ANARCHS

Periodically within the community of vampires, younger members have risen in revolt against the authority of their elders. In ancient times, the fourth generation rose against the third generation, destroyed the structure they had imposed on the community, and killed at least some of them. The most important rebellion occurred in the fifteenth century. Many of the elder vampires were shortsighted in their reaction to the growing power of the Inquisition. As vampires were discovered and taken from their lairs, the elders began to use their children as shields to protect them from the Inquisition, the young rose in what was termed the Anarch Revolt. The Camarilla, the coalition of vampire clans in Europe, was formed to counter both the Inquisition and the Anarch Revolt.

The Camarilla won their war against the Anarchs, but did not succeed in destroying them. Some aligned themselves with the Sabbat, an organisation led by the Lasomba clan which refused to submit to the Camarilla's rules. Tohers remained unaligned.

In the present times, younger vampires tend to identify with the Anarchs. They are individually weaker than the elders, but make up their condition by their numbers. When their numbers grow large enough, they will tend to revolt against the local prince, and they have taken advantage of the weakened conditions of the elders in the immediate aftermath of a clash between the two main vampire organistions, the Camarilla and the Sabbat. In those citites controlled by either the Sabat or the Camarilla, the Anarchs are viewed as a constant threat.

The Anarchs have been able to take control of several cities, most notably in 1944 when they led a revolt in Los Angeles that led to the formation of the Anarch Five States along the West Coast of the United States. Their control gives California an unusual place in the vampire world.