Anarch

Living Under the Convention of Thorns

The Convention of Thorns is an agreement between the Anarch Movement and the Camarilla that establishes the terms of coexistence in a Domain. With the exception of the California Free State and a few other instances, the agreement made during the formation of the Camarilla was upheld until 2012, and was broken by Theo Bell at the Convention of Prague. More broadly in V5 the Anarchs were cast out of the Camarilla and open war now takes place between the two sects.

In SBN the Anarchs attempted to take Seattle from the Camarilla during the formation of the free state. When both sides were exhausted of manpower an agreement was reached that the Anarchs would always be welcome in Seattle so long as they continued to live under Thorns, independent of what the Movement is doing more broadly. This was agreed to and signed by both sides. The Cam can’t rid of them, but the Anarchs can’t openly rebel. This means part of Seattle will always be under Anarch control, even if other Domains fall entirely to the Camarilla. If Thorns were ever broken Prince Cross would have more than enough manpower to defeat the Seattle Movement, as he has the backing of the clans, the inner council, and can call on almost endless resources to secure his Domain.

The Anarchs meanwhile continue to gain territory, swell their membership, develop infrastructure and make alliances. They undermine Camarilla control through subversive sabotage, financial, political and information hoarding, and by showing all their critics that the Anarchs can run a Domain just as well as the Cam. As they look towards the future, many of the leaders see a day when their ranks have swelled to the point where an open war can be won, but in the meantime Cross is saddled with a problem on his doorstep, and one he can’t get rid of as long as Thorns is kept.

So what does living under Thorns actually mean, and how can you play an Anarch living under this system? Here are a list of things your character can do while living under Thorns that opposes the Camarilla but does not start open war.

1. Preach the alternative of the Anarch Movement to those who will listen. Recruit the Movement of tomorrow.
2. Advocate politically with both Movement members and the Tower for what changes your character thinks the Domain needs.
3. Build up Anarch power in their own turf, expand their areas of control, and lay the foundations for the future.
4. Speak truth to power! You might have the Cam dunk on you, but calling out injustice could earn you respect in the Movement.
5. Develop a political belief system for your Anarch coterie.

What would break Thorns:

1. Openly attacking members of the Camarilla.
2. Advocate for open war with the Camarilla.
3. Accuse the Camarilla of breaking Thorns without evidence.
4. Break the traditions in open defiance of the Camarilla.

If Thorns was ever broken on our server it would lead to major changes including the removal of consent for violence between factions, the end of ALL events as resources would go to war, the end of Metaplot and odes as ST’s would be running nothing but combat, espionage, and solving disputes. The Ask system would also likely slow down. Even server culture OOC would likely worsen as bleed might play a role in how people interact. As this would fundamentally alter/damage the balance of the server it’s unlikely to ever happen.

Consider The Movement and the Camarilla as being in a *cold* war. Cold wars are marked not by open violence but instead are wars of ideas. In a cold war the competing powers will engage in espionage, arms racing (allies, contacts, influence), diplomacy (status in opposing factions), competition over assets like other powers (faction alliances), and are won or lost by who is swayed at the end. Which system will endure? They sometimes have proxy wars where things with get hot (odes and metaplot), but are effectively fought in every other field other than between armies.