the rise of Second Inquisition, the sect's banishment from the Camarilla, and the Sabbat abandoning their domains for the Gehenna War. Most of the Brujah remaining outside the Movement joined after Theo Bell's walk-out from the Conclave of Prague, and a large part of the Ministry began to side with them after their failed courtship of the Camarilla. The many caitiff and thin-bloods being Embraced continue to find a home within the movement, and even a contingent of younger Tzimisce looking to assert themselves have come around to the cause.
Los Angeles, briefly thought to be an Anarch domain in decline, is once again a noteworthy hotbed for sect activity. The city's Barons, resurgent and emboldened after 2004 from the simultaneous withdrawal of the Camarilla, Sabbat, now contend with the newly transplanted Prince Vannevar Thomas and his restrictive policies intended to combat the SI.
Demography and Population
From the beginning, the Anarch Movement has always had representation from most known clans and bloodlines, but as the Camarilla and Sabbat began to take form, the remaining composition of the Movement has mostly come from the traditionally "low" clans and the clanless, especially the Brujah and Gangrel. Their formal walk-outs from the Camarilla have more or less cemented this. A more concise list of the sect's clan greater representation would include:
- Brujah
- Gangrel
- The Ministry
- Tzimisce
- Caitiff
- Duskborn
Founding Date
15th century
Type
Illicit, Rebel
Alternative Names
The Unbound, The Anarch Revolt
Government System
Anarchy
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
