The Camarilla is the most organized of the vampiric sects, an elite club that favours tradition and control of the mortal populace from behind the scenes. Across their domains, they enforce six major
Traditions , chief among them being the Masquerade. All clans have an individual presence in the Ivory Tower, though a select group of pillar clans make up the core of its membership. Once the Camarilla welcomed all Kindred who obeyed its laws, but recent events have caused the leadership to adopt more exclusive membership rules. No Anarchs, Caitiff, or thin-blooded vampires are allowed to exist within the sect.
In addition to preventing the growing mortals masses from discovering the existence of vampires, the Camarilla aims to maintain the status quo of Kindred society; as such, much of its structure and traditions mirror that of Cainite society in feudal Europe in the Dark Ages, and places it at odds with the agenda of the Sabbat and Anarchs, both of whom seek to overthrow archaic Kindred society.
History
The Camarilla's birth was grounded in the growing threats of the Inquisition and the Anarch Revolt, both of which were threatening Cainite domains throughout Europe. Though there had been attempts to form alliances in the past, a meeting of elders to seriously consider the idea of forming a league of vampires was not held until 1394. Little came of it, however, until a bold attack was made on the castle of the elder Ventrue Hardestadt led by the famous Anarch Tyler. The Founders-to-be recognized the need for a unified front and so banded together several of their most trusted childer and servants into a joint task force to use against the Anarchs. Though meant to illustrate what could be accomplished if elders pooled their resources together, politics and rivalries would continue to divide them even as the Founders slowly made preparations for their new alliance.
The formation of the "Camarilla" (a word that denoted both that it was a convocation of peers or comrades and that it met in session secret from mortal knowledge) was announced in 1435 as the Founders began openly rallying support for a coalition to protect vampires from the dangers of roving anarchs, the invading Assamites, and the increasingly dangerous mortal mobs. After all, the very Spanish word camarilla also means to mutually scratch one another’s back, a meaning that would be given expression in the convoluted workings of prestation throughout the sect.
War continued to rage over the next several decades and the Founders, now called Justicars, fought to hold the nascent sect together. In 1486 the first national conclave was convened, during which the justicars were given broader authority to punish vampires who violated the Traditions. A new body of agents was also formed to report to the justicars and free them to further develop the sect, creating what would eventually become the position of archon.
In 1493, the Convention of Thorns marked the end of the First Anarch Revolt and the birth of the Camarilla as it is known today. The Traditions were accepted as law. Representatives for the Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue clans officially joined the sect, while those speaking for the Lasombra and Tzimisce, who were majoritarily anarchs, rebelled against what they considered an offensive ultimatum and went on to form the Sabbat in opposition to everything the Founders intended. While the Convention of Thorns was a significant victory for the Camarilla, it set the stage for the next five centuries of conflict between the two sects.
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