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 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 number of elders dwindle while there is a new crop of hungry, ambitious Anarch licks every year.
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 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-turned- Anarch 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 inside. 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!