Sects

Vampiric Politics are rooted in Sects, more than Clans, Bloodlines, Courts, or other factors. The many Sects span across the world in a complex mess of alliances and ideologies, largely uncaring of who the Vampire is and where they come from.

Anarchs
The Anarchs are a new Sect on the block; They arose from Europe in the 1700's alongside the Camarilla and the Sabbat, and were influenced by the Prometheans in many ways. In the modern nights, they are one of the most influential Sects in principle, but the practicalities of the Anarchs is little organization and mostly younger vampires, so despite their popularity, the Camarilla and Sabbat are more powerful in most practical matters.

Ashirra
The Ashirra Sect is one of the oldest which still bears influence in the modern nights. They are a religious, specifically Islamic, sect of kindred which is largely focused in northern Africa and southern Asia. The leaders of the Ashirra are located in modern day Syria, and their fortress has persisted for more than a thousand years.

The Ashirra was once headed by the Banu Haqim, however much of that Clan has left due to the recent awakening of some of the clan's elders, who reasserted the Clan's commitment to the Path of Blood, rather than any mortal religion.

Bahari
The Bahari are a Sect with a close relationship with mortal cultists and mages. The Bahari are religious as much as ideological, worshipping Lilith, the Dark Mother, as a spiritual ancestor to all vampires. The Bahari believe that Lilith's suffering caused her to become stronger and wiser, and that in passing through fire, she was tempered, not burned. As such, they place high emphasis on their own pain and suffering as a way to overcome their weaknesses as vampires, while mortal members of the Bahari see the same for their mortality.

The Bahari are spread around the world, but are more common in Europe and North America than other continents. There is no central leader, but a moot is called every 7 years by a Mage obsessed with life and death, and Lilith of course. The next meeting is in 2023, most likely in Los Angeles.

Camarilla
The Camarilla is ever so slightly older than the Anarchs, making it one of the younger Sects in the world, however both it and the Sabbat have much older traditions it draws from, with the older European divide between High and Low Clans. The Camarilla holds power in Europe and the Americas, and has some presence in west-Asia and northern Africa, but due to it's old connection to specific Clans holding power, in places without those Clans, even the fundamental ideas of the Camarilla fail.

The Camarilla's leaders, the Inner Circle, are in Chicago.

Hecata
The Hecata is a unique coalition of vampires connected to the underworld. This includes the Cappadocians and their offshoots, like the Giovanni and Samedi, but also many Kindred of the Yin Courts, and some Legacies. The Hecata uniquely holds power around the world, and members of the Hecata often have membership of other Sects, as a much looser and lower-obligation Sect. The Hecata's only Tradition is the Tradition of Dark Enlightenment, which is a simple requirement that new underworld discoveries are shared within the Sect.

The Hecata's de facto leader is a Lamia Elder who lives in Venice. She remains detached from the affairs of all involved.

Inconnu
The Inconnu are a secret society within the secret society of kindred. They have a bulk of mortal cultists, and aside from spies, all Inconnu live in a castle in the carpathian mountains. The Inconnu bear a unique tradition of indifference. A member of the Inconnu actively stand aside from all kindred and mortal politics. A member of the inconnu is removed from society, the only exceptions being their spies, the Monitors, who exist on the edges of society and look for new recruits to the cultish Sect. The Inconnu is different from simply Autarki working together, because the Inconnu are also dedicated to pursuing Golconda; A manner to transcend the vampiric curse. Throughout history the Inconnu has recruited the youngest and oldest, using their creativity and experience to understand the vampiric condition better than any other.

Independent Alliance
The Alliance was made between a group of clans within the United States and Europe. All those clans which are not "assumed" part of another clan, as well as the Court and Legacy presence within these areas, signed it as a sort of militant neutrality. As long as the members have not brought themselves into other Sect politics, the vampires of the Alliance are pledged to defend eachother against sect dangers, as long as the odds aren't truly abysmal. Individual rivalries exist, such as the known dislike between the Banu Haqim and the Giovanni, and the Alliance doesn't supersede those, for the most part.

Prometheans
One of the oldest still-relevant sects. The Prometheans seek to recreate Carthage, a place where Kindred walk open in the moonlight, respected and tolerated. In the modern nights much of this ideal is realized, but many places work against it. Many places are intolerant of the uncanny, kindred included, and in those places the Prometheans gather. They are open, welcoming of non-vampires, so long as the ideals of tolerance and open existence for vampires - More broadly anything non-human in the modern nights - are held.


 * Sabbat