Camarilla History
The history of Los Angeles under the Camarilla is relatively short, Los Angeles being as young as it is. What is generally known is that sometime prior to 1800, a Brujah named Rodrigo Guillermo Domingo entered the area. It was, at the time, an unremarkable place. Rodrigo was "Prince" of the city only insofar as there were no other vampires in the area. Transients paid respect to Rodrigo (and his considerable personal power) on their way through, but there simply were not enough people to support a large base of undead predators.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, the other great elder of Los Angeles history, Diego Montera of clan Gangrel, entered the city. The city would continue to grow through the early twentieth century, with elders beginning to partition the Greater Los Angeles area in the 1920's, under Prince Rodrigo's rule. That rule would preside over Los Angeles' golden age, through a vicious and violent period in 1957, right up until 1965.
Prince Rodrigo was deposed and went missing in 1965. Prince Emerson of clan Malkavian rose in his place, pulling himself to the top of a crowded field of ambitious elders. Those elders realized their ambitions in 1984, when a Conclave split the city into eight domains, each under a separate prince. The document governing this confederated arrangement is the Treaty of La Cienega.The Eight Princes now rule independently, with the majority of unrest by the younger vampires centered in the domain of South Central.
Each Prince rules their domain differently, although the Treaty sets certain guidelines. Most have a council of advisors, and some - such as Prince McQueen of Torrance formerly did - flirt with an almost democratic process. Ultimately, though, in a city as large as Los Angeles, some delegation is necessary.
The Princes, again, each in their own style, divide and keep watch on their rivals within the domain by granting Domain over large portions of the city. (Prince Emerson, for example, has turned the supervision of Pasadena over entirely to a Toreador.) Although the various holdings in a domain are united under the rule of that domain's Prince, the Princes continue to be separate - constantly seeking advantage over or alliance with one another. The glory days of the city, united under Rodrigo's rule, have passed.
While all still fear and respect Emerson, the city has become a factionalized place where every vampire constantly needs watch their political footing, taking care with whom they are aligned, with whom they associate, and whom they turn into enemies.
anarch History
Since the 1920's, there have been vampires in Los Angeles who find the Traditions stifling, oppressive, or simply inconvenient. The cleverest of these are elders in their own right, and find ways of twisting and subverting the Traditions to their own ends. But the majority is neonates, perhaps ancillae, whose only hope for autonomy lies in rebellion. These neonates walk a thin line between rebellion and destruction. To push to far, too fast, is to invite retribution. The history of the anarchs is one of constant balance and adjustment. Sometimes things swing too far to one end, and you get the Watts Riots. Sometimes they swing to the other end, and you get Emerson and Elaine's purges of the 1970's.
The anarch movement in Los Angeles began in the 1920's, when a nucleus of Brujah and several hangers-on began taking advantage of the libertine attitudes of the day to engage in reckless (by Traditional standards) behavior and indulgence. Hunting was done carelessly, and to excess. These young Gods went where they would, stilled by no elder, no authority.
This behavior was looked down upon, and discouraged by those elders close to the rebels, and on very rare occasions something would be done about it. But for the most part, Rodrigo was partial to his clan, and allowed a certain latitude in the young. Later, they would find a similar attitude on the part of Julian Fletcher. This open, if soft, rebellion, continued for several decades. Alvin Forrester and Markham of clan Nosferatu would eventually come to symbolize this rebel spirit.
In 1957, all the vampires of the city - whether they supported the Traditions or no - rallied to defend against the Sabbat. As is often the case with external threats, the next few years saw a much closer accord between the elder and rebel factions in the city.
It should be noted that at no time was this ever a state of open warfare. The "anarchs" have never been organized, and have never referred to themselves as a unifed group. What followed was a period where most everyone agreed that there was safety in numbers, and that the way to accomplish this was, at least to some extent, under the rule of Prince Rodrigo.
By the early 1960's, however, the neonates with the least power, particularly those in South Central and other poor neighborhoods, were growing restless. The pulse of dissent in the mortal world was leaking into vampire society. And in 1965, the dam burst.
Under the Treaty of La Cienega, the young vampires who would dismiss the Traditions find themselves with a unique opportunity to play one Prince off against the others. This is something they have adopted with relish. The climate is something like it was in the 1920's once more: the young vampires are heady with their own power. The Ancillae, such as Forrester, consider themselves above the Traditions, and worship will and strength and freedom. It is not all noble, and it is not all for the greater good. But South Central (as well as parts of the Valley) is a place of fierce pride and independence. Seeral different factions and coteries wield power, holding their territory in what is part Domain, part Confederation. At the same time, however, the mortal squalor attempts to drive aspirations from the residents, and crush both vision and individuality under a blanket of despair and ennui.
